In This Issue
• 36th America's Cup Presented By Prada Day 1
• There is No Fastest Boat
• Navigation Webinar for the 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race
• Why it's good to be wrong
• Pacesetter Etchells not valid under Class Rules
• 18ft Skiffs JJ Giltinan Championship, Races 5 and 6
• The Race Around goes Solo and Double-Handed
• Back to racing for the J/70 UK Class
• Liberty Bitcoin YFGC sailors finally get a taste of the good stuff
• Featured Charter: Swan 80 Umiko
• Featured Brokerage:
• • LM46 Performance Cruiser
• • Infiniti 52R
• • Dunning GP44 - RIGADOON
• The Last Word: Che Guevara

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

36th America's Cup Presented By Prada Day 1
It is impossible to exaggerate the importance and significance of the of the first race in any America's Cup as the anticipation and build up that proceeds the first day is beyond anything else in sport.

Day one of the 36th America's Cup presented by PRADA didn't disappoint with the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand and the Challenger Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli sitting on a tie after two races. Pretty even performances between the two boats once again confirmed that there is no space for mistakes.

Today's results clearly show that there is a long way to go in this first to 7 points America's Cup Match. As 170 years of history taught us, the game is far from over.

Race 1 - Emirates Team New Zealand beat Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli
Start: 1615
Port: NZL
Stbd: ITA
Course: E
Axis: 358
Length: 1.85nm
Current: 0.2 knots @ 163
Wind 10-12kts
Winner Emirates Team New Zealand - 0:31

Race 2 - Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli beat Emirates Team New Zealand
Start: 1715
Port: ITA
Stbd: NZL
Course: E
Axis: 358
Length: 2nm
Current: 0.1 knots @ 172
Winner - Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - 0:07

For those looking for a clear indication as to who has the upper hand in the 36th America's Cup, the opening day delivered no guide. Instead, it had proved just how closely matched these two teams are and how the Cup looks unlikely to be a walkover, for either team.

www.americascup.com

There is No Fastest Boat
How often do we come away from Day 1 of an America's Cup Match being none the wiser about who's going to win? We're meant to know in the first 30 seconds! Have you made your mind up? I know I haven't.

Yesterday I prefaced my email with two of the most well-worn Cup clichés: 'There is no second place', and 'Fastest Boat Wins'. Today's racing demanded a new America's Cup adage: 'There is No Fastest Boat.'

At least, what we saw from today's 1-1 draw was that any marginal speed advantage was so minuscule as to be insignificant to the outcome. The result of both races was decided by unforced errors.

Unforced Error #1
What was Jimmy Spithill thinking? Going for the penalty luff that almost but never quite was!

You know what?

I think Jimmy was thinking what a lot of the rest of us ill-informed armchair critics had been led to believe: that Emirates Team New Zealand were going to be emphatically faster. The Pitbull's move of desperation was borne out of a fear that once they got on an open race course the Kiwis would simply run away with it.

Now he, and the rest of us, know that's not true.

Te Rehutai is fast, but not stupid-fast. If he could have his time again, Jimmy would have held on to play the longer game, not roll the dice for a 6 in the just the first minute of the first race.

Unforced Error #2
"Fack!" I love it when the commentators feel obliged to apologise for fruity language. Just in case you missed it the first time, you can rewind it again to hear someone, Pete Burling maybe, utter the F-word some 15 seconds before they crossed the line. What a give-away.

After impeccable time-on-distance judgement in Race 1, the Kiwis' time-on-distance was way off in Race 2, handing an easy start to the Italians who never relinquished the lead after that. OK, so it was close by the finish, just a 7 second victory for the twin-helmed Italian boat. But this was a big momentum swing for the Challengers.

Just about all of New Zealand has been talking down the Italians' chances, so I would say that 1-1 in front of a large crowd of Kiwi spectators makes it a victory for Luna Rossa after day one.

Andy Rice
Sailjuice editor
PS. If you want to find out more on Road To Gold, you can download our free Training Kit here.

Navigation Webinar for the 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race
Field Yachting has partnered with six authorities in their respective fields to present a 3 part webinar series focusing on the 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race.

Designed for all crew who anticipate racing in this years edition, topics include studying the route for strategy development, rules, sails, satcomms, weather, currents, and preparation in the days pre start.

Presenters are:

Campbell Field: Long range planning - route deconstruction, historic weather analysis, preceding week planning and developing a race plan/strategy by analysing optimal routes, in race development and management of strategy.

North Sails: Long range - planning your sail inventory, in race - management and repair.

TideTech: Oceanographic current data products available for the race and the science behind them.

PredictWind: Meteorological data products and the tools used to generate and validate them.

Osprey Technical: Preparation of your electronics, satcomms packages and internet connectivity

Wouter Verbraak: In race weather analysis, thermal and topographical effects in coastal and island sailing.

This in depth series includes a Q&A session to put your questions to the experts. You will also receive a follow up package of presentation notes and an edited recording of all three sessions.

To book a place visit fieldyachting.com/rolex-fastnet-race-webinar-series

Why it's good to be wrong
There are some days when you're pleased to be wrong…today was one of them.

After three months of speculation and deliberation over which team has the upper hand, the rumour has been working itself into a frenzy to the point where the gossip was spinning round so quickly that the chatter was returning as 'fact' with no good evidence to support it other than, 'many had heard the same thing'.

Hardly surprising.

As I'm sure you know, the consensus was that the Kiwis have speed to burn once the breeze is over 12knots and that the Italians were probably a shade quicker in the light. But, as we looked ahead to the first match of the 36th America's Cup, what 170 years of history tells us is that the first leg of any Cup race is often an early indication of what is to come next. It also frequently shows how the pressure of the event can get to even the most polished and accomplished teams. And today we got a hint of both.

So, by the time we had taken that into consideration as well it was clearly time to go racing before we drove ourselves completely mad. But even before the racing had started it was easy to see just how different this Cup still is. With COVID restrictions that ban the gathering of large groups of people ashore still in place, most of Auckland took to the water to create one of the most impressive armadas that the Hauraki Gulf has seen.

This is my sixth consecutive America's Cup and today was the weirdest by a long way. The big screens were switched off and the streets empty. And without the normal razamatazz it was difficult to see today as any different to those of the last three months in the Cup bubble TV compound where we have gone through the daily routine plenty of times before. But, when the pre-show features started to roll in the TV gallery and the live TV buzz started to ramp up, things started to change.

As the Italians and Kiwis did their last minute pre-start dance our attention started to focus on those crucial seconds as both boats slipped over the line. As I'm sure you know already, the Kiwis had the upper hand and were about to roll Luna Rossa. Spithill knew he had to do something and went for the luff. An aggressive manoeuvre that didn't work. We heard him discuss it with Bruni before steering up towards the Kiwis. We heard him make the protest call he had planned and we heard the umpires reply with, 'no penalty'. On the face of it, a knee jerk reaction, a desperate move and one that was perhaps typical of illustrating how the pressure of the occasion can get to even the best and how it can kill off your chances. I will admit that that's what I thought at the time.

But now having gone through that sequence time and again in the process of producing the news clips and features this evening I'm not so sure. Yes, it was a gamble, but not one that was as rash as you (or I) might think, especially when you consider where the electronic boundaries around the boats lie. The Italians missed out by a small margin.

But what is true is that in such a close race it put Luna Rossa on the back foot for the rest of the race. With no significant speed advantage and no serious snakes and ladders on the race course there was no way back.

Matthew Sheahan's full commentary

Pacesetter Etchells not valid under Class Rules
In accordance with a ruling by World Sailing ("WS"), the International Etchells Class Association ("IECA") confirmed today that boats produced by Pacesetter Etchells Pty ("Pacesetter") since 2011 from Mould 11 ("M11") are not valid Etchells Class Yachts under the Class Rules of the IECA.

As indicated on its website World Sailing (WS) has issued an Interpretation of the Etchells Class Rules, stating, among other things, that a) the IECA Class Rules require WS's approval of moulds; b) having a Hull Certificate alone renders a boat neither eligible to compete nor built in compliance with the Class Rules; and c) simply meeting the measurement criteria of the Class Rules renders a boat neither eligible to compete nor built in compliance with Class Rules.

M11 was built by Innovation Composites Pty ("IC") under subcontract to Pacesetter in 2011. To date, 25 boats have been built from M11, and have been shown using laser scan technology to be significantly different in shape than Etchells Class Yachts. Specifically they have a longer water line, less rocker, a higher degree of bilateral symmetry, and more buoyancy in the ends. WS has already established that M11 was never validated or registered by WS.

The International Etchells Class Association of Australia ("IECAA") is the owner of M11. The IECAA has steadfastly maintained that M11 boats are Etchells because they have a Hull Certificate and measure as Etchells.

Today's Interpretation establishes that these two criteria are not sufficient. The boats also have to come from a WS-approved mould. Control of the tooling for building Etchells is the cornerstone of the Strict One-Design ethos of the Class. Control of the tooling means that when a new mould is built it undergoes a rigorous validation process, as overseen by WS, to ensure that the hulls it produces are exact copies of the official Etchells shape, to within manufacturing tolerances. This process was not followed for M11 and has resulted in boats that are not the correct shape.

The IECA recognizes that this outcome may be devastating news for owners of M11 boats. They are victims of circumstances entirely not of their making and beyond their control. Regatta results prior to this ruling will not be revisited or revised. The IECA is aware of the damage to the Class that this situation has wrought, especially in Australia where most of the M11 boats are owned.

The IECA is in the process of communicating with stakeholders most affected by this situation, including the owners of the 25 boats that have been built to date from M11. We are working with WS to try to enact a temporary Rule Change that will allow M11 boats to continue to compete in regional and national regattas within Australia, provided the Australian Membership is in favour of that.

etchells.org

18ft Skiffs JJ Giltinan Championship, Races 5 and 6
Click on image for photo gallery.

Sydney Harbour: What a difference a day made at the JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship on Sydney Harbour, when the Australian champion tech2 team came roaring back on Day 4 today, with two outstanding victories after its devastating Day 3 which had put it in a seemingly hopeless overall position.

The tech2 team of Jack Macartney, Charlie Wyatt and Lewis Brake took a narrow victory in Race 5 then backed it up with a brilliant exhibition to score the double in Race 6.

With a light Easterly breeze prevailing for the day's racing, in Race 5, tech2 defeated Bird and Bear (James Dorron, Tom Clout, John Walton) by 15s with Noakesailing (Sean Langman, Ed Powys, Josh Porebski) a further 6s back in third place.

Championship leader, Smeg (Michael Coxon, Ricky Bridge, Trent Barnabas) finished fourth, followed by Shaw and Partners Financial Services (Jim Colley), and Birkenhead Point Marina (Tim Westwood).

In Race 6, tech2 grabbed an early lead before racing away over the two lap windward-return course to defeat Smeg by 46s.

While tech2's victory was clear, the race for second placing was exciting and very close as Smeg crossed the finish line just 2s. ahead of Bird and Bear, with Yandoo Winning Group (John Winning Jr.) only another 8s back in fourth place.

Today's double winner is a participant in one of tomorrow's protest hearings, however, in the meantime is well back with a net score of 30 points.

Race 7 of the championship will be sailed Thursday, March 11 on Sydney Harbour . -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League Ltd.

www.18footers.com.au

The Race Around goes Solo and Double-Handed
The organisers of The Race Around, Class40's official round-the-world race, are today pleased to announce following significant interest, the establishment of a solo category running alongside the already announced double-handed fleet.

In a move that will spark memories of the highly successful 'BOC Challenge' and 'Around Alone' era, the organisers have also taken the opportunity to increase the number of entries from 25 to 35, inclusive of five wild cards.

Sam Holliday, Managing Director, The Race Around said, "Since announcing The Race Around in late 2019 we've been blown away by the level of interest around the race and have taken the time to speak with a number of those looking to compete. It has become clear that the Class40 continues to boom and we have to take into account a growing trend of those wanting to compete in a global event that goes beyond the traditional reach of Class40. The Race Around therefore perfectly fills the void for those that have finished the Mini Transat and the Route du Rhum and perhaps have the following Vendée Globe cycle in their sights."

The inclusion of the solo category has created a race with two trophies. The solo class will race for The Race Around Trophy with the double-handed fleet racing for The Race Around Cup.

Further to the inclusion of a solo category, organisers are also delighted to have signed a long-term partnership agreement with Class40. This agreement will ensure The Race Around's continued success beyond the first edition which will start in 2023.

www.theracearound.com

www.class40.com

Back to racing for the J/70 UK Class
The J/70 UK Class is looking forward to an exciting season of racing for 2021. Following the UK Government announcement of the roadmap to cautiously ease lockdown restrictions in England and following guidance from the RYA. The J/70 UK Class will have some coronavirus protocols in place, and we are planning a full season of racing from April through to October.

The 2021 J/70 UK Grand Slam Series will feature seven events with the best four to count, the J/70 UK Nationals will be a non-discard event and Grand Slam winners will be in both the Corinthian and Open Classes. Seven clubs will be hosting the J/70 UK Class: Warsash SC, Royal Thames YC, Royal Southern YC, Parkstone YC, Cowes CC, Royal Yacht Squadron, and the Hamble River SC.

The 2021 UK Grand Slam Series is expected to be the UK J/70 Class Qualifying Series for the 2022 J/70 World Championships in Monaco. Further details on the 2022 Worlds and UK Qualifying are expected from the J/70 International Class

The J/70 UK Sprint Series is a new and exciting edition to the 2021 calendar. Two days of weekend racing, hosted by the Royal Southern YC, will run from May through to September. With five short, sharp races per day, the series is designed to test raw speed and boat handling. The Sprint Series will also allow on the water coaching to add another dimension to the racing. -- Louay Habib

For more information, including boat charter opportunities
www.j-70.co.uk
www.facebook.com/j70uk/

Liberty Bitcoin YFGC sailors finally get a taste of the good stuff
Click on image for photo gallery.

After days spent wishing for more wind, the Liberty Bitcoin YFGC sailors finally tasted full speed flying. Their carbon foils hissed through the water, sending geysers of spray into the grey sky as they scythed through Gaeta Bay at double the speed of the wind.

The stronger wind was a welcome change of pace after light wind cancelled racing yesterday. The American team, Southern Challenge, have been training in Gaeta since mid-February and finally experienced a full foiling lap of the racecourse. Not only did they foil upwind for the first time, but they hit 27.2 knots on a two sail reach and, if you squinted, looked like the AC75s that had raced in the America's Cup just hours earlier.

The stronger wind did not last for long, and as the sun peaked out of the clouds, the sailors were forced into light wind mode and flight was reserved for the reaching legs. Quickly changing conditions on the racecourse meant that whoever came to the fore had to be a true jack of all trades today.

In the finals, teams are allowed to use their branded sails. The orange lions head of Team DutchSail - Janssen de Jong was finally unleashed and led the fleet in both the strong and light winds, scoring a two first places and a second. The wheels came off in race four when they got caught in a light patch and finished fifth, but they are still six points ahead of second-place RHKYC Team Agiplast. Following the Hong Kong team, the midfield is closely grouped on points, setting up an exciting second day of finals tomorrow.

Results:
21.0 pts NED- Team DutchSail- Janssen de Jong
15.0 pts HKG: RHKYC Team Agiplast
14.0 pts EUR: Kingdom Team
13.5 pts SUI: One Switzerland
13.0 pts ITA: Young Azzurra
11.5 pts USA: Southern Challenge

Full results

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The Last Word
Be realistic, demand the impossible! -- Che Guevara

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