EuroSail News #4850

In This Issue
• CORUM L'Epargne and The Austrian Ocean Race Project top the table in Cascais
• Hempel World Cup Series - Allianz Regatta
• SailGP's eight-nation fleet touches down in Taranto
• What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
• Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta
• To the Eddystone and back
• Brown's Laser Rings The Belle At Grafham
• Royal Temple Yacht Club - Spring Series Review
• Red diesel update: delay for Northern Ireland
• Letters to the Editor
• Featured Charter
• Featured Brokerage:
• • ClubSwan 50-003
• • MILLS 41 - "Ambush"
• • HH88 - NEW BOAT
• The Last Word: P. G. Wodehouse

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

CORUM L'Epargne and The Austrian Ocean Race Project top the table in Cascais
The opening leg of The Ocean Race Europe came to a nail-biting conclusion in Cascais, Portugal with the winners in both the VO65 and IMOCA 60 classes decided only in the last few moments of the four-day passage from Lorient, France.

A thrilling finish in the one design VO65 class saw The Austrian Ocean Race Project, skippered by Gerwin Jansen (NED), pull off a remarkable come-from-behind victory to edge out Rokas Milevicius' Lithuanian entry Ambersail-2 by just six seconds.

A further 15 seconds behind in third was Dutch skipper Simeon Tienpont's Team Childhood I and the full seven-boat fleet finished within six minutes.

Meanwhile in the IMOCA class Nicolas Troussel's CORUM L'Epargne (FRA) took the winner's gun, ahead of Charlie Enright's United States entry 11th Hour Racing Team in second, and Thomas Ruyant's LinkedOut (FRA) in third.

Teams will get some well-deserved rest on Thursday and Friday in Cascais, before competing in the Coastal Race as part of The Mirpuri Foundation Sailing Trophy on Saturday and the start of Leg Two, into Alicante, on Sunday.

Provisional Results:

IMOCA
1st: CORUM L'Epargne
2nd: 11th Hour Racing Team
3rd: LinkedOut
4th: Offshore Team Germany
5th: Bureau Vallee

VO65
1st: The Austrian Ocean Race Project
2nd: AMBERSAIL-2
3rd: Team Childhood I
4th: Sailing Poland
5th: AkzoNobel Ocean Racing
6th: Viva Mexico
7th: Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team

www.theoceanrace.com

Hempel World Cup Series - Allianz Regatta
There was a sense of excitement in the air on the opening day of Hempel World Cup Series - Allianz Regatta in Medemblik, The Netherlands, as sailors hit the water at the first World Cup event since Miami in January 2020.

It's been a long wait for the sailors as they build up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Competition, but the precision and focus was there to see on the opening day as competitors raced in a fickle 3-7 knot northern breeze.

From 2-6 June the ILCA 6, ILCA 7, Men's and Women's RS:X and the Nacra 17 fleets will face off. Then on 9 June, the 49er, 49erFX and the Finn will race, with the competition concluding on Sunday 13 June.

The ILCA 7 is the largest fleet in Medemblik with 60 world-class sailors taking to the start line. For the first two days of the competition, the fleet will be split into yellow and blue for qualification, so the battle for the gold fleet will be short and high-pressure.

Lorenzo Chiavarini (GBR) set the pace in the blue fleet with a sixth and a race win and leads overall. He is tied on seven points with yellow fleet frontrunner Filip Jurisic (CRO), who took a second and a fifth.

Brazil's Patricia Freitas and home favourite Lilian de Geus (NED) share the lead in the Women's RS:X after two tight races.

In the Men's RS:X, Poland's Piotr Myszka hit perfection in the light winds, using his physicality to win both of the day's races.

In a youthful Nacra 17 fleet, Laila van der Meer and Bjarne Bouwer (NED) claimed three Nacra 17 race wins to top the leaderboard.

Racing resumes on Thursday 3 June at 10:30 local time.

Full results

www.allianzregatta.org

SailGP's eight-nation fleet touches down in Taranto
Taranto, Italy: In just a few days SailGP's adrenaline-fueled racing is set to kick-off for the first ever Italy Sail Grand Prix on June 5-6 in Taranto.

All eight national teams took to the shoreline racecourse today sporting 24 meter wingsails, giving each team a chance to reacquaint themselves with the high-tech, identical F50 catamarans. Two crews - Great Britain SailGP Team and New Zealand SailGP Team - were also putting in some much needed practice time with new faces onboard.

The current leader after the first event - the British SailGP Team - has swapped one Olympic gold medalist for another with Paul Goodison making his debut as the driver for the British team, replacing Ben Ainslie for the next two events. An interim shift, this substitution will have all eyes on the British team as it aims to retain its position at the top of the leaderboard.

Southern Italy will see the reemergence of Jimmy Spithill's United States SailGP Team and Nathan Outteridge's Japan SailGP Team after a nearly catastrophic collision in Bermuda that severely damaged both boats and took them out of the running for the event. After a race against time, both boats returned to the water today - just in time for some vital training ahead of the season's second event this weekend.

Action at the Italy Sail Grand Prix gets underway at 1:30 p.m. local on both Saturday 5 and Sunday June 6. Fans unable to attend can watch the live broadcast in Italy through official broadcast partners Rai Sport and Sky Italia, and by downloading the award-winning SailGP App. For details on how to watch globally visit SailGP.com/Watch

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

A formidable influence
When discussing the great and influential yacht designers some names are often easily overlooked. Ivor Wilkins has been learning more about one such talent with the help of Bruce Farr and Geoff Stagg...

No-brainer?
And there are more considerations around that offshore medal than you think. Rob Weiland

Careful what you wish for
Volvo winner and two-time medallist Ian Walker is very enthusiastic about offshore racing being in the Olympics... or is he?

The great divide - Part II
Now the two sides - north and south - slowly begin to join forces. Clare Mccomb

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Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta
Porto Cervo, Italy: The 14th edition of the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta got off to an auspicious start today, with a fresh south-easterly wind of 16 to 17 knots creating ideal conditions for today's racing. The event, organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda with the support of Loro Piana, is a symbol of the reopening not only of the world of international sailing, but also of the region of Sardinia that is home to the YCCS.

Perfectly on schedule at 12.30 p.m., the Race Committee headed by PRO Peter Craig sounded the start for the Multihull division, a completely new category introduced for this edition, with four catamarans ranging from 18.5 to 25 metres who battled hard right from the downwind start. The Superyacht division followed with a staggered start, with individual departures to ensure maximum safety during racing. After rounding an offset mark, the Superyacht fleet took the same course as the Multihull division, covering more than 30 miles, and including a clockwise circumnavigation of the island of La Maddalena, after having left the islet of Monaci to port, returning to the Golfo delle Saline and sailing back up the channel between the coast of Sardinia and the La Maddalena archipelago.

The first victory in the Multihull group went to R-Six, a 66-foot HH catamaran, after the 25-metre Allegra was disqualified due to a protest. Second place went to the Gunboat Highland Fling XVII, ahead of the Outremer 5X R Give Me Five in third place. Compensated times for this division are calculated under the new ORCmh system, specially designed to handle the characteristics of multihull yachts.

In the Superyacht division Missy, a 33-metre yacht taking part in the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta for the first time, was followed by Claus-Peter Offen's Wally Y3K - just 53 seconds behind in compensated time - with the Swan 115 Shamanna clinching today's third place. The 100-foot Leopard 3 was the fastest boat on the course in real time but, after the application of compensated time, sits at the back of the fleet despite being just 6 minutes behind the winner. The close times around the course coupled with the smiling faces of the participants back on the dock spoke of a hard-fought race indeed.

Racing in the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta continues tomorrow, with the start scheduled for 12.30 p.m. and winds of 10 to 14 knots from the southeast forecast.

www.yccs.com

To the Eddystone and back
Join Dee Caffari & James Harayda on the RORC Myth of Malham race

Dee Caffari takes us on board for the RORC's Myth of Malham race, a 230nm offshore race from Cowes to the Eddystone lighthouse and back. Racing with Gentoo's owner James Harayda, this is the second race of the inaugural UK Double Handed Offshore Series that culminates in the Rolex Fastnet Race. As part of our new shorthanded series, Dee also talks us through what they have to take with them when they head offshore aboard their Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300. -- Matthew Sheahan

Brown's Laser Rings The Belle At Grafham
Alastair Brown sailed his ILCA 7/Laser to victory at the inaugural Grafham Belle on the last weekend of May. Competing in round 2 of the Selden SailJuice Winter Series, Brown's three bullets from six races gave the Stokes Bay/ Great Moor SC sailor overall victory after a tiebreak with reigning Series Champions, the 2000 team of Simon Horsfield and Katie Burridge from Thorney Island SC. Just two points behind the leaders and taking third place overall was the Solo of Matthew Frary from Norfolk Broads Yacht Club, who had been overnight leader at the end of Saturday.

Sailors were happy to have emerged out of a long lockdown winter to be racing against and alongside each other after so few competitions. Despite an unpromising weather forecast of little wind and wintery conditions in the week, competitors were treated to glorious conditions on both days, with winds gusting into double figures, albeit shifty under the passing clouds.

Other race winners included the faster boats such as Tom Gillard & Richard Pepperdine's 505 winning the second race followed by Colin and Oly Murray's Norfolk Punt which took victory in the third heat. There was a good showing of 4000s at Grafham, with the home club's team of David Marchant and Rory Moppett winning their class and finishing 16th overall.

Scoring was run to the Great Lakes PY handicap numbers, with seven classes filling the top 10 overall. Full results

Next events in the Selden SailJuice Winter Series take place on the opposite side of the country. On the east coast is a long distance 26-miler, the Medway Marathon on Saturday 19 June. Meanwhile in north Wales it's an inland marathon for those competing in the popular Bala Long Distance, at Bala SC on 19 & 20 June.

sailjuiceseries.com

Royal Temple Yacht Club - Spring Series Review
The Royal Temple Yacht Club held a full spring series of seven races on consecutive Sundays from April until the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May. The races could best be described as wet or cold or wet and cold, owing to the rather slow start to Summer! But it didn't deter the skippers and crews, who were eager to get back to racing, and each race saw a high proportion of the clubs' 13 boat IRC and six boat Cruising Class fleet battle it out.

IRC Classes

In Class 1, the well-prepared Corby 36 'Stiletto' of John Barrett and Paul Woodward, proved to be the boat to beat, taking five out of the seven races on corrected times, from the Pronavia 42 'Assassin' who 'cruised' the series on a lower handicap whilst awaiting delivery of a new spinnaker pole. The fast improving 'Kabluzo', a 2020 one-off based on the 'Geek', owned by Rob Smith rounded out the podium places.

Class 2 saw a few boats share the victories around between them. But consistent podium places, and a couple of class wins saw the Green and Thomas owned, First 34.7 'Cobra' take the series from the Poupard family on the X-99 'Expedite' with Mike and Jo Brand in third on the X-34 'Foxy'.

A special mention must go to 'Expedite' who saw a rather eye-watering 22knot speed on their log during a spinnaker run in one of series' 'fresher' races! -- Piers Hodge

www.rtyc.com

Red diesel update: delay for Northern Ireland
HMRC has issued Excise Notice 554 which contains details about fuel used in private pleasure craft.

For Northern Ireland (NI), private pleasure craft users will no longer be able to use red diesel to propel their craft, but the deadline date for this has been extended to October 1.

This gives more time for private pleasure craft to use up red diesel in NI and their fuel suppliers to implement the change from red to white diesel.

There will be a new relief scheme on non-propulsion fuel for heating and power generation - see paragraph 2.3 of the Notice.

The CA's Regulations and Technical Services group (RATS), has pointed out that pleasure craft from NI may travel to Great Britain and fill up with red diesel. RATS advice is to keep up-to-date all receipts, logbooks and engine hours, to show HMRC where and when you refuelled.

For England, Scotland and Wales, the current red diesel position stays the same. Diesel used for propulsion is taxed at the full duty rate, as for road diesel. Red diesel to be used for heating, lighting and power generation may be purchased at the rebated rate. RATS has suggested that purchasers should be able to give the exact percentage to be used for propulsion and heating and not necessarily the suggested HMRC 40/60 split.

The full details on the procedures and purchase of marked gas oil (red diesel), including the rare situation of a vessel having a separate tank for heating, are in Chapter 4 of Notice 554. HMRC has been contacted for clarification on certain points and RATS awaits its reply. Further guidance is due in July.

Full details of the fuel regulations can be read here

From Peta Stuart-Hunt, The Cruising Association

theca.org.uk

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 Malcolm McKeag:

David Pelly will be mourned and missed by many of us from what your obituarist describes as 'the heyday' of yachting journalism, not the least for his dry wit. It occasionally got him into difficulty, not least with the prominent British Olympic sailor who so did not appreciate David's turn of phrase that, next time he saw him, he pushed him off the pontoon and into the water! Given that the said sailor is still actively with us I had best say no more, lest I too end up in the briny.

Then there was the dinghy rock-star imported into the big boat scene as a driver who took some time to accustom himself to the different accelerative properties of small boats and large. BBC Grandstand at the time devoted much air-time to the game of darts, where a prominent, indeed champion, player gloried in the name of Leyton Lowe. David adapted the sobriquet and applied it in the context of our hero's starting technique. I, somewhat shamelessly, passed it on (with proper credit, of course) to my own readers. Our hero complained to a mutual friend, a well-known top-level Irish competitor known not only for his great talent but also his unruly mop of (in those days) red hair who was something of a mentor to the lad and asked him to 'have a word'. We Paddys should be sticking together, the tyro complained. The mentor had only one question for his pupil: 'did they spell your name right?'

But perhaps David's greatest coup, while at Yachting World, wherein he had his own column, was to write with straight face a 'news story' about a Phantom Pontoon Stealer plaguing marinas on the South Coast, accompanied by a photograph of a kneeling figure with his 2hp outboard clamped to the side of the pontoon and pulling the starter cord. Unhappily, the subject of the photograph, although unrecognisable to all but himself, did not see the funny side - or simply failed to note the April 1st date on the masthead - and threatened to sue for libel unless he received an apology and full, explanatory, retraction. To most of us, it was next month's dead-pan, poker-faced retraction that was the funniest part of the whole episode.

He was also, by the way, no mean sailor.

Featured Charter
Andrasta - i39-OS

British built and designed specifically for longer offshore events, providing a safe yet exciting ride for the eight crew.

See listing details in Seahorse Charters

Contact
Lucy Jackson - LV Yachting
Call: +44 (0) 20 3920 6261
Email:
lvyachting.com

See the the Seahorse charter collection

Featured Brokerage
ClubSwan 50-003. 700000 EUR.

The cutting edge of contemporary yacht design - ClubSwan 50-003.

See listing details in Nautor's Swan Brokerage

Contact
Giorgio Passarella
E:
T: +377 97 97 95 07

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2016 MILLS 41 - "Ambush". 350000 USD. Located in Hong Kong.

AMBUSH is an IRC41 from Mark Mills. With a detailed understanding of the IRC rule, this FAST 40 style racer was penned with a more offshore focus, whilst keeping similar DNA to the inshore flyers that we have seen taking IRC by storm. A great option for both an inshore and offshore calendar.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Race Boats
+447759 424900
+442380 016582

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HH88 - NEW BOAT. POA USD.