In This Issue
• Slingsby and Burton flex their muscle on final day of Moth Worlds qualifying
• Finn Gold Cup
• Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
• Francis Joyon Has Left Vietnam And Is Heading For China
• 18ft Skiffs NSW Championship, Race 4
• Aston Harald Composites is back to the production of M32
• Thrillingly close race - Nautor Swan
• CanAm Series 2 Wrapup - International 2.4 Meter Class US Nationals
• Irish Sailing Seek Expressions of Interest for Offshore World Sailing Championships 2020
• The 10th edition of the Defi Azimut
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Volvo Open 70 - Ocean Breeze
• • Swan 77 RS - Bandolero
• • MTC28 - Carbon Trimaran
• The Last Word: Orson Welles
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
The 11th annual Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar search is on... Send us your thoughts and drink recipes...
Slingsby and Burton flex their muscle on final day of Moth Worlds qualifying
Photo by Martina Orsini / IMCA. Click on image for photo gallery.
The fleets will be split for Monday's finals racing allowing the first chance to see the best sailors all on the same course for the first time.
It will be the first time since the nationals that we will see some sailors on the same course, with Tom Slingsby (AUS) putting on a clinic on the Yellow course, while Tom Burton (AUS) and Kyle Langford (AUS) have been duking it out on the Blue course.
Slingsby solidified his position as the championship favourite after a stellar effort today that saw him claim three race wins from as many races, with plenty of daylight behind him in most instances.
His nearest competitors Francesco Bruni (ITA), Brad Funk (USA) and Matthew Chew (AUS) all had solid days as well, but were just unable to get near the current SailGP champion helm.
Finn Gold Cup
Mebourne, Australia: The 2019 Finn Gold Cup was officially opened by John Bertrand AO at Friday evening's opening ceremony at the Royal Brighton Yacht Club in Melbourne, Australia. More than 60 Finn sailors from 22 nations have gathered in Melbourne for the penultimate class world championship before next summer's Olympic Games.
As well as being the Oceania qualification event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the Finn Gold Cup is also being used by many teams as either a qualifying event or an indication event towards selecting who will go to Tokyo, both for those countries already qualified as well as those who will try to qualify their country in the two remaining Continental qualifiers in 2020.
After weeks of preparation and training on Port Philip, the 62-strong fleet from 23 nations is ready for action. The training conditions have been awesome so far but are predicted to get even better as the event begins with a change to warmer and sunnier weather and reliable sea breezes. But it never pays to predict to far ahead in Melbourne.
The practice race on Sunday afternoon was sailed in a shifty 5 to 12 knots and as usual no one took it particularly seriously, but it marked the end of training and the start of the competition. While race leaders Nils Theuninck, from Switzerland and Markus Whitley, from Australia pulled out at the gate, Jesse Kylanpaa, from Finland took the win from Mark Jackson, of Australia.
One of the favourites next week is Nicholas Heiner, from the Netherlands. He won the last major regatta, the Sailing World Cup in Enoshima, in August. A Dutch sailor has never won the Finn Gold Cup, but after a very close third in 2017 and a sixth in 2018, Heiner has got closer than most. Despite winning in Enoshima in 2017 and 2018, a major win still eludes him, though he has been threatening to take one for the last two years.
Racing is scheduled to being at 13.00 on Monday 16 December
2019 Gold Cup Practice Race Top Five
1. Jesse Kylanpaa, FIN
2. Mark Jackson, AUS
3. Peter Wallace, AUS
4. James Bevis, AUS
5. Greg Clark, AUS
Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
In alphabetical order, they are:
Beach Bar, Nanny Cay, Tortola, BVI
Clarke Cooke House, Newport Rhode Island USA
Cronin's, Crosshaven Ireland
Pier View, Cowes IOW, UK
Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club, Hamilton Bermuda
Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Hamilton Bermuda
Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club
Soggy Dollar, Jost Van Dyke, BVI
St. Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco, California USA
St. Thomas Yacht Club, Red Hook, St. Thomas USVI
Voting is now open... and please keep sending drink recipes and stories about these ten bars. The winner is decided on all three factors and will be announced mid-January.
The winning bar will get a custom made 3D map created by Bobby Nash of Latitude Kinsale.
Here's some information on the Clarke Cooke House, a pub recommended by sailors on no less than three separate continents:
Clarke Cooke House- Sky Bar/ Bistro (also known as the "Candy Store") with bartender Ricky (a.k.a. "five-oh").
By far the best sailor's bar in the world. It combines great food, amazing historical atmosphere, and a laid-back, entertaining bartender in the form of Ricky... whom I have known since he first worked at CCH in 1979! Owner David Ray is an avid sailor, owns a classic 65 foot Hinckley yawl parked in front of Bannister's Wharf, and was creator of the "Candy Store Cup."
The atmosphere is very cool since the walls are festooned with yacht club burgees, dozens of framed photos of famous offshore racing yachts and America's Cup contenders as well as half-models of such famous yachts donated lovingly by their owners to David Ray.
Upstairs dining includes the "America's Cup" room with half and full models of many famous America's Cup defenders and challengers...it is really a sailing museum for Newport that includes an awesome bar and great food!
Francis Joyon Has Left Vietnam And Is Heading For China
Act 3 of the IDEC Sport Asian Tour started early Saturday morning for Francis Joyon and his crew, who left Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City) at 0255hrs UTC and crossed the start line off Port Saigon in light winds and calm seas. The maxi-trimaran is heading to China and the city of Shenzhen, some 870 nautical miles away. This marks the end of this new series of records launched by the winner of the last Route du Rhum.
Conditions were fine this morning for the start, but the wind is expected to freshen in the coming hours. They will have to be cautious during the first part of this course to avoid the many islands, fishermen and shipping in the China Sea.
IDEC SPORT is due to arrive in Shenzhen between Wednesday and Thursday setting a new crewed reference time for this new record. The fourth and final Act of the IDEC SPORT ASIAN TOUR will take place in mid-January. It will be the legendary Clipper Route between Hong Kong and London.
18ft Skiffs NSW Championship, Race 4
Click on image for photo gallery.
Smeg led the fleet at every rounding mark and finally crossed the finish line just 7s ahead of Winning Group (John Winning Jr., Seve Jarvin and Lachlan Gilmore, who was replacing the injured Sam Newton).
Tech2 (Jack Macartney, Charlie Wyatt, Rhys Mara) battled with both Smeg and Winning Group throughout the race and came home a very good third, 22s behind Winning Group.
The extremely consistent, and ever-improving The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines (Aron Everett) was fourth, followed by Shaw and Partners Financial Services (James Dorron), Noakesailing (Sean Langman), Noakes Blue (Rory Hunter), The Kitchen Maker-Caesarstone (Jordan Girdis) and Birkenhead Point Marina (Tom Anderson).
Despite each team being allowed a discard of the worst performance, Winning Group has a score now of only five points from the four races, and no other team can get a better score from the final race.
After each team discards the worst result to date, the table shows Winning Group on net 3 points, followed by Shaw and Partners Financial Services on 9, The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines on 10, Smeg on 12, Appliancesonline.com.au (Brett Van Munster) on 12 and Tech2 on 17.
The Australian 18 Footer League's racing will now go into recess for the Christmas-New Year period. Racing will resume on Sunday, 12 January when the club will stage Race 5 (final) of the NSW Championship. -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League
Aston Harald Composites is back to the production of M32
Aston Harald Composite diversified from the M32 product one and a half years ago, with a focus towards the automotive and marine industry. The customer stock has been growing due to well-reputed companies such as Koenigsegg and Nautor's Swan.
Hakan Svensson, CEO of Aston Harald Composite: "The M32 was the first product of Aston Harald Composite. With the M32, we could show the world what this company was able to produce, and from that day, we have attracted all different companies with high demand in carbon fiber structures and products. Now we have also invested in a new carbon fiber press, putting us in front of the market as one of the leading carbon composite factories in the world. We see the M32 class growing around the world and the production of M32 boats is back on at the factory. The aim is to finalize 14 new M32s at the beginning of 2020."
The decision to begin the production of 14 new boats is coming from a growing M32 class around the world. As of October, the last new M32 # 62 had been delivered, so it's a natural step for the company to start up production again of new boats and spare parts.
At the same time, the production of the new M32s starts, the second batch of the new masts are in the lamination process. The first batch of 12 masts was delivered for the North American Championships in November. The upcoming masts will go to existing owners and be sold with the new M32 boats. With the new M32 boats and masts produced, Aston Harald can deliver a brand new boat with the new mast design from either Hono, Sweden, or Newport, Rhode Island, on the day of order.
Thrillingly close race - Nautor Swan
The second edition of The Nations Trophy, from 8 to 12 October, was a storming success that cemented the position of Nautor's Swan's biennial headline event as one of the world's foremost owner-driver one-design yacht regattas. Many top professional sailors came to race alongside impressively skilled amateurs. To quote North Sails' president Ken Read, the tactician aboard the ClubSwan 50 Cuordileone, 'It is a testament to a lot of people taking the event seriously'.
Not only that but it marks the welcome return of nation-versusnation yacht racing, which used to be a hallmark feature of many classic regattas. With 14 countries represented in The Nations Trophy, the concept clearly has broad international appeal. The previous winners, Spain, were back to defend their title against teams from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Full article in the January issue of Seahorse
CanAm Series 2 Wrapup - International 2.4 Meter Class US Nationals
Port Charlotte, Florida: After three magnificent days of sailing with winds from all points on the compass and ranging from 2 knots to 15 knots, the US 2.4 Meter class crowned a 2019 National Champion. American Dee Smith won the 9 race series followed closely by Canadian Allan Leibel. US Class president Tony Pocklington rounded out the podium finishes.
21 boats sailed and were largely overlapped the entire way around the course, finishing within seconds. Full results can be found here: www.regattanetwork.com
The talented fleet was treated to wonderful hospitality by the Charlotte Harbor Yacht Club on and off the water. Several of the competitors new to the class and the CanAm series commented on how easy the venue is with a 10 minute sail out to the racing course, the great meals, flowing kegs and well stocked bar.
The winter sailing series is just getting started. The fleet will be back on water for CanAm #3 starting January 25, 2020. More details about the schedule can be found here: www.us24meter.org
Irish Sailing Seek Expressions of Interest for Offshore World Sailing Championships 2020
World Sailing has recently announced the criteria for selecting teams for the Offshore World Sailing Championships scheduled to be held in Malta from 10 - 22 October 2020. This is a newly established event for a double-handed mixed crew.
Irish Sailing would like to hear from anyone who is interested in entering a team into the event. Please note in particular the Athlete Qualification Event Requirements under section 5 of the notice. While Irish Sailing is very supportive of, and will facilitate the process for the selection of a team, it should be noted from the outset, that Irish Sailing has no budget for this event and all costs will be borne directly by the teams competing.
Once we have an indication of the level of interest, we will establish a process for the selection of a team to represent Ireland.
Please submit your expression of interest before 5th January 2020 to stating the names of your team members (one male, one female) and a brief CV of experience.
The 10th edition of the Defi Azimut
The Defi Azimut, which will be contested in Lorient from 9 to 13 September 2020, was presented early this afternoon on the Brittany stand (Paris Boat Show). The final race meet before the Vendee Globe, the expected 30 IMOCAs will battle it out over five days of competition comprising speed runs, 48 hours offshore singlehanded save for a compulsory on-board media man and the Tour de Groix record. As such, this atypical event is a spectacular introduction to the heroes of the big planetary looped circuit.
"Over 70 sailors have already participated in the Defi since we launched it in 2011. This year, a record participation of exceptional champions is expected: winners of the Vendee Globe, the Route du Rhum, the Transat Jacques Vabre and the Solitaire du Figaro… and that's something we're very proud about", says a delighted Jean-Marie Corteville, organiser of the Defi Azimut and President of the eponymous company that provides computing solutions. "In 2010, we wanted to get the locals, who are inspired by the IMOCAs, even more involved in proceedings by organising a big parade to celebrate the solo sailors, who will come along and challenge one another", he added.
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The Last Word
Popularity should be no scale for the election of politicians. If it would depend on popularity, Donald Duck and The Muppets would take seats in senate. -- Orson Welles
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