In This Issue
• Recovery Time for Dalin, Ruyant
• Computer damage on board Newrest - Art & Fenetres
• Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar
• The Rough Hours of the Indian
• And now we race...
• The Yacht Racing Podcast: America's Cup Special Part 2 - Paul Goodison
• They rewrote the rulebook
• America's Cup World Series / Prada Christmas Cup: Why it matters.....and what to expect
• Panic Stations
• Starboard receive 2020 World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award
• 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award
• Featured Brokerage:
• • MILLS 41 - "Ambush"
• • Gunboat 62 TRIBE
• • Swan 115-001 Solleone
• The Last Word: Arthur C. Clarke
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
Recovery Time for Dalin, Ruyant
The Vendee Globe's leading duo Charlie Dalin and Thomas Ruyant are into a period of quieter winds as they recover from the big Indian Ocean storm which hit them on Tuesday night with gusts to 55 knots of wind and big seas.
Southern Ocean first timer Dalin, 35, admitted this morning that he felt he and his boat had been very close to their limits and that at times he has turned down the wind fields on his navigation systems as the sea of red on the screen was only making him more anxious.
But the rewards for their caution, care and seamanship seems to be a relatively straightforward passage to Cape Leeuwin where Dalin expects to pass between Sunday night and Monday.
"I feel like I have earned my Southern Ocean spurs" chuckled Dalin who had never raced south of Itajai, Brazil before this race.
The leading pair on their Verdier designed IMOCAs are 214 nautical miles apart this Thursday afternoon, both making less than 12 knots in lighter airs with less than 1000 miles to make to the race's second Great Cape.
Holding third this afternoon is Yannick Bestaven on Maître Coq whose speed, composure and smooth strategies are proving a match for Louis Burton who is ten miles behind. Remember that Bestaven, Boris Hermmann (Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco) and Jean Le Cam (Yes We Cam!) have yet to be allocated their time allocation - redress - for the time and distance lost by them during and subsequent to their efforts to rescue Kevin Escoffier.
Top ten at 10 Dec 2020 - 04h (UTC)
1. Charlie Dalin - APIVIA, 14374.6 nm to finish
2. Thomas Ruyant - LinkedOut, 165.52 nm to leader
3. Yannick Bestaven - Maitre CoQ IV, 205.53 nm
4. Louis Burton - BUREAU VALLEE 2, 277.81 nm
5. Jean Le Cam - Yes We Cam!, 283.07 nm
6. Benjamin Dutreux - OMIA - WATER FAMILY, 284.29 nm
7. Damien Seguin - GROUPE APICIL, 312.29 nm
8. Boris Herrmann - SEAEXPLORER - YACHT CLUB DE MONACO, 332.86 nm
9. Isabelle Joschke - MACSF, 395.56 nm
10. Giancarlo Pedote - PRYSMIAN GROUP, 457.84 nm
www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ranking
Computer damage on board Newrest - Art & Fenetres
Newrest - Art & Fenetres is in 21st position in the Roaring Forties in a 290 degree wind of 25 knots, squalls at 35 knots and very rough seas. Fabrice is currently sailing without weather information and just with his GPS. The first onboard computer was already out of service from the first front off Cape Finisterre. "I will try everything in my power to repair it" announces the skipper. "It's very hard to take. I spent whole days in the trade winds and the Saint Helena high pressure trying to fix this computer 1 because I knew I was going on my way with a sword of Damocles. "
Fabrice is heading north-east to try to find calmer conditions while letting the front pass overnight with gusts of 40 knots expected in the area. He is currently in contact with his technical team and the boat's IT specialist to try to find a repair solution.
Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar
Tonight we note another submission and frequently mentioned sailor's bar, particularly for those who've made Charleston South Carolina the place to be in April for Charleston Race Week (back April 8-11 2021): Salty Mike's, Charleston, SC
From reader James:
Here's what makes it so great...≈ The home of Wednesday night racers, local live-aboards, delivery and mega yacht crews - and sometimes their "slumming"/cool owners, it is the first place to go in one of the most beautiful port cities in the world. Any night of the week there will be a small crew of folks ready to share a beer and a story, and maybe a foosball game. And Sean the bartender always takes care of you....
From Facebook:
The best and only waterfront bar you'll find in this town - fresh caught seafood, a home cooked bar menu and water views all in one! Family owned and loved by locals since 1982 - swing in and see why the pirates drink here.
While contemplating your note to us about YOUR favorite, enjoy a few of this festive holiday drink:
- Take your best champagne flute, run it under cold water and place it into a freezer for the moment.
- Place fresh ice into a cocktail shaker.
- Pour one shot of Wight Vodka into the shaker.
- Shake or stir for a minute or two.
- Pull the champagne flute from the freezer.
- Pour the Wight Vodka into the flute.
- Top up with your favourite chilled champagne.
- Add a splash of Blue Curacao.
www.eurosailnews.com/sailors-bars
Tack & Gybe Responsibly - wightvodka.com
The Rough Hours of the Indian
More than 15 days at sea for Thomas Coville and his seven teammates who spent the night from Wednesday to Thursday under the Kerguelen, before jibing by 53 degrees South just in front of Heard Island, which belongs to Australia. After an average day at 29 knots, Sodebo Ultim 3 remains ahead of the Idec Sport chart (160 miles at 6 o'clock).
Air temperature 2 degrees, water temperature 2 degrees C also, the cold is de rigueur this Thursday morning aboard Sodebo Ultim 3. After going very south, down to 53 degrees, the trimaran is elsewhere in the process of moving up on the port tack in a more manageable wind of around twenty knots to skirt an area of icebergs identified on the starboard side.
On Wednesday, the living conditions on board remained difficult in heavy seas
On land, the technical team of the Sodebo team is watching:
"The analysis of an engineer in the design office, quiet at his desk, allows us to have more precise answers and information than our on-board analysis, confirms the 39-year-old sailor. I compare it to F1: the driver is on the track, focused on moving the car forward, and on the low wall, there are the engineers who see the numbers scrolling and analyze them. We are a bit the same. "
And now we race...
On December 17, 2020 in Auckland (December 16 in the U.S.), the four AC75's will finally go racing: TE REHUTAI, LUNA ROSSA, BRITANNIA and PATRIOT.
The Yacht Racing Podcast: America's Cup Special Part 2 - Paul Goodison
In the second episode of our two-part America's Cup Special focusing on the US Challenger NYYC American Magic, Yacht Racing Life website editor Justin Chisholm catches up with British sailor Paul Goodison.
An Olympic gold medallist in the Laser Class and a three-time Moth world champion, Goodison is in the thick of the onboard action as the controller of the gigantic double-skinned mainsail that powers the American Magic AC75.
They rewrote the rulebook
Illingworth & Primrose - a yacht design house bestriding the ocean-racing world alongside and equal in influence to Sparkman & Stephens in the early years of the breakthrough period for ocean racing and yacht design that has led us to where we are today... in the age of flying foilers. Julian Everitt is let loose on one of his favourite topics
Ocean racing is a relative newcomer to the world of racing yachts, of mixed sizes, against one another. True, the Bermuda Race was started in 1906 by the then editor of Rudder Magazine, who believed that a yacht didn't need to be over 80ft long to be safe at sea. The concept of a race across the open ocean to Bermuda from mainland America proved to be immediately popular, but it wasn't until 1925 that the second classic ocean race was born in the form of the Fastnet. Sadly yet another world war had then to take place before the third offshore classic - the Sydney to Hobart Race - was born in 1945.
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America's Cup World Series / Prada Christmas Cup: Why it matters.....and what to expect
Just days away from the America's Cup World Series / Prada Christmas Cup we're starting to get hints of what might be in store as teams head out for some informal practice sessions and OMG! With potential closing speeds of 115mph (185kph) it is perhaps not that surprising that teams are taking things carefully, but it's also quite clear that these machines are absolute weapons that are as fragile as they are fast and that we're about to see a unique style of racing as the Cup raises the bar. From Auckland, Matt Sheahan takes a look at why the America's Cup World Series matters, what we can expect from the teams, how they may use this opening round and what we should read into the racing ahead.
Panic Stations
We've all experienced the utterly deflating feeling of hauling a boat that is at least two clicks slower around a racecourse. You come off the line and use your talent to get the first two shifts right but in the drag race to the layline you just can't keep up. For most of us that's our honest story week in week out. It's depressing. You don't have the sails, your hull is covered in a week of weed (at best) and that kicker block that you've been meaning to replace for months just gave up the ghost. Your crew are great and loyal but they are a mix of estate agents, accountants and your family and let's be honest, they are only here for the swift ale in the bar afterwards or to chat up that blonde who does foredeck on the boat way out in front. It's nice to be on the water, you kid yourself. At least you're not gardening or putting up those shelves in the spare room. But let's face it, you will never win apart from that one race at the end of the season where you lucked-out and put a half decent performance together that ensures you'll be back.
Well, imagine how you'd feel if you'd just blown £120 million of someone else's money and have an absolutely balls-out racing machine laden with some of the best sailors on the planet, a supercomputer or two to measure a billion points of data a day and you're still way off the pace. The first time you take it to a racecourse, it breaks. You then scuttle back to base, close the doors and silently weep. The management are all at each other's throats and the billionaire owner is breathing, heavily, down your neck. You don't even have a blonde in the bar to chase. It's depressing. Well that's what's happening in New Zealand right now with Ratty's Rita looking like the lamest of lame ducks and the rest of the fleet and commentators dumbfounded as to where it has all gone wrong.
They didn't compete in the first tune-ups and were resolutely in the shed today trying to fix issues with the mast but it's their on-the-water performances whilst tuning up that have set the alarm bells ringing. Team Ineos sail the boat differently to the others - and some would say they are stuck in a set of procedures that other teams moved on from some time ago. And they are slow. Possibly not even at the pace of American Magic and a million miles from Team New Zealand and Prada.
It's a familiar story being played out - the only difference is that this time, they really should have no excuses. -- Magnus Wheatley
Starboard receive 2020 World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award
Starboard (THA), the leading manufacturer of Stand Up Paddle boards and windsurf boards, including the iQFOiL, the Paris 2024 Olympic Men's and Women's Windsurfer Equipment, have won the 2020 World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award.
Four exceptional finalists were shortlisted by an expert judging panel for the Award before the public voted on who should join 2018 winner, Corpus Christi Yacht Club (USA) and 2019 recipient, The Green Blue (GBR) as the 2020 awardee.
Starboard were joined on the shortlist by the Hyundai 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championship (NZL), MarkSetBot (USA) and Northern Light Composites (NLComp) (ITA).
As winner of the World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award, Starboard will receive a $10,000 USD prize to help further their sustainability activities, as well as an iconic trophy made from recycled carbon fibre which was sourced from an America's Cup boat and infused with bio resin. -- Daniel Smith - World Sailing
2020 Lifetime Achievement Award
This year's virtual edition of the IBI-METSTRADE virtual edition of Boat Builder Awards for Business Achievement, held in association with Raymarine, honoured the Lifetime Achievement of Hallberg-Rassy's Christoph Rassy
The event's final category honoured an industry figurehead with a track record of having built more than 10,000 yachts. In an extraordinary surprise Lifetime Achievement presentation, Hallberg-Rassy founder, Christoph Rassy, was greeted by Arne Kai Skauen, the former long-standing CEO of category sponsor Sleipner, in a socially distanced meeting of boats off the western coast of Sweden. Visibly moved, Christoph joins a Boat Builder Awards hall of fame that includes Paolo Vitelli, David King, Robert Braithwaite, Annette Roux and Bill and Bob Healey.
IBI Editor and chair of the Boat Builder Awards judges, Ed Slack, commented: "Our congratulations to all who won today and thanks to all companies who somehow found the time among all the turmoil to enter this year. Our industry's reaction to the opportunities and challenges of 2020 has been incredible in so many ways. No-one would have wished for the test of a pandemic, but we have all learned just what strength in depth we have through this experience. It was good that we were able to celebrate the enterprise and sheer hard work of all boatbuilders at this time."
"The achievements of builders and their supply chains across the globe this year have been incredible," said Niels Klarenbeek, Director Maritime METSTRADE. "That's why we were determined to stage a special edition of the Boat Builder Awards in our METSTRADE studio today. Our thanks go to our sponsors, organising team and judges for making this not only possible but also a notable occasion to mark a year I'm sure we will never forget."
Featured Brokerage
2016 MILLS 41 - "Ambush". 350000 USD. Located in Hong Kong.
AMBUSH is an IRC41 from Mark Mills. With a detailed understanding of the IRC rule, this FAST 40 style racer was penned with a more offshore focus, whilst keeping similar DNA to the inshore flyers that we have seen taking IRC by storm. A great option for both an inshore and offshore calendar.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Race Boats
+447759 424900
+442380 016582
sampearson [AT] ancasta [DOT] com
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Gunboat 62 TRIBE. POA USD.
TRIBE is the original Gunboat- the trailblazing, iconic Gunboat, a timeless beauty with rock-solid construction and enviable performance, ready for her next owners’ adventures!
For full details go to... Gunboat Brokerage
Contact
sales [AT] gunboat [DOT] com
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2015 Swan 115-001 Solleone. POA EUR. Located in Marina di Scarlino, Italy
Designed for comfort and performance, SOLLEONE is the first Swan 115 S Version, delivered by Nautor's Swan in Summer 2015. The magic combination of German Frers yacht design alongside a luxurious and elegant italian style interior designed by Nautor's Swan in house styling team and Michele Bònan.
See listing details in Nautor's Swan Brokerage
Contact
Nautor's Swan Brokerage - Lorenzo Bortolotti
brokerage [AT] nautorswan [DOT] com
Tel. +377 97 97 95 07
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
In these latter days, knighthood was an honor few Englishmen escaped. -- Arthur C. Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama
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