In This Issue
• All Quiet on the Western Front?
• America's Cup Afterguard analysis - Ineos Team UK
• Exciting career opportunities
• Change Of Fortune Needed For Rookie Team
• World Sailing launches 2021 eSailing World Championship
• Bliksem to Defend M32 Title in Miami
• Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
• The aftermath of Patriot's massive capsize
• What Happened to Patriot
• Royal Western Yacht Club Confirms the MailASail OSTAR & TWOSTAR races are 'all systems go'
• Letters to the Editor
• Featured Brokerage:
• • HH55 - New Boat
• • YYACHTS Y8
• • Mylius 65 (19e95)
• The Last Word: George Carlin

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

All Quiet on the Western Front?
The relative silence from among the Vendee Globe leaders speaks volumes. Increasingly background activities are pared back to only what is necessary as the solo skippers devote all their energies to weather strategy, keeping fast and managing their energy reserves for what promises to be a final push

Charlie Dalin (Apivia) has seen his lead shrink to 77 miles ahead of the fast moving second placed German skipper Boris Herrmann (Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco). But meteo expert Sebastien Josse still sees a small advantage falling to Louis Burton (Bureau Vallee) who is furthest west and north.

Three times Vendee Globe racer Josse, who sailed the last Vendee Globe on the IMOCA Herrmann is racing, said this morning

"Louis can sneak around the edge and hook into a very localized corridor of southerly wind, it is quite narrow and local, but the slower Louis is the narrower the channel of wind is and the faster he is then the wider it is." Josse is convinced though that the skipper of Bureau Vallee 2 is the only one in the leading group to be able to benefit from this.

But Josse adds, "It is important to correlate what is forecast on the weather files and what is happening on the water. There are still clouds, squalls, fronts and rain. You have to be eyes out of the boat, watching what is happening and sailing by feeling. It's on the deck you really see these things evolve."

Top ten at 22 Jan 2021 - 04h (UTC)
1. Charlie Dalin - APIVIA, 1939.75 nm to finish
2. Louis Burton - Valley 2 Office, 28.98 nm to leader
3. Boris Herrmann - SEAEXPLORER - Yacht Club De Monaco, 60.97 nm
4. Thomas Ruyant - LinkedOut, 98.77 nm
5. Damien Seguin - GROUPE APICIL, 102.44 nm
6. Yannick Bestaven - Maitre CoQ IV, 162.7 nm to leader
7. Giancarlo Pedote - Prysmian Group, 185.62 nm
8. Jean Le Cam - Yes We Cam!, 307.46 nm
9. Benjamin Dutreux - OMIA - WATER FAMILY, 376.77 nm
10. Maxime Sorel - V and B-MAYENNE, 610.54 nm

Tracker

www.vendeeglobe.org

America's Cup Afterguard analysis - Ineos Team UK
The British squad are renowned as the comeback kids of the event after their remarkable transformation from the ugly ducklings of the America's Cup World Series - Auckland warm up regatta to the beautiful soaring swans of the first weekend of the Prada Cup.

Ineos Team UK's speed team/brains trust in the back half of the boat centres around the helmsman/tactician pairing of Ben Ainslie and Giles Scott - both Finn gold medallists and both products of the UK Royal Yachting Association's Olympic sailing talent factory - aka the British Sailing Team.

Backing up Ainslie and Scott are mainsail trimmer Bleddyn Mon, and flight controllers (Ineos Team UK call them 'pilots') Luke Parkinson ( a SailGP veteran and Volvo Ocean Race winner) and Leigh McMillan (a past Olympic multihull campaigner and Extreme Sailing Series winner).

Listening in to the on-board communications aboard the British boat is a real treat. The back and forth between Scott and Ainslie is nothing short of a masterclass in how the professionals talk a race boat around the course. Nobody who races sailboats could fail to learn lots from listening to these two race.

Justin Chisholm's full article in YachtRacing.life

Exciting career opportunities
A+T is the rapidly growing manufacturer of high performance and beautifully engineered instruments for the superyacht and racing markets, see www.AandTinstruments.com.

We have continued to expand through the Covid period and are looking to build our sales and marketing team with two senior positions:-

Technical Support and Sales; a good technical grasp of marine electronics and good knowledge of superyachts and race yachts is needed, with opportunities to visit and sail at major regattas world-wide.

Sales manager; to expand our now well established footprint on over 400 superyacht and raceboats to the wider market of refit yards, brokers, new-build yards and electronics dealers. Some sales experience and knowledge of the market necessary, such as ex yacht broker, but not deep technical understanding.

Based primarily from Lymington, UK, these both offer competive salaries and the chance quickly to build senior management roles in an innovative and growing marine company.

Please contact . Please also pass on to anyone you know who might be interested.

Change Of Fortune Needed For Rookie Team
Click on image for photo gallery.

As the championship end of the 2020-2021 Australian 18ft Skiff Racing Season moves toward the JJ Giltinan world Championship on Sydney Harbour in March, one team looking for a change of fortune is Birkenhead Point Marine, which is being led by rookie 18s skipper Tim Westwood.

Although Tim is a rookie skipper in the 18s this season, he is definitely not new to the high-speed skiffs or high-speed international racing in big boats, but his first season as an 18s skipper has been affected by bad luck.

In 2019, Tim began SailGP Season 1 as a member of the Japanese shore team in Sydney, but after a successful trial, he joined the crew full-time, making his debut at San Francisco SailGP. He was voted 'most improved team member during the inaugural campaign and was part of the starting line-up as grinder/jib trimmer for Season 2.

From the moment Tim accepted the challenge to skipper an 18, he was out on Sydney Harbour regularly with his team, Alex Chittenden and Ben Psaltis, training for the start of the season.

Things were on track for the trio until Alex dislocated his shoulder in the week leading up to the first race on October 11. This was obviously a massive blow to the new team as it took on the might of the Australian 18 Footers League fleet.

Racing each week with a variety of replacement sheet hands, before Alex was able to get back in action, was then followed by the loss of Ben Psaltis late in November.

The Birkenhead Point Marina team will line up against 17 other top 18ft Skiff combinations in Sunday's two races (Races 2 & 3) of the Australian Championship on Sydney Harbour.

Defending Australian champion tech2 (Jack Macartney, Charlie Wyatt, Lewis Brake) is favoured to retain the title after winning the NSW Championship on Sydney Harbour last Sunday. -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League Ltd.

www.18footers.com

World Sailing launches 2021 eSailing World Championship
The 2021 eSailing World Championship will be launched today [21 January 2021, 12:00 UTC] as the race to win this year's title - and a prize of USD $10,000 - officially begins.

Launched in partnership between World Sailing, the International Federation for the sport, and Virtual Regatta, the world-leading digital sailing platform, this year will be the fourth season following the launch of the inaugural Championship in 2018.

Last year's World Champion was Joan Cardona (ESP), a real-life member of Spain SailGP Team, following on from Velista71 (ITA) in 2019 and L1 (FRA) in 2018.

All players are now invited to play and compete in the 2021 World Championship on Virtual Regatta Inshore via Desktop, iOS or Android.

Today's launch starts the season off with the first ever Mount Gay Challenge - a week-long event made up of three days of training, a three-day qualifier and a final.

The Notice of Race for this 2021 eSailing World Championship can be viewed here (PDF).

Bliksem to Defend M32 Title in Miami
The M32 fleet is back racing in Miami after the season was cut short last year. Bliksem with skipper Pieter Taselaar showed some spectacular performance last winter. Going into the last day of racing Convexity with skipper Don Wilson, reigning World Champion, had a comfortable lead in the event and the series but had a really bad day ending with an unrepresentative capsize in the last race. Bliksem had a solid day playing it safe and getting top three scores in all races. With one single point team Bliksem won the series and received the much sought after M32 Miami Rooster which they will defend in the upcoming winter series. 16 teams participated in the 2020 Miami winter series and the full results can be found at the M32 World web.

m32world.com/results/

Team Bliksem is sailing under Dutch colours with Skipper Pieter Taselaar and crew Keith Swinton, Rhys Mara, Julius Hallstrom and Paul Atkins. Peter comments: "We were very pleased with winning the Miami series last year. Unfortunately, the last event was cancelled due to covid but all other racing weekends provided perfect sailing conditions with wind in the mid-teens and sunny skies. We look forward to defending the Winter Series title this year in beautiful Biscayne Bay." The team plans to sail with the same crew this year although the travel restrictions may force some temporary changes.

The 2021 winter series is this year 4 events that have been clustered together into two periods to make it easier for teams' logistics and travels. The events are February 5-7, 12-14 and March 5-7, 19-21. Full schedule can be found at the M32 website.

m32world.com/calendar/

Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
Tonight we celebrate one of our top ten, an establishment well known to your humble narrator. Who wisely abandoned the moped and called a cab for a ride to the hotel after what was supposed to be a brief stopover. The Swizzle Inn is Bermuda's oldest pub and is the namesake of the Rum Swizzle, created in the 1930s. A few of them will make you forget which side of the road you're supposed to drive on in Bermuda; the ever present cabs and passing buses are a wise transportation choice.

The interior is an eclectic place... stickers, notes, burgees, business cards, postcards and notes by the thousands cover the rafters and ceilings, some dating back half a century or more. Great Bermudan pub food and constant laughter are the perfect accessories for a Rum Swizzle.

Here's one of many ways to make one (from Jay Correia, the owner... cited in the Smithsonian magazine of all places...)

Serves 6
4 ounces Goslings Black Seal Rum
4 ounces Goslings Gold Seal Rum
3 ounces Triple sec
5 ounces pineapple juice
5 0unces orange juice
Juice of 2 lemons
2 ounces Bermuda falernum or sugar syrup
6 dashes of Angostura Bitters
Mix all ingredients with ice and shake vigorously until a frothing head appears. Strain into stemmed cocktail glasses.

"The rum swizzle is certainly a drink that's consumed by tons of Bermudians," Correia says. "It's a drink that's part of our culture, so far that at social gatherings in Bermuda, nine times out of ten you'll find a batch of rum swizzle made by the host."

Rustle up a pitcher, and contemplate your vote for the best bar:
eurosailnews.com/sailors-bars

The aftermath of Patriot's massive capsize
They may be fierce competitors, but they are also ultimate sportsmen, and no-one wants to see a team in the kind of situation the American Magic crew were in. Emirates Team New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling was seen pulling and folding a sail onto their support boat. Through this combined effort, the yacht was stabilised and began a slow journey back to their base.

Well after dark the yacht was hoisted out of the water and the true extent of the damage was revealed. A gaping hole in the port side, just forward of the foil arm. The designers and boat builders will now be working through the night to assess what else is broken in Patriot.

The AC75 is rammed full of complex electronics, hydraulics, and a ton of technical wizardry that I can only hazard a guess at. As well as the visible damage, all of this will need to be checked, cleaned or replaced and tested. The team have until Friday to get the boat ready for Round Robin 3 or, failing that, the PRADA Cup Semi-Final begins on 29th January. Realistically, at 0-4 after two Round Robins that must be the team's goal.

Good luck to all at New York Yacht Club American Magic. The America's Cup needs all the teams to be racing to continue this fantastic spectacle. -- Mark Jardine

www.sail-world.com

What Happened to Patriot
Round Robin 1 & 2 of the Prada Cup had delivered an explosive start on the road to the America's Cup. At the end of the opening stages, one team was up, another down and one in the middle. All three were doubtless left wondering what had happened to the form guide that had been established just before Christmas, as well as considering what the temporary loss of a team meant for the racing going forwards. But for American Magic, the immediate task was to rebuild their boat and get back on the water - a massive task. American Magic's skipper Terry Hutchinson explains what happened and what's next for the team, Ainslie and Bruni give their views on the kind of crash that they all fear and Matt Sheahan looks back at a heart stopping three days.

planetsail.org

Royal Western Yacht Club Confirms the MailASail OSTAR & TWOSTAR races are 'all systems go'
The Royal Western Yacht Club of England is pleased to confirm that the 2021 edition of the OSTAR and TWOSTAR races are to go ahead as planned.

Following continual communication with the Newport Yacht Club, our Finishing hosts, we are confident that we can provide a COVID safe start and finish to the race.

The 60th edition is further recognised for its challenges as numerous entries are planning to compete as their qualifying passage and training for the Global Solo Challenge - the solo non-stop round the world event which starts in 2023. The GSC does not demand a race qualifier for their entries, but the rigours of the OSTAR can provide a platform for them to test themselves and their boats ahead of their global adventure.

Being just over 3000 nautical miles and coming into contact with dense fog, Icebergs and the grand banks off Newfoundland, the OSTAR is probably the most demanding of any of the amateur yacht races in the world.

Provision has also been made in the NoR to ensure COVID does not cost our competitors financially.

For those wishing to enter the OSTAR or TWOSTAR, please contact the RWYC on as soon as possible. There is a potential delay allowance window of 3 weeks should this be required based on COVID restrictions. Should the race need to have an extended postponement at short notice due to COVID then full refunds will be offered.

'Intent to enter' emails should be sent to
Entry form coupled with deposits are required to secure entry
For further information and entry please go to rwyc.org/ostar/
For more information on the global solo challenge, please go to globalsolochallenge.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 David Munge: re: A case for woolies

Being a sailing old fart, I remember well, the advantages of reacting to “woollies” on the shrouds, and with displacement sailing being possibly a crucial part of AC36, is there case for retrofitting them onto INEOS UK? As things stand the sailors are fully glad, complete with crash helmets, no skin exposed so they are totally reliant on instruments.

The wind instruments are probably fitted at the top of the mast, or the bow sprit, both of which are a distance from the helm. Any instruments at the top of such a high mast, possibly doesn’t represent the wind on the main part of the sails.

We hear Sir Ben, in displacement mode, saying “trim jib”, so as the grinders appear also to be the trimmers, there seems room for improvement.

Good to see and hear the after guard connecting the dots and shifts.

Should be able to find wool in amongst the 6 million sheep in NZ.

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The Last Word
Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist. -- George Carlin

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