In This Issue
• Yes, Hugo Boss Is Quick...
• Luna Rossa make quick modification to new boat
• Star turn - 52 Super Series
• Broads sailors 'get back on the water' after change in lockdown rules
• Star Winter Series Gets Underway
• Seahorse Early Bird Offer
• David Kellett AM awarded Australian Sailing Life Membership
• Battle Royal Over the Course for the Fastnet Race
• "Age of Russia" grounded and destroyed
• The Star Class Remembers Dierk Thomsen
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Baltic Yachts 50
• • Gunboat 62 Tribe
• • Pilot Classic 66
• The Last Word: Will Rogers
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
Yes, Hugo Boss Is Quick...
How fast was Alex Thomson going to be? That was one of the big questions leading up to the start of the Vendee Globe because the British raider had stayed away from IMOCA events and trained and prepared for this race in complete isolation.
Thomson and his team were confident they had started from a highly competitive base point in their last boat and that this new HUGO BOSS was a big step forward in performance terms. Nothing that has happened over the first week of the race has disproved that analysis.
The black boat from Portsmouth has been highly competitive, it has been pushed hard by its skipper (no surprise there) and it is about to fly downwind in the northeast trades on its strongest point of sail as HUGO BOSS leads the fleet south towards the Doldrums.
This morning, at the 08hr polling, Thomson was positioned about 430 miles northwest of the Cape Verde Islands and had put 27 miles into Jean Le Cam on Yes We Cam!. He was 155 miles ahead of Thomas Ruyant on LinkedOut in third place, his nearest rival in a new generation foiler.
In the British skipper's mind will be the need to keep the pace up and keep pressing to stretch the fleet and give him every opportunity of getting through the Doldrums and into the southeast trades with a comfortable lead.
His course through Tropical Storm Theta was classic Thomson - full-on - as those chasing him opted for slightly less muscular conditions to the west, while Thomson battled big seas and winds gusting to 60 knots before he gybed out.
Luna Rossa make quick modification to new boat
Italian challengers Luna Rossa appear to have already made a major modification to their new America's Cup boat.
Luna Rossa is sporting additional depth to the skeg that runs down its skiff-type hull.
The boat spent a week in the shed following its initial splash in Auckland after being launched on October 19.
It has re-emerged with an even more prominent skeg. Given the long build time with these boats, the Italian designers appear to have decided there is benefit in further accentuating that feature.
Star turn - 52 Super Series
Over his eight years on the 52 Super Series Provezza Sailing's popular owner Ergin Imre has known the highs... and the lows. But most of all it's the addictive collection of 'almost but not quite' regattas that keep the hugely experienced team owner returning to the heat of battle year on year.
Since Provezza joined at the Royal Cup in Palma 2012, the third event in the inaugural 52 Super Series season, then racing with Olympic silver medallist Nick Rogers on the helm and American Tony Rey calling tactics and moulding the team, Provezza have evolved from a crew that was about 50 per cent amateurs, then racing the Judel-Vrolijk designed former Desafío, to becoming today's regular podium contenders and occasional outright regatta winners.
Full article in the December issue of Seahorse
Broads sailors 'get back on the water' after change in lockdown rules
Sailing enthusiasts have wasted no time in getting back out on the Broads following a change in government lockdown guidance earlier this week.
On Tuesday, November 10, the Broads Authority updated their website to say that sailing, windsurfing, canoeing, rowing, kayaking and paddle-boarding had all been permitted as forms of legitimate exercise by the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs.
This is provided the "usual guidance" around social distancing is maintained.
Paul Rice, chairman of the Broads Society, said a lack of clarity over the use of private motor boats in particular was causing "havoc" on Norfolk's waterways.
In a statement posted to their website on November 10, the Broads Authority (BA) said it had "repeatedly sought guidance from the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)" about how coronavirus restrictions apply to private motor boat owners - but that the department had not been forthcoming.
DEFRA said it had been clear that "exercise", such as sailing, kayaking and paddle-boarding, can now go ahead providing social distancing is maintained.
www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk
Star Winter Series Gets Underway
The basic premise is as simple as can be: A single one-design series, made up of four winter weekend regattas and a 4-day Midwinter Championship*, all sailed out of a great club with an economical and convenient storage solution. The Star Winter Series also sets your boat up perfectly for the Zagarino Masters Regatta in February, and the Bacardi Cup in March.
SWS Event 1 | Schoonmaker Cup | November 14 - 15, 2020
SWS Event 2 | Commodore's Cup | December 05 - 06, 2020
SWS Event 3 | Levin Memorial Cup | January 09 - 10, 2021
SWS Event 4 | Walker Cup | February 18 - 19, 2021
SWS Event 5 | Star Midwinters | February 18 - 21, 2021
Only your best three Winter Series weekend regattas will count toward the SWS Championship. The Star Winter Series Champion will be the skipper with the lowest total score to be calculated as follows: The sum of your overall place in the Star Midwinters multiplied by 2, plus your lowest three scores from the four SWS weekend regattas. Series Championship ties will be decided by your place in Midwinters.
2021 Non-Winter Series Events
Zagarino Cup (Masters) | February 07 - 08, 2021
Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta | March 07 - 13, 2021
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David Kellett AM awarded Australian Sailing Life Membership
Prominent offshore sailor and sailing administrator David Kellett AM has been awarded Australian Sailing Life Membership. David is the twelfth person in the organisation's seventy years to be awarded this honour, and the first since 2016.
David was recognised for his outstanding contribution to the sport of sailing, specifically as a competitor and administrator of the sport in Australia and abroad.
He has served as an Executive Board Member of ISAF (and was the first Australian to be elected to this office) and amongst other roles has also served as Treasurer of World Sailing from 2008 to 2012.
Kellett has also been heavily involved with the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, with the first of his 45 Hobarts coming in 1965. Along the way he has skippered maxis including Gretel, Vengeance, Sovereign, Condor, Maxi Raggamuffin, Matador and Sydney, and has taken out line honours on several occasions. In what Kellett described as his sailing career highlight, he assisted with the design and build of Sovereign in 1987 and skippered the maxi to be the first Australian to win the Line Honour/Handicap double.
Kellett's primary focal achievement is his contribution to the sport of sailing, which has been recognised at the highest level, World Sailing's Beppe Croce Award in 2014. Sadly, he had to retire from professional offshore sailing in 2000 due to medical issues but he has continued to represent the CYCA as the lead of the SHYR Radio Relay team since 2000.
A full list of Life Members can be found on the Australian Sailing History page.
Battle Royal Over the Course for the Fastnet Race
It says everything about the iconic nature of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Fastnet Race that a General Meeting about the route for the race, which should be a private matter among the admittedly many members of the RORC, has already become a matter of public discussion despite the announcement of the forthcoming AGM and EGM on December 7th being issued via email as recently as 00.00.45 on Saturday, November 14th.
The timing thereby avoided publication on a gloom-laden and fateful Friday 13th by just 45 seconds. But inevitably there has already been much turmoil and dissent among traditionalists who felt that the time-honoured Plymouth finish was an integral and essential part of the Fastnet experience. When the proposed Cherbourg finish was announced a year ago, the RORC officers, committee and executive pointed out that they felt that facilities at Plymouth no longer met the requirements of a very varied fleet approaching 400 boats, some of them very large.
But traditionalists pointed out that expecting Plymouth to be able to cope with such a demand for an event which occurred only once every two years was like expecting a household to be permanently prepared for Christmas lunch, and that a bit of crowding was inevitable...
... It's now perfectly possible that this fait accompli will be overturned by force majeure on December 7th.
Read WM Nixon's full editorial in Afloat
"Age of Russia" grounded and destroyed
2020 strikes again. A large racing sailboat became unmoored early Saturday morning during a storm. It then grounded at Coronado's Central Beach, just south of the main lifeguard tower. Initially, the boat appeared to be stuck in the sand with little damage visible, however, as the waves continued to strike the boat, it split in two and as of Sunday afternoon, the waves were pulverizing it into dozens of smaller pieces.
The name of the boat is the "Age of Russia." It was built in Leningrad prior to the fall of the Soviet Union and attempted to compete in the 1992 Americas Cup in San Diego. Unfortunately, it was never sanctioned by America's Cup officials to participate in the trials. According to blogger Andy Davis, the boat spent time in both Vancouver and San Diego.
The Star Class Remembers Dierk Thomsen
Life member, Commodore (2014-2017) and President (1984-86 & 1996-97), Harry Nye Award winner......the Star Class mourns the loss of Dierk Thomsen. Awarded the Harry Nye Memorial Trophy in 1999 for his outstanding devotion to the Class, Dierk dedicated his life to the Class and worked very hard to help regain its Olympic Class status. "The Star Class owes Dierk enormously for his guidance, leadership and dedication. We would not be where we are today--- an Olympic Class with both a rich history and bright future...it it wasn't for our friend Dierk Thomsen" from his award presentation.
Dierk was committed to the international sailing for the past 5 decades and an important member of the Kiel Starboat fleet. As a former Star boat sailor, he made significant contributions to their concerns and organized in 2009 the European Championship in Kiel and 2017 in Glucksburg. His latest contribution was to bring the World Championship in 2021 to Kiel. We send our condolences to his family. In deepest sorry, Dierk, we will miss you!
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The Last Word
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. -- Will Rogers
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