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Yanmar Moth World Championships
Hayama, Japan - As the breeze increased on race day 2 at the YANMAR Moth Worlds 2016 in Hayama, Japan, so were the demands on consistency for the 66 sailors in the running for leaderboard glory.

Today's sailing conditions kicked off with strong southerly winds, not quite what some of the less experienced racers were hoping for, forcing several to stay away from the race track for the day. Many of the non-racers opted to watch the racing from safety boats, to offer support and learn from the best.

Great Britain's Chris Rashley, one of the new generation of Moth sailors, proved his class to break away from the pack and score 1,1,2, and leapfrog into the lead over Paul Goodison (GBR). Goodison, 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medallist in the Laser Class, raced another credible day to sit just 2 points behind, with Australia's Scott Babbage in third.

For overnight leader, Rob Greenhalgh (GBR), the day got worse before it got better. Greenhalgh was forced to retire from race 4, did not compete in race 5, but then escalated his performance with a win in race 6 to clamber back up to 16th overall.

Among the Japanese participants, Kohei Kajimoto, reigning Japanese Moth National Champion is setting the pace in 7th overall.

Sixty-six sailors from 10 countries are participating in the YANMAR Moth Worlds 2016.

The weather forecast for Thursday's race day 3 is set to be similar, with more breeze and big waves, and three races scheduled.

www.mothworlds.org/hayama/

Scarlino Sticks To The Plot
Scarlino, Tuscany, Italy: There were few surprises on the long awaited first day of the new 2016 52 SUPER SERIES season. The two light winds races adhered to the letter the widely expected plot line when Quantum Racing emerged with a small three points lead - smart, patient, percentage sailing being their Day 1 watchwords - and no fewer than four boats all log-jammed into a share of the same 7 points tally between second and sixth in the 11 boat fleet.

Just as every team has expressed their pre-season belief that this will be an incredibly close season, the level being almost universally high, so there is an immediate, ringing endorsement with four boats - all you would consider as podium contenders for a regatta or at the end of the season - unerringly finishing Day 1 on the same points. Takashi Okura's Sled won the second race and matched that to a sixth and are credited with second overall.

The Scarlino race arena - new to this 52 SUPER SERIES circuit - delivered light, shifty breezes which were hard to read. Staying in the best strands of wind pressure and changing gears was vital.

Scarlino Cup, Standings after Day 1, 2 Races
1. Quantum Racing, USA (Doug DeVos USA) (1,3) 4 points
2. Sled, USA (Takashi Okura USA) (6,1) 7
3. Platoon, GER (Harm Müller-Spreer GER) (5,2) 7
4. Alegre, GBR (Andres Soriano USA) (2,5) 7
5. Ran Racing, SWE (Niklas Zennström SWE) (3,4) 7
6. Provezza, TUR (Ergin Imre TUR) (4,9) 13
7. Bronenosec, RUS (Vladimir Liubomirov RUS) (9,6) 15
8. Xio/Hurakan, ITA (Guiseppe Parodi ITA) (8,7) 15
9. Azzurra, ITA (Pablo/Alberto Roemmers ARG) (7,8) 15
10. Gladiator, GBR (Tony Langley GBR) (10,10) 20
11. Paprec FRA (Jean-Luc Petithuguenin FRA) (11,11) 22

www.52superseries.com

Pierre Casiraghi Set To Take Off With Malizia
Click on image to enlarge.

YC Monaco GC32 Monaco, Monday 23rd May. As part of the Yacht Club de Monaco's sailing policy, a new boat has just joined the Monegasque fleet. Called Malizia, she's a GC32 helmed by Pierre Casiraghi. Just out of the yard, this latest generation fully flying foiling catamaran is set to join the GC32 Racing Tour which kicks-off at Lake Garda on Thursday 26th May 2016.

Malizia symbolises the Grimaldi family's deep attachment to the sea in this tribute to Francesco Grimaldi, a Genovese who arrived by sea in 1297 and founded the Grimaldi family dynasty. He was nicknamed La Malizia in the Monegasque language, meaning "the wily one".

Pierre Casiraghi, winner of the Rolex Giraglia Race 2014 and Melges 32 Gold Cup the same year and 4th in the 2015 Sydney-Hobart, will be ably assisted by experienced sailors. "We're the youngest crew and I am by far the least experienced on the circuit! I am so fortunate to be surrounded by a team prepared to take up the challenge."

Among them is Sebastien Col, match racing specialist and regular participant in the America's Cup; Boris Herrmann, a pure product of offshore racing and driving force behind this project alongside Pierre; Richard Mason who is equally at home on an Olympic dinghy as he is in the offshore Figaro; and Adam Piggott straight from the Extreme Sailing Series circuit.

Supervising them is Pierre-Alexis Ponsot. Winner of the Baccardi Cup 2012, a French Olympic team member and with a clutch of victories in the Tour de France à la Voile under his belt, the coach has bags of experience to pass on.

www.ycm.org

Seahorse Sailor Of The Month
Last month's winner:

Andrej Justin (SLO)
'Brave, innovative but smart' - Dmytro Kudryavtsev; 'two great boats, the RC44 and L30, no further comment needed' - Hasso Ambroselli; 'The L30 (above) is a great contribution to sailing' - Alex Ivanov; 'The L30 really is a very clever idea' - Alex Dabrovski; 'Boats like the L30 are the future' - Yuri Vlasenko; 'Andrej is such a talented designer but he deserves wider attention' - Torsti Pullola; 'He has also had a strong influence in sailing in the Ukraine' - Alex Molatai; 'He is unafraid to follow his instincts' - Andrey Nazximko.

This month's nominees:

 

Don McIntyre (AUS)
It started as a new race that he wanted to do himself, but very quickly the event that he created - the 2018 Golden Globe, for serious Corinthian singlehanded racers - took off so fast that this former BOC Challenge skipper will now stay ashore as organiser. With two years still to go, there are already 35 serious expressions of interest and 25 confirmed entries for a race that has fired huge energy into the non-professional solo racing scene

 

Mark Turner (GBR)
Another solo event that historically attracted both the very best sailors as well as a sometimes quirky fleet of yachts was the Transat. But, started in 1960, the race had quietly faded from public consciousness as higher-profile events like the Route du Rhum and Vendee Globe stepped in. New Volvo Race CEO Mark Turner - a bit of a traditionalist - was not prepared to see the event die and fought to save it. The 2016 edition was a pleasing vindication of his efforts

 

Seahorse Sailor of the Month is sponsored by Musto, Harken McLube & Dubarry. Who needs silverware, our prizes are usable!

Cast your vote, submit comments, even suggest a candidate for next month at seahorsemagazine.com/sailor-of-the-month/vote-for-sailor-of-the-month

To subscribe to Seahorse Digital £30 for one year with discount promo code SB2 click www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/digital

Xabi Fernandez Signs For Land Rover Bar
Land Rover BAR has once again strengthened its sailing team with the addition of Xabi Fernandez. The Spanish sailor has a tremendous depth of experience, with a gold and silver medal in the Olympic 49er (with Iker Martinez) from 2004 and 2008, along with three 49er world championship titles.

He has been just as successful in the rather different discipline of long distance racing offshore, with a second place in the Barcelona double-handed non-stop round the world race (also with Iker Martinez) and a podium finish in the Volvo Ocean Race. Xabi Fernandez also has experience of the America's Cup, having raced with Luna Rossa in the 34th edition in San Francisco.

LandRoverBAR.com

GC32 Racing Tour 2016 Sets Sail On Lake Garda
The 2016 GC32 Racing Tour gets underway later this week with the first of two regattas on one of the world's most magnificent regatta venues, Lake Garda. The GC32 Riva Cup will take place over Thursday 23rd May until Sunday 26th May, from the Fraglia Vela Riva in Riva del Garda, on the Italian lake's northernmost corner.

In addition to its natural beauty, nestled within the Italian Alps, Lake Garda is renowned for its exceptional wind conditions and flat water. The venue was chosen by the GC32 Racing Tour as this combination is perfect for teams to get maximum performance from their foiling one design catamarans.

New owner-driver trophy

The GC32 Racing Tour has been set up to provide foiling catamaran racing in the best locations, this year including Lake Garda, Palma and Marseille, on courses, and with the best chance of conditions, to allow crews to foil their GC32s and get the most from these lightning-quick catamarans. These features also make the circuit well suited to experienced owner-drivers.

As a result, and as a first for this 2016 season, the GC32 Racing Tour will run an owner-driver ranking in addition to its main overall leaderboard. This ranking is open to GC32 teams with a World Sailing Group 1 amateur helm.

www.gc32racing.com

Gearing Up In Charleston
Charleston, SC, USA: Nine teams representing the U.S., Canada, Sweden, England, France and Spain will start the 2016 Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing at the Charleston Maritime Center Saturday, May 28. Tenth entry Carac skippered by Louis Duc will be unable to make the start in Charleston. Following his second place finish in a brutal Transat race, the boat has suffered technical damage, but it is their hope to race in Leg 2 and 3.

With three days to the start, teams are presently based at City Marina and are busy making final their preparations. For most this will be their first Atlantic Cup and also their first time sailing in the Gulf Stream and the United States.

The newest boat in the fleet, Earendil's Antoine Carpentier arrived into the basin on Tuesday after having some repair work done to the keel and rudder. Antoine spoke about his excitement on racing into New York City, "I came to Charleston once with Giovani Soldini's Maserati program, but I arrived and left the day after by plane so I haven't really sailed in the US. I've never sailed into New York before, my camera is ready to take a selfie with the Statue of Liberty!"

The 2016 Atlantic Cup will start in Charleston, S.C., May 28, stop in Brooklyn, N.Y., May 31-June 4 and culminate in Portland, Maine, June 6-11

www.atlanticcup.org

Gosport Peninsula Charity Pursuit
The inaugural Gosport Peninsula Charity Pursuit was officially started off Gilkicker Point in the eastern Solent on Saturday 21st May. All 20 yachts with all 96 crew onboard crossed the finish line after the fun chase around the solent.

The event, modelled on the Eddystone Charity Pursuit in Plymouth, is mainly about fundraising for good causes rather than winning the trophy, The Gosport Challenge Cup, from the town hall's silverware cabinet.

The weather conditions were just right to allow the 24 mile course, sailing around the Nab Tower and back to Gilkicker via Browndown. The Pursuit is organised by Gosport Marine Scene CIC as part of the Gosport Marine Festival events series.

Around £5000 of fundraising for 13 charities has been confirmed to date, with 8 yachts still confirming their final total. Local charities benefiting include: Gosport Sea Cadet Unit, GAFIRS, Rona Sailing Project, Portsmouth Sail Training Trust, Royal Artillery Charitable Fund, Street Pastors, The Vernon Mine Warfare and Diving Monument, as well as several national charities.

Due to the success of the event Gosport Marine Scene have announced the date of the 2017 pursuit as Saturday 10 June. Entry forms will be available on www.gosportmarinescene.com shortly.

As One Race Finishes The Next Is Confirmed
As The Transat bakerly 2016 came to an end today - with the last finisher crossing the line off New York - the race owner and organiser, OC Sport Pen Duick, confirmed that it will be in the calendar for 2020, following on from the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe in 2018.

Herve Favre, the Event Director of The Transat bakerly, said the two races - both of which are owned and organised by OC Sport Pen Duick - are now offered as an alternating and complementary pair of classics for professional solo single-handers. Both races will continue to feature the same classes as in The Transat bakerly - namely Ultimes, IMOCA 60s, Multi50s and Class40s.

"The idea to re-launch The Transat bakerly this year was for us to have a classic solo race on offer every two years and we hope that this race will in future attract as many entries as the Route du Rhum," said Favre. "We hope that having the two races now firmly established on the racing calendar will help sailors and their sponsors to plan their campaigns around them."

Favre's comments came as the final competitor to reach the finish - Hiroshi Kitada in the Class40 Kiho - crossed the line off Sandy Hook. Kitada now enjoys the distinction of being the first Japanese sailor to complete the race after 22 days, 18 hours and three minutes at sea.

www.thetransatbakerly.com

Letters To The Editor -
Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.

* From Eddy Mays: re: World's Largest Model.

I hate to be pedantic but with reference to Ted Ruegg's letter in today's column

If something is 'full scale' then can it be a model? The OED defines 'model' thus:

'A three-dimensional representation of a person or thing or of a proposed structure, typically on a smaller scale than the original'

Whilst this definition does not preclude a model being full scale I would have thought that the common perception of something in full size would have been to call it a 'replica'

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See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/

The Last Word
I didn't get where I am today by worryin' about how I'd feel tomorrow. -- Ron White

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