In This Issue
• Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex
• BFA UK Masters and Open - Christchurch Sailing Club
• Genoa International Boat Show
• Three new crew members announced for 11th Hour Racing Team
• A Diverse Fleet for 2020 Vendee Globe
• Has the America’s Cup gone off the rails?
• Take a closer look at the technology and design rules that allow the AC75 to fly
• What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
• Cowes Sonata Open, Event Review
• The Voiles de Saint-Tropez 2020: all aboard!
• Featured Charter: NOMAD IV - Maxi Dolphin 100
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Soto 65 - "Camiranga"
• • Maxi Dolphin MD62AB - 62ft Cruising Sloop
• • Nautor Swan 65 - EDEN
• The Last Word: John L. Lewis
Brought to you by Seahorse magazine and YachtScoring.com EuroSail News is a digest of sailing news and opinions, regatta results, new boat and gear information and letters from sailors -- with a European emphasis. Contributions welcome, send to editor [AT] eurosailnews [DOT] com
Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex
The Melges IC37 class was designed to make it as easy as possible for new skippers and crew to get up to speed and compete on a high level. Of course, there’s no way to completely neutralize the advantage that can be earned with time in the boat. But the fixed standing rigging, one-design sail package and extensive training and tuning tools available from North Sails and the class association have gone along way toward flattening the learning curve.
This is welcome news for Peter McClennen’s Gamecock teamand Jim Buckingham and Skip Beck’s Buckaroo crew, two relatively new IC37 teams that will be racing in the dozen-strong Melges IC37 fleet at the New York Yacht Club's Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex, which starts Wednesday on Rhode Island Sound.
The New York Yacht Club’s Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex was first run in 1998, and takes place this year from September 23 to 26 out of the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court, in Newport. R.I. The biennial regatta, traditionally run at the apex of the summer sailing season, has established itself as one of the premier summer race weeks in the Northeast thanks to its attractive combination of great racing conditions off Newport and the superlative shore-side hospitality at the Club’s waterfront Clubhouse overlooking Newport Harbor. Partners for the 2020 edition of Race Week at Newport include presenting sponsor Rolex and regatta sponsors Hammetts Hotel and Helly Hansen.
This biennial race week, now in its 12th running, has become a favorite of sailors because of its combination of superb racing conditions on Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound and the unmatched on-shore hospitality at the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court. The 2020 edition of Race Week features racing for Melges IC37s and boats competing under the ORC rating system. Partners for Race Week include presenting sponsor Rolex and regatta sponsors Hammetts Hotel and Helly Hansen.
BFA UK Masters and Open - Christchurch Sailing Club
Supported by Allen Brothers and Suntouched Sailboats.
Over the 19-20th September the experienced team at Christchurch Sailing Club organised a Covid secure and socially distanced UK Masters championship and Open event, much to the delight of the of 30 Finns that attended. As the first major event of the year after a seriously depleted racing calendar, the competitors were all keen to get back to some big fleet championship racing on the iconic Christchurch Bay race track.
After a socially distanced briefing on the dock, the fleet sailed out through the harbour in an unseasonal North Easterly 16-24 Kts, which proved extremely shifty and impossible to predict. This wind direction involved tacking out through the roaring Run at Mudeford - not for the faint hearted, but all arrived safely on the race course.
Overnight, Burrell and Greenwood were tied exactly on 6 points apiece, out on front of defending champion Crispin and Finnish flyer Sjoberg in third.
Sunday was forecast to still be North Easterly, but a much sunnier and lighter wind version of the previous day. However, as the fleet gathered at the picturesque club it felt much the same as Saturday, with a temperature of just 15 degrees with a whistling wind and ominous grey clouds. Sailing down the harbour, the breeze did then moderate just as the fleet was trying to battle the incoming Spring Tide torrent at the Run, with several boats spat back out into the harbour. The efficient race team managed to tow the fleet through the funnel and out into the open bay, just as the sun came out and the wind did indeed start to drop to the predicted 12 knots - perfect for the final day.
A hugely satisfied fleet sailed back through the Run in much more benign conditions, having enjoyed some taxing but great racing - proper championship stuff! For the UK Finn fleet - starved of the oxygen of healthy competition for most of the year, it was just what the Doctor ordered.
With one remaining British Finn event at Warsash on 10/11th October scheduled for the much reduced season, the hope is that no new restrictions will come in to disrupt a safe, distanced, single handed sailing competition. -- John Heyes
Final top ten after six races, one throwout
1. Allen Burell, GBR, 8 points
2. Lawrence Crispin, GBR, 13
3. John Greenwood, GBR, 16
4. Kristian Sjoberg, FIN, 24
5. Jim Downer, GBR, 26
6. Simon Percival, GBR, 27
7. Michael De Courcy, GBR, 32
8. Richard Sharp, GBR, 39
9. John Heyes, GBR, 46
10. Matthew Walker, GBR, 51
From 1st to 6th October The Genoa International Boat Show Will Welcome Boating Professionals and Enthusiasts for its 60th Anniversary Edition
Click on image for photos from previous shows.
The 60th Genoa International Boat Show will welcome industry professionals and boating enthusiasts alike, from 1st to 6th October, to experience the very best the industry has to offer.
The organizers are working to bring an event that will combine the highest standards of health and safety with an effective approach worthy of the Made in Italy brand and a world-class showcase. Requests for display space have been greater than expected, a sign that the event remains an essential tool for companies worldwide who recognize the value in taking part.
Exhibitors this year will see the return of the major yards in Italy and worldwide who were present last year, in addition to a number of new brands. As of today, these include a selection of industry-leading names: for motorboats Amer Yachts, Arcadia, Azimut-Benetti, Ferretti Group through FSD - Ferretti Security Division, Fipa Group, Pardo, Princess, Sanlorenzo, Sunseeker, VanDutch; for sailing boats, Beneteau, Dufour, Hanse, Jeanneau, Nautor's Swan, Mylius Yachts, Solaris and Vismara. This year a brand new area will be dedicated exclusively to Superboats. A full roster for outboards as well, along with an already substantial number of equipment and services-related companies.
The 2020 edition will see the implementation of a key plan of action aimed at creating a flexible layout that can adapt to a variety of scenarios. Supporting the organisers in this endeavour will be a Task Force made up of experts in engineering and legal practice. Plans are already in place to ensure the best organizational conditions, in line with the parameters defined by the World Health Organisation. This is only possible due to key innovations in relation to logistics, remote management and controlled access, all within an entirely new vision based on the large open-air spaces available.
The online ticketing is playing a central role, allowing visitors to purchase their tickets via the event's official website www.salonenautico.com. The online platform is the only channel for purchasing tickets, which will quickly be assigned to specific visiting days to allow for an effective level of crowd management and to prevent over-selling. Access to the Show area will be strictly monitored and automated.
Three new crew members announced for 11th Hour Racing Team
Newport, Rhode Island: Three new sailing crew have been signed by 11th Hour Racing Team, the U.S.-based offshore sailing team with a sight set on winning The Ocean Race 2022-23. In a socially distanced ‘Homecoming’ event at Fort Adams, the location of The Ocean Race’s only North American stopover, Great Britain’s Simon Fisher and Rob Greenhalgh, and Australia’s Kyle Langford were confirmed as the latest crew members to join skipper Charlie Enright and CEO Mark Towill. For previous winners Fisher and Greenhalgh it will be their sixth consecutive Ocean Race, while for Langford it will be his second lap around the planet.
Greenhalgh is a five-time participant in The Ocean Race dating back to 2005-06 when he was a member of the winning ABN AMRO ONE campaign for The Netherlands. Three years later, he finished as runner-up with U.S.-flagged PUMA Ocean Racing and has since competed in three more Ocean Races, most recently in another second-place finish with Spanish entry MAPFRE.
Fisher, who won the 2014-15 edition of The Ocean Race as navigator onboard Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, divides his time between Barcelona, Spain and the U.K.
Langford, from Lake Macquarie, Australia, was a world champion at 21, an America’s Cup winner at 24 and competed in the last Ocean Race at 28, finishing on the podium with the Dutch entry Team Brunel.
11th Hour Racing Team will be training from Newport, Rhode Island for the next few months.
A Diverse Fleet for 2020 Vendee Globe
Since its inception in 1989, the Vendee Globe race has never before attracted such as a big and varied field, say its organisers.
On November 8 in Les Sables d’Olonne, on France’s Vendee coast, 33 solo sailors are due to take the start. This time it includes no fewer than ten non-French skippers and there will be a record number of six female skippers.
“It’s still too little: we are six out of 33,” says Isabelle Joschke (MACSF). “But here we are, committed to showing that women race as well as men.”
Sam Davies (Initiatives Coeur) is back this year for the third time in her career.
She’s racing fellow Brit, Pip Hare (Medallia).
Miranda Merron (Campagne de France) completes the female British trio.
Tied with Jean Le Cam in terms of number of his five previous participations, Thomson (HUGO BOSS) is the most experienced and the most successful sailor at the start, with two back-to-back podiums achieved over the last two editions - third in 2012-2013 and second in 2016-2017.
“If I had to make a bet as to how quickly the boats will go round, I would say 67 days,” Thomson says. “It’s a pretty amazing fleet and I think it could be quite competitive. For me getting to the finish line has to be the objective. I think that if we can do that, then we’ll be right up there at the front. The ultimate goal is, of course, to win.
The 2020 edition sees significant advances in foil shape, form and structure, but also in corresponding hull design and structure with boats now designed and built specifically to foil.
Has the America’s Cup gone off the rails?
Bruno Trouble loves the America’s Cup. He’s been close to the event for over 40 years, first as the French skipper (1977, ’80, ’83), then as the founder and co-organizer of the Louis Vuitton Cup to select the challenger, and later involved in event promotion.
Now as a consultant for Prada for the next Cup, he is thrilled to see a brand aboard which is so respectful of the America’s Cup tradition, values, spirit, and assets. “This is a big change for the America’s Cup after quite a long period with no vision and no links to the extraordinary history of this event,” he notes.
Since the 2007 America’s Cup, which had 11 challengers, attracting interested teams during the foiling era of 2013, 2017, and now 2021 has been limited. This is due to new boat types, which has reduced available skill for design, build, and sail, with these factors contributing to increased cost to compete.
Has the America’s Cup gone off the rails? Trouble does not think so, and shares his view here:
Take a closer look at the technology and design rules that allow the AC75 to fly
It was August 2012 when the sailing world was turned upside down by a 72 foot catamaran flying in the Hauraki Gulf. Emirates Team New Zealand had brought the foils to the America’s Cup and changed the face of top-level yacht racing forever. Nowadays foils are commonplace, but the engineering and sailing techniques needed to get the AC75 to fly are completely different from anything seen before.
Seahorse October 2020
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
World news
Even the proudest warriors make mistakes, all credit to the Stars&Stripes, French sailing loses one of its finest, the Brits (really) are coming, Philippe Poupon - happy customer, lateral thinking in Auckland. Plus why ever faster and ever higher is not necessarily a good thing. Patrice Carpentier, Dobbs Davis, Iain Murray, Blue Robinson, Gavin Brady, Ivor Wilkins, Blair Tuke
The biggest yet
Having achieved so much with their stunning and fast mid-size multihulls a step up was surely always on the cards... and you will not be disappointed
She'll be right!
The 2021 Transpac will be the best possible antidote to the travails of 2020
Delegate (successfully)
Maintaining a large yacht on the international circuit has never been easy but the current global disruption highlights the many benefits of handing key tasks over to an external specialist
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Cowes Sonata Open, Event Review
Photo by John Green. Click on image for photo gallery.
This weekend saw the first Hunter Sonata Class event in Cowes for over a decade - whilst unfortunately the Goodall Roofing Sonata Nationals 2020 were postponed due to the COVID 19 pandemic a local open event managed to go ahead with 7 boats from Cowes competing with one mainland boat, JOEY travelling from Chichester. Two boats arrived from NE England to new owners in Cowes just a week before the event; SONIC owned and helmed by Robin Leather and DICK DASTARDLY owned and helmed by Dawn Bee.
With an equinox tide and strong current in the Solent on Saturday, Island Sailing Club Race Officer Rich Palmer positioned the windward leeward race course on the Bramble Bank and got the fleet away in 17-23kt NE breeze with teams having to make the tough call on the choice of Genoa or Jib. Typically the Genoa is held to 23 knots however the lighter crew of just 3 for the event meant teams were easily overpowered with the Genoa and many teams opting for the Jib.
Sundays weather greeted the fleet with kinder conditions than on day 1, a decreasing NE breeze established with the race team working to get the fleet away on time, a 40 degree wind shift occurring during the start sequence threw a slight spanner in the works for the ISC race team having to go under a short postponement to adjust the course. Finally underway the fleet had a clean start with MINIM, ARAYA, JOEY, LITTLE SCARLET & MAVERICK all vying for the top spots over the three windward leeward races.
The local team of MINIM managed to hold on to their overnight lead on Saturday having been tested by JOEY, ARAYA and LITTLE SCARLET. Sundays racing all seemed to go MINIM’s way with a string of bullets to take the event on 7 points from 7 races after 1 discard.
Having rescued MINIM from a farm in Cornwall, Mark spent the next two winters restoring her and getting her back into race trim commenting “The boats are just so great and perfect for the Solent they're; affordable, available, safe, family cruiser/racers with One Design parameters restricting cheque book racing but encouraging a DIY mentality! Lining these boats up this weekend has been great fun and can’t wait for more in 2021!” -- Mark Angell
Final Results:
1. Minim - 7 points
2. Joey - 15
3. Araya - 18
4. Little Scarlet - 21
5. Maverick - 27
6. Wasp - 30
7. Sonic - 39
8. Dick Dastardly - 44
The Voiles de Saint-Tropez 2020: all aboard!
Despite the significant difficulties related to the current situation and health constraints, the 2020 edition of the Voiles de Saint-Tropez has been confirmed. Four days before the event kick-off, the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez, Saint-Tropez town and all sponsors have spared no effort to put in place the necessary measures in order that the flagship Tropezian autumnal event can go ahead in the best possible conditions for participants, spectators and staff alike.
Scheduled this year for the first time over a period of two weeks, from September 26 to October 9, the 22nd edition of the Voiles de Saint-Tropez is preparing to welcome a fleet of around 200 of the most beautiful classic and modern boats in the world, a figure down by a third compared to usual numbers for the event.
Challenge Day Thursday, October 1: no Centenary Cup, only the Challenge Races
Organised in collaboration with the Gstaad Yacht Club as part of the Voiles de Saint-Tropez since 2011, the Centenary Cup is a regatta open to boats over one hundred years old. The original format of this race, which is usually one of the highlights of the Challenge Day featured on Thursday, is to give staggered starts to the participating boats according to their speed potential, so that the first boat to cross the line is the winner. The quarantine measures in place between France and Switzerland do not allow the organisers this year to ensure the smooth running of this race, which has had to be written out of the programme. This setback should not prevent centenarians from challenging each other and sailing in the wake of the Club 55 Cup which will take place. -- Maguelonne Turcat
Programme 2020:
Week 1: The Voiles de Saint-Tropez
Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th September: registration for boats up to 20 meters (except for certain classes)
Monday 28th September: racing for modern yachts
Tuesday 29th, Wednesday 30th September, Friday 2nd, Saturday 3rd October: racing for modern yachts and classic yachts
Thursday 1st October: Challenge Day
Saturday 3rd October: prize giving (week 1)
Week 2: The Voiles Super Boats
Sunday 4th and Monday 5th October: big boat registration (Wally, IRCA, Maxi yachts, big Classic, big Schooner)
Tuesday 6th, Wednesday 7th, Thursday 8th, Friday 9th: big boat racing
Friday 9th October: prize giving (week 2)
www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr
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The Last Word
Courage is not how a man stands or falls, but how he gets back up again. -- John L. Lewis
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