In This Issue
• America's Cup: Jimmy Spithill stays with Luna Rossa
• World Sailing statement concerning the situation in Ukraine
• What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
• Stuart Childerley will be new J Class Association Secretary
• AC40: a new scaled down 40-foot foiling monohull
• Spinlock and RORC support GBR IRC Championships
• Transpac 2023 - Save the dates
• Industry News
• Lou Varney
• Letters to the Editor
• Featured Charter: JPK1180 - Sunrise
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Jour De Fete
• • Swan 82-010 Grey Goose
• • GP42 - Jean Genie
• The Last Word: Thomas Merton

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

America's Cup: Jimmy Spithill stays with Luna Rossa
La Gazetta claimed that Spithill and Italian Francesco Bruni, who formed an effective dual helming combination in Auckland that reduced the need for crew movement on the fast foiling monohulls, had been "confirmed", along with non-sailing skipper Max Sirena.

They also claimed that if the next edition of the boats for the 2024 regatta are powered by cyclors, Luna Rossa could tap into legendary Italian cyclist Mario Cipollini.

Another Italian yachting site at Saily.it reported that Spithill and Bruni have already been having long sessions on the simulator at Luna Rossa's base in Cagliari.

They have reportedly been joined by Ruggero Tita, the golden boy of Italian yachting after winning gold in the foiling Nacra 17 catamaran at last year's Tokyo Olympics. He had already won the Nacra 17 world championships in 2018.

www.stuff.co.nz/sport/

World Sailing statement concerning the situation in Ukraine
Today World Sailing joined the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and global sports organisations in taking the decision to suspend participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in World Sailing owned and sanctioned competitions and events until further notice.

By implementing these measures, World Sailing is supporting a united and coordinated approach within the global sports movement.

This decision is in line with the IOC Executive Board's recommendation, aimed at preserving the integrity of competitions and ensuring the safety of all participants, and has been unanimously agreed by the World Sailing Executive Board.

We are now strongly urging our Member National Authorities, Class Associations, affiliated bodies, and all event organisers to implement the measure to suspend the participation of Russian or Belarusian athletes and officials in their respective events and competitions.

Where this is not possible, due to short time frames, for organisational, or legal reasons, World Sailing, in line with the IOC Executive Board recommendation, is advising event organisers do everything in their power to ensure that Russian or Belarusian athletes (be it as individuals or teams), and officials participate neutrally, without national symbols, colours, flags or anthems.

Both on and off the water, our sport is united by the values of equality, inclusion, respect and fairness.

We are now asking our sailing family to come together as a sporting force for good by working with us at this incredibly difficult time.

sailing.org

Seahorse March 2022
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

A formidable heritage
The Arcona 435 has been racking up silverware since its launch in 2018 but the recent addition of One Ton Cup-winning designer Niels Jeppesen has elevated a prestigious 40-year-old brand to another level entirely

Transquadra speziale
But Ben Rogerson's foxy new 41ft hybrid design offers high performance offshore racing in both fully-crewed and shorthanded formats...

Seahorse build table - No limits
This one will go the distance. Paolo Dinero

Superyachts - Beyond semi-custom
Southern Wind raise the bar while keeping costs sane - elegant solution and immaculate execution

Sailor of the Month
Two very different rivals on and across the oceans

Special rates for EuroSail News subscribers:
Seahorse Print or Digital Subscription Use Discount Promo Code ESN21

1yr Print Sub: €77 - £48 - $71 / Rest of the World: £65 www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs/

1yr Digital Sub for £37.50: www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs/

Discounts shown are valid on a one year subscription to Seahorse magazine.

Stuart Childerley will be new J Class Association Secretary
Highly regarded international sailor, race officer and administrator Stuart Childerley will be the new Secretary of the J Class Association and is set to play a key role in delivering a bright, stable long-term future for one of sailing's most prestigious and storied class of former America's Cup yachts.

Double Olympian turned offshore and one-design keelboat champion racer Childerley, 56, will officially take over the role in early April but has been working in recent months over a transition period to maintain the momentum built up by popular, long serving Louise Morton who herself temporarily returned in a 'caretaker' role during the last two years.

In the immediate future Louise will remain in the background to support Stuart who is making an excellent recovery from serious injuries sustained in a bicycle accident last Autumn. Childerley will take the lead at the upcoming Saint Barth's Bucket (17-20 March) where the J Class will race as a fleet for the first time since 2020 in Antigua.

Childerley represented Great Britain at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics in Seoul and Barcelona where he placed fourth both times. He is a double Etchells World Champion and competed on the Volvo Ocean Race and Admiral's Cup as well as building tens thousands of offshore and inshore miles on many different sizes and styles of race boat.

As an International Race Officer, Stuart was a World Sailing Course Representative at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and has served as Race Officer with the GC32 foiling catamaran circuit among the dozens of major international classes and championships he has worked with all around the world. He was PRO for the J Class in Antigua in 2019.

jclassyachts.com

AC40: a new scaled down 40-foot foiling monohull
Click on image to enlarge.

AC40s will be used for both the Women's and Youth America's Cup events as a key tool for creating the pathway into the AC for women and the next generation of foiling sailors.

One of the new aspects of the 37th America's Cup is the introduction of the multipurpose One Design AC40 class - a scaled down 40-foot foiling monohull version of the AC75 class, which teams will be able to convert and use for testing, component development and training. With self-tacking headsails and battery power replacing grinders, the yacht is sailed by a crew of four – two helmsmen and two trimmers. An autopilot control system maintains stable flight.

The teams can utilise the AC40 as a training boat for honing match racing skills, and/or a development mule for testing new rig or foil designs. In light winds the AC40 is expected to be able to sail at up to 26 knots at 46º upwind and 30 knots boat speed at 138º downwind. At the upper limits of 20 knots TWS, the boat speeds are expected to escalate to 39 knots upwind at 41º and 44 knots at an angle of 155º downwind.

After being returned to full one design configuration, the AC40 fleet will also be used for any preliminary regattas prior to the Challenger Selection Series and the 37thAmerica's Cup Match – such as America's Cup World Series events – as well as for the Youth America's Cup and Women's America's Cup.

The Protocol of the 37th America's Cup specifies there will be up to three Preliminary Regattas, the first two raced in AC40s, the last one at the Match venue in AC75s. The Challenger Selection Series and the America's Cup Match will be held in 2024, with the Match Venue and approximate event dates to be announced by March 31st 2022.

www.lunarossachallenge.com

www.americascup.com

Spinlock and RORC support GBR IRC Championships
The GBR IRC Championships are very important events in the annual IRC racing calendar and the RORC Rating Office has been active in seeking out rewards for the winners. We are delighted to announce that renowned hardware experts Spinlock have offered a fantastic selection of prizes to each of the 10 GBR IRC Championships in 2022, comprising a £250 Spinlock Voucher, Spinlock Sail-Sense Sensor, Spinlock Deckvest 6D Lifejacket and Spinlock Deckpack. For the chance to win one or more of these attractive prizes, and with a full regional calendar of IRC championship events around the country, this is a great opportunity to get involved in IRC racing in your area.

In addition, IRC Rating and RORC are proud to offer the GBR IRC Regional Champions the opportunity to race and berth for free at the following year's GBR IRC National Championship; to be held in Cowes in 2022. This offer is to bring the best performing regional winners into the limelight and competition of the national championship. The IRC Nationals traditionally see 50 of the best IRC yachts competing in intensive and challenging racing on the Solent across three days of racing. If you are a 2021 Regional IRC Champion and would like to take up this great offer for the 2022 IRC Nationals, please get in touch with RORC Race Team at . The 2022 National Championship runs from the Friday 10th June until Sunday 12th June 2022.

Get involved in the GBR IRC Championships with a full list of events here:

To apply for your 2022 IRC rating: UK owners apply online at myirc.rorcrating.com; for boats based outside the UK please contact your local IRC Rule Authority ircrating.org/irc-certificate/how-to-apply/

Transpac 2023 - Save the dates
The Board of Directors of the Transpacific Yacht Club are pleased to announce that start dates are now chosen for the 52nd biennial running of the Los Angeles to Honolulu Transpacific Yacht Race, better known as the Transpac. The first edition of this race was run in 1906 and it is one of the longest and oldest among the world's classic ocean races, with a start line at Point Fermin in San Pedro and the finish line lying 2220 miles away at Diamond Head in Honolulu.

For the 2023 edition three start dates have been chosen: the first is Tuesday, June 27th 2023, the second Thursday June 29th and the last will be on Saturday July 1st. Once divided into divisions, entries will start in a trend from slowest to fastest in order to have more boats together on the race course and come closer to finishing together at Diamond Head.

This race attracts a wide range of boat types - monohull and multihull, comfortable cruisers and flat-out racers, as well as a broad spectrum of sailors ranging from those who are interested in just the experience of being at sea to others who want to go all-out to win.

The Notice of Race for the 52nd Transpac is under development now and is expected to be published later this Spring.

transpacyc.com

Industry News
Gurit (SIX Swiss Exchange: GUR) today reported net sales of CHF 467.9 million for the full year 2021. Gurit achieved an operating profit of CHF 23.4 million (5.0% of net sales). Adjusted for one-off items, the operating profit was CHF 33.0 million (7.0% of net sales). Net profit amounted to CHF 9.2 million in 2021.

Gurit saw its net sales decline by -19.8% at constant exchange rates or -18.9% in reported CHF versus prior year. Net sales were impacted by a globally reduced demand for wind blades and by a decreasing demand and price of balsa, compared to a very strong previous year. The Marine and Industrial markets have picked up double digit growth rates in the second half-year, compared to prior year.

www.gurit.com

----------------------------------------------

Formerly dedicated to production of the Monte Carlo Yachts brand, the Monfalcone shipyard is now a multi-brand facility for French boatbuilder Groupe Beneteau

From today, Groupe Beneteau's boatbuilding activities at the Monfalcone shipyard located on the Gulf of Trieste in northern Italy, will take place under the company's new name, Groupe Beneteau Italia. The company said the name change reflects the evolution of the shipyard and its further integration into Beneteau's global industrial strategy.

After more than a decade of growth and know-how building large luxury yachts for the Monte Carlo Yachts brand, the production site has recently undergone a series of transformations. Now operating as a multi-brand site, the yard expanded its activities to include development and construction of both sailing and motor yachts, including several models for the Beneteau, Jeanneau and Prestige brands, as well as the Monte Carlo line.

Beneteau originally announced it would be dropping the Monte Carlo brand in July 2020, along with CNB and its American Glastron and Scarab boat lines, as part of the "Let's Go Beyond" five-year strategy to consolidate its 'House of Brands' and re-organise its industrial footprint – from a focus on brand-based production to one based on hull type and size of model.

At the end of 2020, the company was still looking for buyers for the Monte Carlo Yacht and CNB Yacht brands, but continued to produce boats to fulfil new orders for MCY and CNB at Monfalcone. Beneteau sold the CNB brand to Italy's Solaris Yachts in April 2021 but continues to own and operate Monte Carlo Yachts.

www.ibinews.com

----------------------------------------------

Musto has launched a new Flexlite Alumin dinghy sailing collection for spring summer 2022. Designed with key input from the British Sailing Team, the collection cements Musto's position as world leader across all competitive sailing disciplines. This announcement follows the renewal of Musto's four year contract with the British Sailing Team as Official Clothing Supplier.

The new Flexlite Alumin 3.0 Hikers have been three years in the making with continuous design, development and testing with the British Sailing Team. The neoprene thickness has been increased to 3mm to provide additional warmth and Musto's unique Alumin fabric provides the heat benefits of thicker and heavier neoprene in a lighter, more dynamic product.

Nick Houchin, Musto's Head of Marketing, commented: "The original Flexlite Alumin range set the standard for cold water wetsuits and have been used by our ambassadors competing at the highest echelon of the sport. We wanted to take this collection even further, with new innovations, to give dinghy sailors the edge over their competitors."

musto.com

----------------------------------------------

Selden and the Swedish Sailing Federation have signed an agreement for Selden to support SWE Sailing Team as a sponsor within the Olympic classes.

"Historically we have always supported Swedish sailors in the national team and some have even been on the payroll over the years. It's a natural step for us to officially support and contribute to their continued success on the international sailing scene", says Peter Ronnback, CEO of the Selden Group and continues: "We also appreciate the efforts of the Swedish Sailing Federation to promote the lifestyle of sailing in general."

Founded in Sweden, Selden has become the World's leading brand in masts and rigging hardware for dinghies, keelboats and yachts. The Selden Group has 6 production facilities in Europe and in the USA, a global dealer network and an extensive product range for racing and cruising sailors.

www.seldenmast.com

----------------------------------------------

Zhik to extend Official Supplier partnership with Danish Sailing Team for 2024

On the back of a successful four year partnership, Zhik are extending their contract as an Official Supplier to the Danish Sailing Team through to the Games in 2024.

With 31 medals to their name, the ever consistent Danish Sailing Team has a rich Olympic history spanning medals won by Paul Elvstrom through to Anne Marie Rindom, 2020 Laser Radial Gold medallist in Tokyo. The team are currently the 6th most successful Olympic sailing nation.

Zhik's partnership with the team focuses on raising brand awareness across Europe as well as product research and development. Their dedicated design team works closely with the squad of top level Danish sailors to test and refine high performance materials and designs, suitable for both the conditions at the Games venue and to endure the rigours of constant training and campaigning around the globe.

www.zhik.com

----------------------------------------------

B&G, the sailing navigation and instrument specialist, announced today a parntership with Vaan Yachts, to be the preffered supplier for both their R4 and R5 models as well as the future R6, offering both a standard and upgraded marine electronics package. Vaan catamarans says all of its cats are made of sustainable and circular materials such as recycled aluminium, FSC certified cork decking, leather-replacements from pineapple leaves and biological fabrics and is all-electric too.

All Vaan models are available to be fitted out with a complete electronics system from B&G including the Zeus 3S multifunction dispay, Nemesis mast display unit and sailing instruments. B&G says its portfolio of products are unique as they are designed especially for sailing boats – the new Zeus 3S chartplotters offer super-fast response times, it says, with B&G's sailing features built-in; making it simple to navigate, plot routes, add waypoints and view key sailing or racing data, all at the touch of a button or screen. The upgraded package will feature B&G's Nemesis mast display, a new generation of intelligent sailing display, with complete customisation or easy-to-use multi-function templates and automatic dashboards based on your angle of sail.

www.ibinews.com

Lou Varney
It is with great sadness that we share the news of Lou Varney's passing [February 16]. To all those that knew him he was truly a legend of our sport and will be greatly missed by his many friends with whom he sailed and worked with through the years.

A passionate and talented sailor, Lou's career transcended generations. On the water he was equally at home steering the IOR Maxi Matador 2, complete with his famous moustache, as he was (in more recent years) trimming the main on Mini Maxis and TP52's. Lou was competitive, fun and forever generous with both his time and energy. At his happiest helping people on and off the water. Fondly known by so many around the world as 'Uncle Lou' his long and successful sailing career showed many the way to be a professional sailor whilst making sure you had a good time doing it too!

In business Lou co-founded Diverse back in 1983 and stood at the helm for nearly 30 years. Over this time his creativity, enthusiasm and passion led to Diverse being truly that. His work spanned everything from building rigs, to developing marine load cells, to continually pushing forward the development of race boat hardware. Where something didn't exist to do the job onboard he was more than happy to invent it! He is probably deserving of much more credit than his modesty would have ever allowed having helped to develop many of the things that we now take for granted on the race boats we sail today.

Over the years many, many people passed through the doors of Diverse. Lou was always happy to give young people a go. For more than a few of us working with Lou at Diverse was a vital stepping stone towards a career as a professional sailor. To those he worked with he was both a friend and a mentor. Hard work was always followed by lots of laughter. His feedback could sometimes be blunt but it was never without humour. His humility and work ethic served as an example for us all.

So many of the Diverse family, both past and present, have enjoyed success as part of the team he spent so much of his time helping to create. The fact that many of us now swell the ranks of Americas Cup, Ocean Race and Grand Prix race teams all over the world is a fitting legacy to great man. He will be sadly missed by all that knew him, however we are lucky he leaves us with so many great memories and more than a good story, or two!

diverseps.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 Andy Ash-Vie:

What a mealy mouthed, limp wristed, pathetic response from World Sailing to the Ukraine crisis. Let me paraphrase, “Nothing meaningful was planned in Russia this year so we will do nothing meaningful.”

We need to be realistic and recognise that as far as the Russian sailors go, they are either the elite of Russian society, or at least well connected to them. And we all know what that means.

As such they need to be banned from all International sporting events. We need to give every Russian a very clear message about how the world feels about their country’s behaviour. After all, missing a few regattas isn’t exactly on par with shelling civilians.

Featured Charter
JPK1180 - Sunrise

Sunrise was launched in Spring 2018 and is hull number 2 JPK1180.

JPK have become known for building fast and very competitive race winning yachts. The 1010 and the 1080 have both been incredibly successful inshore and offshore. The 1010 won the its class in the 2013 Fastnet and the 1080 won the Fastnet overall in 2015.

Sunrise has an asymmetric setup with a 1.7m bow sprit and an IRC handicap of 1.099. This is an exciting 40’ race charter option for any enthusiastic team wanting to win.

See listing details in Seahorse Charters

Contact
Lucy Jackson - LV Yachting
Call: +44 2392 161272
Email:

See the the Seahorse charter collection

Featured Brokerage
1930 Franck Paine 'JOUR DE FETE'. 390000 EUR.

JOUR DE FETE was built as FALCON in 1930 at the renowned yard of George Lawley and Sons, South Boston, to designs by the great Frank Paine, long -time associate of Starling Burgess, and one of the main stays of E. Coast yacht designing. Her name waschanged to HAYDAY, and then later back to FALCON.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact

+33 (0) 467 66 39 93
www.bernard-gallay.com

-----------------------------------------

2006 Swan 82 'Grey Goose'. 2,950,000 EUR VAT Paid. Located in Valencia, Spain

This Nautor's Swan 82 FD "Grey Goose" has been built for two defined missions. One is luxurious and short handed family cruising with performance but without any stress on deck. The second mission is competitive racing in all conditions inshore as well as offshore and even transatlantic racing. She is not a pure race boat even more she demonstrates the real Swan DNA by accomplishing both missions in a perfect manner beeing comfortable, sea worthy and very fast. She has proven her outstanding performance in several racing events and in numerous family holidays cruises.

See listing details in Nautors Swan brokerage

Contact
Lorenzo Bortolotti
Nautor's Swan Brokerage
T. +377 97 97 95 07

-----------------------------------------

2007 & 2009; refit 2020 GP42 - Jean Genie. 350000 GBP. Located in Cowes, UK.

Well optimised GP42, with excellent deck layout for inshore racing. Full inventory with almost unused full set of 3Di sails and ready to ship anywhere in the world.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Ben Cooper
Berthon Yacht Sales
Tel: 0044 (0)1590 679 222
E-Mail:

See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/

The Last Word
Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience. -- Thomas Merton

Editorial and letter submissions to

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: or see www.eurosailnews.com/advertise.html