In This Issue
• America's Cup Rialto: December 15 - The series that didn't tell us much
• Ruyant In Command As Dalin Repairs
• Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
• 2021-2024 Racing Rules Of Sailing App Update Available Now
• Oakcliff Sailing Partners with World Match Racing Tour
• Natasha Lambert becomes first person to cross the Atlantic using sip and puff
• What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
• Inaugural TF35 Trophy announced: Seven-event international circuit
• America's Cup Broadcast Partnerships Announced
• Letters to the Editor
• Featured Charter: Margaret Ann - 96ft Sailing Yacht
• Featured Brokerage:
• • PAC/TP52 - "Rio"
• • BLUE DIAMOND - 100ft Bermudan Sloop
• • Powerplay
• The Last Word: Steven Wright

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

America's Cup Rialto: December 15 - The series that didn't tell us much
After five days of Practice Racing, the Race Management team were the only group that got a good workout on the water.

The four teams for reasons best known to themselves, played a very concealed hand - and in the end, the secrecy was probably overplayed.

Whether that racing style continues into the America's Cup World Series and Christmas Cup, obviously remains to be seen.

To add to the credibility gap, the racing was held on Course E - in Tamaki Strait, and well to the north of Course A - out on the former America's Cup course of 2000 and 2003. Neither area should be used in the Prada Cup and America's Cup Match, and are not easily viewed from shore which is the point of having the racing on the three Stadium Courses.

On the water, you see a different picture to the result sheet and all the conclusions that are made in the mainstream media.

The five days of Practice Racing can best be likened to a pursuit race in Olympic cycling. Everyone is showing flashes of form, without showing their hand. No-one has made a break on the bunch, and three of the teams can probably walk away with something more than a participation certificate.

The fourth, INEO Team UK, were caught with a start line penalty in their only race. The penalty which delays the boat until released by the umpires seemed overly harsh, as the Brits dropped off their foils and then struggled to get foiling again after the breeze softened. Once they were away and chasing American Magic, the race was just a farce, and the issue of penalties in marginal conditions needs a second and third look - due to unintended consequences.

Richard Gladwell's full article: www.sail-world.com

Ruyant In Command As Dalin Repairs
Having been slowed since around 1800hrs UTC yesterday evening to evaluate and then today to make some kind of repair to his port side foil system of APIVIA, Charlie Dalin has dropped to third and lost over 120 miles to his two nearest rivals Thomas Ruyant and Yannick Bestaven.

But Dalin, Vendee Globe leader for 23 days up until last night, appears to be back in race mode this afternoon, making over 14kts south eastwards towards the south Pacific Ocean.

His team have so far only shared scant details about the problem, saying only that the damage is not thought to have been caused by a collision with an object.

Dalin's communication said "The port foil remains whole. The damage is to the lower support, where the foil rests as it leaves the boat. Charlie has therefore been focusing on strengthening the foil attachment to make sure the casing remains secure."

Meanwhile Ruyant, who himself has no working port foil on LinkedOUT, has taken over the race lead again with a small margin of around 10 miles over Bestaven's Maître CoQ as the leading group broad reach south eastwards towards the Antarctic Exclusion Zone before gybing to parallel the ice boundary and accelerate into the Pacific Ocean later tomorrow or Thursday.

Over three hundred miles behind the leading trio, after 36 days and very nearly half of the 24,410 nautical miles course, five IMOCAs are racing within sight of each other in high pressure conditions more akin to the Mediterranean than 47 degrees south, some 1000 miles south of Adelaide, Australia.

Top ten 15 Dec 2020 - 21h (UTC)
1. Thomas Ruyant - LinkedOut, 12496 nm to finish
2. Yannick Bestaven - Maitre CoQ IV, 9.66 nm to leader
3. Charlie Dalin - APIVIA, 135.52 nm
4. Jean Le Cam - Yes We Cam!, 444.7 nm
5. Boris Herrmann - SEAEXPLORER - YACHT CLUB DE MONACO, 449.03 nm
6. Benjamin Dutreux - OMIA - WATER FAMILY, 449.83 nm
7. Louis Burton - BUREAU VALLEE 2, 457.36 nm
8. Damien Seguin - GROUPE APICIL, 465.61 nm
9. Isabelle Joschke - MACSF, 539.41 nm
10. Giancarlo Pedote - PRYSMIAN GROUP, 575.5 nm

www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ranking

Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
A word about our sponsors...

Wight Vodka, uniquely distilled seven times in small batches, blended and bottled in London under the watchful eyes and direction of a seventh generation master distiller with over 300 years of family experience. Wight Vodka is the only 42% abv, potato-based luxury vodka, hand-crafted in the United Kingdom today.

Wight Vodka's slightest scents of beach plum and honeysuckle pay tribute to island life and warm holidays spent with great company by the ocean.

The underpinning of Wight Vodka is created through exceptional quality potato spirit, carefully sourced from an award-winning distillery founded centuries ago.

Why did the crew at 50° North choose potato spirit? For the reason that potato spirit crafts full-bodied, ultra smooth vodka.

Over the years, the time invested in sourcing the finest ingredients, testing various distillation processes and polishing the taste of Wight Vodka has resulted in a finished product that is as unique and bold as the free spirits who take to the ocean for adventure.

wightvodka.com

Please tell us about your favorite bar... nominations have been extended out to January 5th, with voting taking place throughout January.

eurosailnews.com/sailors-bars

2021-2024 Racing Rules Of Sailing App Update Available Now
The 2021-2024 Racing Rules of Sailing come into effect on 01 January 2021.

Ahead of the changes, the RYA has released an update to the World Sailing Rules App, giving sailors access to a 'one stop shop' for the 2021-2024 rules and associated documents.

Launched in 2016, the multi-lingual app was developed by the RYA in partnership with World Sailing and has proven popular with racing sailors and officials worldwide, ensuring they have all the relevant rules information at their fingertips.

Over the last ten years, the RYA has developed a comprehensive library of interactive eBooks, conforming to the highest accessibility standards. App users can expect the same quality and user-friendly experience.

The app and all the RYA rules eBooks, including the 'Integrated eBook', will be updated regularly with the World Sailing changes and corrections. The first of which have already been announced following the World Sailing Annual Conference.

The World Sailing Rules App can be downloaded for FREE through the Apple App Store and Google Play. The 'Integrated eBook' will be available shortly as an in-app purchase.

If you've already downloaded the 2017-2020 version, it will be automatically updated. Visit www.rya.org.uk/go/wsapp for further information.

Oakcliff Sailing Partners with World Match Racing Tour
Oyster Bay, NY, USA: Oakcliff is pleased to announce, the Oakcliff Match Racing Academy will be the official training academy of the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT). The two-week intensive program, August 4-15 2021, will be coached by top Tour competitors. Head coach, Hayden Goodrick is a World Match Racing Tour Champion, with multiple professional campaigns under his belt including the 2007 America's Cup with Team Oracle. He will be supported by Tour competitors giving trainees an in-depth education in one of the most exciting disciplines of sailing.

Academy trainees will form teams and compete in Oakcliff hosted Grade 5 and Grade 3 regattas, giving multiple chances for racing experience on the course in addition to drills, two-boat testing, classroom sessions, debriefs, and boat shop lessons.

The Academy is immediately followed by 3 stops of the US Grand Slam Series; The Detroit Cup, Oakcliff International, and Thompson Cup. The winner of the Grand Slam Series, now in its 10th season, earns an invitation to the 2022 Congressional Cup hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club. All stops of the Grand Slam are also World Match Racing Tour level events, earning skippers points on the Tour ranking board.

With this convenient timing as well as provided housing and easy transportation from three major airports, attending the Academy in conjunction with these high level regattas is more feasible than ever for international attendees.

The two week, jam-packed program costs $2,100. Need based scholarships are available.

Racers who can't commit to the whole program but have their own teams can request an invite to just the Grade 3 Clinegatta. More information at oakcliffsailing.org/regattas.

Natasha Lambert becomes first person to cross the Atlantic using sip and puff
Disabled sailor Natasha Lambert has become the first person to sail across the Atlantic using just sip and puff technology to control her boat.

The skipper, who has quadriplegic athetoid cerebral palsy which affects her limbs and speech, left from Gran Canaria with her crew as part of the 2020 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) fleet.

They crossed the finish line this morning at 10:39 GMT after 18 days, 21 hours and 39 minutes at sea, and covering 2,808 miles.

Natasha sailed the Nautitech Open 46, Blown Away - the largest vessel ever converted to use sip and puff technology.

Her father Gary designed the specially adapted system, using open source software, and incorporates a sip-puff system that utilises a single straw, allowing Natasha to control the helm and the sails.

www.yachtingmonthly.com

Seahorse January 2021
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

Cleaner lighter (faster)
The fairways and marinas of the Hamble River have been quiet this year but in the light-industrial units set back from the river, innovation continues apace. The real lifeblood of the Hamble has always been its ecosystem of specialist companies, run by sailors for sailors, where a lot of next-generation yacht racing technologies are created and refined.

Not just the Vendee Globe
There are two even faster new ocean racers already preparing for 2021. Fred Augendre

It's all in the mind - Part I
Remember what you did before, how you did it, what you do next... on today's fastest boats that process gets you nowhere. David Munge, Prof Vincent Walsh and David Carr

More for less
Making life easier for Olympic champions and weekend warriors alike. Julian Bethwaite

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.

Inaugural TF35 Trophy announced: Seven-event international circuit
Having postponed the launch of the TF35 Trophy this year, the next generation of high performance foiling catamaran will make its official debut in 2021, with a seven-event circuit that will open in April at the prestigious Societe Nautique de Geneve on Lake Geneva, Switzerland.

Designed to offer top-level foiling to a broader audience of sailors, with earlier take-off speeds, guaranteed foiling upwind and downwind with a fully automatic flight control system, the TF35 uses the latest technology to simplify high-speed sailing.

After the inaugural 2021 event held over 30 April - 2 May at the Societe Nautique de Geneve, the TF35 Trophy plans for two additional regattas on the Swiss lake. The first hosted at the Societe Nautique de Nyon over 14 - 16 May and the second hosted by the Club Nautique de Versoix in Mies over 4 & 6 June.

Event four and five of the circuit will showcase the eight-strong TF35 fleet at Switzerland's most prestigious sailing regattas, Geneve - Rolle - Geneve hosted by Yacht Club de Geneve on the 5 June and the iconic Bol d'Or Mirabaud on the 12 June.

For the second half of the season, the TF35 Trophy will go international, as Scarlino in Tuscany, Italy, welcomes the teams for two events in September.

TF35 Trophy - 2021 event schedule

30 April - 2 May - TF35 Geneva - Societe Nautique de Geneve, Switzerland
14 - 16 May - TF35 Nyon - Societe Nautique de Nyon, Switzerland
4 & 6 June - TF35 Mies - Club Nautique de Versoix, Switzerland
5 June - Geneve - Rolle - Geneve - Yacht Club de Geneve, Switzerland
12 June - Bol d'Or Mirabaud - Societe Nautique de Geneve, Switzerland
9 - 12 September - TF35 Scarlino 1 - Club Nautico Scarlino, Italy
23 - 26 September - TF35 Scarlino 2 - Club Nautico Scarlino, Italy

tf35.org

America's Cup Broadcast Partnerships Announced
The racing finally gets underway in the first race event of the 36th America's Cup with four days of match racing during the PRADA America's Cup World Series Auckland, New Zealand (Dec 17th- 19th) and the PRADA Christmas Race (Dec 20th).

It will be the only time that all the entrants for the 36th America's Cup will race against each other and provide a unique opportunity for the teams to assess all their rivals' strengths and weaknesses.

Fans of the America's Cup all around the world will be able to enjoy coverage via all forms of media on every screen. The primary objective is to make this the most viewed and accessible America's Cup competition ever.

Live, highlights and news coverage will be generally available free-to-air in English on www.americascup.com and all the usual official social channels of the event.

To ensure both the most accessible and most complete live and highlights coverage from broadcasters covering 195 territories, the 36th America's Cup is delighted to announce a further range of partnerships with free-to-air and pay networks including:

• European Broadcasting Union - a comprehensive partnership allowing EBU members to access live, long and short-form highlights, and news via the Eurovision News Exchange
• Canada - TSN
• Latin America and the Caribbean - ESPN
• Japan - DAZN
• Singapore - Singtel TV and CAST
• Germany, Austria and Switzerland - Servus TV
• Greece and Cyprus - Nova
• Israel - Charlton
• Switzerland - MySports
• News distribution with SNTV and other agencies

More broadcast partnerships are anticipated ahead of the PRADA Cup Challenger Selection Series in January and the 36th America's Cup Match in March.

This is in addition to the already announced partnerships with:

• New Zealand - home country of Emirates Team New Zealand (Defender) - TVNZ
• Italy - home country of Luna Rossa PRADA Pirelli Team (Challenger of Record) - RAI and Sky Italia
• UK - home country of INEOS Team UK (Challenger) - BBC and Sky UK & Ireland
• USA and Caribbean - home country of NYYC American Magic (Challenger) - NBC Sports
• Australia - Fox Sports Australia
• Pacific Island Nations - Pasifika TV
• France, Switzerland, sub-Saharan Africa and other French territories - Canal+
• Sweden - TV12 and C More
• South Africa & sub-Saharan Africa - SuperSport
• Korea - SBS
• Taiwan - ELTA
• Malaysia & Brunei - Astro

americascup.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 Euan Ross:

A big fat Zero

Well, now it's official. The Code Zero is so reviled that INEOS would rather drift around in displacement mode than foil with the big sail up. Seriously, since Oracle sawed their prodder off mid-series in the 2013 America's Cup, it has been blindingly obvious that big, state-of-the-art foilers are all about drag, not power. The early AC36 simulations promised sail changes at the windward mark and all the visual drama that entails. Of course, we were sceptical. And, inevitably, try as they might, Cup syndicates have spent loads a' money trying to make Code Zeros work. Now they lug equivalent weight and sport a needlessly over-engineered bow section forward of the forestay. Clearly, the bowsprit is just seven feet of useless carbon to allow the AC68s to masquerade as AC75s.

On the subject of INEOS being seemingly 'glued to the water' with her Moth-shaped transition sections, this shape works well on these micro-foilers so one wonders if it was a good idea to collaborate with Mercedes. The boys at Brackley are renowned for foil designs that appear to keep their F1 cars 'glued to the track'.

Featured Charter
Margaret Ann - 96ft Sailing Yacht. From 37,000 per week EUR. Located in West / East Mediterranean

MARGARET ANN is a 95.5 foot sailing yacht with three passenger cabins, a starboard cabin, a port cabin and a master cabin. She is capable of welcoming 12 passengers in the day, and comfortably sleeping up to 8 passengers as well as the crew. This yacht is in pristine condition.

See listing details in Seahorse Charters

Contact
Lisa Spiller
Charter Manager
Bernard-Gallay
Phone 1 : +33(0)6 33 42 45 09
Phone 2 : +33 (0)467 66 39 93
Mail :

See the the Seahorse charter collection

Featured Brokerage
2017 PAC/TP52 - "Rio". 750000 USD. Located in Newport Beach, USA

Designed by J/V and built by Premier composites. Rio has a taller rig (+600mm) and deeper keel to conform to the PAC 52 rule. Successfully campaigned on the W Coast, USA and professionally maintained from new. Offshore potential for these beasts is high, as is IRC/ORCi/ORR rating credibility.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Alex Higby - Ancasta Race Boats
+1 415 980 9060
+442380 016582

-----------------------------------------

2004 BLUE DIAMOND - 100ft Bermudan Sloop. 2,200,000 EUR. Located in Palma de Mallorca.

Designed by Gilles Vaton and built by JMV & H2X, the Sailing Yacht BLUE DIAMOND is a great cruiser-racer combining five-star comfort and high performances, both for bluewater cruising or on the Super Yacht racing circuit!

Her luxury interior can accommodate up to eight guests in 4 double cabins with ensuite bathrooms, around a wide saloon and dinner table, well isolated from the galley and the crew quarters, and offers a safe and protected cockpit, separated from the manoeuvring area, which features an open transom inviting to the ocean. The flush deck, sleek lines and powerful rig make for sensational sailing in all conditions.

Launched in 2004, BLUE DIAMOND is built of Carbon Fiber, rigged with a Lorima 4 spreaders carbon mast and a wide range of sails. She features a lifting keel to allow shallow access, and has been maintained by a professional crew and a dedicated Owner at the highest level!

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact

+33 (0)467 66 39 93

-----------------------------------------

2012 CDK Built MOD70. 1,500,000 USD.

Newest MOD70 available Highly optimized Turn-key package

Available July 2020- Europe

Turn Key - Race ready
- Extensive sail wardrobe
- New tramps 2019
- New lifting foils 2019
- Spare set of foils
- Osprey installed H500 electronics
- Spare rudder
- Wheely and static Cradles
- 1 x 40ft workshop container
- 1 x 40ft storage container
- Foldable Pusher Rib Boat

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Please contact: Ned Collier Wakefield

+447809212039

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

The Last Word
What's another word for Thesaurus? -- Steven Wright

Editorial and letter submissions to

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: or see www.eurosailnews.com/advertise.html