In This Issue
• China dominate RS:X on Day 5 of Ready Steady Tokyo
• Zsombor Berecz secures gold in Enoshima with three way fight for other medals
• Great start for 15th Palermo-Montecarlo!
• International Match Race for the Detroit Cup
• Irish Sailing President's Summer Blog
• Win a new Laser with early bird entry to 2020 Australian Championships
• Quality Always sells - CNB
• 20th anniversary of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez
• Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy: the old beauties are back
• AC75s with bulgy bits
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Black Pearl - Carkeek 47
• • Vismara V62
• • JPK 1180
• The Last Word: Sun Tzu
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
China dominate RS:X on Day 5 of Ready Steady Tokyo
Five Medal Races took place on the fifth day of racing at Ready Steady Tokyo - Sailing, with the top three sailors of each fleet laying down the marker ahead of next year's Games.
At the official test event for Tokyo 2020, Brazil, New Zealand and Italy all claimed a gold each, with Great Britain taking the most medals overall so far with four.
China, meanwhile, delivered a stunning week-long performance to take gold in both the RS:X Men and Women's fleets.
After discarding a 21st in his first race of the regatta, Mengfan Gao did not finish lower than eighth for the rest of the week, clinching gold by an impressive 11 points.
Over in the Women's fleet, Yunxiu Lu (CHN) led all week long, with a fourth-place finish in the Medal Race enough for her to seal the gold medal.
The 49erFX fleet saw the most dramatic Medal Race so far, with all three podium positions changing hands from the beginning of the day.
Charlotte Dobson & Saskia Tidey (GBR) had led all week long, but found themselves just a point ahead of Rio 2016 champions Martine Grael & Kahena Kunze (BRA).
Alexandra Maloney & Molly Meech (NZL), runners-up in Rio, were also in the mix, sitting six points behind the Brazilians.
But it was the Norwegian duo of Helene Næss & Marie Rønningen who shook things up, winning the Medal Race to climb from fourth to second for silver.
The Nacra 17 Medal Race was also an exciting affair, as five teams were all realistically able to claim a top-three spot.
Ruggero Tita & Caterina Banti (ITA) had topped the fleet all week long and did not relinquish their lead, finishing fourth in the Medal Race to get gold by 12 points.
Rio 2016 gold medallists Peter Burling & Blair Tuke (NZL) held a 13-point lead ahead of today's 49er Medal Race, but they were anything but complacent.
Knowing that Lukasz Przybytek & Pawel Kolodzinski (POL) were their only challengers to gold, the Kiwis took full advantage of a poor start for the Poles.
From then on they had the fairly simple task to beat them to the finish line - which they did so, crossing in eighth ahead of the Poles in ninth.
The remaining five Olympic events completed their series today and will hold their Medal Races tomorrow.
One gold medal has already been decided ahead of Thursday's showdown, with Zsombor Berecz (HUN) winning in the Finn fleet as he has built up a 23-point advantage.
Zsombor Berecz secures gold in Enoshima with three way fight for other medals
Finn World Champion Zsombor Berecz, from Hungary, has secured the Ready Steady Tokyo Olympic Test Event, with a day to spare after sealing victory on Wednesday in Enoshima, Japan. Nicholas Heiner, from The Netherlands, move up to second, while Giles Scott, from Britain drops to third to set up a three way fght for bronze and silver with Andy Maloney from New Zealand. The race wins on Wednesday went to Alican Kaynar, from Turkey, and Ondrej Teply, from Czech Republic.
The forecast for the day was generally for a light onshore wind, with a lot of low cloud around all morning. The wind remained fairly light and unstable all day with frequent position changes throughout the fleet.
Great start for 15th Palermo-Montecarlo!
The stunning Gulf of Mondello was the backdrop at midday for the start of the 15th Palermo-Montecarlo. This 500nm offshore race follows the old route taken by Phoenician ships and has attracted an international field of 57 boats - 10 nations. A record turn-out! Launched in 2005 and organised by the Circolo della Vela Sicilia, Challenger of Record for the next America's Cup, in partnership with the Yacht Club de Monaco and Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, the Palermo-Montecarlo has established itself as one of the big offshore meetings in the Mediterranean. This year again it constitutes a stage on the International Maxi Association (IMA) calendar.
The Italian Maxi Adelasia di Torres had the best start ahead of compatriot Ad Maiora, the French boat Arobas 2 and the VOR 70 Ambersail. Competitors must pass through a mandatory gate mid-way off the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia where, dependent on weather conditions, they have a choice of sailing up the east or west coast of Corsica, a crucial decision that often determines the winner. They then head for Monaco.
For some it's an enjoyable cruiser-race with family and friends, while others have their sights set on breaking the record, held since 2015 by the Maxi 100ft Esimit Europa 2, of 47 hours 46 minutes and 48 seconds.
To follow the race live: yb.tl/pm2019
International Match Race for the Detroit Cup
For the 12th consecutive year, the International Match Race for the Detroit Cup is being held over August 21-25th, 2019, with practicing today and racing commencing tomorrow through Sunday. Eleven teams from Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand and the US are lined up to compete for this coveted trophy and their share of Grade 2 points on the World Sailing Match Racing Ranking List.
The event is the second of the four-part US Grand Slam Series, which consists of the Chicago Grand Slam held last weekend, the Detroit Cup, the Oakcliff International in Oyster Bay, NY over September 1-4 and finishing at the Thompson Cup, also held in Oyster Bay over September 5-8. The overall winner from accumulated points from the results from these Grade 2 events will get an invitation to next year's Grade 1 Congressional Cup at Long Beach YC in Long Beach, CA.
Racing at the Detroit Cup will be among 3-person teams sailing equally-matched Ultimate 20 class boats, with courses set on the Detroit River at a spectator-friendly venue in front of the Bayview YC. With the current of the river a continuous challenge, the teams will also likely encounter a wide range of conditions over the four days of the competition, so the eventual winner will have demonstrated mastery in all aspects of match race sailing: boathandling, tactics and strategic reading of the course.
The list of competing teams is as follows, in order of World Sailing ranking:
- Chris Poole (14th) - USA - Riptide Racing, crew TBA
- Ryan Seago (26th) - USA - Bayview YC, crew Matt Graham, Alex Hume
- Finn Tapper (28th) - AUS - Cruising YC of Australia - crew George Richardson, Jake Liddel
- Jordan Stevenson (31st) - NZL - Royal NZ Yacht Squadron - crew Mitch Jackson, George Angus, Dougie Cowan**
- James Pinder (88th) - GBR - Royal Thames YC - crew Alex Smallwood, George Hopes, Jamie Webb**
- Alexis Gesualdo (107th) - USA - Tropique Racing, crew Owen Miller, Scotty Dickson - Jackson Hamilton (117th) - USA - Glen Lake YC - crew Donal Ryan, David Larson
- Chris Weis (119th) - USA - Del Rey YC - crew Roberto Stevens, Alex Burrow
- Dave Perry (122nd) - USA - Pequot YC - crew Wyatt Dennis, Daniel Pegg
- Ethan Prieto-Low (133rd) - AUS - Royal Freshwater Bay YC - crew Andrew Henderson, Ben Walsh
- Nathan Hollerbach (N/R) - USA - Ender Racing - crew Nick Marcolini, Austin Colpaert
**Overseas teams often have 4 team members for the larger boats in the other events of the Grand Slam, but for Detroit Cup they may sail only with three on their team.
Chris Poole and his Riptide Racing team were victorious in last week's Chicago Grand Slam, and they have been regular contenders at the Detroit Cup, making it to the Semi-Finals last year. However, Ryan Seago is local to Bayview and the defending champion, Nathan Hollerbach is also a local favorite with many D-Cups in his repertoire as well as a US National Champion title, Dave Perry is an experienced guru at this game, and the overseas teams are often on the podium at this event.
Irish Sailing President's Summer Blog
Irish Sailing President Jack Roy reviews a busy 2019 sailing season and reports on the association's next strategic plan
A very busy June on the water began with Seafest, described by An Tanaiste Simon Coveney as the "ploughing championships of the marine sector" moved to Cork City Quays for the Bank Holiday weekend. Over 100 people tried sailing on the River Lee on board 1720s from Royal Cork Yacht Club and Cove Sailing Club's ketch the Anna Emily with support from Sail Cork, Blackrock Sailing Club and the "young mariners" from Kinsale (Outdoor Education Centre).
Also in early June, forty-five competitors in the 50th Solitaire Urgo Le Figaro race (known as the unofficial solo offshore world championship) raced from Nantes to their first stopover in a very welcoming Kinsale. It was a pleasure to meet with the sailors and support teams, including the leg winner Yoann Richomme of France as well as our own Joan Mulloy and Tom Dolan.
Read the full blog in Afloat: afloat.ie/sail/
Win a new Laser with early bird entry to 2020 Australian Championships
Melbourne, Australia: The Victorian Laser Association is expecting a flood of entries this month, as the "early bird" deadline for the 2020 Australian Laser Championships expires on August 31. All sailors who have entered by that date go in the draw to win a new Laser and dolly, with rig of their choice, from Performance Sailcraft Australia (PSA).
The Championships, across 4.7, Radial and Standard rigs, will be held at Sandringham Yacht Club on Melbourne's Port Phillip from January 1 to 8, 2020.
To date 38 entries have been received, including two from Germany and one each from the UK, Sweden, Switzerland and New Zealand. Eight boats are also booked to arrive in Melbourne from Russia in mid-December and enquiries have recently been fielded from Norway and Finland.
The high level of interest from overseas was expected as the Laser World Championships will be held at the same venue in February, and the Laser Masters World Championships will follow, across the Bay in Geelong, in March.
As well as attracting a large fleet, the calibre of entrant is likely to be extremely high as some of the world's best Laser sailors use the event as preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. With the battle for the Australian spot at the Games still in the balance, defending Olympic champion Tom Burton and his major challenger, Matt Wearn, are expected to go head-to-head once again.
To download the Notice of Race and to enter the Australian Championships, go to www.auslasernationals.com.au
Quality Always sells - CNB
Twenty-six large luxury yachts is a fine enough launch tally... but designer Philippe Briand's CNB 76-footers are still rolling out the shipyard
How do you improve a yacht that's been a runaway success and is well on its way to becoming a modern classic? At CNB Yacht Builders, the luxury arm of Group Beneteau, the favoured approach is to keep on building their flagship CNB 76 while introducing some carefully developed refinements. 'After six years of production we still can't see an end of life for this boat,' says Christophe Harvey, product manager and design engineer at CNB. 'We have sold 26 of them, there is still very high demand and the boat is becoming iconic.'
A Mk2 version is now in production but there are no changes at all to the yacht's hull, keel, rudders, deck or superstructure - Philippe Briand's elegant and diligently researched design has stood the test of time. 'The most obvious difference is that we've integrated a bowsprit into the hull as we've done previously on the CNB 66,' Harvey says. 'This makes the yacht even more elegant and allows you to put the tack of your downwind sails 1.8m further forward.'
Full article in the September issue of Seahorse
20th anniversary of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez
Click on image to enlarge.
There is just over a month to go to celebrate the 20 years of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez in style. The meeting is organised by the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez for over 4,000 gleeful sailors, eager to be a part of the incredible gathering of 300 of the finest classic and modern boats. The anniversary edition promises to be the best possible vintage, for boats and sailors alike.
In addition to the Wally class' international movers and shakers, Olympic medallists and world title holders - such as Thierry Peponnet (Tango), Jochen Schümann and Tom Whidden (Magic Carpet3) - the docks of Les Voiles will once again resonate to the furious pace of the IRC boats this year. Among the largest craft, there's sure to be a standing ovation for George David's Maxi, with Brad Butterworth calling tactics, Rambler 88, fresh from her latest victory in elapsed time in the Rolex Fastnet Race with a time of 1d 19hr and 55'.
All eyes will also be on some of the newcomers to the fleet like the V68 Pelotari (20 metres), designed in collaboration with the architect Mark Mills, which was launched in late June, or the GS80 Essentia (24 metres), designed by Ceccarelli Yacht Design and Engineering, which is also due to make her race debut in Saint Tropez.
Another eagerly awaited appearance is that of French Kiss, the legendary 12mR, chartered by Marc Pajot and a nice crop of former crew from the America's Cup project, who flew the French flag in Australia back in 1987.
Competition will be fierce for the 30 Class A superyachts and Maxis, which will see a number of big names from sailing and offshore racing slugging it out, such as the double champion of the Barcelona World Race, Jean-Pierre Dick (The Kid) and the illustrious American helmsman Peter Holmberg (J Class Topaz). In the wake of the largest craft, the battle of Les Voiles promises to be hotly disputed in Class B, armed with over 35 competitors - with the notable presence of Marc Lepesqueux (Sunset), and in Class C, with the same number of participants and no fewer than four TP 52s. In D, one of the most abundant classes, set to border on 40 entries, participants will cross tacks with Patrizio Bertelli - boss of the Luna Rossa challenge and the international group partnering the 36th America's Cup, which will be held in 2021 in Auckland, New Zealand - aboard a 1974 Galinari design, Vanessa.
Among the IRC Es, there will likely be a serious confrontation between the forty or so competitors which together make up the cream of the Farrs, Firsts, J Boats, JPKs, Melges and Océanis, not to mention the very elegant dayboat fleet, namely the Code 0s and Tofinous. -- Maguelonne Turcat
Programme
Modern Yachts
Saturday 28, Sunday 29 September: Registration and inspection
Monday 30 September, Tuesday 1, Wednesday 2, Thursday 3 (J. Laurain Memorial Day, Challenge Day), Friday 4 and Saturday 5 October: Inshore races, 1st start 11:00 hours
Classic Yachts
Sunday 29 and Monday 30 September: Registration and inspection
Sunday 29 September: arrival of the Yacht Club de France Autumn Cup feeder race from Cannes Tuesday 1, Wednesday 2, Thursday 3 (J.Laurain Memorial Day, Challenge Day, Club 55 Cup, GYC Centenary Trophy), Friday 4 and Saturday 5 October: Inshore race, 1st start 12:00 hours
www.lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr
Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy: the old beauties are back
Click on image to enlarge.
In two month's time, some of the most handsome boats from the classic yachting circuit will gather once more on the Cote d'Azur for the 9th edition of the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy.
Feels like yesterday when the Swiss Club launched the idea of an event dedicated to boats one hundred years and more of age, but the Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy will celebrate its 9th anniversary this year in Saint-Tropez, the regatta having become a true tradition and an unmissable rendez-vous for the centenarian sailing beauties.
As past winners and participants keep coming back for more, year after year new centenarian yachts make their debut at the Trophy.
The provisional entry list includes, in fact, several rookies like 1918 Apache, a 8 Metres IR designed by Norwegian architect Johan Anker, known worldwide as the father of the Dragon, the boat that has maintained the status of Olympic class for longer in the history of sailing. Of Scottish origins is another newcomer: Endrick, a 7 Metres IR designed by William Fife III also in 1912, whose owner and skipper is former Swiss Olympic sailor Jean Degaudenzi, who took part to the 1972 Games in Munich in the Flying Dutchman class.
From the same drawing board comes Sayonara, Japanese for "goodbye". Designed as a fast cruising yawl by William Fife III of Fairlie in Scotland and built in Australia in 1897, where she was one of the fastest racing yachts of the time, winning several regattas and holding passage records.
Olympian, the William Gardner designed gaff cutter from 1913 and skippered by France America's Cup veteran Bruno Troublé, will be back to defend the title won in 2014 but more past winners like Tilly XV, double champion in 2017 and 2018, confirmed they will be on the starting line. Tilly XV, is a Sonderklass racer, with a particularly contemporary design, that won the Kiel Week in the very same year she was launched was built in 1912 in Germany for Prince Heinrich Von Preussen, the brother of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and is the fifteenth of a series of boats that all carry the same name.
The event, raced in a pursuit format with staggered starts, is scheduled for Thursday, October 3rd and is expected to be yet again the focal point of classic racing at the Voiles de Saint-Tropez.
AC75s with bulgy bits
The big news of the week has been the announcements by the America's Cup teams that they have taken delivery of their first AC75 hulls which have been pictured as they are wheeled into the team bases. All have been shrink-wrapped with "bulgy bits" under the wrap - to disguise the lines. Whether that is sufficient to put their rivals off the scent is another matter entirely. From past experience, one would doubt it.
The shrink wrap antics do reinforce the point that aside from the carbon foil arms and their raising mechanism - which are one design, supplied parts - the rest of the design is free - provided they stay within the restrictions of the Class Rule. In the AC50's all except the control systems, foils and fairing were one design.
So maybe there is a bit to hide - but it won't be for long as the first boat will be unveiled in less than three weeks. -- Richard Gladwell
Featured Brokerage
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See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
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2015 Vismara V62 RC Mills. POA EUR. Located in Tuscany, Italy.
Without doubt, one of the most competitive yachts in the Mediterranean today. SUPERNIKKA is the ultimate cruiser/racer from Vismara and Mills Design.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
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GRABAU INTERNATIONAL
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Tel: +44 (0)1590 673715
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2018 JPK 1180 - "SUNRISE". 350000 GBP. Located in the UK.
A VERY unique opportunity! Ancasta Race Boats are happy to inform you that the 2018 JPK 1180 "Sunrise" is now for sale. Incredible opportunity of securing one of these boats now, rather than joining the near 2 year waiting list for a new build!
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
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See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
If your enemy is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. -- Sun Tzu
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