In This Issue
• Bermuda 1000 Race
• Huge Fleets Are a Healthy Sign at RS:X Europeans
• 1720 European Championships at the Sovereigns Cup in Kinsale
• Fresh face on the 44Cup
• Antigua's 32nd Classic Yacht Regatta shapes up to be a belter
• Fredrik Loof is new OK Dinghy World No. 1
• Belvidere Cup at Royal Thames
• The business - and benefits - of building next generation racing yachts in Aotearoa
• Rush of entries for Hamilton Island Race Week 2019
• Cowes Week Ltd continues support of Youth Sailing
• Featured Brokerage
• The Last Word: Rev. Ivan Stang

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

Bermuda 1000 Race
The first event on the IMOCA Globe Series calendar for 2019, the Bermuda 1000 Race, will set sail from Douarnenez (Brittany) at 1300 hrs local time on Wednesday 8th May. On the programme, a 2000-mile solo race course finishing in Brest, via the Fastnet and the Azores. Eighteen sailors representing six nationalities will be lining up, including a number of rookies, who will be making the most of the event to gain their first important solo experience aboard an IMOCA. Whatever their ambitions in the event, all of the competitors will be attempting to complete the race to clock up some precious miles in order to be selected for the 2020 Vendee Globe.

Few sporting events can boast that the number of entrants has tripled from one year to the next. That is however the case for the Bermuda 1000 Race, which last year attracted six IMOCAs for its maiden edition (five of which were sailed solo and one double-handed). Organised within the framework of the Douarnenez Grand Prix by the Sea to See company in collaboration with the IMOCA class, this year, the event will bring together eighteen boats, or in other words almost as many as for the last Route du Rhum. Ten of them will before that have taken part in the Pom'Potes Challenge, speed runs organised off Douarnenez from 4th to 6th May.

Among the eighteen registered for the Bermuda 1000 Race, seven sailors will be taking part in their very first IMOCA solo race, including two who will be on very good performing foilers, Sebastien Simon and Giancarlo Pedote. Three other newcomers will be setting sail on IMOCAs built for the 2008-2009 Vendee Globe: Maxime Sorel, Clement Giraud and Miranda Merron. The Belgian skipper, Denis Van Weynbergh will also be discovering his boat, which is none other than Nandor Fa's old monohull. That will also be the case for the British sailor, Pip Hare, the new owner of the legendary Superbigou.

The sailors registered for the Bermuda 1000 Race:

Fabrice Amedeo (Newrest-Art & Fenetres)
Romain Attanasio (Pure)
Alexia Barrier (4myplanet)
Yannick Bestaven (Maitre CoQ)
Arnaud Boissieres (La Mie Caline-Artipole)
Manuel Cousin (Groupe Setin)
Sam Davies (Initiatives Coeur)
Clement Giraud (Envol)
Pip Hare (Superbigou)
Boris Herrmann (Yacht Club de Monaco)
Ari Huusela (Ariel 2)
Stephane Le Diraison (Time For Oceans)
Miranda Merron (NC)
Giancarlo Pedote (Prysmian Group)
Damien Seguin (Groupe Apicil)
Sebastien Simon (Arkea-Paprec)
Maxime Sorel (V and B-Sailing Together)
Denis Van Weynbergh (Eyesea.be)

imoca.org
www.bermudes1000race.com

Huge Fleets Are a Healthy Sign at RS:X Europeans
The 2019 RS:X Europeans and Youth European Championships which are being held on the island of Mallorca, Spain, is a record turn out for the RS:X Class with 333 confirmed entries from 43 different nations representing six different continents over five days of racing. These Europeans are a testament to the health of windsurfing at present such that for the first time ever, the youth men's fleet is bigger than the senior men's fleet which is with special thanks to the BIC Techno class who provide an excellent pathway into the RS:X Class. The biggest and most welcome problem the organisers have this week is finding enough beach space!

2019 is a critical year for the senior fleet as this event forms the selection event for many of the nations competing here - looking to determine who will be sent to the all-important Olympic Test event later this year in Enoshima. The Europeans for many is a must perform event, where performance means different things to different sailors where complex little battles fought up and down the rankings.

Racing on Tuesday and Wednesday will be qualifying races for all fleets except the youth women who will be racing together all week. As racing moves to Thursday and Friday, the remaining fleets will be split into Gold and Silver fleets where the top ten of the Gold fleet will move to Saturdays all important Medal Races - where European Champions will be crowned.

www.rsxclass.org/europeans2019/​

1720 European Championships at the Sovereigns Cup in Kinsale
Entries for the 1720 European's are well on target for what should be a very competitive and entertaining event.

Incorporated into the O'Leary Life Sovereigns Cup 26 - 29 June, the one design course will also host the Irish Dragon National Championships, all under the control of IRO Peter Crowley .

Top class racing taking full advantage of Kinsale, the Gourmet Capital of Ireland.

Avail of early entry deal online by 26th April by clicking HERE.

www.sovereignscup.com

Fresh face on the 44Cup
Racing gets underway tomorrow at the 44Cup Porto Montenegro, the opening event of the 2019 season for the high performance RC44 one designs. While the majority of the teams are repeat customers, this year almost all have crew changes, some even changing their vital tactician in this 100% owner-driver class.

The top three teams from the 2018 season - Nico Poons' Charisma, Vladimir Prosikhin's Team Nika and Igor Lah's Team CEEREF - have new personnel this year, with, for example, Dean Barker and Ray Davies temporarily departing to rejoin their respective America's Cup teams. On the RC44 World Champion Team Nika, Barker has been replaced by Australian Laser Olympic gold medallist and former Oracle Team USA tactician Tom Slingsby, while the crew is also joined by a second Russian in former Synergy and Katusha pitman Nikolay Kornev. On the defending champion Charisma, the team's American former coach, 470 Olympic silver medallist Morgan Reeser, steps into Davies' sea boots.

The eight teams from 2018 are joined this year by Pavel Kuznetsov's powerful Tavatuy Sailing Team, fresh from back to back World Championship victories in the highly competitive Melges 32 Class. Calling tactics on board with Kuznetsov is top Russian match racer Evgeny Neugodnikov, the 2008 European Match Racing Champion and former SB20 World Champion.

Racing takes place at the 44Cup Porto Montenegro over 10-13 April, with the Sunday reserved for Navigational and ProAm races on the magnificent Bay of Kotor.

www.44cup.org

Antigua's 32nd Classic Yacht Regatta shapes up to be a belter
Antigua's 32nd Classic Yacht Regatta launches April 17th with a dramatically diverse fleet set to race in eight categories.

Performers on the racing stage will include the Klaus Röder 158' Tall Ships Chronos and Rhea; seven highly charged 29' Petticrow Dragons and the Carriacou built 32' sloop New Moon. Joining them are 66' Herreshoff ketch Arrluuk and 72' Fife ketch Eilean along with enduring designs from Alden, Mylne, Starling Burgess, Sparkman Stephens and more yachting genius.

When the Regatta began in 1987, vessels built after 1976 of any material or hull configuration were considered modern wonders. Time marched on and this year, we welcome those well aged beauties as part of the newly created Historic Class. 6-meter 33' Biwi Magic and 48' Swan sloops, Montana and Sleeper are among the inaugural group battling for glory.

This year's collection of history and tradition spans nearly a century with vessels representing each decade since 1924.

www.classicboat.co.uk

www.antiguaclassics.com

Results, race documents at YachtScoring.com

Fredrik Loof is new OK Dinghy World No. 1
Current European champion, Fredrik Loof, from Sweden is the new OK Dinghy World No.1 in the April 2019 release of the World Ranking List. As runner-up in the past two world championships he overtakes Greg Wilcox, from New Zealand, who has led the rankings for the past two years.

Loof becomes only the seventh sailor to hold the No.1 place in the 14 years of the ranking list and the ninth to accumulate more than 1,000 points. With 1048 points, he also now holds the record as the highest scoring sailor since the list was created.

Thomas Hansson-Mild, from Sweden also moves up one place to second, his highest since March 2017, with Wilcox dropping to third.

This list includes results from Sail Melbourne, the Australian Nationals, the New Zealand nationals, the world championship in New Zealand and the Turangi International open

There are now 540 sailors on the list, having competing in at least one ranking event in the past two years. This is an increase of 30 from the previous release. This is expected to increase further during 2019 with many more sailors buying boats and joining the class.

The next major event, and the next world ranking cycle, starts in May with the traditional Spring Cup in Medemblik.

World Ranking April 2019 (top 10 from 540)
1. Fredrik Loof SWE, 1048.21 points
2. Thomas Hansson-Mild, SWE, 1000.68
3. Greg Wilcox, NZL, 950.77
4. Tomasz Gaj, POL, 928.20
5. Rod Davis, NZL, 792.72
6. Bo Petersen , DEN, 767.23
7. Jan Kurfeld, GER, 762.47
8. Luke O'Connell, NZL, 761.90
9. Henrik Kofoed Larsen, DEN, 745.85
10. Ralf Tietje, GER, 742.37

www.okdia.org

Belvidere Cup at Royal Thames
The Belvidere Cup originated in Early Victorian times as a trophy for yacht match racing put up by the Royal Thames Yacht Club. Today the Royal Thames have dedicated the trophy to match racing in the club's J80s for the alumni of independent schools.

The regatta is a one day event limited to eight teams. This year, on 6th April there were 8 entries with two drop outs in the last few weeks making it difficult for Organising Authority to replace them. However the regatta went ahead with six teams on a cold sunless Saturday in a Northeast breeze which fluctuated between 8 and 14 knots with some gusts up to 20 knots.

Overall Results:
1. Winchester (Alastair Hall) 10 wins
2. Rugby (Oliver Dix) 7 wins
3. Wellington (Charlie Parkinson) 6 wins
4. Charterhouse (Jim Miller) 5 wins
5. Radley (George Chilvers) 2 wins
6. Pangbourne (James Minter) 0 wins

www.yachtsandyachting.com

The business - and benefits - of building next generation racing yachts in Aotearoa
The 36th America's Cup may still be two years away but Emirates Team New Zealand's campaign is already near top gear and Kiwi industry is winning.

Imagine having to raise northwards of $100 million within four years just to run your business, and not being entirely sure how you're going to do it. It's not a challenge most Kiwi enterprises face, and yet this is how Emirates Team New Zealand operates day-to-day.

The countdown is on for the team, with two years to run until it defends the America's Cup on the waters of Auckland's Waitemata Harbour.

Chief operating officer Kevin Shoebridge says they are in a good position to do so due to support from cornerstone sponsors such as Emirates, on board since 2004, and its 26-year partnership with Omega.

As defender Emirates Team New Zealand sets the boat design rules, and it may surprise many to know it has taken the needs of the local marine industry into account in coming up with the impressive AC75 monohulls, Shoebridge says.

"It's a whole new boat, a whole new class.

"When we came up with that rule (the AC75s) we were looking for a boat that would have a trickle-down effect to the industry, whether that's mast design, sail design, boat construction, foils. Something that would have a future and could be used in other areas of the industry.

"That was one of the things that spurred us on to move away from the catamarans we used in Bermuda. Although they're amazing boats they didn't really have an association with the normal yachtsman. A fixed wing like those boats had, a solid wing that required 30 or 40 people to launch them every day, just wasn't that practical.

"We're trying to come up with, for example, a semi-soft wing on this new boat that is something that could eventually be seen on cruising boats.

Maria Slade's full article: thespinoff.co.nz

Rush of entries for Hamilton Island Race Week 2019
If early indications are anything to go by, Hamilton Island Race Week 2019 could already be on course for a record fleet when it is staged on the beautiful, island-laced tropical waters of the Whitsunday Passage from August 17-24.

Entries have been open for little more than a month for the 36th edition of the award-winning series, yet there is already an unprecedented level of interest from yacht owners. Near 70 entries have been lodged, and the number is growing by the day.

The cross-section of entries is spread across all divisions; even trailables where owners in Tasmania and Canberra have registered early.

The most enthusiastic competitor of all to date is offshore racing enthusiast, Wayne Millar, with his 41ft sloop, Zoe. Originally from Townsville and now Lennox Head in northern NSW, Millar has missed only three Race Weeks since 1991.

Apart from the excitement of racing on courses that take the fleet around the myriad of islands in the Whitsundays, the scheduled Lay Day mid-week provides the crews and their families and friends with the opportunity kick up the heels at the big Summer Bright Pool Party or enjoy fine dining and champagne at the Charles Heidsieck Luncheon at qualia, the island's six star resort. Or there are options to play a round of golf on the superbly scenic 18-hole course, do a day-cruise around the islands, or simply relax and watch the sunset from the Bommie Deck at Hamilton Island Yacht Club.

Hamilton Island Race Week has an impressive history. It was established following Australia's historic victory in the America's Cup in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1983. The inaugural regatta, staged in April 1984, attracted an outstanding fleet of 92 yachts which came from all points across Australia, including Perth.

The Notice of Race and all details relating to Hamilton Island Race Week 2019 are on the website www.hamiltonislandraceweek.com.au

Cowes Week Ltd continues support of Youth Sailing
Cowes Week Limited, organisers of Lendy Cowes Week, will continue their youth initiative which offers discounted entry fees to boats with crews of under 25 year olds.

The Under 25 Youth initiative, which has been running since 2012, has succeeded in doing what it was originally designed for - inspiring and making it possible for young people to race at Lendy Cowes Week.

This year, Cowes Week Ltd is offering the first 25 crews to enter, who are all under age 25 at the time of the regatta, a 50% discount on the entry fee.

In 2018, competition was fierce out on the water, but the Under 25 crew of Team Heiner III, not only took home the Land Rover Under 25 Trophy but also won the TNG Newcomers trophy, Musto Young Skipper trophy and were second overall in IRC 3 Class.

Teams wishing to take advantage of discounted entry fees should make their entry as soon as possible by contacting the Regatta Office at / 01983 295744 or visiting the website www.lendycowesweek.co.uk

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The Last Word
We all know how stupid the average person is. Now realize that, by definition, fifty percent of the population is dumber than that. -- Rev. Ivan Stang

Editorial and letter submissions to

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