In This Issue
• Regata dei Tre Golfi: Line Honour for Carlo Alberini's Pendragon
• What You Need To Know About The New IMOCA Rule
• What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
• 2nd Spirit Of Bermuda Charity Rally
• Theland NZ Open National Keelboat Championship
• Boat Shows are back! Southampton's South Coast Boat Show
• Realteam Sailing Wins TF35 Nyon
• Diverse Dinghy Line-Up For End Of May's Grafham Belle
• World Sailing Approves International RS21 Class Association Application
• For the Record
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Sangermani Custom Farr 92
• • Pilot Classic 83
• • Powerplay
• The Last Word: Norman Borlaug

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

Regata dei Tre Golfi: Line Honour for Carlo Alberini's Pendragon
A boat from the ORC European Championship fleet sinks during the night

A memorable and unprecedented Tre Golfi regatta is currently underway, with weather conditions providing racing that is as fast as it is demanding. The weather forecast prior to yesterday's start proved to be correct, with competitors facing a long upwind leg against rough seas in order to round the natural mark of the island of Ponza.

A serious incident marked the early hours of this morning, when at 3 a.m. the Salona 37 Le Pelican, enrolled in the Tre Golfi in Class C as a participant in the ORC European Championship, disappeared from tracking screens. "The conditions were particularly challenging, with two-metre waves, and we were sailing upwind on a port tack - commented a crew member who was on deck at the time of the accident - a result of a bad manoeuvre, in minutes we found ourselves in a critical situation with a cargo barge navigating between Naples and Ventotene just a few metres from us, and at that point a collision was inevitable. We managed to get the life raft into the sea and in just under 3 minutes our boat went under."

All seven crew members were rescued by the cargo ship and taken to port in Naples, all under the management of the Harbour Master - Coast Guard. Fortunately, no one was injured.

From the start at 7 p.m., the fastest hulls set off upwind against the sea to the island of Ponza, before heading south for a run towards Punta Campanella, on the tip of the Sorrentine Peninsula, and rounding the Li Galli islets. The brisk winds stayed constant throughout, and just after 1.24 p.m. CEST - after 17 hours, 54 minutes and 19 seconds of racing - the first boat to cross the finish line was the maxi yacht Pendragon VI, owned by Carlo Alberini.

At the time of writing, around 30 of the more than 100 competing yachts have arrived in the port of Capri, it is therefore too soon to draw up a definitive ranking as the smaller hulls continue to arrive and corrected times are calculated.

Tomorrow will be dedicated to the remaining finishes and preparations for the boats competing in the ORC European Championship which will run from 18 to 20 May, with three days of mark racing on the waters off Capri.

rolexcaprisailingweek.com

What You Need To Know About The New IMOCA Rule
The new IMOCA rule which will be applicable from 2022 to 2025, was voted on at the class association's general assembly on April 15. To understand the main developments, Tip & Shaft interviewed the class president, Antoine Mermod, the architects Quentin Lucet and Sam Manuard, skipper Stéphane Le Diraison and also Pierre-François Dargnies who is the technical director of the Charal Sailing Team (all are members of the technical committee which worked on the subject), as well as speaking to skippers Fabrice Amedeo and Kevin Escoffier and David Sineau who is the team manager of Initiatives Cœur.

"An evolution, not a revolution", is how Antoine Mermod has described the rule changes, explaining: "We have an existing fleet which was proven to be reliable on the 2020 Vendée Globe with boats which importantly still have room for improvement, the idea was therefore to avoid promoting a required technological breakthrough."

Like, for example, the potential and widely called for authorization of foil planes on the rudders which would have allowed the Imoca to properly sustain flight. From the general assembly of August 2020, it was decided to postpone the adoption of these T-rudders. "Personally, I had voted for them because I did not want to be holding back the big teams and I was I was saying that to innovate is in the DNA of the class," explains Fabrice Amedeo. "But when we see the scenario of this 2020 Vendée Globe fortunately we did not vote for them, so let us further digest big foils and the resulting life on board, and we'll see for 2028."

Foils were naturally central to the debates over the 2025 rule. When the principle of their limitation was adopted in August the objective is to avoid continued technological escalation - an arms race - and to contain costs, but the framework actually then needed to be specified. Should the criteria be the weight, the price, the volume and/or the manufacturing process that is limited? In the end, it was the volume criteria that was chosen, but again, it was necessary to agree on the limit not to be exceeded and on how to calculate it, resulting in endless discussions.

Full article in Tip & Shaft

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

World news
The remarkable and remarkably multi-talented Franck Cammas, pianist, soloist and the first French winner of the Volvo Ocean Race. AC75 whisperer Vasco Vascotto, Francesco Bruni the AC75 pin-up (sorry Vasco), Nocka keeps pushing forward on crew safety. Plus for real this time - as serious discussions are ongoing over a return to Key West in January? Carlos Pich, Dobbs Davis, Patrice Carpentier, Anthony Nossiter, Franck Cammas, Blue Robinson

Crunch time
Mediterranean regatta organisers are determined not to be thwarted in their planning for a 100mph restart to a full-on racing season. Rob Weiland

Old hat
Hoover or vacuum, Highfield or lever? Iain Mcallister explains where some of 'that stuff' which today we all take for granted actually came from

Brimmed to overflowing
An absorbing interest indeed. Tim Jeffery recalls some less known sides to the life of Bob Fisher

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2nd Spirit Of Bermuda Charity Rally
St George's, Bermuda: The Bermuda Sloop Foundation (BSF), East End Mini Yacht Club (EEMYC) and the Sailing Yacht Research Foundation (SYRF) are pleased to announce the organization of the Spirit of Bermuda Charity Rally, a rally race to St George's, Bermuda and back for the benefit of BSF's programs for youth on the sail training vessel Spirit of Bermuda. The rally will start on June 18, 2021 from two locations in international waters off the US East Coast using an innovative format that brings ocean racing back to this year's season in a manner that is competitive yet flexible, and fun yet also COVID-safe for both organizers and participants. Registration will open on Wednesday May 19, 2021

The Rally introduces a new and innovative format that will have two starting lines set up on lines of latitude and longitude located in the Atlantic Ocean 12 miles south of the coast of Newport, Rhode Island and 20 miles east of the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay at Chesapeake Light. Participants can race in the Rally to Bermuda (RTB) starting from either location, and finish at Mills Buoy close to the mouth of Government Cut in St George's.

The Rally is comprised of two legs one "To Bermuda" and "From Bermuda" with a winner for each leg. There will be a scheduled start of the From Bermuda leg on June 27, but skippers may leave any time after arriving until July 1.

In addition to performance prizes, the yacht and crew that raise the most funds for Spirit of Bermuda's Charity will receive special recognition.

So how can we race on different courses, at different times, in different weather and score together as a single race?

SYRF has synthesized many practices in offshore racing to develop the "SYRF Offshore Scoring" system, which uses the predicted speed of each yacht (their polars) together with the actual wind observed by global weather models. Every six hours, the weather services provide a NOWcast of wind conditions worldwide, and these are used to compute the best route (at 100% polar performance efficiency) and the optimum sailing time of each yacht. This optimum time is then divided into the yacht's recorded sailing time, and the ratio is the yacht's score.

spiritofbermudarally.org

Theland NZ Open National Keelboat Championship
Click on image for photo gallery.

Nick Egnot-Johnson and his Knots Racing Team survived a nervy final day to win the 2021 Theland NZ Open National Keelboat Championship at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

Egnot-Johnson and his team of Graeme Sutherland, Zak Merton, Alastair Gifford, Sam Barnett, and Bradley McLaughlin were the leaders after sailing five exceptional races on day one, claiming four wins and one third place finish. The Knots Racing team came into the final day with a five-point lead over Chris Steele and his Theland Race Team, but still needed to finish strong in the three races on Sunday to come out on top.

The battle came down to the wire, and with a congested fleet for most of the race it was still up in the air right up until the final leg. However, Egnot-Johnson continued to sail a brilliant race, and with Steele trying all he could to catch him, it was to no avail, with the Knots racing boys going on to cross the line in third, two places ahead of the persevering Steele, claiming their second Theland NZ Open National Keelboat Championship in three years.

Final Results:
1. Nick Egnot-Johnson (Knots Racing / RNZYS)
2. Thomas Saunders (TYPBC)
3. Chris Steele (Theland Race Team / RNZYS)
4. Harry Thurston (Hotel Montreal Sailing / AYC)
5. Graham Cunningham (RNZYS)
6. Megan Thomson (2.0 Racing / RNZYS)
7. Robbie McCutcheon (RNZYS PP)
8. Sally Garrett (RAYC)
9. Max McLachlan (Mastercard YTP / RNZYS)
10. Peter Sumich (RNZYS)
11. Peron Pearse (RNZYS)

Full results

Boat Shows are back! Southampton's South Coast Boat Show
It's been a long time but boat shows are back! The South Coast Boat Show is the first in the UK to open after more than a year. Held at Southampton's Ocean Village Matt Sheahan and Steve Ancsell took to the pontoons to catch up on what's been going on and find out what we've missed in the last year.

The full tour

Arcona 435
Najad Yachts
X49
Beneteau Oceanis 30.1
Beneteau Oceanis 46.1
Beneteau Oceanis 54
Elan GT6
Solaris 44
Nautitech 40 Open

www.planetsail.org

Realteam Sailing Wins TF35 Nyon
Looking at the forecast overnight, Sunday was lining up to be another day of thrilling racing conditions for the final of the TF35 Nyon. With just two points between leaders Realteam and second-placed Alinghi there was the potential for an exciting showdown.

Come morning, however, the wind had other plans: "We were hoping for a good 12-15 knot southwesterly from 12:00," explains Class manager Bertrand Favre, "but unfortunately, some heavy rain prevented the wind materialising on the lake. We could see good wind up in the mountains, which kept us optimistic but unfortunately, it didn't happen."

With no immediate hope of racing and a storm cell on the radar coming down the lake from Geneva the call was made at 14:30CET to cancel racing for the day.

After an almost perfect performance yesterday Esteban Garcia's Realteam Sailing takes the TF35 Nyon regatta win and knocks Alinghi off the top spot in the overall ranking for the season.

The seven TF35s will meet again for the next round of the TF35 Trophy at the TF35 Mies, over the 4 and 6 June.

TF35 Nyon Overall Ranking:
(After seven races with one discard)

1. Realteam Sailing, 8 points
2. Alinghi, 10
3. Spindrift, 17
4. Zoulou, 21
5. Ylliam XII - Comptoir Immobilier, 30
6. Team SAILFEVER, 31
7. Zen TOO, 39

TF35 Trophy Overall Ranking:
(After two events)

1. Realteam Sailing, 3 points
2. Alinghi, 3
3. Spindrift, 6
4. Team SAILFEVER, 10
5. Ylliam XII - Comptoir Immobilier, 10
6. Zoulou, 11
7. Zen TOO, 13

tf35.org

Diverse Dinghy Line-Up For End Of May's Grafham Belle
Reigning champions of the Selden SailJuice Winter Series, Simon Horsfield and Katie Burridge, are set to race their 2000 doublehander at the Grafham Belle on the weekend of Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May.

With a maximum entry limit of 75 boats, this multiclass handicap event at Grafham Water Sailing Club is likely to book to capacity. After so little in the way of open meeting or championships activity in the past year of UK lockdown, the Grafham Belle aims to offer good handicap competition made as fair as possible by the Great Lakes numbers, one of the most respected variations on the standard RYA PY numbers.

With two weeks to go, the event is already attracting a diverse range of entries from the dinghy scene. Singlehanders such as the Solo, Streaker, Phantom and Laser Radial will do battle against each other, while the Albacore and RS400 represent variations on the classic hiking doublehanders although will have to be at the top of their game to beat the 2000 of Horsfield/Burridge from Thorney Island Sailing Club.

At the faster end of the spectrum are the 4000 of Neil Heffernan/ Jo Morrison from Queen Mary SC, Minnis Bay SC's Craig Thompson and Paddy Lewis in a 505 and Maidenhead SC's Ian Stone in a Musto Skiff. Blithfield's Andy Couch has proven himself a class act in a range of classes including the Phantom and 505 but for Grafham he'll be steering a VX One sportsboat around the track.\

www.sailjuiceseries.com

World Sailing Approves International RS21 Class Association Application
RS Sailing is pleased to announce the successful ratification of an application made to World Sailing for International Class status for the RS21 keelboat.

The World Sailing Equipment Committee members, as part of their agenda for the 2021 Mid-year meeting on Monday, May 10th voted unanimously in favour of the application. The decision to approve the RS21 International Class Association application now formally enables the RS21 Class to host a number of international level, World Sailing endorsed events including World Championships.

This latest successful Class application now brings the total number of RS classes that are able to promote themselves as World Sailing Class Associations to six, with the RS Tera, RS Feva, RS Aero, RS100 and RS500 classes all having enjoyed international class recognition.

With RS21 fleets now established in countries including the United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, Germany, Poland, USA, Bermuda and Australia as well as fleet development projects well underway in other parts of the world such as the Middle East, Central / South America and Asia, the next couple of years will no doubt see a large growth of the class in all continental regions.

RS21 Class website: www.rs21sailing.org
RS21 Facebook page: www.facebook.com/RS21sailing
RS21 specifications and pricing: www.rssailing.com/project/rs21onedesign

For the Record
The WSSR Council announces the establishment of a new World Record:

Record: Kitesurfer. Around the Isle of Wight
Yacht: Tarifa Foil Board. Kite sail
Name: Guy Bridge. GBR.
Date:.11th May 2021.
Start time: 10;35;55 UTC on the 11/05/21
Finish time: 13;00;27 UTC on the 11/05/21
Elapsed time: 2 hours 24 minutes and 32 seconds
Course length: 50 NM
Average speed: 20.76 kts
Comments: Previous Record: Guy Bridge. July 2016. 2h 32m 5s

John Reed
Secretary to the WSSR Council
sailspeedrecords.com

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The Last Word
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