In This Issue
At the Sharp End: "May the Fourth be with you"!
RORC Lockdown Live Series | Time Over Distance
Harken: You Will Get What You Need. We Will Make Sure
Yacht Racing Podcast Episode 15 - Bouwe Bekking
Design Your Own Signal
Funding allocated for renovation of French sailing centre
Crossing the Atlantic to Europe: Where Can I Stop?
What Does the COVID-19 Restriction 'Roadmap' Mean for Sailing & Boating in Ireland?
Industry News
Letters to the Editor
Featured Brokerage:
• • Alfred Mylne Glen-Coats Gaff Sloop 1926 - 'Duet'
• • Farr 400
• • Cookson 50 - 'Endless Game'
The Last Word: Ronan O’Rahilly

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: "May the Fourth be with you"!
Last summer the Solent was treated to the 8 Metre World Championship hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron. The sleek lines of the 8mR Neptune class are epitomised here with Saskia and Carron II crossing tacks off Osborne Bay.

A photographer is an acrobat treading the high wire of chance, balancing the body, camera and horizon whilst framing these moving targets to produce arresting images worthy of their elegant designs. -- Ingrid Abery

More of the 8 Metre Worlds can be enjoyed at: www.ingridabery.com

RORC Lockdown Live Series | Time Over Distance
Vol. 5 - Carlo Borlenghi: Lights-Camera-Carlo: Passion and art in sailing

Carlo Borlenghi was born in 1956 in Bellano on Lake Como, Italy where he still lives today. Carlo started his photographic career following local regattas and since then has become a world-famous photographer working for Rolex nautical events, the America's Cup and much more. His award-winning photography has been at the heart of the Rolex Fastnet Race for generations. Join Carlo for a voyage through some of his amazing pictures, detailing the techniques used and also the story behind the scenes.

Harken: You Will Get What You Need. We Will Make Sure
Do you suddenly have time for a bigger boat project and find you need more Harken products? If you can’t find them at your local shop or at an online dealer, Harken is up and running. We’re here to help you get what you need. Send an email to . Include your contact information and the part numbers and quantities of what you want to buy.

An experienced, caring, motivated Harken team member will return your email with the option that best assures you will receive your products as quickly as possible. Please understand, we’ll work to find you product other ways first, but to keep our Harken resellers healthy during these times, equipment that must be shipped directly from Harken will be sold at suggested retail prices—our dealers normally charge less.

But if you need Harken, Harken will get you Harken.

harken.com

Yacht Racing Podcast Episode 15 - Bouwe Bekking
Our guest on the latest episode of The Yacht Racing Podcast is the legendary Dutch ocean racing skipper Bouwe Bekking.

Bekking is best known as an around-the-world race campaigner and has eight Whitbread and Volvo Ocean Races to his name. Even more impressive is his track record of results which features six top three overall finishes.

2017-18 Brunel - 3rd
2014-15 Brunel - 2nd
2008-09 Telefonica Blue - 3rd
2005-06 movistar - 6th
2001-02 Amer Sports One - 3rd
1997-98 Merit Cup - 2nd
1993-94 Winston - 4th
1985-86 Philips Innovator - 2nd

Away from round the world racing Bekking is highly active on the international regatta circuit skippering the J Class Lionheart as well as several other top flight big boat or superyacht programmes.

However, as you will hear on the podcast Bekking may not yet be finished with around-the-world racing as he has hopes of mounting a Swedish-flagged entry in the 2021-22 edition of The Ocean Race, to help promote the work of the World Childhood Foundation.

Justin Chisholm, editor of the Yacht Racing Life website and host of The Yacht Racing Podcast, spoke to Bekking on Zoom at his family home in Denmark.

yachtracing.life

Design Your Own Signal
In the days before radios or cellphones, people would hoist flags on ships to communicate with anyone out of reach of shouting, whether on other ships or ashore. This included national flags to indicate where a ship was from, and signal or code flags to send messages. There are 26 alphabetical code signal flags (one for each letter) and 10 numerical flags. When flown in groups, they can be used to spell out words. When flown alone, each of the alphabet signal flags also has its own meaning - for example, our Lima signal means "stop! I have something important to say!" when flown at sea, or "this ship is quarantined" when flown by a vessel in harbor or at anchor. The meanings of code flags have changed over time, and can mean different things when you are underway versus at anchor or in port.

But at HMM, our favorite type of signal flag is probably the private signal: a flag that belongs only to you! The custom of using personal ("private") flags to indicate when a specific (usually important) person was onboard a ship dates at least as far back as the Roman times. The history of private signals can also be traced to the history of adorning boats with carved statues to show who a vessel belonged to (sharing some origins with figureheads, which evolved symbolically into something a bit different - we'll get to that in a later post!). On land, it can also be connected to the use of symbolic heraldry and family crests from the Middle Ages, and a time when people used banners with colors, symbols, animals and patterns to indicate the presence of a specific person in a castle or on a battlefield. Later on yachts, flying a private signal typically meant the owner was onboard. Various Herreshoff family members had their own private signals. Captain Nat's consisted of two maltese crosses (one yellow and one red) on a blue swallowtail field. Today at the Herreshoff Museum we have added an "H" to the middle of N.G.H.'s crosses to make our own custom signal for the museum.

herreshoff.org/2020/04/design-your-own-signal-flag/

Funding allocated for renovation of French sailing centre
Funding of €1.2 million (£1.05million/$1.32million) has been allocated to the Pole France de Voile in Marseille, to enable the renovation of the centre ahead of the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The French National Sport Agency announced in October 2019 that they approved the financing of the renovation and reconstruction of the French Sailing Centre, located in Marseille.

The project is designed to help with the French Olympic team's preparations ahead of the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in the summer of 2021 as well as a home Olympic Games in Paris 2024.

The agency, which launched in April 2019 with the target of improving the country's performance at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games wrote in the newsletter that "this reconstruction project aims to provide France with modern and unique infrastructure for high-level preparation and high sport performance."

The renovated centre is located in Marseille, in the immediate vicinity of the area that will be used for the sailing competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

www.insidethegames.biz

Crossing the Atlantic to Europe: Where Can I Stop?
Noonsite, in association with the Ocean Cruising Club, has compiled a list of transatlantic ports, Mediterranean ports and Northern European ports that are open to yachts in transit for re-supply, re-fueling and/or in emergencies during the current Covid-19 health emergency. Known procedures and contact details are included and there is a link to a downloadable pdf to print off for reference at sea.

www.noonsite.com

What Does the COVID-19 Restriction 'Roadmap' Mean for Sailing & Boating in Ireland?
There's no doubt the Government publication of its five-level Covid-19 lifting restrictions was well received on Friday because it gave certainty and an idea about the future reopening of Ireland's economy and society.

The roadmap will start from 18 May, from which point the country will re-open in a slow, phased way. Clarity is still needed on some aspects of the 'live plan' but where does it leave sailing and boating and other watersports in Ireland? How the lifting plan is interpreted by the sport's national governing bodies appears to be key to this.

The map sets out five stages for unlocking restrictions, at three-week intervals. As we ease restrictions, the rate of the virus in the community will be constantly monitored by the National Public Health Emergency Team and the government.

The framework sets out how we can keep the level of transmission as low as possible while balancing continuing restrictions proportionately with the positive social and economic benefits which will be brought about by lifting restrictions.

Irish Sailing concluded in March that social distancing is 'not only difficult to achieve onshore from an organisers' perspective but also difficult to achieve at a personal level on the water'. The National Governing Body submitted a plan on a return to sailing requested by the Department of Sport in mid-April. This submission document was not published but an 'overview' of IS recommendations are here.

Peter Ryan of ISORA told Afloat this morning that the lifting looks like it has some 'conflicting conditions' which will be hard to work with. He cites, for example, the sport of Rugby with social distancing? The offshore chief, who redrafted the 2020 Irish Sea calendar last week (that has its first race now scheduled for June 13), says ISORA will have to see how Irish Sailing and the Royal Yachting Association interprets the lifting conditions.

Details in Afloat magazine

Industry News
Show organisers are under pressure to reveal plans for upcoming autumn shows as one of the industry's most important marketing channels

Yesterday's SuperYacht Times webinar which was hosted by its publisher Merijn de Waard and Hein Velema focused on the issues facing boat show organisers in the coronavirus era, and engaged with exhibitors on key concerns…

The two show organisers who took part were: Andrew Doole - who manages the international Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Palm Beach Yacht shows, as well as the more local Sun Coast and St. Petersburg boat shows on the West Coast of Florida; and Gaelle Tallarida, the director of The Monaco Yacht Show. All six of these exhibitions are owned by the British company Informa which has been expanding its portfolio of boat shows over the past three years and now ranks as the world`s largest events business.

www.ibinews.com

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The organiser of the Korea International Boat Show (KIBS) confirmed to IBI today that the show is planned to go ahead as scheduled from June 5-7, 2020. There will also be an invitation-only business forum on the afternoon of June 4.

www.ibinews.com

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Groupe Beneteau is confident it will weather the COVID-19 crisis with a robust financial position and with some plants already up and running.

The company has €609 million of equity as at end of February and over €300 million of credit lines already in place but warns that the financial impact of the pandemic will not reflect in the company's accounts until the second half of the year.

First half consolidated revenues for 2019/20 came to €519.4 million, up 4.7% year-on-year, thanks to a sustained level of business for both the Boat and Housing divisions.

Boating division revenues for the same period are €422.2 million, up 4.7% year-on-year. This growth is supported by fleet sales which represent a quarter of all first-half revenues. On the European markets all segments, with the exception of monohull sailing, show growth.

Sales in North and Central America have been affected by a destocking throughout the market with the sales of American brands continuing to fall. Markets in other regions recorded low levels of activity representing just 8% of first-half revenues.

Buoyed by growth in fleet sales for charter firms, the percentage of sailboats is up 3.5 points to 53.5% of Boat division revenues, compared to 46.5% for motorboats.

www.boatingbusiness.com

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Following an Extraordinary AIMEX Board Meeting to discuss the developing situation of COVID-19, a decision has been made to cancel the Australian Superyacht, Marine Export & Commercial Marine Industry Conference (ASMEX) for 2020.

ASMEX organisers, the Australian International Marine Export Group (AIMEX), the Australian Commercial Marine Group (ACMG) and Superyacht Australia stated that the health and well-being of their members, sponsors, speakers, staff and other stakeholders is their top priority.

With the Australian Prime Minister's announcement this morning, Wednesday 18 March, declaring an indefinite ban on indoor gatherings of 100 people or more, has prevented ASMEX 2020. Ticket holders will be contacted shortly regarding a refund.

The Australian Marine Industry Awards will still be awarded this year. The application period has now been extended with a closing date of 30 June 2020 and the format for their announcement currently being revised and rescheduled for later in the calendar year.

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Southampton International Boat Show 2020 could take place in October - that's one of the options organisers British Marine is looking into in response to Government restrictions in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

A decision will be made by July 1 as to the format and date of the ten-day show - currently scheduled to start on September 11.

"We are continuing to plan as if Southampton International Boat Show 2020 will happen," said BM CEO Lesley Robinson. "We hope it will; everyone would like it to happen."

And Lesley confirmed all options for the shape and format of the show are being considered including an event with social distancing built in or postponing until later in the year.

"There is some latitude in it moving back a few weeks," she said. "We need to look at what impact that would have on the shape of the show."

Organisers are also considering the possibility of holding a virtual show or virtual aspects of the show to complement a physical show.

Last year the show attracted around 103,000 visitors.

www.boatingbusiness.com

Letters To The Editor -
Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.

* From Mark Chinell

I was very sorry to hear of the passing of Ken Newman. I sailed with him aboard the Maxi Congere and particularly remember the 1988 Kenwood Cup and the 'hate-the-State' race. Ken was a proper old time navigator, but still took a great interest in what the new technologies could bring and was instrumental in getting me onboard with a very new-fangled Deckman. He was a genuinely kind and generous man, and my condolences to his family.

Featured Brokerage
1926 Alfred Mylne Glen-Coats Gaff Sloop 1926 - Duet. 39,000 GBP. Located in France.

Please go here for the full description of DUET.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Barney Sandeman

+44 (0)1202 330077
22 Market Street
Poole, Dorset
BH15 1NF
United Kingdom

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2011 Farr 400. 199,000 USD. Located in Annapolis MD.

The Farr 400 JEROBEAM is now seriously for sale. All North sails, and all set up for offshore, the boat and design are very much state of the art

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
William Jenkins
410-267 9419
410-353 7862

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2004 Cookson 50 - Endless Game. 495,000 EUR. Located in Naples, Italy.

The quite incredible Cookson 50 yachts do not come on the market very often, and when they do, they are rarely as good as ENDLESS GAME. Amazing specification and maintained as well as a yacht can be. Please do call for her full specification and for more

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Ben Cooper
Telephone: +44(0) 1590 679222

See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/

The Last Word
I'm in the why-not business. -- Ronan O’Rahilly

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