In This Issue
• At The Sharp End
• Iain Murray Appointed As Regatta Director For The 36th America's Cup Presented By Prada
• Mark Turner: "The Most Important Question Is What Is The Meaning To What We Do"
• What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
• Focus On... Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team
• Calibrating a 5O5 Rig
• Irish Sailing Submit 'Return to Sailing' Document to Government
• The Story of the NY50 PLEIONE (HMCo. 714 - 1912)
• From The Vault
• Kenneth Newman 1929-2020
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Bavaria C57
• • Powerplay
• • 1946 Eugene Cornu 13.5m Bermudan Sloop
• The Last Word: Lawrence Ferlinghetti
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
At The Sharp End
“Do these catamarans ever capsize?” was my first question to the RIB driver as we sped past Portsmouth. “Never have” came his reply and literally as he finished mouthing the words Team Volvo Ocean Race dug its bows in and pitch-poled before our eyes. The driver was agog. Meanwhile, I was (and I must apologise) enthusiastic to have bagged an entertaining sequence. Not five minutes later a second, Team Tommy Hilfiger then cartwheeled. My camera shutter was getting a real work-out. Be prepared for any on-the-water eventuality is my motto.
The Extreme 40 series was to evolve into the iShares Cup and some years further down the track the AC45 series, the AC75 and SailGP were born. The following season I had been invited to donate a gift for auction. A day on my RIB picking up photographic tips from the heart of the action produced more than the recipient had bargained for. The JP Morgan team had rounded the leeward gate, flown past us and promptly nose-dived. Another one for the lens! -- Ingrid Abery
To see more of these cartwheels
Iain Murray Appointed As Regatta Director For The 36th America's Cup Presented By Prada
Renowned international yachtsman and regatta official Iain Murray will once again take the reins as the independent Regatta Director for the 36th America's Cup presented by Prada, the Prada Cup Challenger Selection Series and the America's Cup World Series Auckland including the Christmas Race.
Jointly appointed by the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand and the Challenger of Record (COR36) Iain is taking over from John Craig, who stepped down from the position late last year. With his solid background and reputation of yacht designer, skipper and yachtsman - including the participation in four America's Cup campaigns and several world championships in different classes - Iain Murray is a unanimously respected figure in the world of international yachting, and the America's Cup in particular.
This will be the third time that Murray has held this prominent position, after having been appointed from 2010 to 2017 in the dual role of Regatta Director (34th & 35th America's Cup) & CEO of America's Cup Race Management (ACRM).
His longtime knowledge of the Waitemata Harbour will be an additional guarantee of fair racing for all the competitors as it will be a return to the place where he made his first marks on the international sailing scene, with two notable wins.
The first was as a 17-year-old student where he designed, built and sailed a 12ft skiff, Sunset Hotels, to win the 1976 Interdominion 12ft skiff title on his second attempt from a fleet of 24 boats from Australia and New Zealand. He returned a year later to win the JJ Giltinan Trophy, the unofficial world championship of the 18ft skiff class.
In his capacity of Regatta Director Iain Murray will also oversee the training of all personnel and volunteers involved in the racing, security, rescue and on-water management of different areas.
More background on Iain Murray's colourful sailing career
Mark Turner: "The Most Important Question Is What Is The Meaning To What We Do"
With the Covid-19 pandemic affecting the whole planet, it has meant a great deal of uncertainty for sport in general and sailboat races are no exception. What will the impact be on our sport? What changes will there be to the economic model? How do races need to change? How will sponsors behave?
To try to get to grips with this new situation, Tip & Shaft is carrying out a series of five interviews about the future of sail racing. Our first interviewee, Mark Turner, cofounder with Ellen MacArthur, of Offshore Challenges, which became OC Sport, was head of the Volvo Ocean Race between 2016 and 2017, and now works as a consultant.
Mark, in your opinion, to what extent has sailing been affected by the crisis that we are currently experiencing? I can see two types of impact: in the short term - in the next twelve months - and in the longer term. For the short term, we can separate French sailing from what happens internationally with private owners - TP52, Maxis, super yachts and all the rest. This latter category is clearly down and knock-out and I think for this year it's over, which makes it very tough for professional sailors who usually take part in these circuits. The big problem is that we don't know what will happen: whether you are a small club or a professional organiser, you are bound to be affected by this uncertainty. It's not like having an on-off button. This uncertainty means that in general, if today I was the organiser of an event, I would forget about 2020 and look ahead to 2021. It may be possible to do something at the end of the year, but I think that given the current situation, it is better to say, "We're going to stop it all, avoid spending any more and prepare instead for 2021." It's a tough decision, but today, we can't really say that sailing is something essential. We have to get things into perspective. When I look around me at doctors, nurses and firemen... they are essential to our life. All of that reminds us that sailing is a bonus. We will have to take that into account in the future.
Do you think the French ocean racing model with sailors supported by commercial partners will suffer a lot? Yes, obviously. Already there is the fact that many events have had to be cancelled this year and then, if you are out there looking for a sponsor today, good luck to you... Not every economic sector will suffer the same impact, but given the uncertainty we are in today, it is very hard to find a CEO or marketing director who is ready to take a major decision and sign up with a huge budget for the next two years. We keep hearing lots of numbers from economists about the extent of the crisis that we are about to face, but no one really knows. This is an unprecedented situation. We have never seen the global economy come to a standstill like this.
Seahorse May 2020
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Personal taste - Y Yachts
When experienced sailors define their own perfect yacht they often find others have been thinking the same thing. If you have a lifetime of experience in the industry you're better placed than most to pull it off...
Paul Cayard - Going too far
Have we really thought this through... properly?
IRC - Sustainable rating
And how one thing really does lead to another. Jason Smithwick
Flexible - Musto
Faster boats demand more dynamic sailing techniques placing different requirements on crews. Energy used up in folding and bending clothing fabric is energy wasted... but you still have to keep out the water
No limit - em-trak
As AIS systems become de rigeur we have only touched the surface in terms of the information which they can provide
Plug and play - A+T Instruments
Whatever happens to your electronics, there is a powerful and quick upgrade available
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Focus On... Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team
A virtual tour for an exclusive visit to the Luna Rossa headquarters in Cagliari.
The America's Cup World Series should have been taking place right now in Cagliari, with the incredibly technical and competitive AC75 boats in action for the first time ever. The spread of Covid-19 forced the organizers to cancel the event, but we still wanted to "open" our doors, through a virtual tour of the base. Have you ever visited our base in Cagliari? This unique experience gives you the chance to discover the place where Luna Rossa was conceived and developed.
Calibrating a 5O5 Rig
Most boats, particularly smaller ones like a 5O5 that don't change to smaller rigs or sails as wind increases, have a way of reducing power as wind increases. This often requires changing mast rake to rebalance the boat which also triggers a number of other necessary changes in sail trim as a result.
Under racing conditions the crew needs to be able to make all these adjustments quickly without losing concentration on racing.
In the case of a 5O5 there are tuning grids available which give you settings of various controls for different wind strengths. These calibrations have generally been determined by the top sailors over years of experience and require markings on lines and the boat so changes can be made with minimal thinking and in the knowledge that the settings will be correct.
In this video Australian Yachtsman, Robin Duessen explains how he has used color coding in his 5O5 to keep it simple. Having worked out where the key controls that affect sail shape need to be (the tuning grids are a good starting point) colours are used as markers so when rake is changed all the other relevant controls are simply set to the same colour. Done correctly this maintains the mast configuration to ensure it continues to suit the luff round cut in the mainsail and even how far out board the jib should be set.
Irish Sailing Submit 'Return to Sailing' Document to Government
Since the Covid-19 shutdown commenced, Irish Sailing has been communicating on behalf of our members with various government stakeholders to present a case for our sport to be viewed as a 'low risk' activity, so that we will be allowed to return to sailing as quickly and safely as possible as restrictions start to be lifted. We believe that with appropriate measures, a basic level of safe and responsible activity can be delivered to get our members active on the water.
To this end, we submitted a proposal to Sport Ireland (the Government's agency coordinating a return to sport activities) outlining protocols and priorities in a "Return to Sailing Scheme" document. As our members know, it is a fundamental principle of sailing that the decision to go afloat both for individuals and activity organisers is based on a combination of self-responsibility and risk assessment. The Return to Sailing Scheme proposed by Irish Sailing extends these principles to include the mitigation of Covid 19 risks to allow individuals and activity organisers make informed decisions on their own interests and activities.
The Story of the NY50 PLEIONE (HMCo. 714 - 1912)
"Pleione - A Star on the New England Coast" is a short historical documentary about yachting in the early and mid 1900s, and the emotional relationship between a beloved sailing vessel and the extended family and community that sailed aboard her. We are lucky to be able to share it with you today thanks to our good friends Gary Jobson and Art Santry.
From The Vault
Click on image to enlarge.
The Magic Box was "The Poor Man's Hydraulics." It acted like a small hydraulic cylinder; it created a lot of power within a rectangular aluminum tube fitted with thin multiple stacked plastic sheaves that formed an internal block and tackle system. One end with sheaves was fixed and the other end with sheaves was on a shaft with a clevis that slid about three-quarters of the internal length of the box when the input line was pulled.
Products like these were popular in small boats (470, 505, FD, Lightning, and Soling) to power systems for boom vangs, outhauls and halyards that needed to be moved during racing where only a limited amount of power movement was needed, like 6, 8, or 10 inches. They came in basically two power sizes with 6:1 or 8:1 systems.
We made a lot of them, but they fell slowly out of favor with the oncoming more flexible, less friction, more movement cascading block systems made possible by today's much stronger, smaller line. These same developments are the reason we developed FLY blocks.
From Harkens "At the Front" newsletter
Kenneth Newman 1929-2020
Whilst at Imperial College in the 1950's he played rugby with the Old Surbitonians and this led to his playing for Rosslyn Park as Fullback.
It was here at the club whilst 'resting' on the floor during an evening celebration that a chap next to him (also 'resting') asked him if he'd like to try sailing on his boat. It was David Maw who owned Blue Jacket. This was Ken's introduction to sailing.
The Fastnet was a fascination for Ken who relished the highly technical challenges of tide gates and obstacles. He competed in every race bar one from 1957-2013 and was awarded the Dennis Doyle Trophy and a Lifetime Achievement Award for his accomplishment, a record unlikely to be matched let alone beaten especially as the finish is now proposed to be at Cherbourg. Other yachting success's included the Onion Patch team in 1966 Trans Atlantic (I think they won), and Admirals Cup teams in 1971,73(UK), 83 Japan, and 87 USA. He also sailed the Buenos Aires-Rio, Sydney-Hobart and many other offshore events.
He was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and was early on the scene with Satellite technology for navigational use.
Ken served as a Rear Commodore of the RLYC 1994 - 95 and was Secretary of The Daring Class for several years. He campaigned Daring Dolphin with John Terry and later with David Gower who bought her in 2001. His great friendship with Andy Cassell introduced him to the Sonar class with whom he also had some involvement for several years .
He took up the Cresta Run when he was 64 and became their Archivist (272 runs down, last when 82 in 2011).
He was married to Jean Newman for 25 years and had 2 boys and after they separated he married Jenny Mews in 1986 who sadly passed on in 2002.
He is survived by his 2 sons and has 2 grandchildren who live in USA, and half a litre of Famous Grouse (not quite sure how that happened!). -- Ken's son Mark Newman and David N Gower, Commodore Royal London Yacht Club
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The Last Word
Poetry is the shortest distance between two humans. -- Lawrence Ferlinghetti
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