EuroSail News #4958 - 10 November

In This Issue
• Slow going and hard work for the IMOCA crews
• The Class40s struggling in the Channel
• Sailmaker vacancy
• Serious gapping
• Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
• 70-Boat Fleet Signs Up for DBSC Turkey Shoot Series
• IRCRecords goes from strength to strength
• Shirley Robertson talks to trail blazing British yachtswoman Dee Caffari
• International 2.4 Pre-Worlds
• Sailing World on Water, November 05.21
• Letters to the Editor
• Featured Charter: SW 78 Elise Whisper
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Pendennis Wally 106
• • YYachts Y8
• • Jeanneau 60
• The Last Word: Winston Churchill

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

Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar

The 13th annual Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar search is on... Send us your stories and drink recipes...

Slow going and hard work for the IMOCA crews
We knew this was going to be a slow Transat Jacques Vabre, but the 15th edition of this two-handed biennial classic has been a real test of light wind sailing for the 21 IMOCA crews struggling to get around Brittany and into the Bay of Biscay.

After starting in fresh northwesterly winds on Sunday, the fleet saw the breeze disappear as the leading boats headed west past Cherbourg contending with powerful spring tides. Since then it has been a big battle to weather Brest and get into the Bay.

The two notable features of the contest to date have been the dismasting of Bureau Vallee, which brought a sudden end to the race for Louis Burton and Davy Beaudart, and the early dominance of APIVIA skippered by Charlie Dalin and Paul Meilhat.

In fact APIVIA has just completed a move to the east that has seen its 30-nautical mile lead cut to just four miles, as the front-runners finally start to get into new breeze from the east which is enabling them to accelerate to the south.

But the long term outlook for the skippers is not looking at all easy. They are likely to enjoy a fairly fast passage along the Spanish coast and around Cape Finisterre, but then the breeze will start to ease off going down the Portuguese coast.

The IMOCA fleet has divided into two main groups at the front. The first eight boats are led by APIVIA, followed by Charal (Jeremie Beyou and Chris Pratt) and LinkedOut (Thomas Ruyant and Morgan Lagraviere) and then 11th Hour Racing-Malamā (Charlie Enright and Pascal Bidegorry). They are spread over 19 nautical miles with Romain Attanasio and Sebastien Marsset the backmarkers on Fortinet-Best Western. -- Ed Gorman

imoca.org

The Class40s struggling in the Channel
With less than 250 miles sailed in 44 hours this morning, the 45 Class40s participating in the 15th Transat Jacques Vabre are reduced to begging, begging the wind to give them a few light breezes, and begging Neptune to put an end to the power of the currents that are forcing the duos to go backwards countless times from the tip of the Cotentin peninsula, and forcing them to draw incredible arabesques on a perfectly still stretch of water.

From the Heaux de Brehat to the Iroise Sea, the Class40 fleet is languishing in desperate search of the slightest wind. The Normans Nicolas Jossier and Alexis Loison (La Manche#Evidence nautique) are entering the Atlantic thanks to a nice economy of maneuvers and backward steps, at least in comparison with some competitors. They are now passing the beaches of Finistere this morning, with some of the favourites of the event in their wake, including Ian Lipinski and Julien Pulve (Credit Mutuel) and Axel Trehin and Frederic Denis (Project Rescue Ocean), who have managed to get out of the Channel. Of course the gaps are small but the fleet is stretching this morning from the island of Batz to the Crozon peninsula. The courses are getting tighter, thanks to a light westerly breeze, which the duos are immediately taking advantage of to progress due south. The bill for the latecomers, and we think of Morgane Ursault-Poupon and Julia Virat (UP SAILING Unis pour la planete) and Clara Fortin and Martin Louchard (Randstad-Ausy) still struggling with the currents west of Batz, could increase by the hour.

The Bay of Biscay, still blocked by the high pressure, should become more lively by mid-day under the effect of the SSE flow. In this perspective, the fleet will remain as close as possible to the coast of Brittany, taking advantage of favorable currents to pass through the Raz de Sein, before heading off on port tack towards Cape Finisterre, and really launching this exceptionally strange Transat Jacques Vabre.

www.class40.com

www.transatjacquesvabre.org

Sailmaker vacancy
Ullman Sails St. Maarten is a full service loft on the island of St. Maarten (Dutch side) in the Caribbean, offering services that include sail repairs & alterations, new sails & all types of canvas products.

We are currently looking for a qualified sail maker for our upcoming season from November 2021 to May 2022.

The applicant would be responsible for all types of sail repairs & alterations, removing & re-installing sails. The fitting of new sails & U-Stack covers. Experience in canvas work would be a plus.

The successful applicant must-
1) Be a qualified sailmaker capable of high quality repairs & alterations to all types of sails, ranging from board sails to superyachts.v 2) To be able to work independently or as part of a team
3) Possess a positive attitude.
4) Ideally be active in racing /cruising.

Employment would be full time for the above dates with the possibility of a longer contract.

Please send resume to
Rob Gilders
Ullman Sails St. Maarten

Tel. +1 721 544 5231

Serious gapping
As announced yesterday, the trade wind is now sharing out its breeze pretty fairly across the whole of the race zone in the 23rd Mini Transat EuroChef. As a result, the competitors furthest north are now benefiting from similar conditions to those enjoyed by their rivals further south. Consequently, the differences in speed are fairly minimal all of a sudden, with those skippers further along the racetrack boasting a slight edge. The reason for this is that as they approach the West Indies, the wind is becoming increasingly vigorous. The added punch is sure to inspire the sailors, whose goal right now is to be as quick as possible, whilst exploiting the many variations served up by this famous NE'ly breeze, along with the odd squall that's beginning to spice things up a bit.

Yesterday was always going to be a big day for those favouring a route in the deep south. Still benefiting from more pressure than their adversaries further to the north, the latter have made the very best of the conditions to rack up precious miles. This has naturally led to a few gaps opening up or being created within the fleet. This is evidenced in the prototype fleet, where the top six in the position report were grouped within 65 miles of one another two days ago. Today, there is nearly 200 miles between them. In practical terms, though Fabio Muzzolini (945 - Tartine sans Beurre) has shown a real burst of power, taking the speed title in the last 24 hours and repositioning himself in second place in his category in the process, Pierre Le Roy (1019 - TeamWork) has also reaped the benefits of his option. The two men are now leading the fleet across the Atlantic with a lead of 57 and 102 miles respectively ahead of the third placed skipper, Tanguy Bouroullec (969 - Tollec MP/Pogo).

www.minitransat.fr/en/

Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
Today we honor the 2018 Winner... Cloggy's of Falmouth Antigua. Famed for their specialty cocktail Cloggy's Delight, they're also famous for this superb hot-afternoon-chill-down drink: the Lime Squash

Wight Vodka
4 small or 2 medium-size limes
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) carbonated water (mineral water, club soda, etc.)

For the maximum juice, roll the limes over the counter back and forth with the palm of your hand. Cut the limes in half and juice them by hand or with a juicer. You should have 1/2 cup (4 ounces) of juice. Put the juice and honey into a bowl and mix well with a wire whisk or fork. Pour the mixture into a pitcher. Add the carbonated water and stir until all of the ingredients are well combined. Taste and adjust it for the desired sweetness. Add maturity with a shot of Wight Vodka.

Serve it over ice.

We'd like to hear from you about YOUR favorite bar and a great cocktail recipe... Send to us at eurosailnews.com/sailors-bars

70-Boat Fleet Signs Up for Sunday's DBSC Turkey Shoot Series at Royal Irish Yacht Club
The normal four-start race sequence will be expanded to five for this Sunday's first race of the impressive 70-boat fleet in the AIB-sponsored DBSC Turkey Shoot Series on Dublin Bay.

The 2021 entry of several 40-foot and above entries (including the past double winner, Seamus Fitzpatrick's First 50 Mermaid V from the Royal Irish Yacht Club) has led Race Organiser Fintan Cairns to consider a fifth gun, for a combined fleet comprising an eclectic mix of sailing cruiser types.

While largely a Dun Laoghaire Habour based event, there are boats coming from as far as Sligo to compete.

While the growth of the big boats might make the Turkey Shoot headlines, equally impressive is the solid number of one design keelboats types joining the short sharp seven-race series.

As well as J109s there are six J80s, eight 1720s and six 31.7s one-design keelboats competing. The J80s include a keen turn out of RSTGYC boats including the all-girl 'Jeorgettes' crew.

John Maybury's National Championship winning J109 Joker II is one of five entered.

afloat.ie/sail/events/

IRCRecords goes from strength to strength
Following the launch in late April 2021, IRCRecords has grown - seeing teams attempting courses across Europe, from the round Linosa course in Malta, the Cherbourg-Needles course to Solent courses such as Nab Tower and Round Isle of Wight.

IRCRecords has 20 available courses across Europe and Australia with additional courses coming online in 2022 including each major IRC region. Whilst the European racing season may be coming to a close, the often stormy autumnal weather provides a prime opportunity for corrected time record breaking!!

EuroSail News #4958 - 10 November

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