In This Issue
• Mini Transat
• Light Winds and Drizzle at Snipe World Championship
• Book Flights & Accommodations Now! St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR) - March 27-29, 2020
• Team New Zealand have handle on foiling
• The Return of the Finn?
• All The Winners - Headed To ASW 2020
• Dragon 90th Anniversary Regatta powered by Paul & Shark
• World Sailing awards The Ocean Race with Special Event status
• Argo, Maserati, PowerPlay set for 2020 RORC Caribbean 600
• FAST40+ Finale!
• Featured Charter: Sunfast 3600 - Loli Fast
• Featured Brokerage:
• • MD65-3 Charis
• • X-Yachts X-50 Modern
• • Swan 82-010 Grey Goose
• The Last Word: Arnold H. Glasow
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
Mini Transat
The skippers competing in the Mini-Transat La Boulangere are just about done with the demanding passage across the Bay of Biscay. They're now entering the second major phase of this course, which is just as exhilarating since the coming days will involve downwind conditions. Virtually all the competitors are opting to pass inside the Cape Finisterre TSS, aside from four sailors who are going for broke to the Far West, a move they hope will pay off. Two sailors have currently been forced off the racetrack, hopefully temporarily, but for a minimum of 12 hours according to the rules. These are Briton Joe Lacey still on a pit stop in Gijon and Jonathan Chodkiewiez in La Coruna. In the prototype category, Francois Jambou has taken the lead, with Axel Trehin hot on his heels, whilst Ambrogio Beccaria is the boss of the production boats.
With the prospect of some long days spent slipping along under spinnaker on the horizon, this is what the Mini sailors were after when they signed up for the Mini-Transat La Boulangere. However, they've had to earn this golden ticket and the sailing remains complicated off Cape Finisterre and along the coast of Portugal, requiring the utmost vigilance with the heavy shipping. Over the next few days, the sailors should be able to power along in a N'ly wind, which is gradually set to fill in, and a good swell (over 3 metres).
German skipper Morten Bogacki (934), Franco-Italian Fabio Muzzolini (716) and French sailors Julien Letissier (869) and Guillaume L'Hostis (868) were the only racers opting to pass to the West of the TSS (Traffic Separation Scheme) at 16:00 UTC. Split between two prototypes and two production boats, they'll be after a more sustained breeze, slightly less shipping and a longer swell.
Among the production boats, Italian Ambrogio Beccaria (943) continues to set the pace. Always quick, he's renowned for keeping any strategic errors to the bear minimum. In his wake, a very compact French group fully intends to knock him off his perch. Felix de Navacelle (916) is still 2nd this evening, but Julien Letissier and Guillaume L'Hostis are making the most of their W'ly option to come back strong: they were 3rd and 4th at the 16:00 UTC position report, making nearly a knot more boat speed than the leader.
Top Ranking on Tuesday 8 October at 16:00 UTC
Prototype
1. Francois Jambou (865 - Team BFR Maree Haute Jaune) 906.2 miles from the finish
2. Axel Trehin (945 - Project Rescue Ocean) 2.6 miles behind the leader
3. Tanguy Bouroullec (969 - Cerfrance) 6 miles behind the leader
Production
1. Ambrogio Becarria (943 - Geomag) 932.6 miles from the finish
2. Felix De Navacelle (916 - Youkounkoun) 6.9 miles behind the leader
3. Julien Letissier (869 - Reno Style) 10.4 miles behind the leader
Light Winds and Drizzle at Snipe World Championship
The 2019 Snipe World Championship took off today in Ilhabela, Brazil, with the first and only race of the day. The 70 teams from 11 countries arrived at the Escola de Vela Lars Grael, in the morning to get the boats ready for the most important event of the year for SCIRA, the Snipe Class International Racing Association.
A little postponement ashore and then everyone was off on the water canal that stretches between the island of Ilhabela and the cost of São Sebastião in the South East of Brazil. The wind was coming from the South at about 7-8 knots with a very cloudy skies.
A couple of general recalls and then racing was on. American skipper Asher Zittrer took over the Japanese and was the first one to cross the line, claiming the first bullet of the series.
There was a 20 minute wait on the water at the end of Race 1, to see if the rain would stop and the wind fill in again, but it ended with the hoisting of the AP flag over Alpha and with the Committee sending the 70 teams ashore with no more racing scheduled for the day.
The forecast for Wednesday is for more light to moderate breeze and cloudy sky, the plan is to make up for today's missed race, so three races are on the menu.
Top 10 after one race:
1. Asher Zittrer Watt Duffy, USA
2. Naoki Inoue / Masataka Kojima, JPN
3. Rafael Gagliotti / Henrique Wisniewski, BRA
4. Taylor Scheuermann Maru Urban, USA
5. Ricardo Fabini Florencia Parnizari, URU
6. Jim Bowers Julia M Rabin, USA
7. Luis Soubie Diego Lipszyc, ARG
8. Shigeru Matsuzaki Yuta Hattori, JPN
9. Rafael Rizzato Gerald Wicks, BRA
10. Augie Diaz Lexi Pline, USA
Book Flights & Accommodations Now! St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR) - March 27-29, 2020
- American Airlines (Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York and Philadelphia)
- Delta (Atlanta, New York)
- jetBlue (Boston, San Juan)
- Spirit (Fort Lauderdale, Orlando)
- United (Chicago, Houston, Washington Dulles, Newark)
For accommodations, there are some 2,500 rooms on St. Thomas, including hotels, bed and breakfasts, resorts, timeshares, etc. Plus, approximately 600 villa units and 200 charter yachts on St. Thomas/St. John. Airbnb listings number over 1,000 on St. Thomas. Airbnb ranked St. Thomas its No. 1 destination in 2018.
Register now for STIR 2020: yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=9666. Compete in CSA (Caribbean Sailing Association) Spinnaker and Non-Spinnaker; IRC; Multihull; CSA Bareboat; Beach Cat or in One Design classes with a minimum length of 20 feet. Pay only US $150, or 50% off the regular entry fee, between now and January 31, 2020. Also, sign up for the March 26 Round the Rocks (RTR) race ( yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=9665). The course is a circumnavigation of the neighboring 19.6-square mile island of St. John. Entry $50 per boat.
World-class racing, the chance to trade tacks with America's Cup, Volvo Ocean and Olympic crews on the water and off is what earns STIR its motto, 'We Love It Here' You will too!
www.stthomasinternationalregatta.com, Email: , Call (340) 775-6320.
Team New Zealand have handle on foiling
Team New Zealand might not have had a scaled down test boat ahead of their AC75 launch, but that hasn't appeared to hinder their progress on the water.
New footage has been revealed for the team's first AC75 'Te Ahie' under sail on its foils and manouvering.
Team New Zealand have been a regular sight out on the water in recent weeks getting familiar with the vessel and learning what elements need to be improved for their second race boat.
We're under no illusions that if we were to race the America's Cup in the exact boat we've got on the water now, then we wouldn't be too competitive," Team New Zealand designer Dan Bernasconi told the Herald last month.
"These first few weeks on the water are incredibly valuable because we'll learn lessons in terms of performance, boat handling and mechanical systems that will feed into the next design. It's really these next few weeks that are most important because we need to get into the build of our second boat really soon to be able to launch in time to get that on the water and debug for the America's Cup."
All four of the initial entries to the regatta in 17-months' time have now launched their first AC75, while Stars and Stripes Team USA remain committed to competing in 2021.
The Return of the Finn?
For the 2019 World Sailing annual conference in Bermuda the Finn Class has made eight submissions to try to 'rebalance the slate' and reinstate the Finn as Olympic equipment for 2024 and beyond.
In July the class announced its 'rebalancing' strategy, which met with a lot of support from around the world. One thing the class is confident about is that a significant number of MNAs and sailors worldwide would like to see the Finn reintroduced to the Olympic programme.
To be clear from the outset, it is not the intention of the class to attack any other event or class - these submissions just give Council various options to make some small changes to bring back the Finn, while keeping innovation and gender equity, but in doing so to rebalance the existing slate so it is more representative of sailing and sail sports globally.
To change any event, firstly that line in the current Events slate for 2024 needs 75% of a World Sailing Council vote to be re-opened. Once that line is open and the event changed a separate submission is then needed to propose a class for that event, but that only needs a simple majority vote. Each submission can be taken in isolation but all together they could result in the reinstatement of the Finn while retaining absolute gender equity across all ten events.
By providing these submissions now, there is a small chance that a 75% majority vote can be achieved. Feedback from some of the MNAs that have reviewed these new submissions is broadly positive, and the Class is hopeful that many other MNAs and Council Members will support these proposals.
It would be easy to dismiss them out of hand and maintain the status quo, however the arguments behind their purpose will not go away. So everyone is encouraged to read, digest, ask questions and see whether there is common ground on which enough can agree to achieve a 75% vote in favour.
Read the submissions:finnclass.org
All The Winners - Headed To ASW 2020
The challenges took place with the assistance of regional yacht clubs beginning in May and concluding in September. The host venues in the US, UK and Germany were selected based on the potential to boost awareness of ASW and convert the excitement of participating in a prestigious event in idyllic conditions into increased entries for 2020.
Phil Walters - August Sky, Stevie Beckett - Cobra and Max Rieger - Mothership emerged winners in each of the invitational challenges in USA, UK & Germany respectively. And each of the victorious skippers received the prize of a lifetime to assemble a crew of up to 7 to race at Antigua Sailing Week 2020. Through the cooperation of Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority, Dream Yacht Charter, English Harbour Rum and National Parks Authority, the crew will receive flights, bareboat yacht charter, dockage at UNESCO Heritage Site Nelson's Dockyard Marina and entry to ASW.
Prizes were awarded in August at the Breakwater Yacht Club in Sag Harbour, New York, the venue for the US edition. While the prizes for the UK & German editions were awarded in September at the Royal Southern Yacht Club, Hamble and the Württembergischer Yacht Club, Friedrichshafen, respectively.
The 53rd edition of Antigua Sailing Week takes place April 25 - May 1, 2020 off the stunning south coast of Antigua.
Are you planning on racing at Antigua Sailing Week? Entering and pay early for the lowest rates.
Sanremo Delivers Two Great Opening Races for Dragon 90th Anniversary Regatta powered by Paul & Shark
Sanremo, Italy - Day two of the Dragon 90th Anniversary Regatta powered by Paul & Shark brought beautiful hot sunshine and racing at last for the 150 strong fleet, who had been held ashore on day one due to strong winds and rough seas. The starts were initially postponed for a little over two hours to allow the wind to build, but by mid-afternoon a delightful 6-7 knots had filled in from the south east quadrant, enabling the Yacht Club Sanremo's Race Committee to run two excellent qualifying series races.
The fleet has been split into two groups for the qualifiers, with each group racing on its own dedicated windward leeward course. The light airs gave the tacticians and trimmers a good work out as they tried to pick the best lanes and constantly change gears to maintain maximum speed. Consistency was hard to find though and by the end of the day four different race winners had been identified.
First blood in Group A went to Anatoly Loginov sailing RUS27 'Annapurna' with Ivan Bradbury's beautiful wooden classic GBR375 'Blue Haze', built in 1959 by Pedersen and Theusen, second and Philipp Ocker's GER1135 'Birscherl' third. Race two was won by Charlotte Ten Wolde in NED435 'Olinghi', with Helmut Muller's GER810 'Zille' second and Joergen Schoenherr in DEN411 'African Queen' third. Overall however, the most consistent Group A performers were long standing International Dragon circuit supporters Mike & Monique Hayles' GBR764 'Naiad', and Jeroen Leenen's UAE58 'Desert', who both ended the day on 14 points. Alexander Ezhkov's RUS2 'Alisa' lies third with Bradbury fourth.
The third day of the regatta will feature the special Dragon 90th Anniversary Race in which both fleets will come together for a massed start. A special course has been set for the race which it is hoped will get underway at 11.00. The Anniversary Race will be followed by a series of special races for Lady helms, Classic Dragons, Junior crews, Masters crews and the Champion of Champions. To qualify for the Champions race, helms must be medallists from the Olympics, World and European Championships and World Cups in any class and the Dragon Gold Cup. Series racing will commence again on Thursday 10th October and the regatta will conclude on Friday 11th October.
World Sailing awards The Ocean Race with Special Event status
World Sailing is pleased to announce that the 2021-22 and 2025-26 editions of The Ocean Race, the global sailing event that is the toughest test of a team in sport, have received World Sailing Special Event status.
Special Event status ensures that World Sailing, the world governing body of the sport, formally recognises and sanctions the event.
The Ocean Race 2021-22 will see two classes of boats competing for the first time in 25 years: the high-tech, foiling IMOCA 60 class, along with the one-design VO65 fleet that produced record-breaking performances and such compelling and close competition in the last edition.
The Ocean Race is scheduled to start from its home port in Alicante, Spain in Q4 of 2021 and finish in Genoa, Italy in the early summer of 2022. The host city procurement process for the next edition is coming to a conclusion with the sailing hotspots of Aarhus, Denmark and The Hague in The Netherlands already confirmed as host cities, along with Cabo Verde, which will be the first West African stop in the history of the Race.
The next two editions of The Ocean Race will be held under World Sailing's Racing Rules of Sailing and Regulations, with World Sailing administering the anti-doping rules and supporting the World Sailing Race Officials overseeing the event. Furthermore, World Sailing will support The Ocean Race with promotional and marketing activities.
The Ocean Race is one of six sanctioned World Sailing Special Events, and the exclusive team-based around the world race. Other events currently include SailGP, World Match Racing Tour, PWA World Tour, Star Sailors League and the Global Kitesports Association's freestyle world tours. -- Daniel Smith - World Sailing
Argo, Maserati, PowerPlay set for 2020 RORC Caribbean 600
Click on image to enlarge.
The 600-mile course around 11 islands twists and turns with virtually no down time on any leg. Factor in the Caribbean conditions, ocean swell, tropical temperatures, and stunning vistas, and the RORC Caribbean 600 is hard to resist - it's the Monaco for offshore racing multihulls.
Last year, the multihull battle made headline news even before the race. Forty eight hours before the start, MOD70 Argo capsized in training. Argo miraculously made the start line and 30 hours of explosive action followed. Multi70 Maserati took line honours just 7 minutes ahead of Argo and set a new race record of 30 hours and 49 minutes. Giovanni Soldini's Maserati, Peter Cunningham's PowerPlay and Jason Carroll's Argo are set for a showdown in the 2020 RORC Caribbean 600 starting on Monday 24th February.
"We will leave Hawaii about the 25th September, sail to Hong Kong for the race to Vietnam and then we will go to Cape Town to race to Rio, and after that we will come to the Caribbean. It is a long trip - the Pacific, Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, about 20,000 miles," confirmed Giovanni Soldini. "It will be great to have all three boats racing in the '600; the level of the teams is very high, Maserati won the '600, Argo won the Transpac and PowerPlay won the race from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Nobody knows who will win when we come together, it's really a lot of fun and with three boats the racing is more complex," concludes Soldini.
We have continued to modify Argo, especially the foils," reports Argo Program Manager Chad Corning. "There has been so much development in foils for multihulls over the last few years. We are adding T-rudders and new float foils this autumn. Argo will not be fully-foiling but will 'skim' more effectively and pitch less. That's the theory, now we have to test it on the water. We are delighted to hear that PowerPlay and Maserati will be in Antigua, it should be a great race."
A record number of boats are expected to be on the Fort Charlotte start line in Antigua on 24th February 2020. So far, over 20 boats from around the world have secured their place, doubling entries in previous years by this date, in order to confirm their participation in the 12th edition of this epic race. -- Louay Habib
FAST40+ Finale!
The 2019 FAST40+ season comes to a fantastic climax this weekend with the last round of the circuit deciding the overall season champion and podium places. Niklas Zennstrom's Rán leads the charge but only by three points from Peter Morton's Girls on Film. Four teams are vying for the final podium position; Tony Dickin's Jubilee, Steve Cowie's Zephyr, Filip Engelbert's Elvis, and Ed Fishwick's Redshift. The FAST40+ fleet will be returning to the Solent for three days of exciting racing. The big finale to the 2019 season is hosted by the Royal Southern Yacht Club.
Eight races are scheduled with two round the cans races and six windward leewards," confirms FAST40+ Race Director Stuart Childerley. "Weather forecasts suggest that we will have a good variety of conditions, and combined with a mixture of courses, we are set for some excellent racing to finish off the season. All of the competing teams have made the race podium during the season, we are anticipating some very close and thrilling racing."
As with all FAST40+ events, shoreside socials are part of the ethos of the class, and the excellent facilities at Royal Southern YC will be used to their full extent. A FAST40+ Competitors' Briefing will be held, designed to allow the teams to share information about development and performance in the class. The End of Season Crew Dinner will be a fun-filled affair, and the 2019 FAST40+ Race Circuit champion will be announced at the Regatta Prize Giving.
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The Last Word
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