In This Issue
18ft Skiffs JJ Giltinan Championship
Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Arbitration: Settled & Ongoing
Paul & Shark Trophy: Dragons are back in Sanremo
SailGP celebrates role of women in new championship on International Women's Day
Florida Laser Masters
Stu Bannatyne: 'Never Say Never...'
Copa del Rey MAPFRE
Featured Brokerage
The Last Word: George Bernard Shaw

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

18ft Skiffs JJ Giltinan Championship
Sydney Harbour: New Zealand's Honda Marine 18ft Skiff team of David McDiarmid, Matt Steven and Brad Collins became the Winning Group 2019 JJ Giltinan champions today, when they successfully defended the title they won last year on Sydney Harbour.

Honda Marine completed the regatta with an incredible score of 13 points, which was made up of five wins, two second placings, and one fourth placing.

After a last race battle, second placing overall in the championship, finally went to Winning Group (John Winning Jr., Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton) on 26.6, followed by Smeg (Michael Coxon, Ricky Bridge, Mike McKensey) on 30.

Fourth place in the championship went to ASCC (Josh Porebski, Jack Simpson, Dave Hazard) with a total of 33 points, followed by Asko Appliances (James Dorron, Harry Bethwaite, Trent Barnabas) on 39, and Finport Finance (Keagan York, Matt Stenta, Charlie Gundy) on 57 points.

Not content to sit on the fact that the championship had already been decided yesterday, Honda Marine came from behind ASCC over the final lap of the course to win the last race of the championship on Sydney Harbour today.

ASCC led from midway down the first spinnaker leg and looked a likely race winner, but the incredible Honda Marine team finished too strongly to take out the race by 33s from ASCC.

It was on the final windward leg when Honda Marine made their challenge to ASCC and the two great teams turned for home with just two boat length between them.

Live streaming of the club's 18ft Skiff racing is available on 18FootersTV www.18footers.com.au/18-footers-sailing/18-footers-tv/

A full replay of each race is also shown at the same address

Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta
Miami and Biscayne Bay today showcased the best day of racing as this iconic racing venue said good-bye to the 500 sailors who competed at the Bacardi Invitational Regatta. A great Easterly breeze of around 10 knots, sun shining warm and wave chop a lot less than the previous days made for a perfect race day. All of the classes finished their scheduled races at this the best spring sailing yacht racing event in the North Hemisphere.

In the Star Class, the charge for the 92nd Bacardi Cup victory came down to an American Gold Star battle. Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise (USA) presented a flawless scorecard with results always in the top 4, but Paul Cayard/Magnus Liljedahl (USA) managed a brilliant come back from a 27th in race 1 and earned a chance to steal the win from Doyle/Infelise. But only if they could maintain the momentum that gave them wins in Race 4 and 5. Both teams started on the right side, with Doyle keeping an eagle eye on Cayard who was almost on pin end and kept following that track. The Southern California partnership of Doyle/Infelise were first to the windward mark, whilst in a surprise turn of form North California legend Paul Cayard rounded at the back, in about 20th position.

The order of play continued at the downwind gate and up the second windward leg. At this point, Doyle/Infelise realized they were safely ensconced as winners of the 92nd Bacardi Cup and could abandon the race and head ashore! Even though Paul Cayard/Magnus Liljedal were slowly climbing back through the fleet, there was no hope of them overhauling Doyle/Infelise's points advantage. Then, on the second downwind, they broke their mast and were forced to be towed back in. Scoring a DNF penalty, they had to re-count their 27th from day 1 and plummeted down the leaderboard to finish in 7th overall.

Standing alongside Doyle/Infelise on the podium were Mateusz Kusznierewicz (POL) and Firithjof Kleen (GER), who also gave themselves an uphill start after a UFD in race 1, but won two races from the remaining five and finished only 2 points behind the winners. Another two points back were bronze medalists Eivind Melleby (NOR) and Joshua Revkin (USA). In fourth were defending champions Diego Negri and Sergio Lambertenghi of Italy and in fifth the French Xavier Rohart and Pierre-Alexis Ponsot.

On the race courses closer to shore, action was unfolding for the J/70, Melges 24, Viper 640 and the Flying Tigers 7.5 who contested their last two races of the series.

In the J/70, the winners were the team on Catapult (USA), featuring Joel Ronning, Victor Diaz del Leon, Patrick Wilson and Chris Stoke.

A big fight in the Melges 24, where, despite domination from a 19 boat American team line-up, it was the Italians on Italian Bombarda who claimed the win.

The best of the Flying Tigers 7.5 was Neun (CAN) with Geoff Becker, Richard Griffin, Sabine Griffin, Joe Mele and Adam Spiegel onboard. Finishing in style, they won the last race of the series. Just one point behind, Grassy Manatee (CAN) finished in second, with J.A.C.K.ed (USA) is third.

Top three:

Star
1. Eric Doyle / Payson Infelise, USA, 14 points
2. Mateusz Kusznierewicz / Frithjof Kleen, POL, 16
3. Eivind Melleby / Joshua Revkin, NOR, 18

J/70
1. Joel Ronning / Victor Diaz de Leon / Patrick Wilson / Chris Stoke, USA, 16
2. Ryan McKillen / Jon Wallace / Mark Mendelblatt / Sam Loughboroguh, USA, 32
3. Carlo Alberini / Stefano Cherin / Jas Farneti / Marco Furlan, ITA, 36

Melges 24
1. Andrea Pozzi / Carlo Zermin / Matteo Ivaldi / Nicholas Dal Ferro / Stefano Ciampalini, ITA, 21
2. Brian Porter / RJ porter / Jonathon Mckee / Mat Woodwoouth, USA, 22
3. Bruce Ayres / Mike Buckley / George Pete / Jeff Reynolds / Chelsea Simms, USA, 23

Viper 640
1. Mary Ewenson / Geoff Eweson / Tyler Bjorn, USA, 13
2. Geoff Fargo / Jon Bell / Spencer Steffen, USA, 19
3. Thomas Loutrel / Jeff Frohock / Mitch Hall, USA, 27

Flying Tiger
1. Geoff Becker / Richard Griffin / Sabine Griffin / Joe Mele / Adam Spiegel, CAN, 12
2. Brice Dunwoodie / Brett Bastien / Benjamin Ostroff / Jocelyn Robancho / German Lopez Grimon, CAN, 13
3. Keith Denebeim / Ed Pierce / Chris Thompson / Jim Pearce / Andre De la Reza, USA, 22

Full results available at Yachtscoring.com

bacardiinvitational.com

Seahorse March 2019
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

The real deal
Hot on the tail of the brilliantly successful (and important) Star Sailors League comes another zinger of a concept - the Nations Gold Cup. The idea for the SSL Nations Gold Cup is one of those ideas that once you have it explained, you wonder why it hasn't already happened. It's a keelboat regatta in identical onedesigns, with a strict nationality rule.

A long way from Tokio
Chris Dickson was actually there first, with a huge sacrificial leech on the 'upwind spinnaker' used by his 1993 Whitbread entry Tokio*. But Paul Cayard's EF Language team developed it into the modern Code Zero...

IRC - Breathing new life
Last year's combined offshore worlds in the Hague turned out to be a win-win all round and the benefits keep flowing. Jason Smithwick

Seahorse build table - Look behind the curtain
Patrice Carpentier twists the arm of Pogo Structures founder Christian Bouroullec

Suits you, sir
In very few years foiling has gone from being a single area of focussed development to a sphere of experimentation. Andy Claughton

Life at 40
Room for one more at the inn... Rob Weiland

Special rates for Scuttlebutt Europe subscribers:
Seahorse Print or Digital Subscription Use Discount Promo Code SB2

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Arbitration: Settled & Ongoing
The three late challengers - Malta Altus Challenge, Stars & Stripes and DutchSail - were given more time to pay some of their fees. ETNZ and Luna Rossa announced that they settled at least one of the Arbitration cases and amended the Protocol to give the three late challengers more time to pay their $1 million Late Fee and $1 million Performance Bond.

The late entry fee of US$1m must now be paid in two installments: US$250,0000 paid by April 1, 2019, and US$750,000 by October 1, 2019. The $US1m performance bond is due by April 30, 2019.

The announcement made no mention of the $2 million in regular Entry Fees that were due in December. Sail-World's Richard Gladwell, with inside sources, claims that the $2 million in regular Entry Fees are due by this Friday, 15 March - the Ides of March - ironically, the date that Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in the Roman Senate. Probably just a coincidence, right?

Remember that INEOS Team UK and American Magic have no say in changes to the Protocol, which need only the agreement of the Defender and Challenger of Record. Neither INEOS Team UK nor American Magic would comment on the Protocol change. My sources say that there is still an ongoing Arbitration case about rejecting one or more of the late challenges.

Jack Griffin in Cup Experience: club.cupexperience.com

Paul & Shark Trophy: Dragons are back in Sanremo
From March 14 to 17, a 40-boats strong fleet will visit Sanremo for the Paul & Shark Trophy, second leg of the Open Italian Championship of the Dragon, the boat designed in 1929 by Norwegian Johan Anker and still very popular and much appreciated among sailors from all over the world.

The regatta, sponsored by clothing brand Paul & Shark and organised by the Yacht Club Sanremo in co-operation with IDA, the International Dragon Association, will visit Liguria for the thirteenth time.

Forty teams from as many as twelve different countries have confirmed their participation. Some coming from nearby nations such as France and Switzerland; from Germany and the UK or from further away like Russia, Estonia, Finland and Sweden where Dragons are very popular.

The strong line-up will include British helmswoman Gavia Wilkinson Cox and international renown sailors like German star Jochen Schümann -six participations to the Games and four Olympic medals- or Russian former World Champion Anatoly Loginov while Italy will be represented by seven crews, including Giuseppe Duca, one of the veterans of the class and multiple Italian champion.

From Thursday to Sunday, the fleet will be racing on windward/leeward courses to grab the International Italian Dragon Cup trophy. Prizes will be also awarded to the first five crews and to the winner of the Corinthian division. The first starting signal is scheduled for noon on Thursday, March 14.

The Paul & Shark Trophy is the first event of the season for the class in Sanremo, anticipating the Dragon 90th Anniversary Regatta planned for next October on the Ligurian Riviera, the event expected to be one of the top rendez-vous on a national and international level for the quality and number of teams taking part.

www.yachtclubsanremo.it/regate/

SailGP celebrates role of women in new championship on International Women's Day
SailGP today joins the celebration of International Women's Day by recognizing and saluting the many women who are integral to the new global championship, highlighted by two-time Olympian and member of the France SailGP Team, Marie Riou.

Riou has found significant success in both women's and mixed Olympic classes, winning four world titles and earning two Olympic berths. More recently, she has made headlines for crossing into a realm formerly reserved for her male counterparts, pushing her to pioneer status. In 2018, she was one of the first female sailors not only to compete in The Ocean Race, but to win the grueling round-the-world marquee offshore event.

Now she continues to make waves as the first female sailor in SailGP, which features top sailing talent representing six countries on the world's fastest race boats.

Alongside Riou, many women are steering the inaugural SailGP season to success. Nearly 30 percent of SailGP comprises female team members in a variety of roles across management, technical operations, engineering, finance, race management, race governance, broadcast, hospitality, creative and communications.

"Women play an integral role in all parts of our society, and that is especially true at SailGP," said SailGP CEO Russell Coutts. "Our operation as a whole relies heavily on a diverse set of expertise, and we're fortunate to be one of the few sports in which men and women can compete alongside one another. Marie Riou is a pioneer and role model, and we hope the first of many female sailors in our exciting new professional sports league."

As flight controller and tactician for the France SailGP Team, Riou is responsible for ensuring the boat is foiling and at optimum speed throughout the vital maneuvers the team has to make to get around the racecourse at speeds never before seen in sail racing. She also has to absorb all the data from the environment, the boat and the other five competing national teams to place the French in the best position on the racecourse and get them over the line in front.

Joining Riou as crucial members of the SailGP team are women in every area of the new organization, from all corners of the globe.

Tickets are now on sale for SailGP's second event and U.S. debut. San Francisco SailGP is set for May 4-5, before the annual championship moves to New York (June 21-22), Cowes (UK, August 10-11) and Marseille (France, September 20-22), where the season culminates with a $1 million winner-takes-all match race. Visit SailGP.com for additional detail.

sailgp.com

Florida Laser Masters
Friday March 8th saw 68 Laser Masters sailors aged between 35 and 81 line up for the 43rd edition of the Jack Swenson Memorial Trophy in the Atlantic waters off Palm Beach, Florida. 8 nations were represented: Australia, Canada, Dominican Republic, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and USA.

Final results (8 races scored) with Masters Handicap

Laser
Ernesto Rodriguez - 21
Peter Shope - 33
David Hiebert - 44

Radial
Paul Clifford - 27pts
Christine Neville - 29pts
Peter Seidenberg - 34pts

Full results

The famous Green Jackets were awarded for the second year in succession to both Ernesto Rodriguez and Paul Clifford continuing the tradition started by the late Jack Swenson and the Royal Turkey Yacht Club.

The regatta, hosted by Palm Beach Sailing Club, was generously supported by sponsors Dynamic Dollies, Jarvis Group at Engel & Völkers, North Sails, and Tackle Shack Watersports.

This event proved the slogan on this year's regatta shirt "From Apprentice to Legend...Masters Racing Never Gets Old" with the oldest competitor placing 3rd in the Radial class just behind one of the youngest. There is no doubt that the Laser class have the Masters handicap formula right regardless of the controversy that has surrounded this iconic single handed boat in recent years. The heart and soul of\ this class is clearly the Masters sailors and they will continue regardless.

Stu Bannatyne: 'Never Say Never...'
When Kiwi Stu Bannatyne won the final Volvo Ocean Race with Dongfeng Race Team last year he was completing his eighth Whitbread or Volvo Race. His win rate is probably the best in the business, the 2017-18 success being his fourth after New Zealand Endeavour in 1993-94, Illbruck in 2001-2 and Ericsson 4 in 2008-9. In his capacity with Doyle Sails he has recently been spending time in France with the Figaro Beneteau 3 comes on stream, helping the four anglo-saxon skippers who will be campaigning with Doyle Sails in 2019, seeking to replicate in the Figaro class the success of Alex Thomson - a long time Doyle customer - in the IMOCA 60. Tip & Shaft caught up with Stu to get his thoughts on the early Figaro sail designs, the Ocean Race and his perspective on French racing.

So you have completed the first period of testing on the water, did you feel like you are on the money compared to what others are doing?
It is our first attempt at an inventory for the class and I think we got it about right in terms of what the required sail concepts would be and the crossovers. That is satisfying and we will now refine the next generation of designs, modifying the shapes a little bit. The foils are interesting. It is very early days in terms of figuring out the best way to use the foils. The boats are not inherently fast like bigger boats with foils would be, and so there is a lot of sailing about at relatively low speeds. Sometimes it is about minimising the drag of the foils rather than getting the most out of them. But when wind gets up and you are off the breeze a bit it seems quite fast, the foils lift the boat a bit and you are quite bow up. It is a nice boat off the breeze in a bit more wind.

What skippers are with Doyle right now?
Four boats at the moment, Joan Mulloy, Will Harris, Alan Roberts and Conrad Colman. There has been some interest from others and so we will see how it progresses over the season. In fact they are fairly strict in terms of the sail card allocation and so there is not a lot of opportunity to buy a lot of sails which is good in terms of controlling costs, but it does make it a bit more difficult to break into the class. But with these boats hopefully we will have a good showing and slowly gain traction.

What is the appeal of the Figaro 3 to you right now?
It is a foot in the door to the French market. The style of sails and the sailors we are trying to appeal to is important. The Figaro 3 has attracted some of the best sailors in the class from years gone by are back, some who have gone on to be successful in IMOCAs and Multihulls, pretty much all have come back to have a go in the Figaro. It is an opportunity to show these guys what we can do. We take a long term view, now trying to establish a bit of a foothold there and get people to have a look at what we are doing and hopefully attract interest from some of the bigger boats.

Full interview in Tip & Shaft

Copa del Rey MAPFRE
The Notice of Race for the Copa del Rey MAPFRE was published today, Friday 1st March 2019, on the event's official web site, by the organising committee of the regatta, and includes the main changes to the 2019 edition.

New classification system
In an aim to keep expectations running high, ahead of the last few races in the competition, in the new 2019 edition of the regatta classifications will be divided into two phases: the classification, and the Final.

The classification stage will be held between Monday 29th July and Thursday 1st August, with up to eight races held over the four days of competition.

Once six races have been completed in the classification phase, the worst result is to be discarded, and the final phase to be confirmed for Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd August, with three further races disputed without discard.

The Final will only take place if a minimum of six races have been held over the first four days. If this is not the case, the conventional classification system will remain in place as a single racing series.

The point system for the classification phase will be as per usual, with the first placed team of each race awarded one point, the second two points, the third three points, and so on.

The novelty in reaching the Final phase, is that ahead of competing in three races without discard, teams do not enter with the total number of accumulated points from the classification system, but it will depend on the individual team's position on the score board after the classification phase, ie. the first placed team will enter the Final with one point, the second two, the third three etc. As such, the dispute for the final podium will be held on the last two days of racing, with maximum equality between the top classified teams.

New distribution of the ORC class
In an attempt to adjust to the distribution systems of the fleets competing in continental events and world championships, the ORC fleet, which was traditionally the most numerous in the Copa del Rey MAPFRE with over 60 boats registered, will be ruled under the CDL system used by the World Sailing Federation, and divides the fleet into four possible classes depending on boat length and speed criteria.

The 38th Copa del Rey MAPFRE, organised by the Real Club Náutico de Palma, will be held in the Bay of Palma between 27th July and 3rd August.

www.regatacopadelrey.com

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The Last Word
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