In This Issue
14th Monaco Classic Week - La Belle Classe
Ester’s story
Robline in a nutshell... may we introduce the brand
A Year Later, San Diego Yacht Club Picks Up Where They Left Off
Azimut Challenge
Finn European Masters
The Grand Prize - Road To 2020
Melges 20 European Championship
Americas Fleet Update
Featured Brokerage:
• • Mills 45 - "Concubine"
• • Arksen 100
• • Botin 65 - High Spirit
The Last Word: Rainn Wilson

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

14th Monaco Classic Week - La Belle Classe
Photo by Ingrid Abery, www.ingridabery.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

For this edition of the biennial Monaco Classic Week, the Yacht Club de Monaco is taking on an American accent, opening the meeting with a rendition of the famous Sousa march, ‘Stars & Stripes forever’ performed by naval military band, Musique des Equipage de la Flotte.

This is the only classic boat gathering which invites both sailing and motor boats, with some 130 registered. They include 74 classic and Metric Class sailing yachts, as well as 30 motorboats, represented by those symbols of the Mediterranean, the Rivas, and for the USA a fleet of the Chris Craft icons of American lakes.

It will be the first time that Atlantic 2010 (replica of the 1903 three-mast schooner on which Charlie Barr in 1905 set the best time for an Atlantic crossing) will be in the Principality. Another icon, SS Delphine (1921), the 79m steam-boat built for the wife of automobile magnate Horace E. Dodge, makes a welcome return. It was aboard this beauty that three world leaders, Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill, negotiated at least part of the 1945 Yalta Agreement.

* Sailing for the first time in over 70 years, the restored Swedish yacht Ester made her debut this week. Click the image above for a number of shots from Ingrid Abery of this gorgeous yacht.

monacoclassicweek.com/en/news-2/

Ester’s story
Ester was built during a period of intense innovation within yacht design and may be regarded as an exceptional boat due to the specificity of her purpose and consequent extreme design.

In 1901, Gunnar Mellgren was assigned the task of drawing a boat to race against Finland and defend the Tivoli cup. He created something both beautiful and unique. That year, the Finnish boating magazine Frisk Bris wrote that Ester was a very strange phenomenon and one of the most beautiful yachts created. She retained Sweden’s hold on the Tivoli Cup and went on to race very successfully throughout Sweden.

That summer, Ester earned herself a reputation for perfect shape and great ability. At one point, during a later season, she had won all twenty nine races she had entered. This formidable reputation travelled as far as Gothenburg where many boats were disinclined to engage in the futile race for the Rohss Cup, which Ester consequently won.

She also won SS Aeolus’ distance race, all the races in the Gothenburg Regatta, two races in Norway and the new Gothenburg Yacht Club triangle sailing. It has been said that when Ester registered to race, the result was sometimes declared before the start. For many years, she was the fastest boat of her size in Sweden.

In 1915, Ester disappeared from all registers and only re-appeared in 1933, worn out, renamed Brita and gifted to ornskoldsvik SS (sailing organisation). Her last results are from the midsummer regatta at Ulvon in 1937 where she was the first to finish.

An autumn evening just outside Jarvon, a fire broke out onboard Ester and she sank. The crew were able to save themselves in the dinghy but Ester was lost.

For more than seventy years, Ester lay alone beneath the waves she once conquered and on which she articulated brilliance. Later, onboard a search vessel in 2012, Per Hellgren, Bo Eriksson and Jan Olof Backman peered down through a screen at a distant shape on the muddy bottom.

The dream of rebuilding this iconic thoroughbred is materialising. Ester is beginning a new chapter sailing new waters with new owners and a new crew. She might even get a new broom.

www.ester1901.se

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A Year Later, San Diego Yacht Club Picks Up Where They Left Off
NEWPORT, R.I., USA: Different year, different boat, same outstanding performance for San Diego Yacht Club. Through four races in the 2019 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, the premier Corinthian one-design keelboat championship, the West Coast team has shown the blazing boatspeed, precision teamwork and tactical acumen that qualified them for this prestigious international championship a year ago. With a first, third and first today, San DIego skipper Tyler Sinks has staked his crew to a 17-point lead after just four races. There's a lot of sailing left in this event - up to eight more races over three days - but the early marker by the San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC) has put the rest of the fleet on notice: either find a way to keep Bow No. 7 in the rearview mirror, or start fighting for second place.

Behind San Diego is a knot of five teams separated by five points. And just 15 points separates 11th from second, where Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (RSYS) sits after finishing the day with a first and a third.

Racing for the 2019 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup will continue through Saturday, September 14, with a live broadcast of each race via Facebook and YouTube. Racing is scheduled to start at 11 am each day.

Results after four races
1. San Diego Yacht Club, 2, 1, 3, 1; 7 points
2. Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, 11, 9, 1, 3; 24
3. Japan Sailing Federation, 1, 4, 9, 11; 25
4. Royal Canadian Yacht Club, 7, 3, 12, 5; 27
5. Royal Cork Yacht Club, 6, 6, 14, 2; 28
6. Yacht Club Italiano, 4, 12, 5, 8; 29
7. Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, 3, 7, 13, 9; 32
8. Royal Thames Yacht Club, 5, 5, 6, 19; 35
9. New York Yacht Club, 8, 14, 7, 7; 36
10. Royal Swedish Yacht Club, 9, 2, 8, 18; 37
11. Southern Yacht Club, 14, 19, 2, 4; 39
12. Yacht Club Argentino, 13, 15, 4, 16; 48
13. Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, 19, 8, 15, 6; 48
14. Itchenor Sailing Club, 16, 13, 10, 10; 49
15. Royal New Zealand Yacht Club, 12, 11, 11, 17; 51
16. Real Club Náutico de Barcelona, 15, 10, 17, 13; 55
17. Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, 10, 18, 18, 15; 61
18. Royal Yacht Squadron, 17, 16, 19, 12; 64
19. Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, 18, 17, 16, 14; 65
20. Yacht Club de France, 20, 20, 20, 20; 80

Full results

nyyc.org/2019-rolex-nyyc-invitational-cup

Azimut Challenge
From 18th to 22nd September, the ninth Azimut Challenge in Lorient will bring together an exceptional line-up of 23 IMOCAs, including three brand new boats: Advens for cybersecurity, Arkea-Paprec and DMG Mori. Because this is a Transat Jacques Vabre year (start on 27th October), the Azimut Challenge, which has renewed its partnership with the IMOCA class, will be raced double-handed with a bigger format, with in particular a 48-hour race, which should offer the sailors some precious lessons. We look at the programme and who is taking part

For the first time, the Azimut Challenge will last five days (instead of the usual three). On Wednesday 18th September, the crewed runs will mark the start of the event in Lorient. The aim is to get the best time over the distance of 1.5 miles. Last year, the event was particularly spectacular with some acrobatics from Charal, which had only just been launched. On Thursday 19th September, 23 IMOCAs are expected to set sail in the big race in this Azimut Challenge with 48 hours of double-handed racing. This offshore race that everyone is looking forward to, will be the final battle between the boats before the Transat Jacques Vabre. To finish, on Sunday 22nd September, the crews will take part in the traditional race around the island of Groix, during which they will be able to take on board some guests.

The IMOCA class had a busy summer with its launches, with five boats being unveiled in just six weeks. One of them, Arkea-Paprec sailed by Sebastien Simon and Vincent Riou, has already taken part in the Rolex Fastnet Race. Unfortunately, it sadly ended with the boat retiring and so this time, the duo will really want to complete the Azimut Challenge race and get a good result. For Vincent, it is also an opportunity to defend his solo title won last year. In the absence of Charlie Dalin’s Apivia, Arkea-Paprec will be able to see how she measures up against two other IMOCAs launched in recent days: Advens for cybersecurity (Thomas Ruyant/Antoine Koch) and DMG Mori (Kojiro Shiraishi/Gilles Campan).

We will also keeping a close eye on the performance of the new look MACSF sailed by Isabelle Joschke and Morgan Lagraviere, as she is almost a new boat after all the work done on her during her eight months in the yard and the addition of foils.

Registered for the 2019 Azimut Challenge:
11th Hour: Pascal Bidegorry and Charlie Enright - Foiler
Advens for cybersecurity: Thomas Ruyant and Antoine Koch - Foiler
Arkea-Paprec: Sebastien Simon and Vincent Riou - Foiler
Banque Populaire X: Clarisse Cremer and Armel le Cleac'h
Bureau Vallee: Louis Burton and Davy Beaudart - Foiler
Charal: Jeremie Beyou and Christopher Pratt - Foiler
Corum l’Epargne: Nicolas Troussel and Jean Le Cam
DMG Mori: Kojiro Shiraishi and Gilles Campan - Foiler
Groupe Apicil: Damien Seguin and Yoann Richomme
Groupe Setin: Manuel Cousin and Gildas Morvan
Initiatives Cœur: Samantha Davies and Paul Meilhat - Foiler
La Fabrique: Alan Roura and Sebastien Audigane - Foiler
La Mie Câline - Artipole: Arnaud Boissieres and Xavier Macaire - Foiler
MACSF: Isabelle Joschke and Morgan Lagraviere - Foiler
Maître CoQ: Yannick Bestaven and Roland Jourdain - Foiler
Malizia 2 - Yacht Club de Monaco: Boris Hermann and Will Harris - Foiler
Newrest-Art & Fenetres: Fabrice Amedeo and Eric Peron - Foiler
PRB: Kevin Escoffier and Nicolas Lunven - Foiler
Prysmian Group: Giancarlo Pedote and Anthony Marchand - Foiler
Pure: Romain Attanasio and Sebastien Marsset
Time For Oceans: Stephane Le Diraison and Francois Guiffant
V and B - Mayenne: Maxime Sorel and Guillaume Le Brec
Vers un monde sans Sida: Erik Nigon and Vincent Le Serec

www.imoca.org

Finn European Masters
Filipe Silva, from Portugal, leads the Finn European Masters in Schwerin, Germany after two races on the opening day, Wednesday. Bas de Waal, from The Netherlands is second with Volodymyr Stasyuk from Ukraine in third. The race wins eventually went to Andre Budzien, from Germany, and Silva, though neither led the fleet across the line.

The event has attracted 65 entries from 16 nations including sailors from Australia and Brazil. Defending champion Vladimir Krutskikh, from Russia, was unable to attend, so by the end of the week there will be a new champion crowned.

With the wind at 12-15 knots and rising to 18-22 knots for the second race, it was a tough day for the Masters fleet, but the smiles as the fleet crossed the finish line said it all - satisfaction and elation after a great day of sailing, despite the aching limbs.

Racing continues Thursday at 12.00, with six more races scheduled until Saturday to determine the 2019 champion. -- Robert Deaves

Results after 2 races
1. Filipe Silva, POR, 3
2. Bas De Waal, NED, 6
3. Volodymyr Stasyuk, UKR, 7
4. Ricardo Santos, BRA, 15
5. Gerko Visser, NED, 19
6. Andrzej Romanowski, POL, 25
7. Lawrence Crispin, GBR, 25
8. Antal Szekely, HUN, 25
9. Paul Kamphorst, NED, 25
10. Martin Mikkelsen, DEN, 26

Full results

The Grand Prize - Road To 2020
The grand prize promotion on the Road to 2020 will culminate this month with the announcement of the winners in the final battle of the Royal Southern Summer Series and the Interboot Trophy Antigua Barbuda Challenge. Team members from Antigua Sailing Week will be present at both events to award the prizes to the lucky winners.

The Royal Southern Yacht Club has already hosted 3 of 4 races in a summer series to determine who will be awarded the coveted prize of bareboat entry into Antigua Sailing Week. The 4th and final showdown takes place this weekend September 14 on the waters of the Solent, UK. If the opportunity sounds too exciting to miss, you can still enter via this link.

The Interboot Trophy Antigua Barbuda Challenge being hosted by the Württembergischer Yacht Club on spectacular Lake Constance, Germany will include J70's in a one day battle on the September 21, for the chance to win week-long bareboat access during Antigua Sailing Week 2020. The prize-giving will be further enhanced by a pop up Reggae in the Park celebration party complete with English Harbour Rum. There's still time to enter to race during this exciting weekend.

In addition to the bareboat from Dream Yacht Charter the prize also includes flights to Antigua plus dockage in UNESCO heritage Nelson's Dockyard which is the perfect base for participants and spectators both as a great marina and as an entertainment venue.

Team August Sky, skippered by Phil Walters of the Lloyd Harbour/ Centerport Yacht Club were the first winners of the summers promotions held in Sag Harbour, USA this past August will be joined by these two crews to participate in Antigua Sailing Week.

A huge thank you to Antigua & Barbuda Tourism, Dream Yacht Charter, English Harbour Rum, National Parks Authority, Breakwater Yacht Club, Royal Southern Yacht Club and Württembergischer Yacht Club for their participation in this invitational series.

For more information about Dream Yacht Charter and its charter packages visit www.dreamyachtcharter.com or call 866-469-0912 to talk in more detail about your requirements.

For more on the Road to 2020 visit www.sailingweek.com/asw2020/

Melges 20 European Championship
Malcesine, Italy: Today the 2019 Melges 20 European Championship has begun on the race course of Malcesine: this is what represents in all aspects the most important regatta of the European season for the Melges 20 fleet.

A complicated day, for what concerns the wind, has allowed the completion of a single race that has seen all the “big” of the fleet immediately come into play occupying the highest spots of the ranking.

At the top of the provisional general classification stands the name of Russian veteran Nika of Vladimir Prosikhin with the American Morgan Reeser on tactics. In second place we find the compatriot and holder of the European title Russian Bogatyrs by Igor Rytov, the team to beat that precedes the first of the Italians, the vice world-champion of 2018 Brontolo Racing of Filippo Pacinotti (Manuel Weiller to tactics).

Behind the leading trio there is a lot of Italy, with the two Italian crews of Fremito d’Arja by Dario Levi and Caipirinha Jr. by Alessandro Agostinelli respectively in fourth and fifth position.

The Corinthian ranking currently sees the Italian team of Siderval (winner of the Melges World League European Division in its ranking) in the lead, entering the top ten, occupying ninth place and staying ahead of the Russians of Alex Team with a detachment (6 points) by Alexander Mikhaylik.

Tomorrow the regattas of the Melges 20 European Championship will resume with the warning signal set at 8.30

Top five
1. Nika Melges, Vladimir Prosikhin, RUS
2. Russian Bogatyrs, Igor Rytov, RUS
3. Brontolo Racing, Filippo Pacinotti, ITA
4. Fremito D'arja, Dario Levi, ITA
5. Caipirinha Jr, Alessandro Agostinelli, ITA

Full results

Americas Fleet Update
2019 has been a spectacular year for the 12 Metres in the U.S. As early as May, 12 Metres from around the world began to converge on Newport in anticipation of the 2019 12 Metre World Championship hosted by the Ida Lewis Yacht Club. By the time of NYYC's Annual Regatta in mid-June, most of the boats were in racing form and working on fine tuning their already competitive boats and team.

The Newport Trophy Regatta, hosted by Ida Lewis YC and the 12mR Pre-Worlds, hosted by Sail Newport capped off an intensive preparatory season. And by the time the owners and skippers gathered for the first social event of the Worlds, 22 12 Metre boats and crew, representing the largest gathering of these iconic yachts in U.S. history, were ready to vie for the most competitive World Championship since the America's Cup Jubilee in Cowes in 2001.

Teams from six (6) countries, including numerous Olympic and World champions stood ready to compete for the four World Championship trophies. And with 9 races scheduled over 5 days, the selection process promised to be a true test of both crews and boats.

To support these efforts the Ida Lewis YC (led by Commodore Dan Faria) turned out a volunteer team of more than 90 persons, including a first rate race committee organized by RC Chair Bill O'Hanley and lead by Texas PRO Mark Foster. Thereby insuring that the Regatta would go forward without a hitch.

And while the on the water activities were paramount, no regatta can be a success without awesome parties - and the 2019 12mR Worlds was no exception. The Owners' Party at Ida Lewis set a high bar for camaraderie and food and fun. The Welcome Reception for all the teams hosted by Gurney's Marina and Resort and held at their spectacular facility right on Narragansett Bay moved the bar up numerous notches (particularly when Mother Nature and the Newport Bridge put on a sunset show all will remember). Wednesday after racing the crews were treated to a smorgasbord party hosted by members of the Northern European 12mR fleet that continued the high standard.

However, the event that put the 12mR Worlds over the top was the stellar 12MYC Dinner-Dance at Marble House hosted by Kate Gubelmann and her very able committee. It was a party (as we say in Texas) 'not seen in these parts" since the old America's Cup Balls. A truly memorable event.

The best thing about the 2019 Worlds was that is was a sailors' regatta - where the on the water and off the water activities were all focused on the teams and the racing. And best of all, the regatta results bear that out. At the grand finale party, the Awards Ceremony at IYRS on Saturday, July 13th the following winners were announced:

2019 World Champions
Grand Prix Division: Legacy (KZ-5) - Thomas Andersin, Denmark
Modern Division: Challenge XII (KA-10) - Jack & Lisa LeFort, USA
Traditional Division: Columbia (US-16) - Tony Chuirco and Kevin Hegarty, USA
Vintage Division: Nyala (US-12) - Patricio Bertelli, Italy

Peter Gerard in the 12m Class newsletter

www.12mrclass.com

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The Last Word
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