In This Issue
• Charleston Race Week Delivered Once Again
• Swan Tuscany Challenge goes down to the wire
• Resurgent - L30 Class
• Bienvenido a Barcelona!
• Seahorse Sailor Of The Mont
• Infiniti 52 lost in the North Atlantic
• Leader's Drug Arrest Shines New Light on BVI Charter Industry Crackdown
• 50th Yachting Cup Kicks Off with Ton Cup
• INO XXX wins the Cervantes Trophy Race
• Kelvin James Mowtell
• Featured Charter: Curanta Cridhe - 50ft Catamaran
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Swan 42 - Loco
• • MC100 Multihull
• • Seaquest SQ46
• The Last Word: Jennifer Doudna

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

Charleston Race Week Delivered Once Again
Charleston, South Carolina, USA: Consistent breeze that ranged from light to medium to heavy? Check. Close competition and exciting racing across the broad spectrum of classes? Check. High-quality race committee work? Check.

Factor in three days of beautiful, warm, sunny weather and the 2022 Charleston Race Week demonstrated why sailors come back year after year.

J/70 Class - Texas skipper Bruno Pasquinelli repeated as champion of the J/70 Class despite racing with a completely different crew than last year. Morgan Reeser served as tactician aboard Stampede, which won two races and finished fifth or better in five others, totaling 42 points - 14 better than runner-up Yonder (Doug Newhouse). Matt Woodworth (trimmer) and Max Skelley (bow) also crewed for Pasquinelli, who won the J/70 Class a year ago with brothers Charlie and Jonathan McKee.

VX One Class - Chris Alexander finally got over the hump in the VX One Class, the second largest of the regatta with 37 entries. The eight-year class veteran held the lead entering the last day of Charleston Race Week in 2018, 2019 and 2021 and finished as the runner-up all three years.

Melges 24 Class - Skipper Travis Weisleder led from start to finish to earn a three-peat in the Melges 24 class. Mark Mendelblatt returned as tactician aboard Lucky Dog, which won 8 of 10 races, posting just 11 points - a whopping 23 less than runner-up SUNNYVALE (Fraser McMillan).

J/105 Class - Rob Marsh got the gang back together again and the results were simply spectacular. The Maryland resident, who had not participated in competitive sailboat racing in 13 years, bought a J/105 back in December and convinced five childhood friends to compete at Charleston Race Week.

J/88 Class - Dutch held the lead at the end of all three days of racing to win the J/88 Class, then dedicated the victory to boat owner John Leahey, who had to pull out of the regatta at the last minute.

J/24 Class - Skipper Marcus Rogers and his crew aboard Wind Monkey won six of the nine races they sailed on the way to an impressive victory in the J/24 Class, which attracted 10 boats.

RS21 Class - Ryan Walsh and his crew from New Bedford Yacht Club had a dominant showing in the RS 21 class, winning six races and placing second in the other four, totaling 13 points.

J/22 Class - Skipper Will Rucker and his crew from South Carolina Yacht Club got the gun in six races and finished second in two others to top the J/22 Class. Rucker's worst result was a third and he totaled 13 points.

ORC D Class - Skipper Kevin McNeil was in a good mood after capturing ORC D class in convincing fashion. The Annapolis resident steered his Farr 30 Seabiscuit to victory in nine straight races.

PHRF Inshore Class - Skipper Toby Hemmerling posted bullets in seven races and placed second in two others to lead Whiskey and Knives to victory on the PHRF Inshore course.

Offshore Courses - Mike Glover bought an XP 38 in December and debuted the racer-cruiser at the 2022 Charleston Race Week. He brought in a crew 'rsuit Class, which did one distance race per day out in the Atlantic Ocean.

charlestonraceweek.com

Swan Tuscany Challenge goes down to the wire
The ultimate destination of the winners' trophies at the Swan Tuscany Challenge went down to the wire , with the final results still in the balance on the last legs of the concluding races.

Going into the deciding ClubSwan 50 race Marcus Brennecke's Hatari led August Schram's Stella Maris by just three points. Schram's team went for broke and led the fleet on several occasions, but ultimately had to settle for second place - with the ever-consistent Hatari right on her transom to take third place and the overall win.

Meanwhile the winner of the 10th and final race, Alberto Franchi's Giuliana, leapfrogged both Balthasar - the winner of today's first race - and Cuordileone to secure 3rd place on the podium.

Hatari's victory was all the more remarkable as they were able to comeback from a poor start on the first day of the regatta when they were penalised for a racing infringement.

The story in the ClubSwan 36 class was also of an equally close fought contest, with Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio's G-Spot bringing their A-game to produce a 1-2 scoreline in the final two races to overhaul the overnight leader Mamao.

Haakon Lorentzen's Brazilian team finished the Swan Tuscany Challenge in style, with Mamao winning the last race, but a fourth place in the first race of the day left them two points adrift of G-Spot at the finish. Mehmet Taki's Turkish-flagged Facing Future took the third spot on the podium.

The Swan Tuscany Challenge has delivered five days of exhilarating racing and set the bar high for the whole of the 2022 ClubSwan Racing season. The fleet will gather again at the end of next month in Villasimius for the Swan Sardinia Challenge.

Full results on YachtScoring.com

Resurgent - L30 Class
There may not be an offshore medal on the menu at Paris 2024 but one of the favourites to be selected as the platform for the next Olympic Regatta has dusted itself down and is now steaming back into international prominence

How many yachts can you think of that combine 20-knot plus performance and one design racing in decent-sized fleets with Category A offshore certification and weekend accommodation for four people, but can also be trailed behind an average car? And how many of those can be rigged and launched by two people in a couple of hours, without needing a crane? When Rodion Luka went looking for a boat which could do all that, he couldn't find anything suitable in production. There was a gap in the market, which he decided to fill and thus the L30 was born.

You may have heard about the L30 in 2019, when it was selected by World Sailing for the double-handed mixed offshore world championships and widely assumed to be a shoe-in for the (subsequently abandoned) offshore event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. But there's a lot more to this nine-metre Swiss Army knife of a boat than that.

Full article in the May issue of Seahorse

Bienvenido a Barcelona!
Shirley Robertson talks to key stakeholders in the 37th America's Cup

With the much awaited announcement that the 37th America's Cup will be held in the Spanish city of Barcelona, Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast this month features interviews with several of the Cup's key stakeholders, as they discuss the excitement behind this landmark decision.

It's been just over a year since Emirates Team New Zealand successfully defended the Cup on home waters in Auckland, and following a rigorous and in depth selection process, Emirates Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton was excited to name the Spanish city as the winning venue in a tender process that included three other significantly attractive bids.

Dalton kicks off the podcast with a discussion about the process itself, highlighting what it was about Barcelona's bid that saw them come out on top, before inevitably discussing the complicated decision to hold the Cup away from Auckland. In the one hundred and seventy years of America's Cup history, a defence away from home waters is a significant rarity, in fact only once, in 2017 (Oracle Team USAdefending in Bermuda) has this decision been made without geography being a determining factor (2007 and 2010 saw Swiss team Alinghi defend in Valencia due to lack of open ocean at home in Switzerland). The decision has faced significant criticism at home in New Zealand but Dalton's chat with Robertson is very clear - without securing the financial security for the sailing team, a viable defence against such a strong group of Challengers is an impossibility.

Part 1

Part 2

www.shirleyrobertson.com

Seahorse Sailor Of The Month
This month's nominees:

Sam Goodchild (GBR)
Another one from over here doing bloody well over there. Goodchild has been quietly working his way up the oceanic racing ladder, mainly based in France since graduating from the now defunct Artemis Sailing Academy a little under 10 years ago. Following the time-honoured path of hard graft ashore, getting onto the crew for hospitality days, joining the race crew and finally skippering his own Ocean 50 tri. The recent 1000 Milles des Sables was his first major solo win

Ryan Finn (USA)
Great to be nominating a US sailor again for a major oceanic achievement… it's been too long. Finn recently completed what designer and racer Mervyn Owen described well as 'one of the greatest feats of seamanship ever completed by an American sailor'. That achievement… battling his way the wrong way round Cape Horn to sail solo from New York City to San Francisco onboard a far from confidence-inspiring 36ft proa. The non-stop voyage took him 93 (long) days

Last Month's winner:
Rodion Luka (UKR)
'When you find innovation and initiative, supported by tireless persistence, you'll often find Rodion' - Stan Honey; 'In this difficult time Rodion Luka is still pushing his L30 class as a Ukrainian achievement in sailing. We stand for Ukraine' - Vladimir Kulinichenko; 'Don't forget Rodion's beast crew' - George Leonchuk! Those boys represent the spirit of Ukraine' - Trevor Patekh; 'I prefer not to say' - Diana Amirhanyan!?!

View past winners of Sailor of the Month

Seahorse Sailor of the Month is sponsored by Harken Derm, Musto and Dubarry. Who needs silverware, our prizes are usable!

Cast your vote, submit comments, even suggest a candidate for next month at seahorsemagazine.com/sailor-of-the-month/vote-for-sailor-of-the-month

Infiniti 52 lost in the North Atlantic
Built in the USA, the first Infiniti 52 to be delivered has been lost in the North Atlantic after colliding with an unidentified floating object (UFO). Designed by Hugh Welbourn, the monoull is the first foil assisted high performance racing yacht developed for semi-custom production.

The Tulikettu Racing Team, which christened this first boat in October 2021, share what happened:

It is with great sadness, that we must report an incident that occurred in the North Atlantic while Tulikettu was sailing from Cascais, Portugal back to the Team Base in Gosport, United Kingdom. All four delivery crew members survived the situation unharmed, and have returned to the United Kingdom with their loved ones.

The yacht collided with an UFO on April 18. The EPIRB was launched on April 20 at 00:54 am UTC. Will Jackson, Tulikettu shore team manager, supported the Person-In-Charge via a continuous satellite connection. On April 20 at 10:45 am UTC, the entire crew was evacuated to an oil tanker that had been diverted to assist, and Tulikettu had to be abandoned at sea.

A salvage operation commenced on April 21 with a high-powered tug sent to search the area with direct assistance from a spotter plane. The search efforts continued 24/7 with support from MRCC Turku and MRCC Delgado. The multinational team worked together producing daily drift calculations to assist the sea and air recovery specialists. However, hope of recovery has faded after intensive searching, and the Tulikettu Team stopped the search late on April 29.

www.sailingscuttlebutt.com

Leader's Drug Arrest Shines New Light on BVI Charter Industry Crackdown
While the population reels from twin announcements that their elected leader is under arrest, and the British government is likely to take over running island affairs.

On Thursday, the country's premier and a top port official were arrested at a Miami airport on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.

The arrests came little more than a month after the BVI government's bizarre crackdown on the vessel charter industry - the territory's second most important economic engine after financial services. In March, island authorities seized 184 charter boats without warning, throwing the industry into chaos and disrupting the vacations of charter customers. The official pretext: Paperwork deficiencies and lack of safety equipment.

This happened came only months after the government rammed through new regulations and a new fee structure without bothering to consult the industry.

A DEA affidavit describes a government that was apparently aspiring to become the world's smallest narco-state.

The sting operation was initiated after representatives of the Middle East terrorist organization Hezbollah, meeting with a DEA informant in Tortola, claimed to "own" Oleanvine Maynard, port authority chief. The DEA informant, meanwhile, convinced everyone in this unfolding story that he represented Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel, and everyone was perfectly fine with that. And everyone was being secretly recorded.

BVI is not an independent country. It is an "overseas territory" of the United Kingdom. In January, the U.K. established a Commission of Inquiry to investigate allegations of widespread official corruption, including drug running.

In a public statement earlier today, it was announced that the commission had urged that local governance of BVI be suspended for two years. The House of Assembly would be dissolved and government ministers sent home. During that time, London's appointed governor would run the country and oversee any criminal investigations.

loosecannon.substack.com/p/leaders-drug-arrest-shines-new-light

50th Yachting Cup Kicks Off with Ton Cup
Photo of 'Adjudicator' by Simone Staff. Click on image to enlarge.

San Diego, CA, USA: The 50th Yachting Cup weekend kicked off with an honored tradition, the Ton Cup. The Ton Cup, always sailed the day before the official Yachting Cup races, has been a staple of the weekend for decades. After a short hiatus in the past two years, the event made its debut again on the San Diego Bay.

About 30 boats competed on a random leg course in an average of 10 knots. Positioned directly on the city front, the sun was shining and the Bay was busy…a beautiful sight for those coming from outside of San Diego, and even for the locals.

Class Winners:
Paul Dorsey's Fast 40 Adjudicator
Neil Fraser's ID35 Mexican Divorce
Mark Stratton's Beneteau 40.7 Lugano

This was Paul Dorsey's first Ton Cup.

View the full Ton Cup results here.

INO XXX wins the Cervantes Trophy Race
The first race of the domestic season for the RORC Season's Points Championship was a tricky light airs dash across the English Channel to Le Havre. RORC Commodore James Neville, racing HH42 INO XXX was the standout performer scoring a hat-trick of wins: The Cervantes Trophy for first overall after IRC time correction, race line honours, and IRC Zero.

Michael O'Donnell's J/121 Darkwood was second overall and the winner of IRC One. The Army Sailing Association's Sun Fast 3600 Fujitsu British Soldier, skippered by Henry Foster was the winner of IRC Two. Tim Goodhew & Kelvin Matthews racing Sun Fast 3200 Cora had a superb race, taking third overall, and winning IRC Three and IRC Two-Handed.

The Cervantes Trophy Race is part of the 2022 RORC Season's Points Championship, the world's largest offshore racing series comprising of 16 testing races. Every race has its own coveted prize for the overall winner and famous trophies for IRC class honours. The fifth race of the championship is the De Guingand Bowl Race, which is scheduled to start on Saturday 14th May from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line with an overnight race in the Solent and adjacent waters. -- Louay Habib

rorc.org

Vale Kelvin James Mowtell - Ace
It is with great sadness we announce the passing of marine personality and photographer Kelvin James Mowtell, known to all as 'Ace', who passed away in his beloved New Zealand on Wednesday evening; he was 86.

A true character in our sport, Ace had been a director of the Australian 18 Footers League in Double Bay since 1993 and a member of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia from 1979. Living across the road from the CYCA, he was perfectly placed to spend time at both clubs.

Ace was 'Ace Marine Photography'. From the seventies on he took thousands of photos of yachting and 18ft skiff events on Sydney Harbour, including momentous photos of Sydney Hobarts, documented in the many sailing magazines, particularly during the seventies and eighties.

Ace owned a distinctive bright yellow photo speedboat, with his trademark 'Ace Marine Photography' logo on the side. It was well known on the Harbour. There was also a vintage small fishing type boat, also emblazoned with his logo and used for photography. He continued to take sailing photos into 2020.

Ace had a passion for collecting interesting and vintage boats, small cars and motorcycles. In June 1986, he bought the working scale model of the cruise ship Oriana, which lived at the CYCA and was regularly seen on Sydney Harbour, used sometimes to take photos, but mostly to putter around on with friends.

But there was so much more to Ace than sailing. In the sixties he surfed the waves representing New Zealand in competition in Hawaii. He also played rugby, was a skiing enthusiast and took part in offshore power boat racing.

Ace's zest for life never waned and he took illness in his stride. He was a special - a one-off - and a respected mate to his vast array of friends. A glimmer of light has gone out of life with Ace's passing.

Our condolences to Ace's brother Jack and his family. -- Di Pearson

Featured Charter
Curanta Cridhe - 50ft Catamaran. From 17,000 per week EUR. Located in West Mediterranean

Curanta Cridhe (Gaelic for Braveheart) is a custom-built catamaran by Dixon Yacht Design. Fully air-conditioned, this 50-foot luxury yacht boasts three cabins, each equipped with an en-suite bathroom, a desk/vanity area and lots of storage.

See listing details in Seahorse Charters

Contact
Lisa Spiller
Charter Manager
Bernard-Gallay
Phone 1 : +33(0)6 33 42 45 09
Phone 2 : +33 (0)467 66 39 93
Mail :

See the the Seahorse charter collection

Featured Brokerage
2007 Swan 42 - Loco. 220000 USD. Located in Phuket, Thailand.

A great example of this timeless Club Swan 42 design. LOCO has been sailing in Asia since new and has more recently been IRC optimized, whilst retaining the boats inherent ORCi friendliness, One Design potential and cruising ability. A good honest boat and fantastically well priced.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Race Boats

+447759 424900
+442380 016582

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MC100 Multihull. POA USD.

From the designer, Jason Ker of KER Yacht Design ​

“I’m passionate about designing boats that give their owners a wonderful on water experience. “I’m a sailor and if I know in my heart that I would have a fantastic time on board with my friends and family… then I know I’ve got the design right. I also get really excited about the best use of space, especially when you engineer a boat to be lighter. On a multihull a small weight increase has a big impact… so we’ve worked really hard to save weight. For example we’ve used carbon where it makes a difference.” “It’s wonderful to work with the shipwrights at McConaghy." “This team are vastly experienced in building catamarans which are much lighter than the average cruising cat… yet safe, secure and stiff.”

The MC range has Bureau Veritas classification for blue water sailing – the highest global rating.

For full details please go to... mcconaghyboats.com/mc100cat

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Tel: +852 5501 6001

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Seaquest SQ46. POA USD.

Introducing the innovative SeaQuest 46 Catamaran. In a collaboration between Carkeek Design Partners and builder Eaton Marine, the SeaQuest Catamaran has arrived. Renowned racing yacht designer, Shaun Carkeek, delivers signature hull forms and sleek lines, currently proving themselves in races around the world including America‘s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race, and Grand Prix Yachting.

Eaton Marine has manufactured award-winning sailing vessels for nearly three decades. This new venture is based in Dubai, UAE, the construction and manufacturing epicenter of the world where cutting-edge technology is utilized in all aspects of building and design.

The synergy between elite design, build excellence, and progressive technology achieves a completely new level of combined performance, style, and capability. Advanced hull design, semi carbon-fibre construction, and acute attention to weight throughout, deliver performance without compromising an ounce of comfort.

This listing is for a brand new catamaran, currently under construction. Launching in 12/2021. Commission, Sea Trial, Delivery 1/2022.

Contact

UAE: +971 5 8511 3400
USA: +1 312 772 0948
seaquestcatamarans.com

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

The Last Word
A full 8 percent of the human genome - over 250 million letters of DNA - is a remnant of ancient retroviruses that infected ancestors of our species millennia ago. -- Jennifer Doudna

Editorial and letter submissions to

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