In This Issue
Denmark sets Olympic standard as Netherlands top medal table
First phase of Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification concludes
Lendy Cowes Week 2018 Final Report
Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race
New Double-Handed Class to Feature at Antigua Sailing Week
Augie Diaz and Bruno Prada Win Star Europeans
St. Francis Claims Morgan Cup Team Race Trophy
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
For the Record
Featured Brokerage
The Last Word: Barack Obama
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Denmark sets Olympic standard as Netherlands top medal table
The Hempel Sailing World Championships Aarhus 2018 drew to a close on Sunday with the Netherlands on top, France on the rise and Denmark basking in accolades from around the world for setting new standards for hosting the biggest sailing event in the world.
The greatest gift from the Danes and their 1,100 amazing volunteers was that they provided the perfect stage for the sailors to showcase their talents. New stars have emerged and old ones returned. The week has been graced by many great performances, from dramatic capsizes in the 49erFX and the rise of the Fantela brothers in the 49er, Zsombor Berecz's tears as he crossed the line to win the Finn and Hungary's first gold at a quadrennial World Championships and Emma Plasschaert winning Belgium's first world championship gold in the Laser Radial and proving that Marit Bouwmeester is human.
The Netherlands topped the final medal table with three golds, two silvers and one bronze from the ten Olympic classes. On Sunday, they added a silver lining to their double victory lap in the windsurfing. Dorian Van Rijsselberghe, the double Olympic champion, and Lilian de Geus had made themselves mathematically uncatchable on Friday. Kiran Badloe, lying in second, kept his rivals behind him in the medal race to take another silver for the Dutch.
No one across any of the fleets has been more dominant than De Geus. She did not finish lower than ninth in their 12 races over the last two weeks. After dominating Friday, the 26-year-old De Geus, was 30 points clear of China's Yunxiu Lu in second. This World Championships gold and the challenge it lays down to the rest of the fleet for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo (Enoshima), will have gone long way to making up for the dreaded fourth place in the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Full results of all classes: aarhus2018.sailing.org/results
First phase of Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification concludes
The first phase of Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification for sailing has concluded after fleet racing wrapped up in the Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17, Men's Skiff – 49er and the Men's and Women's Windsurfing – RS:X.
Eight places in both the Nacra 17 and 49er, ten in the Men's RS:X and 11 in the Women's RS:X were available in Aarhus and subject to final notification from World Sailing after the event to the relevant Member National Authority / National Olympic Committee, the following nations have qualified:
Nacra 17
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Brazil
Denmark
Great Britain
Italy
New Zealand
The Nacra 17 fleet had 27 nations represented across 68 boats.
49er
Croatia
Denmark
France
Germany
Great Britain
New Zealand
Portugal
Switzerland
Across 86 entries, 31 nations were aiming for qualification.
RS:X Men
China
France
Great Britain
Greece
Israel
Italy
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Spain
The Men's RS:X featured 85 competitors from 33 nations.
RS:X Women
China
Denmark
Estonia
France
Great Britain
Israel
Italy
Netherlands
Poland
Russia
Spain
Twenty eight nations participated in the 62-boat fleet.
Laser, Laser Radial and 49erFX qualification update. Women's 470 qualification update. Finn and Men's 470 qualification update.
Lendy Cowes Week 2018 Final Report
Friday at Cowes. Photo by Ingrid Abery, www.ingridabery.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
Giles Peckham's Daring Dauntless won the class with a day to spare, racing with his wife Jane, Milo Carver and Richard Romer-Lee. Dauntless was out again today, taking a seventh race win of the week. Jeremy Preston's Defender and Roger Marwood's Audax finished the series tied on 22 points, with the tie break for second overall resolved in Defender's favour, thanks to her second place in today's race.
Peckham's team's performance also saw Dauntless declared overall winner of Lendy Cowes Week. "It has been a classic Cowes Week, with windy days and light days," he says. "One thing that hasn't happened, at least for us this week, is we haven't had a race turned inside out. There have certainly been snakes and ladders, which is what you need when you get a bad start. And there is good luck and bad luck out there. We needed a bit of good luck and we got it, but at the end of the day there is nothing to replace preparation, teamwork and everybody on the boat contributing to the win."
Racing in the Solent is often seen as requiring extensive local knowledge, but the top competitor across the Black Group classes emerged as a Dutch boat, Caroline van Beelen and Rutger Krijger's J/109 Jack Rabbit. They started with a straight run of first places, before scoring a third in the final race that they were able to discard. Simon Perry's Jiraffe took second overall and Christopher Sharples and Richard Acland's Jumping Jellyfish third in the 17-strong one design class.
Peter Morton's Fast40+ Girls on Film won the Duke of Edinburgh Triple Crown Trophy for the biggest yachts that have been competing for three of the most prestigious trophies in the sailing world over the last three days. Morton finished the series just one point ahead of Tony Langley's TP52 Gladiator. Igor Yakunin's Ker 46 Lady Mariposa and Michael Bartholomew's GP42 Tokoloshe tied on seven points, with the former taking third place overall on count back.
Gladiator also won IRC Class 0 overall, having never finished a race outside the podium, while Bertie Bicket's Swan 42 Fargo took IRC Class 1 ahead of Philippe Frantz's NMD43 Albator and Johan Gustavsson's Ker 39 Vencom. Adam Gosling continued a long-running winning streak with his latest boat, the JPK1180 Yes! taking victory in IRC Class 2 by a three point margin. In the tightest possible battle for second place, Christopher Daniel's J/122E Juno finished tied on points with Tony Mack's J/111 McFly, with the tie break resolved in Juno's favour.
Paul McNamara and Tony Lowe's First 40.7 Incognito took overall victory in IRC Class 3, ahead of Arianne van de Loosdrecht's Max Fun 35 Team Heiner lll and Royal Ocean Racing Club Admiral Andrew McIrvine's First 40 La Reponse.
IRC Class 4 was won by another previous class winner with a new boat, David Franks' J/112E Leon. -- Rupert Holmes
Overall Lendy Cowes Week results
Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race
Twenty eight teams with crew from 18 different countries have started the 2018 Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race, organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club. The cannon fire from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line signalled the start of one of the world's toughest yacht races. For the start at midday on Sunday 12th August, a cold front from the Atlantic provided pewter skies and a gusting southerly wind, accompanied by rain. Several low pressure systems are forecast to give rough weather during the 1,805 nautical mile marathon.
After leaving the Solent, the yachts raced close to the south side of the Isle of Wight to avoid the worst of the foul tide. For the first night, the wind is expected to strengthen and shift southwest; the 140 sailors in the fleet will be bracing themselves for a hard beat in the English Channel towards The Lizard.
Eleven Class40s are taking part, with the winner likely to take line honours for the race in approximately eight days.
Of the fully crewed yachts racing under IRC, Ross Applebey's British Oyster 48 Scarlet Oyster got the best start. Once the fleet had left the Solent, Giles Redpath's Lombard 46 Pata Negra led the charge on the water, just ahead of Mark Emerson's A13 Phosphorus II. In IRC Two-handed, Conor Fogerty's Irish Bam! and Ian Hoddle's British Game On were locked in a duel that is likely to last for the entire race. The two Sun Fast 3600s have pulled away from the rest of the IRC Two Handed teams.
In IRC Four, Charlene Howard's American Sun Odyssey 45.2 AJ Wanderlust is leading close rival Sigma 36 British Beagle skippered by Charles Emmett; both teams are racing Two-Handed and expected to take 10 days or more to complete the race.
How to follow the race: Track the fleet, catch up with all the daily news from the fleet and race reports, follow on social media, play the Virtual Regatta game or re-play the live streaming from the start: roundbritainandireland.rorc.org
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New Double-Handed Class to Feature at Antigua Sailing Week
Race manager Lorna Saunders says, "This will add an exciting new dimension to ASW. Safety being paramount, the double handed class will have its own start and courses will be carefully planned to accommodate double handed participants. The courses will be a mix of round the cans, with slightly longer legs and some days a coastal race. We look forward to thrilling, competitive sailing."
Antigua Sailing Week takes place from 28 April to 3 May and the Notice of Race is now available. An optional Round Antigua Race takes place on the 27 April, which will also offer a double handed class, and is the perfect warm up event prior to the five challenging days of Antigua Sailing Week where everyone is invited to race, chase and celebrate.
The professional race management team will continue to offer exciting racing for participants who range from fully professional campaigns to crews of family and friends.
Bareboat and mothership charters can all be arranged through our sponsor Dream Yacht Charter plus numerous race charter options are available from reputable partners.
Post-race daily prize-givings and an exciting week-long social calendar including the 10th edition of Reggae in the Park, the mid-week Lay Day Beach Party and the prestigious Final Awards Ceremony are key events on the must do list during the week.
Register to join us for 2019 or get more information at www.sailingweek.com .
*|YOUTUBE:[$vid=jlTuJIf--Vg, $max_width=500, $title=N, $border=N, $trim_border=N, $ratings=N, $views=N]|*
Augie Diaz and Bruno Prada Win Star Europeans
American Augie Diaz and Brazilian Bruno Prada are the winner of the Robbe&Berking Star European Championships 2018, tied to Lars Grael with Samuel Gonçalves (BRA) who are second. Bronze medal goes to Irish brothers Peter and Robert O'Leary.
Six of the seven races were sailed even though two of the four days of racing have been quite rough with very strong stormy winds. The PRO Claus Otto was excellent in deciding the right time to give the starts, postponing on Thursday and anticipating yesterday.
The winners of today's races were two German team, the first bullet went to Star Class President Hubert Merkelbach with Marcus Koy, and the second one to Olympic Star skipper Robert Stanjek with crew Leif Bähr. But nothing could stop Augie Diaz and Bruno Prada, not even the early start they had in race 5, that cost them to go back and re-start. Not even one mistake by the runners-up was made, Lars Grael and Samuel Goncalves, who discard a seven and are tie to the winners. A Championship well played by the Irish brothers O'Leary, who proved to be excellent team on tough conditions, winning yesterday's race with winds gusting up to over 30 knots.
Final top ten:
1. Augie Diaz / Bruno Prada, USA, 19 points
2. Lars Grael Schmidt / Samuel Goncalves, BRA, 19
3. Peter O'Leary / Robert O'Leary, IRL, 27
4. Philipp Rotermund / Nils Hollweg, GER, 37.6
5. Hubert Merkelbach / Markus Koy, GER, 45
6. Roberto Benamati / Steffen Rutz, ITA, 45
7. Jack Jennings / Frithjof Kleen, USA, 46
8. Enrico Chieffi / Manlio Corsim, ITA, 56.4
9. Marin Misura / Tonko Barac, CRO, 57
10. Jorgen Schonherr / Jan Eli Gravad, DEN, 63
2018euro.starchampionships.org
St. Francis Claims Morgan Cup Team Race Trophy
Team racing victories are, by definition, a team effort. But when asked about his club's dominating performance in the 16th edition of the Morgan Cup, St. Francis Yacht Club (San Francisco, Calif.) team captain Michael Menninger made sure to credit people who were 3,000 miles away during the course of the regatta, but were instrumental in the team's preparation for one of the country's most competitive keelboat team racing regattas.
The New York Yacht Club team captained by Peter Levesque came in second. Corinthian Yacht Club (Marblehead, Mass.) finished third with two-time defending champion San Diego (Calif.) Yacht Club in fourth.
The New York Yacht Club Invitational Team Race Regatta for the Morgan Cup was first run in 2002 and has evolved into one of the most coveted trophies for post-collegiate team racers. Just getting an invitation to the regatta requires a substantial team-racing pedigree. Competitors in 2018 included former team race world champions, college sailors of the year and Olympians. The regatta was run Aug. 3 to 5 out the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court and sailed in the Club's fleet of 22 Sonars.
Trophy in hand, the St. Francis team headed to the airport for the long flight back to the West Coast. But a number of the sailors competing this weekend will be back later this month for the Hinman Masters (Aug. 17 to 19) and New York Yacht Club Grandmasters (Aug. 24 to 26) regattas, both of which feature minimum ages for skippers and crew. St. Francis is the defending champion for the Hinman Masters and will be looking to carry their hard-earned momentum into that event.
2018 New York Yacht Club Invitational Team Race for the Morgan Cup
1. St. Francis Yacht Club (San Francisco, Calif.), 16 wins - 2 losses
2. New York Yacht Club - Levesque (New York, N.Y.), 13 - 5
3. Corinthian Yacht Club (Marblehead, Mass.), 10 - 8
4. San Diego (Calif.) Yacht Club, 9 - 9
5. Eastern Yacht Club (Marblehead, Mass.), 9 - 9
6. Newport Harbor Yacht Club (Newport Beach, Calif.), 9 - 9
7. Yale Corinthian Yacht Club (New Haven, Conn.), 7 - 11
8. Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club (Centre Island, N.Y.), 7 - 11
9. New York Yacht Club - Storck (New York, N.Y.), 7 - 11
10. Noroton Yacht Club (Darien, Conn.) 2 - 16
Full results: nyyc.org/morgan-cup
Seahorse August 2018
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Mid-size melting pot
The market for IRC-racers in the 30-35ft range has become a lot more interesting driven by the new demand for shorthanded platforms. Fred Augendre, Jean-Pierre Kelbert, Eric Levet, Yann Dube and Michele Molino
It hardly ever rains
Keeping all of the people happy for all of the time does not happen by accident... Rob Weiland
Re-entry is a bitch
Often the finish of a round-the-world race can ‘simply’ see one set of all-consuming challenges replaced by another. Brian Hancock
RORC news - The steamroller Francais
Eddie Warden-Owen
Trickle up... Harken technical development
One thing distinguishes the foiling generation... the flow of technical development often goes in the opposite direction from usual.
Well, that was rather good
After many years’ dominance by a ‘well-known Australian design’ the Kevin Ellway-designed and Simon Maguire-built Exocet Moth took the top 17 (sic) places at the 2018 Moth Worlds in Bermuda...
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For the Record
The WSSR Council announces the recognition of the following new National Nautical Mile Records established at La Palme, France in July 2018: For further details visit the WSSR Website www.sailspeedrecords.com
BEL: Marie Paule Geldhof (Women NM)
BEL: Vincent Valkenaers (Men NM)
FRA: Marine Tlattla (Women Kite NM)
FRA: Antoine Albeau. (Men NM)
FRA: Christophe Ballois (Men Kite NM)
GBR: Zara Davis (Women NM)
GER: Christian Bornemann (Men NM)
IRL: Oisin van Gelderen (Men NM)
ITA: Andrea Baldini (Men NM)
SUI: Heidi Ulrich (Women NM)
SUI: Christian Arnold (Men NM)
SWE: Roger Oernvang (Men NM)
John Reed
Secretary to the WSSR Council
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The Last Word
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