In This Issue
• Plattner's Phoenix 11 Make Dream Home Waters Start in Cape Town
• Azzurra set to defend with a new Tactician
• Ocean Safety appoints Dee Caffari MBE as Ambassador
• Ireland Makes Dominant Start to 93rd Bacardi Cup
• Emirates ACWS Portsmouth Wavemaker Programme
• (Don't) Shake it all about - Future Fibres
• 2022 Flying Fifteen European Championships to be sailed at Cowes
• How do we fly?
• World Sailing Show
• 2.4 Meter Worlds
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Vismara Frers 80 Custom
• • Chessie Racing
• • Victory '83
• The Last Word: Ken Campbell
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
Plattner's Phoenix 11 Make Dream Home Waters Start in Cape Town
Photo by Ingrid Abery, www.ingridabery.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
Local knowledge and a protracted spell of training late last year and before this season's curtain raiser played its part as Phoenix completed a textbook first race that they won comfortably. Then, after a less than perfect start to the second contest, Phoenix battled from the bottom third of the fleet to deliver a valuable third place finish.
In the south westerly breeze, which picked up to 16kts for the second start and averaged 10-13 kts for the day, conditions were not easy to read - consistency proving particularly elusive. Phoenix 11, the newer of the two Plattner family TP52s, were undoubtedly the class act delivering for the home support.
Standings after Day 1
1. Phoenix 11 (RSA) (Hasso Plattner) (1,3) 4 points.
2. Azzurra (ARG/ITA) (Alberto/Pablo Roemmers) (4,2) 6 p.
3. Sled (USA) (Takashi Okura) (3,4) 7 p.
4. Alegre (USA/GBR) (Andres Soriano) (7,1) 8 p.
5. Bronenosec (RUS) (Vladimir Liubomirov) (2,10) 12 p.
6. Provezza (TUR) (Ergin Imre) (6,6) 12 p.
7. Phoenix 12 (RSA) (Tina Plattner) (8,5) 13 p.
8. Quantum Racing (USA) (Doug DeVos) (5,8) 13 p.
9. Platoon (GER) (Harm Muller-Spreer) (9,7) 16 p.
10. Paprec (FRA) (Jean-Luc Petithuguenin) (10,9) 19 p.
Azzurra set to defend with a new Tactician
Photo by Max Ranchi, www.maxranchi.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
At the end of the day there is just one team ahead of the boat flying the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda's burgee and that's the home team, Phoenix 11, who got first and third place finishes today. Sled (3rd and 4th today) is just one point behind Azzurra and all eyes were on this American team after their excellent win in the final event of the 2019 Super Series in Porto Cervo. Alegre totals eight points while the rest of the fleet trails these teams by double digits.
Michele Paoletti, tactician: "My debut went well, but if you don't have a fast boat there's no such thing as a good tactician. Azzurra is fast and always has been, that's why she has always been in the top positions of this super competitive circuit. Her team knows every detail of the boat, they are real experts and they have an added plus: they're a tightly knit group. They have made me feel comfortable and welcome even though I know I'm walking in the big footsteps of the tacticians who have come before me."
Tomorrow racing starts at the same time, 12:30 SAST South African Standard Time (11:30 CET) with wind conditions forecast to be similar to today's. Racing can be followed on the tracker Virtual Eye, on the website azzurra.it, on the 52superseries app or the website 52superseries.com. Live updates from the race course will also be posted on Azzurra's Facebook page.
Ocean Safety appoints Dee Caffari MBE as Ambassador
Dee is the first woman to have sailed single-handed and non-stop around the world in both directions and the only woman to have sailed non-stop around the world a total of three times. She led 'Turn the Tide on Plastic' in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017/18, the first mixed gender youth team to compete in the iconic round the globe event.
"Creating the right culture, with trust and reliability in the equipment and with each other, allows a team to push the boundaries of performance with confidence," says Dee. "I hope to help promote this way of thinking and to continue to challenge and encourage innovation with new technologies." She adds "I want to help develop continuous improvement with honest and open feedback within the safety parameters for sailing."
Ireland Makes Dominant Start to 93rd Bacardi Cup
The annual Bacardi Cup kicked off today in Miami, USA, with a beautiful and very typical Biscayne Bay day which saw the 65 boat race get underway in a south-easterly breeze of about 16 knots.
Today it was all about the iconic Star Class, with the J/70, Melges 24, Viper 640 and the newly welcomed VXOne sports boat and AV8 and Windfoil classes beginning their competition on Thursday 5 March.
After the skippers briefing at Coral Reef Yacht Club, the 130 sailors headed to the water for a scheduled 1200 hours start. Principal Race Officer Carl Schellbach hoisted the U-Flag after the first general recall, which saw over half the fleet cross early, and got the fleet off on the second attempt in stunning race track conditions.
Paul Cayard (USA) and his Brazilian crew Pedro Trouche had a dominant start on the pin end but couldn't break away and were soon overhauled by the Italian-German partnership of Diego Negri and Frithjof Kleen who led round the first mark. They were closely pursued by Danish skipper Jorgen Shoenherr and his German crew Markus Koy, winners of the Star Midwinter regatta in January on the same race track, and the 'king of the bay' Augie Diaz (USA) with Henry Boening (BRA). The Irish brothers Peter and Robert O'Leary were not far behind and delivered a superb downwind strike to claim the lead going into the gate and maintain ownership of the race through to the finish.
While the Irish team secured a significant win, it was neck and neck for second and third and hard to separate Paul Cayard with Pedro Trouche and the 2019 Star World Champions Mateusz Kusznierewicz (POL) and Bruno Prada (BRA). They were super close, but the Race Committee had no doubt in awarding second place to the Polish-Brazilian partnership.
The sixty-five Star Class teams will kick off race 2 of the 93rd Bacardi Cup with a scheduled start time of 1200 hours for another intense day of race track duels on Tuesday 3 March.
Emirates ACWS Portsmouth Relaunch Official Wavemaker Volunteers Programme
The Emirates America's Cup World Series Portsmouth event is excited to relaunch their official Wavemakers Volunteers Programme. The event team are looking for 150 volunteers to support across a range of roles and registration is now OPEN
The Emirates ACWS event takes place across 4th – 7th June. Three international teams will join home team, INEOS TEAM UK, for four days of action packed racing and entertainment off Southsea seafront.
It's the third time Portsmouth will host the America's Cup racing, over 250,000 spectators lined the shores during the 2015 and 2016 events and over 500 volunteers were on the ground supporting. The Wavemakers programme has become integral to helping to deliver a world class sporting event.
As well as being the 'face' of the Emirates ACWS Portsmouth, Wavemakers are also recruited as ambassadors to share their local knowledge and educate spectators on the America's Cup racing.
Successful volunteers will be offered the opportunity to work across multiple facets of the event from general help, support and guidance to opportunities within TV production, stage management, event control, media and hospitality. To prepare them for their role, the event will give all volunteers a full training programme.
Following a review of all the online applications, selected candidates will be contacted via email or phone by a member of the event team.
Sign up to become an official Wavemaker volunteer HERE
Tickets for the Emirates America's Cup World Series Portsmouth are now live on Ticketmaster HERE
(Don't) Shake it all about - Future Fibres
The parentage of Future Fibres' latest answer to high-tech composite rigging, becomes quite clear when you start looking at how AEROsix is put together. An extended elliptical aerofoil shape, AEROsix takes the best elements of Future Fibres' multistrand carbon rigging, ECsix, and combines it with RAZR, Future Fibres' solid carbon product.
Each of AEROsix's parents could claim great advantages over what came before them. But while these products have become established as the go-to choices in the market place, Future Fibres asked itself, what next? In the May edition of Seahorse, p72-73, we looked at the reasons why the company felt it was time to develop and launch AEROsix into the market.
However, things have moved on apace even in the past few months as Future Fibres has conducted more research in conjunction with the Wolfson Unit at the University of Southampton. Some interesting and somewhat unforeseen discoveries have emerged out of the R&D work at the Wolfson Unit...
Full article in the March issue of Seahorse
2022 Flying Fifteen European Championships to be sailed at Cowes
Tatania. Photo by Ian G Gilchrist. Click on image to enlarge.
With fleets based in Belgium, France, Ireland and Spain it is hoped that there will be strong interest from European boats as well as those based in the UK and even further afield overseas.
The exact format of the event will be agreed between the club and the local, National and International Associations of the class over the next 18 months but there is likely to be a 75th Anniversary celebration race on Sunday followed by four days of racing in the central Solent. The racing will be accompanied by a varied social programme incorporating many of the attractive and interesting venues available in and around Cowes.
Cowes has been the venue for numerous Flying Fifteen championships since the first National Championship was held there in 1949 and recently has hosted Southern Area Championships on significant anniversary years in 2007, 2012 and 2017 being 60th, 65th and 70th respectively. Prior to that in 1997 CCYC hosted what was the largest ever gathering of Flying Fifteens to mark the 50th anniversary of the class when over 180 boats descended on Cowes to take part in the Worlds, Nationals and Classic Fifteen regatta.
2022 is not only the 75th anniversary of the design of the Flying Fifteen but will also mark 50 years since the designer Uffa Fox passed away. The legend of Uffa is very much a part of Cowes yachting history with his breakthrough in planing dinghy design in the late 1920's in the International 14 Avenger, his prolific design and build portfolio that followed, his often eccentric behaviour and of course his links with royalty including sailing with Prince Philip for nearly 20 years in the Flying Fifteen 'Coweslip'. Preliminary discussions are underway on how to celebrate Uffa's 'fiftieth' and the Flying Fifteen European Championship will be a significant part of the celebration. -- Mike Dixon and Jonny Fullerton
How do we fly?
With less than two months left to go until the start of the first act of the America's Cup World Series in Cagliari, to be held from 23 to 26 of April, curiosity is at its peak for these new "flying monohulls". For the first time these boats will compete between the buoys in what are expected to be incredibly tight and spectacular races. The schedule involves three days of Round Robins, while the last day will feature the Finals, for the first and second place, with the Petit Final to determine third and fourth place.
We will see completely new yachts, with outstanding performances and technological solutions very close to aeronautical engineering, that allow a boat as heavy as an elephant to "fly".
Watch our Boat Tutorial for an insight in the Luna Rossa "numbers".
World Sailing Show
This month the World Sailing Show focuses on the thrills and spills of a decade of foiling with Sir Ben Ainslie at the INEOS TEAM UK training base in Cagliari, Italy. The British America's Cup skipper looks ahead to an action-packed year in SailGP and the America's Cup World Series.
We bring you action from the star-studded fleet competing in the RORC Caribbean 600 race - 700 sailors from 37 nations racing 600 miles around 11 islands.
A year of Olympic sailing kicked off in Miami with the World Cup Series. We bring you the stories and action from the event that featured seven Olympic classes.
Another speed record has been won by the French. Francis Joyon and his IDEC Sport crew concluded a winter of record-breaking by taking the Hong Kong to London tea clipper route record.
- Foiling into the future. Sir Ben Ainslie looks forward to a year of thrills and spills in SailGP and America's Cup World Series.
- The star sailors and action from this year's RORC Caribbean 600 race.
- Olympic qualifying action from the World Cup Series in Miami.
- Francis Joyon breaks the the tea clipper route record from Hong Kong to London.
- Winners from the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 world championships in Australia.
The World Sailing Show YouTube Channel
2.4 Meter Worlds - Registration Open, Anticipation Building
In the wake of a very successful winter CanAm series in Port Charlotte, registration opened for the International 2.4 Meter World Championships at Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa FL. As of this writing, there were already 15 entries including defending world champion Megan Pascoe and perennial 2.4 Meter rock star Dee Smith for an event that is still 8 months away.
The event will be held from November 7-13, 2020 and is likely to attract a strong contingent of European 2.4 Meter sailors. US Class president Tony Pocklington has been working diligently to plan a world class event and recently commented "The 2.4 Meter at Davis Island is a world class combination of boat and venue. Tampa is a great host city. This event will be spectacular."
About the 2.4 Meter
The 2.4 Meter is a 14 foot singlehanded racing sailboat that "levels the playing field" for sailors regardless of physical stature. The exciting little keel boat provides incredibly competitive racing with an emphasis on tactics and sailing rather than physical exertion. In the United States, the 2.4 Meter class has a winter home in Port Charlotte Florida and is growing in the Northeast.
Registering for Worlds
If you would like to sail with us, and / or have questions please reach out to Tony Pocklington at or Jen Holmberg (Event Chair) at .
Additionally, you can register here: 2.4mR 2020 Worlds including Para World Championship on Yacht Scoring - A complete web based regatta administration and yacht scoring program
Featured Brokerage
Extensively updated and refitted, Frers designed performance ocean cruiser in full pre-preg carbon composite with telescopic keel, push-button rig and 4-cabin plus crew interior layout.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Tel UK: +44 (0)1590 673715
Tel ITA: +39 333 7489281
Email:
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CHESSIE is equipped with a lifting keel and twin rudders – driven by the shoal-draft requirement Her owner chose a Hall Spar, deck-stepped, swept-spreader rig for simplicity and location (the rig sits above the lifting keel box, which offers a nice structural solution) She has a 75HP (the biggest Yanmar engine with a saildrive) which drives the boat at 10.5kt with a Gori three-blade folding prop (which is surprisingly low drag when folded) The boat has a Cariboni MagicTrim mainsheet, Harken electric winches, a Reckmann recessed furler headstay, a removable furling staysail, a self-tacking jib, a Hall furling boom and a square-top main plus runners for racing. Chessie is easy to steer and has good stability.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
William Jenkins
410 267 9419
410 353 7862
www.tysyacht.com
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Victory'83 - 2 Time World Champion - completely updated, fully tuned up with an extensive sail inventory. A proven Winner - add crew, water and GO!. Complete program for sale with tender and container.
Victory'83 received a complete refit and update in 2008. The first twelve to be fully outfitted and laid out for the larger crew size permitted in the current 12M Rule. The original hull, keel and tab was retained. We added new cockpits and foredeck, rudder, winches, hardware, spars/rigging, electronics, hydraulics and of course, fairing and paint - in essence a new boat! She set a new standard for the Class and has earned an enviable race record. The Owner is retiring from Twelve Metre Racing and would like to pass her on to a new custodian!
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Victory83.com
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
I'm not mad. I've just read different books. -- Ken Campbell
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