In This Issue
• Unified GC32 Racing Tour
• Scrub Island Invitational
• Positions Vacant With A+T Instruments
• 80 days to enter the world famous Round the Island Race
• HRH The Princess Royal accepts Honorary Membership of the Cruising Association
• More than Busy - Melges Yachts
• Inaugural Hong Kong to Puerto Galera Yacht Race
• Nakajima's Hiro Maru Lends Historical Adornment to Transatlantic Race 2019
• Featured Brokerage
• The Last Word: George Washington
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
Unified GC32 Racing Tour
With the GC32 flying catamaran racing circuits this year amalgamated on the GC32 Racing Tour, so at least 10 teams, including the GC32 teams from the Extreme Sailing Series, are due to compete on this season's five event circuit that takes in some of the best sailing venues in Italy, Spain and Portugal.
Participating on the circuit will once again be many of the world's best sailors, including Olympians, Volvo Ocean Race winners and America's Cup sailors - both past and present - and a more or less equal split in the fleet between pro helms and amateur owner-drivers. For owner-drivers the GC32 represents the rare opportunity to experience state-of-the-art foil borne racing, similar to that seen in the last two America's Cups, together with 30+ knot boat speeds, but with standardised gear and for a fraction of the cost.
Owner-drivers, who typically sail with a professional crew, as usual will have their own Championship running concurrently with the overall results and will receive their own prizes both at individual events and for the whole Championship.
In 2018 American Jason Carroll's Argo finished fifth overall, but won the Owner-Driver Championship in a season that saw four different owner-driver teams claim this prize at individual events.
Switzerland has a long illustrious history in the GC32 class with teams such as Alinghi, Realteam and Team Tilt. Joining the circuit for 2019 will be a new Swiss campaign in Black Star Sailing Team. This has been masterminded by former A-Class catamaran sailor Christian Zuerrer with the assistance of former Armin Strom Sailing Team skipper and renowned Olympic Star sailor Flavio Marazzi.
2019 GC32 Racing Tour schedule
22.-26 May: GC32 Villasimius Cup / Villasimius, Sardinia, Italy
26-30 June: GC32 World Championship / Lagos, Portugal
31 July-4 August: 38 Copa del Rey MAPFRE / Palma de Mallorca, Spain
11-15 September: GC32 Riva Cup / Riva del Garda, Italy
6-10 Nov: TBA
Scrub Island Invitational
Tortola, British Virgin Islands: "Hard to get to, harder to leave, impossible to forget" - a beloved cliché maybe but one that Brits Tony Mack and his wife Sally like to remember when they think about the BVI, and understandably so after today's 42-strong fleet raced up to the idyllic Scrub Island Resort, Spa and Marina, a private-island resort in the BVI, some 13 km to the north east of Tortola.
Today's course for the Scrub Island Invitational started off Nanny Cay in a delightful 12-15 knots from the south which held steady throughout the day. Mack and his Team McFly on the J/122 El Ocaso, narrowly won the Racing Division, beating sistership Liquid by just 48 seconds (corrected).
"It was quite close!" Mack said with a big smile. "We had a very good start, sailed most of the shifts up to Dead Man's Chest and were well positioned for the downwinder to the finish. Liquid is always a good gauge of how we are doing, they made us work really hard to get ahead of them." The Macks love the BVI and spent a week cruising on a Moorings charter boat prior to Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival. He's become a regular to the event, bringing his J/111 crew out from England. He enjoys chartering the J/122 to race, commenting, "It's just much nicer to go downwind on a performance boat!"
Conviction, the TP52 chartered by "Kuli" Kulinichenko, the first monohull to finish in an elapsed time of 1:56:13, had a great race duking it out against E1, the Volvo 70.
Kent Haeger - owner/skipper of the Gunboat 62 Mach Schnell - and his crew took first in the Multihull division with in 2:05:09 (corrected), followed closely by Gunboat 62 Coco de Mer in 2:08:53. Just five seconds behind in third was the Corsair f27 Whoop Whoop! Hailing from the lakes of Wisconsin where he sailed scows for many years, Haeger has been working up to the helming skills required on Mach Schnell. Transitioning last year from his Outremer 5X to the Gunboat Haeger said, "We wanted something more performance-based and we got it!" The Mach Schnell crew had a fantastic day sailing and are having fun lining up against similar boats in good competition.
After two fabulous days on the water, the fleet will enjoy a lay day on Thursday. Registration for Spring Regatta is open noon to 6pm, the Regatta Village bar opens at noon with a Carib Welcome Party from 5-7pm. The Skipper's Meeting starts at 5:30pm. Music by MJ Blues from 7pm-midnight.
Results for the Scrub Island Invitational
Positions Vacant With A+T Instruments
A+T InstrumentsA+T are the rapidly growing designer and manufacturer of very high-quality instruments for the Superyacht and race boat markets.
Offering upgrades and complete systems, A+T are suppliers to some 250 of the world's largest and fastest yachts. Key to A+T's business is the provision of excellent support.
Year on year growth has been 40% and now A+T are looking to expand their sales team with three appointments:
Technical Sales and Support
Preparation of proposals, drawings and dealing with technical enquiries. Liaison with captains, engineers, high-end electronics installers, project managers and yards. Mostly office based with some travel to visit yachts, dealers, yards and attend trade shows.
Outbound Sales
Office based outbound sales activity primarily around installer/dealers, refit and new-build yards.
Regatta Sales and Support
An upcoming or established professional sailor/tactician/navigator who can add a part-time role around sailing. Providing support, networking and direct sales at regattas and assisting with office- based testing, documentation, product feedback and improvements between events.
Great communication skills and a passion for excellent customer service are essential for all roles. A+T are a friendly team based in comfortable offices in Lymington, UK.
For detailed job description or to apply please email
80 days to enter the world famous Round the Island Race
Photo by Paul Wyeth, www.pwpictures.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
Sailors from around the world have only 80 days left to enter the famous Round the Island Race that will see 1,500 boats sail around the Isle of Wight on Saturday 29th June. The race received a record number of entries within the first 24 hours and is popular with families, first time racers and professional sailors alike.
Participating sailors will be able to experience sailing around the Isle of Wight with iconic views of the fleet and coastal scenery, which starts from Cowes at 0730 and ends in Cowes with the leading competitors taking under 4 hours to complete the course. Overall nearly 200 prizes are available at the event, with boats of every shape and size competing to win individual class and overall trophies.
During the race, spectators watching from the shore and from around the world will be able to follow the progress of friends and family via the race tracking service on the official website, provided courtesy of Raymarine, the Official Race Tracking Partner. The website will also feature a live blog, bringing all of the latest news and breath-taking views from around the Isle of Wight as they happen.
The Round the Island Race will be supporting The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust as its official race charity, which raises funds to help young people rebuild their lives after cancer treatment. The Round the Island Race is being sponsored by Helly Hansen, Raymarine, MS Amlin and Chelsea Magazines.
- The current monohull race record: ICAP Leopard (Mike Slade) in 2013 with a time of 3hr 43m 50s.
- The multihull race record: Concise 10 (Ned Collier Wakefield) in 2017 with a time of 2hr 22m 23s.
Sailors interested in participating in the event will be able to keep up to date with the latest news on social media using the hashtag #raceforall and will be able to enter online on the Round the Island Race website: www.roundtheisland.org.uk
HRH The Princess Royal accepts Honorary Membership of the Cruising Association
HRH The Princess Royal has graciously accepted an invitation to become an Honorary Member of the Cruising Association (CA), joining an elite group that includes sailing legend Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and the prolific nautical author, Rod Heikell.
As an Honorary Member, The Princess Royal receives all the benefits of CA membership including access to the unique CAptain's Mate, the Association's cruising APP that provides access to thousands of online and first-hand cruising reports and practical information with pinpoint accuracy. Her Royal Highness showed great interest in the App when she recently visited CA House in London's Limehouse Basin in celebration of the CA's 110th anniversary.
Speaking on behalf of the Cruising Association Council, President Julian Dussek commented on how delighted the CA is to welcome The Princess Royal to the CA. "We sincerely hope that Her Royal Highness finds the benefits of her membership add to her personal sailing experiences."
More than Busy - Melges Yachts
With new Melges IC37s underpinning the world champagne market at the other end of the scale the company's little unballasted puppy is doing pretty well too...
Nearly everyone reading this will have sailed or raced a singlehanded dinghy, either as a youth, more recently as an adult, or both. The pure joy of being in complete control of your own craft speeding effortlessly across the water and the direct feedback it brings to the senses is indescribable and keeps us forever attached to this sport.
So it may come as a surprise that, with this genre being crowded with so many designs over the decades, there could still be space left for innovation - yet Melges Performance Sailboats has done just that with the Melges 14, which is now under consideration as a new Olympic singlehanded dinghy.
Similar to the excitement caused with the introduction of the Melges 24 two decades ago - a design that completely redefined the highperformance small keelboat marketplace and remains popular around the world - the Melges 14 may quite possibly do the same for all the same reasons. It takes a new and fresh approach to use of modern design tools, high-quality durable materials, fastidious fabrication standards and strict one-design class rules and management to create a brand new experience in the joy of singlehanded sailing.
Full tech brief in the April issue of Seahorse
Inaugural Hong Kong to Puerto Galera Yacht Race
Entries are flowing in with just under a month to go until the start of the first Hong Kong to Puerto Galera Yacht Race (16 and 17 April). The Hong Kong to Puerto Galera Yacht Race will be the second longest Category 1 offshore race in Asia; second only to the Club's Hong Kong to Vietnam Race and will take competitors on a 650nm passage to Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro in the Philippines.
A variety of boats are taking part in the much anticipated first edition. Amongst the fleet are racers and cruisers, the biggest being being Peter Cremers' Warwick 75 Shahtoosh who came first in their division and 5th Overall in the 2018 Rolex China Sea Race - another of Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club's offshore races and which finishes in Subic Bay which is to the north of Puerto Galera in the Philippines. With Overall Winner of the 2018 Rolex China Sea Race Fred Kinmonth and Nick Burns GTS 43 Mandrake III also in the lineup, all eyes will be on the Yellowbrick tracker to see who will be victorious in this inaugural Race.
Nakajima's Hiro Maru Lends Historical Adornment to Transatlantic Race 2019
Click on image to enlarge.
Ninety days from today - on Tuesday, June 25 - a fleet of 20-plus yachts is scheduled to depart from Newport, R.I., and head eastwards across "the Pond" in the Transatlantic Race 2019. The reasons for competing are unique to each sailor, but often range from a personal challenge to simply wanting to sail an ocean race.
Among the fleet will be a handful of classic ocean racing yachts. A classic yacht stands the test of time by being a leading design of its day and still successful decades later. Retired architect Hiroshi Nakajima (Stamford, Conn.) will be at the helm of one such yacht, Hiro Maru.
Nakajima's second Hiro Maru is a Sparkman & Stephens 49-footer that was launched in 1971 as Scaramouche, the first of a series of highly successful ocean racers owned by Charles E. "Chuck" Kirsch (d. 2011), the philanthrope and curtain rod manufacturer from Sturgis, Mich. The first Scaramouche won Class B and was second overall in the 1972 SORC. Five years later she won Class B in the 1977 Transpac Race for then owner Robert M. Alexander of California.
Nakajima had the hull painted white, with a blue cove stripe, to resemble the yacht's original look. The boat's name and hailing port on the transom are also painted in the same shade of blue. Relaunched in the spring of 2018, Nakajima placed fifth in Class A in the 2018 Bermuda Race, his best finish ever in the race.
"This boat is [built by the Palmer Johnson boatyard] and built well. It's a period boat from the late 1960s/early 1970s when they were building rugged aluminum boats. This is one of them," says Nakajima. "The sensation that we've gotten is that it's powerful, we've gained a lot of respect for the boat. When you see it loaded up; it's incredible. It makes you pause and think about the load, but the boat's built to handle it."
Industry News
Fernhurst Books has released two new books:
Introduction to Racing - most applicable to dinghy sailors
GRP Repair Companion - useful to anyone who races a boat
These are part of our Practical Companion series and are being published this Spring for the new sailing season.
Practical Companions are handy, on-the-water reference guides, small enough to slide into your pocket, made from splash-proof paper allowing them to be kept on board or in a kit bag and used at any moment.
The Perfect Introduction To Racing
For the newly taught sailor, racing can be a great way to give a purpose to their newly-learnt skills and develop them. But it can also be a daunting prospect: joining other boats, with experienced sailors, on a crowded start line, and then meeting them at various places around the race course.
That is where this book comes in. It is a compact, handy summary of the key things you need to know to start racing or refresh your knowledge. Reading it will give you an understanding of racing and then it can be the perfect quick reference guide to keep in your kit bag.
Repairing GRP & FRP Boats
Anyone who owns a fibreglass boat (GRP or FRP, yacht, dinghy or motorboat) knows that it can get damaged in the rough and tumble of everyday use. Sometimes the damage is serious enough to warrant a professional repair (which the insurance company will probably pay for). But at other times it is more minor, and you might want to repair it yourself. But how do you repair it, so you can’t see the repair - get that really professional-looking finish? If you’ve ever asked that question, then this is the book for you.
Long-term boat repairer, Pete Vincent, shares the trade secrets of making a lasting, strong and invisible repair. Penni Vincent, who does not share Pete’s experience, got him to explain it to her and together they have created this book - written by an expert, but understandable by a novice.
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Turkey appears to be prepared to ban foreign-flagged boats from operating as charter vessels in Turkish waters for the 2019 season. IBI has learned additional details from local sources about the sudden shift of policy, including a yacht charter firm active in the country for many years.
The situation apparently stems from a complaint lodged with the Ministry of Tourism claiming foreign companies are taking business away from local gulet operators. The Ministry investigated the claims and decided to enforce a Turkish cabotage law from 1926 preventing commercial operation of foreign vessels between Turkish ports and along the coast. Accordingly, charter licenses which expire on 31 March 2019 are not being re-issued to foreign-flagged yachts for the coming season - a system that has been in effect for more than 35 years.
Despite lobbying efforts by industry members affected by the newly-enforced restriction, the Tourism Minister - who is campaigning for local elections taking place on 31 March - has thus far declined to reverse the decision, stunning operators who were preparing for the start of the charter season in early April.
There appears to be some opportunity for commercially registered yachts to leave the country prior to the license expiration date and re-enter Turkey as private yachts to obtain 'Transit Logs' for personal use by owners and their family and friends.
There is still some hope among Turkish charter companies that the situation may change after the local elections take place in a few days' time - such as extending implementation of the new policy over a longer period - but in the meantime they are preparing for the worst.
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The Clipper Race has renewed its partnership with TIMEZERO by MaxSea, returning for a third consecutive edition as the Official Navigation Software Supplier.
The eleven strong fleet of 70 ft ocean racing yachts will be equipped with TZ Professional for the 40,000 nm circumnavigation. TZ Professional is renowned for its famous routing algorithm, Weather Routing Module, and cutting edge Position Report tool which will enable Clipper Race teams to seek out the fastest route, plan their race strategies and keep track of the competition. Used to its full advantage, it can give teams an edge and the potential of podium finishes.
In addition, the Clipper Race fleet will be one of the first to benefit from the release of the new TIMEZERO software: Version 4. This update will include new exclusive tools, weather display and forecasts.
clipperroundtheworld.com
mytimezero.com
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Harrogate-based premium Gin brand, Slingsby, has partnered with Lendy Cowes Week 2019 as the Official Gin supplier for the regatta and headline sponsor of Ladies Day. Lendy Cowes Week is taking place this summer on the Isle of Wight.
The sponsorship package, secured for the major sailing event running from 10th - 17th August, includes sponsorship of the exclusive evening reception on Ladies Day and on-lookers will also spot a 'Slingsby Ladies Day' flag flying proudly on all boats that have female sailors.
The Gin brand will benefit from broadcast channel support and on-site branding during the event. Slingsby branding will be seen across Cowes Yacht Haven, Shepards Marina, Cowes Parade and the High Street - giving them a spotlight focus for the many hundreds of competitors and visitors who attend the highly anticipated regatta.
A Slingsby branded yacht will also be at the regatta and guests can visit the popular Fever-Tree bar located in Cowes Yacht Haven and other bars to enjoy an award-winning Slingsby Gin. Slingsby's London Dry, Yorkshire Rhubarb, Gooseberry and Navy Strength Gins are made using ingredients sourced locally from across Yorkshire and the brand bears the name of William Slingsby, the first man to discover the restorative properties of Harrogate's famous spa water wells.
www.spiritofharrogate.co.uk
lendycowesweek.co.uk
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Lengers Yachts, the international yacht brokerage and dealership based in the Netherlands, is to open its third European office in Mallorca next month.
Lengers already has locations in Muiden in the Netherlands and in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The new office will be based in Port Calanova, close to Palma de Mallorca in the island's capital. CEO Bas Lengers says the official opening will be held on April 26, just one day before the start of Mallorca's biggest in-water event, the Palma International Boat Show.
The news comes not long after Lengers announced the sale of a Sanlorenzo 500EXP explorer yacht. The 47.2m steel-hulled, custom-built vessel will be delivered to its new owner in 2020.
Lengers Yachts is the official dealer for the Sanlorenzo, Bluegame, Prestige and SACS brands in northern Europe. The company also offers maintenance and repair services at its shipyard in Muiden, near Amsterdam, as well as on the Italian and French Rivieras, in Spain (Ibiza and Mallorca) and in Croatia.
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While officials in Miami, Florida continue to debate best practices, revenue enhancement and whether the city should be in the marina business at all, new reports indicate the city loses nearly half-a-million-dollars in marina revenue per year to the Miami International Boat Show (MIBS).
Miami leases management of most of its public marinas but operates Dinner Key Marina, Miamarina at Bayside, and Marine Stadium Marina - a dry storage facility.
According to Miami Today news, Daniel Rotenberg, director of the city's Department of Real Estate and Asset Management, reported on losses at the dry dock facility related to the city-owned site being used to stage the annual Miami International Boat Show.
The city has licensed use of the property and water surrounding idled Marine Stadium for the boat show for the past four years. Rotenberg said some dry stacks were removed from the Marine Stadium Marina due to the boat show and were never replaced, amounting to an annual loss of US$240,000 revenue, on top of more than US$150,000 in concessions granted to MIBS.
Commissioner Joe Carollo said he thinks the financial hit has been even more substantial and repeated his desire to see the marine facility operated or managed privately. "That's still not what I'm seeing… We need to put real management there," said Carollo, who again stated his belief that many city properties are not bringing in the amount of revenue they should.
According to the city's website, Marine Stadium Marina was one of South Florida's largest full-service dry storage marinas.
Featured Brokerage
2004 Thompson 38 ‘Serena’. $250,000 NZ. Located in Opua, New Zealand.
The Thompson 38 ‘Serena’ is fun, fast, and an impressive sail plan leaves bigger boats in her wake.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Robbs Hielkema
M.+64 21 858 897
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Modified ORMA 60 'TRITIUM'. 495000 USD.
Official Price: $ 495,000 USD TRITIUM is a modified Orma 60 trimaran - stretched to 72 feet. Originally built by offshore veteran Jean Le Cam, the boat was updated by Artemis Racing for testing of AC wing and dagger foils.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
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1998 Vismara V43 Open. 96000 EUR. Located in Fano, Italy.
Ultra-slippery Italian 43ft custom performance cruiser/racer with hull lines derived from the Volvo 60 class. Retractable t-keel gives 2.4-3.4m draft range while her 3-cabin interior gives plenty of scope for comfortable cruising.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
GRABAU INTERNATIONAL
Lead broker - James McNeil
Tel: +44 (0)7979 907210
Email:
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action. -- George Washington
Editorial and letter submissions to
Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: or see www.eurosailnews.com/advertise.html