In This Issue
SMA victory over Monin at first IMOCA Monaco Globe Series
Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron has accepted a fourth Challenge for the 36th America's Cup
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Solent Sunbeam 95th Anniversary Regatta
IRC European Championship incorporating the Commodores' Cup
80th Bol d'Or Mirabaud
Launchings
Featured Brokerage
The Last Word: Mark Twain
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SMA victory over Monin at first IMOCA Monaco Globe Series
Click on image for photo gallery.
Take nothing for granted till the finish was the philosophy of those competing in this double-hander, non-stop offshore race which started from Monaco at 1.00pm last Sunday, with the first boats arriving in Monaco bay at sunrise. It took SMA 3 days 19 hours 17 minutes in a battle with a variety of conditions all the way round. "It was a magnificent course; we must organise one in the Mediterranean every year!" said a delighted Paul Meilhat.
Newrest-Art & Fenetres pairing of Fabrice Amedeo and Eric Peron were glued to SMA's transom before Ile de Bagaud (Var coast), a game of cat and mouse that continued over several miles until the Bretons changed tactics and pulled away.
Another hard-fought duel was that between Newrest-Art & Fenetres and Monin, finally won by Isabelle Joschke and the highly experienced Alain Gautier whose impressive trophy list tipped the balance. The mixed duo snatched second place by a nose from Newrest-Art & Fenetres, just seven minutes ahead.
The rest of the fleet followed, Kilcullen Team Ireland first, followed by Boulogne Billancourt, Groupe Setin, Malizia II, Bureau Vallee 2 and 4myPlanet2.
The Monegasque Malizia II skippered by Pierre Casiraghi and Boris Herrmann finished 7th just behind Groupe Setin who ratcheted up a gear on the final straight. A successful race all round.
Arrival times and final ranking (after the Jury):
SMA - Paul Meilhat / Gwenole Gahinet: 3d, 19h, 17mn and 0 sec
Monin - Isabelle Joschke / Alain Gautier: 3d, 21h, 03mn and 50sec
Newrest-Art & Fenetres - Fabrice Amedeo / Eric Peron: 3d, 21h, 11mn and 10sec
Kilcullen Team Ireland - Joan Mulloy / Thomas Ruyant: 3d, 22h, 25mn and 0 sec
Boulogne Billancourt - Stephane Le Diraison / Stan Maslard: 3d, 23h, 45mn and 3sec
Groupe Setin - Manuel Cousin / Alan Roura: 3d, 23h, 47mn and 38sec
Malizia II -Yacht Club de Monaco - Pierre Casiraghi / Boris Herrmann: 4d, 00h, 03mn and 00sec
Bureau Vallee 2 - Louis Burton / Arthur Hubert: 4d, 1h, 29mn and 26sec
4myplanet2 - Alexia Barrier / Pierre Quirogea: 4d, 2 h, 49 mn and 30 sec
Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron has accepted a fourth Challenge for the 36th America's Cup
It is from the much rumoured Sardinian Challenge - Adelasia di Torres - and is the second challenge that has been accepted from Italy. The first of course being the Challenger of Record, Luna Rossa.
The Sardinian team has frequently been in the news, the last occasion being three weeks ago with a big splash in the Italian media. Our guess is that exposure was prompted by the submission of the Challenge to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, to go through the vetting process.And that somewhere there was a leak - intentional or otherwise.
While most of the Kiwi media seem to be pushing down on the number of Challengers that are likely, our guess is that the "No Vacancy" sign will be posted at Viaduct Harbour come the end of June.
Technically entries don't close until November 30, 2018, but those lodged after June 30, 2018 are subject to a USD$1million late entry fee, as well as the Entry fee (first payment) of the same amount. A second entry fee payment (USD$1million) is due for regular entries on November 30, 2018. Plus there's a Performance Bond of USD$1million to be paid at the end of July 2018.
The point being that for Challengers, there is some serious money to be outlaid in the next six months - although the second Entry Fee can be made in four equal instalments before August 31, 2019.
Don't forget that Emirates Team New Zealand along with Groupama Team France was on a similar layby Entry scheme in the lead-up to the 2017 America's Cup. These sums are not easily sourced for those who think they are "ice-cream money". -- Richard Gladwell
* Heading up the challenge we have Renato Azzara, the founder of Sardinia Yacht Services. He is very well respected in Sardinia and a yacht racing enthusiast with many victories under his belt, he has the full backing of the Sardinia Government and his knowledge of Superyachts is second to none.
The Government of Sardinia has given the Challenge the use of the almost unused G8 summit facilities on the island of Maddalena as a training base until mid 2020, the headquarters will be in Olbia. The whole effort will be transferred to Aukland in New Zealand during 2020.
The Challenge has been named after Adelasia a mysterious Queen of Sardinia who went through the medieval world glorifying Sardinia, defending it with her love as she lived a life of sacrifice and loneliness in her Castle of Goceano. Adelasia died around 1262 and her tomb was discovered centuries later.
The Adelasia di Torres Foundation and NAVIGO, NAVIGO is the marine association of the Tuscany Nautical Cluster, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to build the boats required for the 36th America's Cup. Tuscany hosts the biggest service centre in Europe for nautical companies and is a district that produces over 30% of the world's pleasure craft over 30m. The AC 75 race boat will be built in Sardinia and be coordinated by NAVIGO. Pietro Angelini, director of NAVIGO said, "The work we will carry out will allow us to identify the best professionals and innovators in our area in order to enhance their technological and artisan skills to guarantee not only participation in the America's Cup but also the winning of this magnificent trophy."
The racing team will be headed up by Duccio Colombi a well known trainer on fast racing yachts who is responsible for winning 11 Italian Championships, two European Championships and four World Championships.
The Challenge has been accepted and is on-going, the event has already secured large investments but is in need of further sponsors. If you are interested in becoming a part of this incredible event in anyway could you please contact for further information.
Seahorse June 2018
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Bigger than the Vendee?
Well, nobody can say Les Sables d'Olonne has not sewn up the market in singlehanded ocean racing. Rob Kothe and Don Mcintyre
Not over yet
When we first heard of the plan to resurrect the rotting former Whitbread racer Maiden we admit that we were 'sceptical'. Brian Hancock
Sign of the times
Martin Tasker is encouraged to learn that some space is going to be kept for humans at the 36th America's Cup in Auckland
A very personal relationship
Solo ocean racers trust their lives as well as their results to their autopilots
Critical mass
The growing - fortunate - band of big cat owners are really getting it together.
ORC - About time
And there's no hiding this one
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Solent Sunbeam 95th Anniversary Regatta
Click on image for photo gallery.
To celebrate the 95th Anniversary 95 Sunbeamers celebrated the Class' birthday with a special dinner at Itchenor Sailing Club.
The first day of competition starting in cloudless skies and moderate 15-knot breezes which increased to 20 knots during the course of the day. In the first race, Julian Money sailing V42 Penny raced into an early lead followed by Roger Wickens in V26 Danny. Danny, however, forged ahead. Behind Penny, Tim Hill in V25 Query pipped V68 Sky on the finish line for third place. In the second race there was some close racing between Danny and V18 Polly sailed by Nick Leach. These two had a good lead over the chasing pack and they finished first and second respectively.
The second day dawned windless but after some delay a light breeze emerged. With the tide ebbing this put a premium on fast downwind sailing and the marks consequently became fiercely contested. Danny led from the first mark followed closely by Polly and these two maintained their positions until the end. Unfortunately for Polly she was disqualified for being over the line at the start, giving second place to Penny.
With three first places, Roger Wickens in Danny secured the regatta victory with one race to spare. In the final race, Query and V14 Jabberwocky, sailed by Mike Weston, led from the first mark and kept their positions until the end. Behind them, Danny and Polly had another close tussle but Danny prevailed in the end. The overall results were in doubt until the final leg of the last race, such was the closeness of the competition. In the end, Query was second overall, just one point ahead of Penny, who was also one point ahead of Polly.
Top three results:
1. V26 - Danny - Roger and Jacky Wickens, Tim Martell
2. V25 - Query - Tim Hill, Jenny Yeates, Jacqui Evans
3. V42 - Penny - Julian Money, Richard and Sarah Pearson
IRC European Championship incorporating the Commodores' Cup
Racing gets underway this Sunday at the third IRC European Championship, for the first time being held out of Cowes. The IRC Europeans will incorporate the Commodores' Cup, the Royal Ocean Racing Club's biennial event for three boat teams with amateur crews. For this season these two events have been merged to reduce demand on owners and crews' time.
Entry requirements have been eased significantly for this, the 14th edition of the Commodores' Cup. There are no longer rating bands, no requirement that one boat must be a 'big boat' and teams no longer have to represent a nation or a region. Any three boats entered in the IRC Europeans can form a team, but as the Commodores' Cup is a corinthian event, professional sailors are limited to one per boat (boats only entering the IRC Europeans have no such restriction).
The 2018 Commodores' Cup sees the return of the Celtic Team, masterminded by renowned Scottish adventurer, Jock Wishart, who is once again campaigning Jean-Eudes Renier's JPK 10.80, Shaitan. Backed by Aberdeen Standard Investments, the team also comprises the First 40 Adventurer (Rob Bottomley's Sailplane) and Andy William's Ker 40 Keronimo. Among the teams' pros are old hand David Bedford on Shaitan, while sailmaker Kevin Sproul will race the Commodores' Cup for a third time on Keronimo, having won the event aboard her in 2012 with original owner Jonathan Goring.
The GBR RORC Green team sees the return of RORC Admiral Andrew McIrvine for his fifth Commodores' Cup. His First 40 La Reponse will be joined by Tom Kneen, whose JPK 1080 Sunrise put in the best performance across the two British teams in 2016. This time Kneen will be racing his latest Sunrise, a brand new JPK 1180. The team's third boat is Ed Fishwick's heavily campaigned Sun Fast 3600 Redshift Reloaded, with former National Match Racing Champion turned Figaro sailor, Nick Cherry.
Another team from the UK is Kings High. This comprises Mike Bridge's Elan 37 Elaine, whose crew are regular competitors at the RORC's annual IRC Nationals but are having to dust off their sea boots for the offshore races in this year's event, plus two King 40s, Roger Bowden's Nifty and the Blair family's Cobra, current leaders in the Performance 40 class.
80th Bol d'Or Mirabaud
Geneva, Switzerland: The Societe Nautique de Geneve (SNG) is delighted to welcome some 3,000 sailors getting ready to dispute the 80th Bol d'Or Mirabaud and is offering them a program that will be rich in surprises for this jubilee.
Besides the regular Bol d'Or Mirabaud sailors, several famous sailors will participate in the regatta. Among them are Loick Peyron, guest of honor, Jean-Pierre Dick, Bernard Stamm and many others.
This year, competitors and spectators will discover a temporary layout of the port, due to the SNG enlargement construction project. "Soon we'll be able to accommodate a greater number of participants in a new, high quality infrastructure," enthusiastically states Yann Petremand, president of the Societe Nautique de Geneve Sailing Circle. "This year, we'll have a to adapt and do our best. Leaving the port will be difficult and returning will require skippers and their crews to be very careful. We thank participants in advance for their understanding."
As each year, the race can be following live on our LIVE platform, on YouTube, Leman Bleu and Radio Lac. Onboard cameras will enable experiencing the BOM as if you were in it. Real-time updates will be provided at key moments of the regatta, depending on conditions. Additionally, the start will be rebroadcast on the RTS Sport mobile app. Finally, the public will be able to follow the race on BOM social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat) using #BOM18.
Launchings
British sailing team, Alex Thomson Racing, has announced plans to design and build a brand new 60ft IMOCA race boat for the 2020-2021 Vendee Globe race.
The boat, HUGO BOSS, will be designed by French naval architectural firm VPLP Design in conjunction with Alex Thomson Racing's design and technical team, led by Peter Hobson. With the design phase now well under way, the boat build is set to commence later this month.
The announcement comes just six months after the UK-based ocean-racing team celebrated the renewal of its partnership with long-term sponsor HUGO BOSS, one of the most coveted partnerships in the sport of sailing. Together, Alex Thomson Racing and HUGO BOSS have broken numerous records, received countless accolades and enjoyed both second and third place finishes in the Vendee Globe, the gruelling non-stop, solo, unassisted race around the world.
For Thomson, a second place finish in the most recent edition of the race - which comes around just every four years - has helped position him among the favourites heading into the 2020-2021 race.
Founded by Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot-Prevost, France-based VPLP Design is made up of a team of naval architects and designers who, collectively, have helped to develop some of the world's most successful and innovative racing boats. Among those were the winning boats in the last two editions of the Vendee Globe - Banque Populaire VIII and MACIF, raced by French skippers Armel Le Cleac'h and François Gabart respectively. VPLP also co-designed the current HUGO BOSS yacht, which Thomson raced to a second place podium position in the 2016-2017 Vendee Globe, breaking the British record at the finish line.
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Finnish yacht manufacturer Baltic Yachts has launched their latest yacht a 67-foot luxury performance cruiser. Baltic Yachts intend to have her delivered to her owner by June.
The yacht has an LOA of around 20.5-meters or 67-feet and with her lightweight carbon fiber construction, the vessel should be decent at sailing performance. Her width is about 17.5-feet, not enormous but should make the owner's stay onboard at least comfortable. This Baltic 67 could see herself on the race course sometime in the future. The draft is around 3.90-meters but can be reduced to 2.50-meters via a lighting keel system.
This exciting new yacht, based on a standard hull but with considerable semi-custom options for deck and accommodation design, will provide fast, easy sailing with a performance edge benefiting from the advanced composite engineering and building skills perfected by Baltic Yachts over 44 years. With her relatively light displacement, easily-driven hull and low rig loads, the Baltic 67PC will be a safe and easy yacht to handle for a short-handed crew. She will make her worldwide debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September.
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Introducing The Solo 38 Performance
If the brief is to update a classic from the 1960's, any sort of update brings it into the modern idiom. So our refreshed ground-up Cal 40-inspired design would be a welcome departure from our bread and butter Spirit-of-Tradition vessels.
The Solo 38P: Clean lines, like the Cal 40, but upgraded all-modern hull, keel and rigging.
Originally conceived for day use on Lake Michigan, with an eye towards single-handing the Chicago-Mackinac race, we see the Solo as a high-test cafe racer. Note the bright-work joinery in the cabin structure and hull topsides and how streamlined the boat is. We tricked her out with modest push-button power-assisted winch functionality, with sheet and halyards leads hidden. Rules may preclude that in some races.
Like the Cal 40, Solo 38 P is a light, slightly toned-down racing yacht, with a conservative draft and a punchy sail plan that promises lively sailing on America's lakes, great and small. Also like Lapworth's designs, we wanted to keep her relatively small, with amenities below simple and about right for an overnight stay. There is a lightly appointed galley, a decent head and two generous quarter-berths. It's all about easy accommodation for two.
The detail drawings show a Cal 40 inspiration: Simple, spare, light on systems. All speed and fun for shorthanded racing and cruising.
LOA: 43 ft - 3 in
LOD: 38 ft - 8 in
LWL: 36 ft - 0 in
Beam: 11 ft - 9 in
Draft: 6 ft - 9 in
Displacement: 10,000 lbs
Sail Area: 725 sq. ft.
SA/D Ratio: 25
D/L Ratio: 102
Power: tbd
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The Monofoil Gonet, developed in the strictest of secrecy for the last two years, will make its mark on the sailing world when it lines up on Lake Geneva during the upcoming spring classics. Designed and skippered by talented sailor, Eric Monnin in collaboration with Damian Weiss, this innovative creation was built at Weiss Yachts with the support of some major names in naval architecture and marine engineering such as Simon Bovay, construction manager, Chris Hill, Clemens Dransfield, structural calculations manager and Jean-Claude Monnin. In charge of simulation calculations and foil design, Jean-Claude is Eric's brother and one of the pillars of the Emirates Team New Zealand design team.
Launched and tested away from prying eyes in the centre of Switzerland, the arrival of the Gonet Monofoil on Lake Geneva is hotly anticipated. It will undergo some final tests before preparing for the Swiss regatta season.
The Gonet Monofoil was imagined and designed before the America's Cup made its spectacular and unexpected move to the flying monohull. "For a long time, I've been watching the extraordinary performance of foiling sailing boats," said designer Eric Monnin. "Several impressive monohull projects have been developed since the success of the foiling Moth, such as the Quant 23, but it is still an evolving area, and I've always found that there is something missing."
Technical specifications
LOA: 8 m
Beam: 2.5 m
Displacement (empty): 850 kg
Mast height: 12.2 m
Mainsail area: 32 m2
Headsail area: 16 m2
Gennaker area: 50 m2
Featured Brokerage
Design: Stephen Jones Yard: Seaquest Yachts Series No 14 of 26 Built: 12/1999 Ballast: 2.690 kg – 43% of displacement Sail area: main 49 sqm, jib 39 sqm, spinnaker 111 sqm GPH 2016: 566.8
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
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First owner yacht in very good condition.Built 2006 launched June 2007. Fast cruising Sloop (design n. 44) made by Javier Soto Acebal who also supervised the construction of the boat. The construction of the boat and installations was carried out following the protocols of the EC so she is CE certi
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
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Epic sailing yacht with metallic livery and totally sparkling sailing. Below decks she is light, airy and comfortable for her guests and crew.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Ben Cooper
+44 (0) 1590 679 222
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The Last Word
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