In This Issue
• Dalin, Ruyant Out Of The Worst of The Indian Ocean
• Caudrelier Praises Dalin's Control At The Front Of The Race
• 2020: The Paris Show Is Canceled. Thankfully, the Vendee Globe Isn't.
• RORC Time Over Distance Series
• The Yacht Racing Podcast: America's Cup Special Part 1 - Anderson Reggio
• Kerguelen In The Sights
• Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
• America's Cup: British and US challengers in doubt to take part in first practice races
• NSW 18ft Skiff Championship Update
• Liberty Bitcoin Youth Foiling World Cup 2021-2022
• Featured Charter
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Spirit 46 ILHABELA II
• • X-Yachts Xp 44
• • OUTREMER 4X - NEW BOAT
• The Last Word: John Lennon

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

Dalin, Ruyant Out Of The Worst of The Indian Ocean
For the meantime the worst of the Indian Ocean is behind them and Vendee Globe leaders Charlie Dalin and Thomas Ruyant can contemplate a relatively smooth ride to Australia's Cape Leeuwin, now 1250 nautical miles, or about three days, ahead of Dalin

Dalin, some 250 miles in front and, last night, more than 120 miles to the south of his nearest rival Ruyant took the worst of the Indian Ocean storm. Racing under triple reefed main and for much of the time no headsail at all, or a tiny storm jib, the solo skipper of Apivia saw gusts to 55kts and huge seas through the small hours of last night.

Winds have eased down to a more manageable 30kts and the two pacemakers will be into much more favourable SW'ly 20-25 kts breezes to take them to the second of the Vendee Globe's Great Capes, Leeuwin.

Ruyant passed seven miles north of tiny, remote Amsterdam island early this morning, following a routing which kept him out of the worst of the strong depression. "I didn't really have a choice, Charlie (Dalin) had enough of a lead to stay ahead of this front for longer but for me that would have been too hard."

Top ten at 10 Dec 2020 - 04h (UTC)
1. Charlie Dalin - APIVIA, 14546.5 nm to finish
2. Thomas Ruyant - LinkedOut, 185.51 nm to leader
3. Louis Burton - BUREAU VALLEE 2, 299.21 nm
4. Yannick Bestaven - Maitre CoQ IV, 309.45 nm
5. Benjamin Dutreux - OMIA - WATER FAMILY, 355.42 nm
6. Jean Le Cam - Yes We Cam!, 378.49 nm
7. Damien Seguin - GROUPE APICIL, 398.56 nm
8. Boris Herrmann - SEAEXPLORER - YACHT CLUB DE MONACO, 421.92 nm
9. Isabelle Joschke - MACSF, 494.58 nm
10. Giancarlo Pedote - PRYSMIAN GROUP, 551.33 nm

www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ranking

Caudrelier Praises Dalin's Control At The Front Of The Race
Charlie Dalin is sailing a smart, controlled and measured race on the Guillaume Verdier-designed foiler Apivia, and the fact that he has been leading the Vendée Globe for more than two weeks should come as no surprise.

Those are the thoughts of Charles Caudrelier, the co-skipper of the mega-trimaran Maxi Edmond de Rothschild and the man who skippered Dongfeng Race Team to victory in the last Volvo Ocean Race.

Caudrelier says Dalin is showing the ability to sail at the front at a sustainable pace. He believes this reflects not only Dalin's own strategic understanding of how to pace himself, but also the influence of François Gabart and his MerConcept team who have managed the Apivia campaign.

"I think Charlie is a smart guy and then he has the experience of François and all the Gabart team behind him,"Caudrelier told the IMOCA class website. "He really had a clear idea how he wanted to manage the race and he's been doing that since the start and he's doing well. For sure he's been lucky not to have hit anything, but I think he has been sailing very smart."

Caudrelier who, alongside Franck Cammas and their crew, will go back on standby this weekend for a second go at the Jules Verne record, says it was noticeable how conservatively Dalin sailed around the first two big storms of the race in the Atlantic, while others around him were taking more risks.

www.imoca.org

2020: The Paris Show Is Canceled. Thankfully, the Vendee Globe Isn't.
In any conventional year, the Paris Boat Show would be in the middle of its two-week run. At Harken, it's a year-end tradition in France…a time to present our newest for some of our most committed. Alas, even At The Front, not all has gone according to plan this year.

Under these conditions, it's even more fantastic to obsess over the Vendee Globe. It's the ultimate antidote for lives locked down. As the leaders turn left and dive down to the 40s, Harken continues a conversation with Hubert Lemonnier, a part of the race management team that is, as we have recently seen, essential to keeping the competitors as safe as can be managed from shore. In this installment, Hubert discusses day-to-day communication with competitors, the coordinated jurisdictions of air rescue authorities, and just how the race plans the ice exclusion zone. Watch now (shown below).

Covid-19 hasn't provided too many bright spots. But one is the time it gives us to absorb the heroics happening hourly aboard those IMOCA 60s.

Just a reminder: Check out last month's edition of At the Front. We dove deep into the Vendee Globe. If you missed it, there are lots of worthwhile stories and videos inside. It's free. And if you like what you see, subscribe!

RORC Time Over Distance Series
With Iain Murray, Race Director for 36th America's Cup

Our special guest for the latest RORC Time Over Distance Series is the Race Director for the 36th America's Cup in Auckland NZ. Iain Murray will be in charge on the water, as he has been for the last two editions in San Francisco and Bermuda.

Murray speaks to Louay Habib about his phenomenal sailing career and the modern-day America's Cup. He is a six-time 18ft Skiff world champion, two-time Etchells world champion and four America's Cups as a sailor. Offshore, Murray has three overall wins and nine line honours victories with Wild Oats XI in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

The Yacht Racing Podcast: America's Cup Special Part 1 - Anderson Reggio
This is the first of a two-part America's Cup special focusing on the US Challenger syndicate New York Yacht Club's American Magic.

All the teams are understandably generally pretty tight lipped about what's going on behind the fences of their team bases down in Auckland - this is the America's Cup after all - but Yacht racing Life website editor Justin Chisholm has been lucky enough to speak to two members of the American Magic squad - Testing Manager Anderson Reggio and mainsail trimmer Paul Goodison.

In this first episode we find out from Anderson exactly what the role of testing manager is all about and what it is like to spend your days chasing the American Magic AC75 around the waters of the Hauraki Gulf.

In the second episode - also out now - Justin catches up with British sailor Paul Goodison who is in the thick of the onboard action as mainsail trimmer aboard the American AC75.

Kerguelen In The Sights
Sodebo Ultim 3 began on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday its third week at sea in an Indian Ocean still quite chaotic. This explains the lower speeds than the previous days (25 knots over 24 hours) and a decrease over Idec Sport (235 miles at 6 o'clock). Thomas Coville and his teammates should spend the next night under the Kerguelen.

And to regenerate morally, we sometimes send little words to our loved ones, which Sam Goodchild does regularly: "I just communicate with my family, it's always nice to keep the link with the land, to see what happens. at home and what to expect when we come back. We don't have a lot of time to devote to it, it's not very easy to send an email with the wind and the waves, but it's a little pleasure that I manage to take every two or three days . "

On board, the crew also follows the wanderings of the Vendee Globe sailors, located in their north: "We look at the rankings on the computer, it's great to follow, we are much further south than them, but we experiences more or less the same things at the same times, "concludes the man who dreams of one day racing around the world alone.

ultim3.sodebo.com/

Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
Today we honor the 2018 Winner... Cloggy's of Falmouth Antigua. Famed for their specialty cocktail Cloggy's Delight, they're also famous for this superb hot-afternoon-chill-down drink: the Lime Squash

Wight Vodka
4 small or 2 medium-size limes
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) carbonated water (mineral water, club soda, etc.)

For the maximum juice, roll the limes over the counter back and forth with the palm of your hand. Cut the limes in half and juice them by hand or with a juicer. You should have 1/2 cup (4 ounces) of juice. Put the juice and honey into a bowl and mix well with a wire whisk or fork. Pour the mixture into a pitcher. Add the carbonated water and stir until all of the ingredients are well combined. Taste and adjust it for the desired sweetness. Add maturity with a shot of Wight Vodka.

Serve it over ice.

We'd like to hear from you about YOUR favorite bar and a great cocktail recipe... Send to us at eurosailnews.com/sailors-bars

America's Cup: British and US challengers in doubt to take part in first practice races
The first practice races between the competitors for the America's Cup are set to begin on Friday, though two teams appear likely to be watching on from the shoreline.

Team New Zealand and challengers Ineos Team UK, Luna Rossa and American Magic all took to the water together for the first time on Tuesday, practicing in non-race situations off the coast of Maraetai, but just two boats emerged unscathed from the outing.

Ineos Team UK and American Magic will not take part in today's practice on the same course and regatta director Iain Murray says both teams are looking unlikely to have resolved problems with their boats before tomorrow.

"I think whatever's going on with the English and the Americans, I'm not sure that either of those teams are 100% confident they'll be there tomorrow," Murray told NZME.

"They're not ready. I think the British broke their boat on the first day and I still don't think it's recovered from that."

www.nzherald.co.nz

NSW 18ft Skiff Championship Update
With a decision still pending about the outcome of the abandoned Race 2 of the NSW 18ft Skiff Championship, the series is in an unusually unclear position as it goes into Race 4 on Sydney Harbour next Sunday.

As a five-race championship, each team can discard its worst performance, but as a four-race series there is no provision for a discard so the decision will have an impact on the points table as many teams, including the defending champion Winning Group, currently have large discards.

That aside, the first three race days have produced a wide variety of conditions. Race 1 was sailed in a 7-15-knot NE wind, Race 2 was abandoned when 40-knot (plus) winds swept over the course, then last Sunday a 20-knot Westerly wind tested the fleet.

Despite the vastly different conditions of the two races completed so far in the championship, the two main contenders for the title (if Race 2 is re-sailed) have provided spectators with extremely close racing during both races.

Three more teams expected to show out on Sunday are Yandoo (John Winning) which recently won the seven-race Spring Championship, The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines (Aron Everett), which broke gear just before the start, and Finport Finance (Keagan York) which also failed to make it to the start.

The strong winds over the past 5-6 weeks have made life difficult for the new teams as they try to settle into the class.

Sunday's race is the final one before the Christmas-New Year break. Racing will resume on Sunday, January 10 with Race 5 of the NSW Championship. -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League Ltd.

www.18footers.com

Liberty Bitcoin Youth Foiling World Cup 2021-2022
The Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club has been thrilled with the support that the Youth Foiling World Cup has received from fellow sailing clubs around the world and also from Persico 69F, whose innovative boats were part of the attraction of this event.

However, due to the Covid-19 situation in Hong Kong we are saddened to no longer be able to host the event in Hong Kong and have decided to move the event to a new location, while keeping the dates and racing format.

With this in mind, Persico 69F, Federazione Italiana Vela (Italian Sailing Federation), Foiling Week and RHKYC are now working to hold the inaugural first Liberty Bitcoin Youth Foiling World Cup in Italy from 19th February to the 12th of March 2021.

This inaugural event is the first out of a series of three events. The intention is for the second event to be held at Lake Garda in July / August 2021 and for the third event to be held in Hong Kong in January 2022. The winning team with the best total scoring, based on these three planned events will be entitled to 1 Bitcoin, provided by Liberty Bitcoin Fund. The current market value of 1 Bitcoin is US$19,320 (7th December 2020).

Yacht clubs from all over the World are invited to participate, with priority to be given to those teams which had entered the Hong Kong event. There will be a minimum of 12 and maximum of 18 teams in each of the individual events. The participating teams in the first event in Italy will have a first right of refusal also to join the 2nd event at Lake Garda in July / August and in Hong Kong in January 2022. Teams shall consist of 3 or 4 crew members and shall race with both genders or all females onboard. Crew shall have been born on or between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2003.

The Notice of Race and entry form for the Liberty Bitcoin Youth Foiling World Cup will be available in the next days with a dedicated email.

www.rhkyc.org.hk

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The Last Word
You don't have to be a star to get a cheese sandwich. You just have to be first. -- John Lennon

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