In This Issue
• The battle between Charlie and Thomas continues at the front of the fleet
• Sam Davies Retires; Wants to finish the race unofficially
• The Rescue
• Escoffier Transferred Off Yes We Cam!
• Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
• Media spat
• The Yacht Racing Podcast: Episode 24 - Glenn Ashby
• 18ft Skiffs NSW Championship, Race 3
• What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
• RORC Transatlantic Race
• Pete Burling awarded the Magnus Olsson Prize for 2020
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Baltic Yachts 51
• • GER 5500 "Broader View Hamburg""
• • Pilot Classic 83
• The Last Word: Lady Astor and Winston Churchill

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 battle between Charlie and Thomas continues at the front of the fleet
One of the outstanding performances of this Vendee Globe so far has been by Louis Burton on Bureau Vallee II who, despite recent auto-pilot problems, is continuing to hold his own in the top-three on the boat that won the last race.

Up ahead of him, the fascinating battle between Thomas Ruyant on Linked Out in second place and Charlie Dalin, one better than him on Apivia, continues, night and day.

Dalin has been leading for 13 days and right now he and Ruyant are contending with wildly gusting winds and confused seas, about 750 miles northwest of the Kerguelen Islands - one of the windiest places on earth.

Of course Ruyant is handicapped by having lost his port foil. But the interesting aspect of the last few days is how steady the gap has been, given this shortcoming for the LinkedOut skipper and the fact that he has mainly been on starboard tack.

His team management say the key here is that Dalin himself has been having to slow his boat to cope with the sea and wind conditions, allowing Ruyant to stay in touch. The question is how long that can continue and whether Ruyant can remain in contention once the boats start climbing north again in the south Atlantic.

A few days ago Guillaume Verdier, who designed both boats, remarked that while Apivia is an all-rounder, Linked Out has been slightly more optimised for upwind speed and reaching with the Ocean Race in mind.

Marcus Hutchinson, the team manager for LinkedOut says, in reality, the differences are so small they are hard to factor into performance. "The boats are very, very close sisterships," he said. "The most significant differences are only of pencil-thin thickness."

Hutchinson says Ruyant is effectively sailing on two boats - an IMOCA 60 with a split personality. On one tack it flies, on the other it doesn't, while Dalin - whose foil package is his older V1 set-up - is racing a balanced boat.

"When they change gybes, probably this morning, Thomas will have to learn again how to sail his boat as a foiler," explained Hutchinson, "and without taking too many risks.

imoca.org

Sam Davies Retires; Wants to finish the race unofficially
British skipper Sam Davies (Initiatives-Cœur)confirmed her retiral from the Vendee Globe today as she arrived in Cape Town, South Africa. But while the race is over for her, and she joins compatriot Alex Thomson (HUGO BOSS) who abandoned on arrival yesterday, Davies says she would like to finish her course unofficially and complete her adventure if her Initiatives Coeur can be repaired properly. The British duo were joined this afternoon by Frenchman Sebastien Simon (ARKEA PAPREC) who retired yesterday.

Sam Davies wished the best to her friend and rival Isabelle Joschke, revealing today that the hard driving Franco-German sailor came close to hitting her not long after Davies was stopped after her collision. "My thoughts are also for Isa Joschke. When I hit my UFO I was at a standstill, stationary, I had collision alarms sounding. It was Isa Joschke who was coming right at me right, that was a second fright, I was afraid she wouldn't see me. I had a quick, stress call with her about avoiding me. I'm super happy for her because she's having a really good race. We were really, close to each other, she made a nice comeback. And so I am happy for her because she's normally one of my racing colleagues. Come on Isa, I'm completely with you!"

www.vendeeglobe.org

The Rescue
The full story of what really happened 680 miles south west of Cape of Good Hope in the Vendee Globe 2020. Featuring Jean Le Cam, Kevin Escoffier and race director Jacques Caraes.

Escoffier Transferred Off Yes We Cam!
At around 0210hrs UTC at a location in the South Indian Ocean some 360 miles north of the remote Crozet archipelago, Kevin Escoffier (PRB) was successfully transferred from Jean Le Cam's IMOCA to the Nivôse, a French Navy frigate.

Escoffier was dramatically rescued last Monday by fellow Vendee Globe competitor Jean Le Cam after his IMOCA PRB broke in two when it nosedived into a big wave. The 35 year old skipper from Saint Malo had spent 11 and a half hours drifting in a liferaft before being picked up by 61 year old five times Vendee Globe veteran Le Cam.

The evacuation of Escoffier - via a Nivôse rigid inflatable boat - went well, despite the big seas in the area.

And so Jean Le Cam has resumed his race in solo mode. In a message to the Vendee Globe Race Direction, Frederic Barbe the captain of the Nivôse, wrote: "Kevin is in great shape, he is going to enjoy a hot shower. We are heading for Reunion Island. It is the start of beautiful day."

Nivôse is a Floreal-class frigate which has 84 sailors on board and its main missions are the surveillance of maritime areas under French sovereignty in the Indian Ocean (Reunion, Mayotte, the French Southern and Antarctic Territories) and the fight against illicit activities at sea. It is based in Port-des-Galets, on the west coast of Reunion island, Nivôse is 93.5 meters long, 14 meters wide and has a displacement of 2,600 tonnes.

Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
Tonight's featured bar is the winner from a decade ago, 2010 winner The Soggy Dollar on Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands.

From a patron and reader:
Your payment will be Soggy, then your brain will be after a few Painkillers! The leading Beach drink in the world, anyone that has been there will agree. Great environment, great staff and great visitors!!

Famous for this cocktail:
Painkillers, with 2020 we all need this place and drink to survive this miserable time!! https://www.soggydollar.com/

Ingredients
2 ounces rum (navy or dark)
4 ounces pineapple juice
1 ounce orange juice
1 ounce cream of coconut
Ice
Garnish: grated nutmeg
Garnish: pineapple wedge

Send us YOUR recommendation for this year's best bar...
eurosailnews.com/sailors-bars

Media spat
The America's Cup never fails to surprise. In an extraordinarily terse statement just issued by Prada and angled squarely at the Kiwis, the good-old Italians (everyone's favourite team) have decided to uphold free-speech and accredit journalists on merit and not necessarily on the articles they write.

What Prada are saying is that Team New Zealand have been threatening "to deny accreditation on the basis of articles deemed by the Defender to be unpleasant or inaccurate."

The statement goes on: "Of course, Prada wants to preserve the freedom of the press and has therefore taken the decision to run this procedure independently, in order to guarantee a fair and unbiased screening of the applicants, regardless of their opinions and based exclusively on strict professional criteria and/or security reasons."

What exactly does Team NZ want? A load of dry articles marvelling at all the technology and lauding the team? Come on lads, that's just dull. And you know it. Intrigue, gossip and titanic egos is why the Cup is so revered and holds the place that it does. Don't lose it by carrying out petty vendettas against those trying to bring that to light.

Magnus Wheatley's latest in full:
rule69blog.wordpress.com/2020/12/05/media-spat/

The Yacht Racing Podcast: Episode 24 - Glenn Ashby
With just a fortnight left until the start the opening regatta of the 36th America's Cup cycle Yacht Racing Life editor Justin Chisholm caught up with Emirates Team New Zealand sailor Glenn Ashby to find out more about the team's campaign to retain the America's Cup.

During the interview the pair discuss:

- the atmosphere in and around the America's Cup race village in Auckland
- the impact of this year's Covid 19 restrictions on the campaign
- the ratio of time the sailors have spent on the simulator and on the water
- the performance potential of the Kiwi's second generation AC75
- what it is actually like to sail an AC75 in race mode
- what we can expect from the Auckland America's Cup World Series and Christmas Cup regattas

yachtracing.life

18ft Skiffs NSW Championship, Race 3
Click on image for photo gallery.

Sydney Harbour: In contrast to the 40-knot winds that battered Sydney Harbour last Sunday and forced the Australian 18 Footers League to abandon Race 2 of the NSW 18ft Skiff Championship, today's 20-knot westerly wind produced one of the most spectacular 18ft Skiff races seen on the harbour for many years.

The race had everything. Absolutely sensational spinnaker action as the fleet raced from Kurraba Point in the west to Rose Bay in the east, close 'match' racing throughout the fleet on the three long upwind legs, lead changes, and all surpassed by one of the best comeback victories in a nail-biting finish.

For the record, the current Australian champion tech2 team of Jack Macartney, Charlie Wyatt and Lewis Brake won the race by 26s from the defending champion Winning Group team of John Winning Jr., Seve Jarvin and Sam Newton.

The Andoo team of Marcus Ashley-Jones, Cam Gundy and Rhys Mara, was with the leading group throughout the entire race and thoroughly deserved the third place, just 13s behind Winning Group, ahead of Smeg (Michael Coxon), Appliancesonline.com.au (Brett Van Munster) and Noakesailing (Sean Langman).

Race 4 of the NSW Championship will be conducted next Sunday, December 13. -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League Ltd.

www.18footers.com

Seahorse December 2020
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

They rewrote the rulebook
Verdier, Raison, S&S, Peterson, Holland, Briand, Juan K, Farr, some of the names that spring to mind when talking revolution in racing yacht design. But Illingworth & Primrose had started a revolution of their own long before any of these names came onto the scene. Julian Everitt

Light, fast AND strong
As foils become more powerful and generate more righting moment, rig loads increase - and so do the benefits of Doyle's sail technology

On all our heads
Playing to the spirit as well as to the letter has never looked more important. Rob Weiland

Behind the scenes
A spectacular Olympic classes career that ended with the most unjust of finales and then another dazzling career as an Olympic gold medal and America's Cup-winning coach. So not all bad. Andy Rice talks to Hamish Willcox

TP52 Super Series
Captain most popular. Ergin Imre sits down with Andi Robertson

Seahorse build table - Tangy
The latest mid-sized IRC racer from Mark Mills threatens to be exactly that...

1yr Print Sub: €77 - £48 - $71 / Rest of the World: £65 www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs/

1yr Digital Sub for £37.50: www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs/

Discounts shown are valid on a one year subscription to Seahorse magazine.

Pete Burling awarded the Magnus Olsson Prize for 2020
The Mange Olsson Foundation has announced Peter Burling is the 2020 winner of its prestigious Magnus Olsson Prize.

Awarded annually to an individual who has made an indelible contribution to the world of sailing, previous recipients include Torben Grael, Sir Ben Ainslie, Stan Honey, Santiago Lange, Grant Dalton and Carolijn Brouwer.

Peter Burling from Tauranga, New Zealand is by far the youngest winner of the prize. Despite his young age (29) Burling has an impressive CV with an Olympic gold and silver medal and nine World Championship titles to his name.

"It's a great honor to be acknowledged by the Mange Olsson Memorial Foundation for this award. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to meet Magnus but his epic race with Ericsson 3 in the 2008-09 edition of The Ocean Race definitely inspired my Round the World path," Burling said.

As a leader, Burling continues to demonstrate his ability to skipper and manage successful world class teams in the sport of sailing. He was the 35th America's Cup champion helmsman with Emirates Team New Zealand in 2017 and watch captain and helmsman with Team Brunel in the 2017-18 edition of the Ocean Race, finishing 3 rd overall. He was named Male World Sailor of the Year at the Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards in 2017. Burling and his 49er partner Blair Tuke also won the award in 2015 and were finalists in both 2014 and again in 2016.

www.theoceanrace.com

RORC Transatlantic Race
Date: Saturday 9th January 2021
Course: Lanzarote - Grenada
Distance (Nm): 2995

The seventh edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race takes the competitors through the islands of the Canaries, with their reputation for large acceleration zones and big waves, before heading out across the Atlantic Ocean to a finish off Quarantine Point on the east coast of Grenada

Starting from the beautiful island of Lanzarote in the Canaries, this year will be the seventh edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race organised in conjunction with the International Maxi Association. Before the race, boats will be hosted by Puerto Calero Marina and will enjoy evenings of local entertainment. Once started, boats will wind their way through the scenic Canary Islands before setting out west across the Atlantic for glorious trade wind sailing. Nearly 3000 miles later they will arrive in Grenada to be greeted in style by the sunshine and local hospitality during their stay in the Camper Nicholsons Port Louis Marina. The RORC Transatlantic Race is the must do competitive race for boats looking do the Caribbean season.

Head over to the Race Minsite on rorctransatlantic.rorc.org for Race Updates, Blogs, Videos and more.

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Email:

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See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

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performanceclassicyachts.com/pc-83/

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

The Last Word
Lady Astor: "If you were my husband I'd poison your tea."
Churchill: "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."

Editorial and letter submissions to

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