In This Issue
• Light wind limitations at Hempel World Cup Series Miami
• SailGP France announces 2020 Team
• Sail Melbourne International 2020
• What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
• Clipper Race 6 Day 3: Le Mans Race Start And Finding The Wind
• Emirates Team New Zealand reveal hard chine test boat
• Optimist World Championship Notice Of Race published
• Aegean 600: A 600-mile offshore racing Odyssey
• RS:X Pathway to 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games
• Great Lakes 52 Season Series
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Ker 41
• • Johan Anker Flush Deck Cutter - Bojar
• • Elliot 1850 Schooner - Zindabar
• The Last Word: The Doctor
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
Light wind limitations at Hempel World Cup Series Miami
Through four days of action-packed racing on Biscayne Bay, the athletes competing at the 2020 Hempel World Cup Series Miami have experienced a vast array of conditions.
Cold temperatures, wind chill, rain, strong breeze, and more typical South Florida conditions have challenged the 182 sailors from 45 nations.
The challenge has been real on the Bay and this has created exciting racing and a level of unpredictability adding more intrigue to this year's annual Olympic class regatta in Miami.
Heading into Thursday's racing the Finn, Laser, Laser Radial, and Men's and Women's 470 had completed six races, while the Men's and Women's RS:X finished nine.
However, the breeze failed to cooperate for most of Thursday, as rain showers sporadically dampened the sailing venue, and racing was limited after lengthy postponements.
Top three
470 Men - 6 races 1 discard (no races on Wednesday)
1. Mathew Belcher / William Ryan, AUS, 19
2. Anton Dahlberg / Fredrik Bergstrom, SWE, 21
3. Panagiotis Mantis / Pavlos Kagialis, GRE, 25
470 Women - 6 races 1 discard8 (no races on Wednesday)
1. Camille Lecointre / Aloise Retornaz, FRA, 9
2. Agnieszka Skrzypulec / Jolanta Ogar, POL, 17
3. Tina Mrak / Veronika Macarol, SLO, 21
Finn - 8 races 1 discard
1. Caleb Paine, USA, 9
2. Luke Muller, USA, 25
3. Oisin Mcclelland, IRL, 27
Laser - 7 races 1 discard
1. Francisco Guaragna Rigonat, ARG, 13
2. Stefano Peschiera, PER, 19
3. Enrique Jose Arathoon Pacas, ESA, 28
Laser Radial - 6 races 1 discard (no races on Wednesday)
1. Erika Reineke, USA, 10
2. Vasileia Karachaliou, GRE, 15
3. Matilda Talluri, ITA, 15
RS:X Men - 10 races 1 discard
1. Pedro Pascual, USA, 16
2. Ignacio Berenguer, MEX, 27.50
3. Geronimo Nores. USA, 31
RS:X Women - 10 races 1 discard
1. Demita Vega de Lille, MEX, 22
2. Megumi Komine, JPN, 25
3. Farrah Hall, USA, 27
SailGP France announces 2020 Team
With less than 40 days before the opening of Season 2 of SailGP in Sydney, the French team is aiming to reach its 2020 objectives as early as possible in the season. The team is now managed by Bruno Dubois
After finding out that they have not been selected for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the news concludes the end of Billy Besson and Marie Riou’s Olympic partnership in the Nacra 17, and also marks the latter's departure from the France SailGP Team. The pairing, who together have won four world titles, remain close friends despite reaching the end of this chapter together. Riou will be replaced in the key position of flight controller by the multihull expert, Francois Morvan.
“Francois was our back up flight controller in 2019 and despite not having sailed much on the boat, has already demonstrated his skillset. He has taken part in simulator sessions and lived with the team, so he knows how we work and therefore was a logical choice,” comments Besson. For Matthieu Vandame, Francois’ enormous experience in multihulls (both large and small, inshore and offshore) as well as his skills as a trimmer and helm, make him the man for the job.
There has also been a change on the coaching front with the arrival of Thierry Douillard. A multiple winner of the Tour de France à la voile, an offshore racer, coach of the Oman Sail team and weather router for Sodebo Sailing Team, he was the obvious choice to replace Franck Citeau and Stevie Morrison, who have both moved to other activities.
Finally, the sailing team welcomes a new kid on the block in Jules Bidegaray. The 25-year old is the winner of the competition launched in Marseille in the autumn, to recruit a young grinder. Hailing from France’s Youth Team and a previous competitor in the Tour de Voile, Bidegaray will join the other powerhouses of the team - the very experienced Olivier Herledant, Devan Le Bihan and Timothe Lapauw.
Pending the start of training on the F50, scheduled from 20th February in Sydney, with the actual event on the 28th and 29th, the France SailGP Team will be together for a number of events over the coming weeks (two simulator sessions, Global Sports Week event etc.).
France SailGP Team crew for 2020:
Billy Besson/ Helmsman - Age: 38 - Hometown Sevrier, France
Francois Morvan / Flight Controller - Age: 36 - Hometown: Nantes, France
Matthieu Vandame / Wing Trimmer - Age: 37 - Hometown: Rennes, France
Olivier Herledant / Grinder - Age: 39 Hometown: Douarnenez, France
Devan Le Bihan / Grinder - Age: 36 - Hometown: Hennebont, France
Timothe Lapauw / Grinder - Age: 27 - Hometown: Antibes, France
Jules Bidegaray / Young Grinder - Age: 24 - Hometown: Hyeres, France
Sail Melbourne International 2020
Six months out from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Sail Melbourne International 2020 saw the world’s best sailors wrapping up the five-day event with a light wind day on Port Phillip Bay today.
Over 300 competitors from 25 countries contested Melbourne’s premier event for Olympic and Invited class sailing, which is part of Melbourne’s Summer of Sailing 2020 series.
Many sailors used the event as a warm-up regatta for the next round of world championship events held around the bay in February with everyone experiencing a whole range of sailing conditions on Port Phillip.
With the wind dropping on the last day, racing was delayed in some of the classes, before all fleets got at least one final race in, with most finishing a full race program.
Sail Melbourne International 2020 included the Laser Oceania Championships, the International 505 class Australian Championships, the Australian Kitefoiling Championships as well as the 2020 Australian Para Championships.
Winners in the Olympic classes:
470 - Tyler Paige / Adrian Hoesch, ASA
Finn - Jake Lilley, AUS
Laser Radial - Stefan Elliott-Shircore, AUS
Laser Standard - Jean-Baptist Bernaz, FRA
RS:X Men - Tom Squires, GBR
RS:X Women - Noy Drihan, ISR
Seahorse February 2020
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Dave Perry: winning in life
Olympian Carol Cronin catches up with someone else who has done more than most to influence the sailing success - and enjoyment - of world champions and enthusiastic newbies alike
Just so darn good
Pinnacle regatta, marquee event, premier race series, you choose... but Sperry Charleston Race Week sort of crept up on the international racing scene and now it's impossible to overlook
Two invaluable days
The latest Yacht Race Forum in Bilbao was another chance to catch up with as well as influence every possible aspect of international competitive sailing
Rod Davis - Redacted
Five different ways to lap a racecourse faster that you've never thought about (OK... most of you)
Seahorse build table - Karma it is
Giuliano Luzzatto and Mark Mills
Sailor of the Month
More gold medals than you can count
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Clipper Race 6 Day 3: Le Mans Race Start And Finding The Wind
The Clipper Race fleet has made its way through the beautiful Great Barrier Reef as they navigate away from Australia and start their route to China with the first stop being Sanya in Race 6 of Leg 5: The Sanya Tropical Paradise Race.
The fleet has taken part in a Le Mans Race Start which took place at 0700LT (2100UTC). Imagine Your Korea’s Skipper Rob Graham who was the Race Officer for the Le Mans start states that there was a “good clean start by all eleven boats, Punta del Este and Imagine your Korea did well in the centre and Visit Sanya, China and Qingdao did the best either side. Everybody was holding a south tack for the moment but heading up to close-hauled.”
So, what is a Le Mans start? Essentially all 11 of the fleet were lined up under engines with their mainsails raised and their headsails ready to go. Upon Race Start, the fleet can proceed forward raising their headsails and it is a rolling start.
At this early stage, all crew members are observing the other boats tactics with interest. However, the weather conditions continue to frustrate the crew. Imagine Your Korea’s AQP Sam says: In these conditions there is no way out, other than to keep making the best of what little puffs you can find. This can be frustrating and tiring in a way that heavy weather sailing is not.”
Keep an eye on the Race Viewer to find out how the race is progressing.
Emirates Team New Zealand reveal hard chine test boat
In 2018, the America's Cup Defenders elected not to follow the lead of three of the Challengers, whose first move in the current Cup was to launch prototype boats to both test the foiling monohull concept, and build a knowledge base for their first AC75.
Instead, the Kiwi team played to their strength and enhanced their already formidable design systems and simulator which had played a decisive role in the 2017 Cup win in Bermuda.
Emirates Team New Zealand's test boat, christened Te Kahu, will be used to plug a big gap in the team's sailing program, created by some unfortunate but unavoidable timing.
Design chief, Dan Bernasconi describes Te Kahu as "mainly as a development platform, to keep learning and experimenting through the year, whilst Boat 1 is on tour".
The Defender is now believed to have locked off many of major design decisions for its second AC75 - a milestone the Challengers passed several months earlier.
The team's first-born AC75, Te Aihe, is being decommissioned earlier than expected for a 60-day voyage to Cagliari, Sardinia, venue for the first America's Cup World Series Regatta in late April.
Standout feature of Te Kahu is the chined hull, which sits very comfortably with older Kiwi sailors - given the historical links back to top designer and builder John Spencer, a strong advocate of hard chine racing boat designs and their ease of construction.
Richard Gladwell's full article in Sail-World.com: www.sail-world.com.
Optimist World Championship Notice Of Race published
Riva del Garda, Italy: the Notice of Race of the 2020 Optimist Worlds is published. The event will be hosted from July 1st to 11th in Riva del Garda (Italy) thanks to the hospitality of Fraglia Vela Riva.
Measurement operations will start on Wednesday 1 July and will continue until the next day, when the event will officially open with the inaugural ceremony.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the action gets underway with the fleet involved in the qualifying regattas that will lead to the division of the athletes in Gold and Silver fleet: those who will qualify to the Gold Fleet, from Wednesday 8 July will then compete to find out who will succeed Marco Gradoni as Optimist World Champion.
The name of the World Champion will be unveiled on Friday 10 July, while on Tuesday 7 the winner of the Team Race World Championship will be crowned: the Team Race World Championship will take place on Monday 6 and Tuesday 7.
Registration must be completed by May 15, 2020.
The notice of race can be consulted, in full version, at this link.
The 2020 Optimist World Championship is organized by Fraglia Vela Riva, Associazione Italiana Classe Optimist, Riva del Garda Fiere e Congressi, Garda Trentino.
Aegean 600: A 600-mile offshore racing Odyssey
One of next season’s most enticing IRC/ORC events will be the Agean 600 o a brand new non-stop grand tour of the Aegean Sea.
Ocean racing has a small number of famous 600-mile races: the Sydney- Hobart, the Fastnet, the Newport- Bermuda, the Caribbean 600 and the Middle Sea Race. Now there is a new member in this exclusive group of special races, presented by the Hellenic Offshore Race Club (HORC), to be sailed from 14 to 20 June 2020: the Aegean 600.
This new offshore racing event presents a significant sailing challenge as well as a unique opportunity to sail non-stop in one of the most windy, versatile and beautiful sailing venues of the world. This will be a demanding route where boats will sail 200nm downwind, 200 upwind zig-zaging through the Dodecanese and a last, rewarding reaching leg to the finish line off Cape Sounion.
Technical highlights of the race include among others sailing through the Santorini Caldera, 70nm in the Sea of Karpathos and Rhodes, passing through Kos strait as well as the five nautical mile Delos-Mykonos channel, where tough upwind work is expected.
After starting the race off Cape Sounion, about 20 miles south of Athens, the fleet will head to the southwestern islands in the Cyclades group before turning east at Milos. As well as being the southernmost island in the Cyclades chain Milos is also where the Venus de Milo was rediscovered by a farmer in 1820.
It’s due to these deep roots of life on the sea that Greece has a rich maritime heritage in general and a robust sailboat racing culture in particular. As part of this, HORC has been organising races and regattas for nearly 60 years, including important offshore events such as the annual Aegean Rally and top-level international regattas such as the Quarter, Half and Three Quarter Ton World Championships in the 1980s, the 2006 TP52 MedCup Athens Trophy and the 2008 ORCi World Championship.
Registration and festivities for the Aegean 600 begin a week in advance on 7 June, with the opening of free berthing and a race village at Olympic Marine, a full-service marina facility in Lavrio that is only a 30-minute drive from the international airport in Athens. During this pre-race period tours of famous sites such as the Acropolis Museum, the Parthenon and the Temple of Poseidon are available as well as parties and receptions affiliated with the event.
yachtracing.life/aegean-600-a-600-mile-offshore-racing-odyssey
RS:X Pathway to 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games
The first Olympic qualification event was held in Aarhus 2018 at the Sailing World Championships, offering 40% of the Olympic spots. Followed by the 2019 RS:X World Championships held in Torbole, Italy and the 2019 RS:X African Championships held in Algiers, Algeria we have some sailors who qualified their countries to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
The remaining qualification process will see one spot allocated from each of the continental qualifying events in 2020 both for men and women.
If any qualified nation opts not to send a team to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, or if there are no unqualified nations from a continent trying to qualify at their continental championship, then the highest placed unqualified nation from the 2019 RS:X Worlds will acquire that Olympic berth.
See the current situation showing the qualified countries and also the list of the countries which may have an opportunities at the continental qualifying events or from 2019 RS:X Worlds here
www.rsxclass.org/events/olympic-games/
www.sailing.org/tokyo2020.php
Great Lakes 52 Season Series
2020 will launch the first Great Lakes 52 Season Series (GL52 Season Series). The growing premier monohull big boat racing fleet has achieved critical mass in the Great Lakes and the teams are excited for close boat on boat racing. The 52’s are the perfect boat for the great lakes. The powerful, agile, boats are renowned for buoy racing yet fast enough to win line honors in distance racing as has been the case in the past few years in the Queens Cup, Bayview and Chicago to Mackinac events.
The series starts with the Chicago NOOD and finishes with the first annual Great Lakes 52 Championship at Macatawa Bay Yacht Club. The 2020 GL52 Season Series includes:
- Chicago NOOD
- Bayview Mackinac Race
- Chicago Race to Mackinac
- UGotta Regatta, Harbor Springs, MI
- Verve Cup, Chicago
- GL 52 Championship, Holland, MI
This year is poised to be a great match up between a very competitive fleet of boats including; Doug Devos’ Windquest, Chis Duhon’s Mockingbird, Austin and Gwen Fragomen’s Interlodge, Laura and Bob Hughes’ Heartbreaker and Jim Murray’s Callisto. Phil and Sharon O’Niel have purchased the Fox that will be re-named Natalie J while their previous Natalie J is for sale. Victor Wild will be joining the fleet for the Verve and GL 52 Championship with his new 52 Fox.
This new series, in closely limited and handicapped boats with ORR time on time scoring, promises to bring close, exciting, near boat on boat racing to the great lakes’ most iconic inshore and offshore races. At the GL 52 Championship in addition to and Overall winner, both the Offshore and Inshore Season Winners will be recognized to further bolster the Series appeal.
yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eid=11783
www.facebook.com/gl52fleet/
Featured Brokerage
2016 Ker 41. 430000 USD. Located in Turkey.
This is a full carbon pre-preg build that is based on the Ker 40+ design, but with a more offshore focus.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Race Boats
+442380 016582
+447759 424900
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1937 Johan Anker Flush Deck Cutter - Bojar. 455000 GBP. in United Kingdom.
BOJAR is a boat of breathtaking and effortless beauty. She is also an extremely effective sailing boat: rarely off the podium at any classic regatta.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Barney Sandeman
+44 (0)1202 330077
33 High Street
Poole, Dorset
BH15 1AB
United Kingdom
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1998 Elliot 1850 Schooner - ZINDABAR. 545,000 GBP. Located in Bay of Islands, NZ.
Greg Elliot is a legend in the Southern Hemisphere where his fast, lean and utilitarian yachts are perfect for making fast passages through the vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean. They are superb seaboats and there design and execution is simple and robust. ZINDABAR is a good example of his craft and has been substantially updated in this ownership. A big refit in 2009 has been followed by a number of smaller upgrades to ensure that she remains ocean ready.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Ben Cooper
+44 (0) 1590 679 222
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
The last day of the Time War. The war to end all wars. Between my people and the Daleks. And in that battle there was a man with more blood on his hands than any other. A man who would commit a crime that would silence the universe. And that man was me. -- The Doctor
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