In This Issue
• SOLAS Big Boat Challenge
• World Sailing extends relationship with Olympic class regattas
• Slam Presented Its AW2023/24 Collection In Milan
• Flower Blooms At The Flyer
• Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
• Welcome to Saint Lucia ARC 2022
• Eileen Ramsay - the Queen of Yachting Photography
• Seasonal Solent Salutations
• Anonymous GSC entry revealed
• Robert Keefe
• Featured Charter: SW 78 Elise Whisper
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Italia Yachts 9.98 Fuoriserie
• • Open 42 one-off
• • Premier JV74 Nyumba
• The Last Word: Steve Prefontaine

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

Andoo Comanche and Willow win 2022 SOLAS Big Boat Challenge
The John Winning Jr-skippered maxi yacht, Andoo Comanche, produced a masterclass of high-speed sailing to win Line Honours in the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour today.

Meanwhile, the Jim Cooney-skippered and owned Volvo 70 Willow was declared the overall winner.

Under glorious sun and in southerly 15 knot winds that suited perfectly, Andoo Comanche was first to finish the two-lap harbour course.

After reaching a maximum speed of 27 knots, she crossed the finish line off Rushcutters Bay in 53 minutes 58 seconds. In Andoo Comanche's wake and in order were the three other maxis – Christian Beck's LawConnect in 55 minutes 18 seconds, Peter Harburg's Black Jack (skippered by Mark Bradford) in 56 minutes 35 seconds and the Oatley family-owned Hamilton Island Wild Oats, skippered by Mark Richards, in 59 minutes 27 seconds.

The SOLAS Big Boat Challenge is one of the final lead-up events to the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. While the Rolex Sydney Hobart is a vastly different race, the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge was still witnessed by a strong spectator fleet that provided a superb taste of what to expect for the Boxing Day start.

LawConnect was the Maxi Division's overall winner on 8 points, followed by Hamilton Island Wild Oats on 10 points, Black Jack on 10.5 points and Andoo Comanche on 12.5 points.

In the Mini Maxi Division, URM Group was crowned champion on 6 points, ahead of Willow, Alive, Whisper, Moneypenny and No Limit. -- Rupert Guinness

Australian Maxi Championship Results

Maxi Division - Line Honours
1. Andoo Comanche (John Winning Jr) - 8 points
2. LawConnect (Christian Beck) - 9 points
3. Hamilton Island Wild Oats (Mark Richards) - 11 points
4. Black Jack (Mark Bradford) - 13 points

Maxi Division - Overall (IRC)
1. LawConnect (Christian Beck) - 8 points
2. Hamilton Island Wild Oats (Mark Richards) - 10 points
3. Black Jack (Mark Bradford) - 10.5 points
4. Andoo Comanche (John Winning Jr) - 12.5 points

Mini Maxi Division - Overall (IRC)
1. URM Group (Marcus Ashley-Jones) - 6 points
2. Willow (Jim Cooney) - 10 points
3. Alive (Duncan Hine) - 10 points
4. Whisper (David Griffith) - 16 points
5. Moneypenny (Sean Langman) - 19 points
6. No Limit (David Gotze) - 22 points

cyca.com.au

World Sailing extends relationship with Olympic class regattas
World Sailing and four of the leading Olympic class regattas have confirmed competition dates for 2023 and 2024 and announced a commitment for greater collaboration across the sport with the ambition of delivering benefits for event organisers on all continents, for national federations and for individual sailors.

The Trofeo Princesa Sofia, Allianz Regatta, Semaine Olympique Française and Kieler Woche will work with World Sailing on three key areas:

Making it easier for sailors to compete across multiple events in the series Improved calendar coordination The promotion of Olympic class sailing

The shared ambition is for all four events to be brought together under the World Cup banner, enabling a more consistent and collaborative approach which will make planning in future Olympic cycles easier for Member National Authority (MNA) teams and athletes.

Coordination efforts will consider the opportunities for training between events, as well as minimising travelling and enabling sailors to enter multiple events via a single platform.

The four regattas and World Sailing will also work together on the co-promotion of the sport with the aim of improving reach and engagement with existing and new fans.

2023 Regatta calendar:
Trofeo Princesa Sofia: 1-8 April 2023
Semaine Olympique Française: 22-29 April 2023
Allianz Regatta: 31 May-4 June 2023
Kieler Woche: 17-25 June 2023

2024 Regatta calendar:
Trofeo Princesa Sofia: 30 March-5 April 2024
Semaine Olympique Française: 20-27 April 2024
Allianz Regatta: 29 May-2 June 2024
Kieler Woche: 22-30 June 2024

sailling.org

SLAM Presented Its AW2023/24 Collection In Milan
Click on image for photo gallery.

Milan, 2st December: over 100 guests crowded yesterday the Galleria Vik Milano Hotel, the venue chosen to present the SLAM AW2023/24 collection, introduced by Enrico Chieffi, CEO of SLAM.com, alongside many of the athletes who make up the company's Dream Team.

SLAM.com was back on stage today, six months after its SLAM IS BACK event, which took place on 31st May at Milan's Museum of Science and Technology, where audiences were introduced to the new company structure, its brand new strategy and the SLAM.com Core collection, a line designed to be exquisitely technical and aimed in particular at Crew clients.

"Starting today," explained Enrico Chieffi alongside stylist Gianfranco Azzini and Maria Luisa Wiegand, head of the SLAM.com style department, "our range will be even broader, including sportswear and outdoor products for urban settings. The Core concept and guiding principle of this collection is the fact that each and every product's fabrics, layers and finishes are designed for active use at sea, the most unforgiving environment for testing materials. The experience and expertise gained from this allow us to offer sportswear and urban outdoor lines at the forefront of quality, technology, innovation and sustainability, combined with a style and elegance that remain faithful to the Made in Italy label. The AW2023/24 'capsule' presents new colours for a number of garments belonging to the Core collection and a series of tricot proposals that complete our winter range."

SLAM.com's 2023 will kick off with a new addition to the team: the new Worldwide B2B & Trade Director, Marco Perazzo, who will bring over 30 years of experience in the world of sailing and boating industry to the company, 20 of which entirely dedicated to the technical sportswear sector.

www.slam.com

Flower Blooms At The Flyer
Ben Flower hiked his ILCA 7 singlehander to victory at the Datchet Flyer, the the second event in this season's Seldén SailJuice Winter Series. Taking place over the first weekend of December near London's Heathrow Airport, a mixed handicap fleet of 52 entries ranging from a foiling Waszp to a three-man Thames A-Rater came to compete at Queen Mother Reservoir. Ages of competitors ranged from 13 to 80-plus.

Some fleets use the events in the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series as a rallying point for their class during the colder months. The K1 keelboats were out in force, with national champion Simon Hawkes holding a class training session on the Friday before competition. The Series also likes to promote family sailing and there were three wise Kings who came to race in their K1s against each other - Hilly, Geoff and Jason.

There was also a good youth turnout in the 420 fleet which has done well at past editions of the Datchet Flyer. However it was Ben Flower from Paington in the west country who burst into the lead by winning the first two races of Saturday's back-to-back competition.

For Sunday's pursuit race the fleet was split into two, to allow a longer race for the faster boats. In Slow Handicap, it was Flower again who managed to break into the lead after 70 minutes and maintain the advantage all the way to the finish.

Top speeds as measured by the SailRacer trackers were the RS800 of Hampshire & Shone, and the Musto Skiff of Richard Smith from Medway Yacht Club. On corrected time, Jonathan Carter's Vortex from Rickmansworth achieved peak speed along with the D-One of Mark Addison from Upper Thames.

After the first two events, Staunton Harold sailors hold the top two spots. In fact it's Mr and Mrs Gray whose Osprey and Scorpion entries hold the top two places, ahead of Richard Smith's Musto Skiff.

Results

A flurry of events in late December

Two events are taking place on the same day, 27 December, at opposite ends of the country. In the south, it's the Burghfield Breezer near Reading. In the north, it's the Brass Monkey hosted by Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club. Then on 2 January the Grafham Grand Prix takes place not far from Huntingdon.

Online entry for all the events in the series is available at www.sailjuiceseries.com

Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
Today we celebrate One Bar Playa Blanca, Voted Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar in 2013

2013's contest was extremely tight between the winning bar and the runners up, including the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, the Boatyard Bar & Grill in Annapolis, the Bitter End Yacht Club in the BVI, the Oar on Block Island, The King & Queen in Hamble, GB, the Yacht Club Micalvi in Chili, Maddie’s Sail Loft in Marblehead, Mass, Schooner Wharf in Key West, and Pier 23 in San Francisco.

Located out on its own arm of the Marina Rubicon in Playa Blanca, Spain, One Bar’s presence is marked by the red and white lighthouse around the right hand side. The One Bar is the number one choice from local and worldwide sailors alike, boasting more than 300 types of Gin, Rum & Whiskey. No other bar has this quantity and quality in Playa Blanca. For more information on the One Bar please visit them on Facebook!

About 50° North
50° North are the creators of Wight Vodka. The company’s spirit and enthusiasm for the ocean, coupled with the centuries-old regatta traditions of the Isle of Wight (and of course a full appreciation of superior vodka!) culminated in the creation of the world’s smoothest, 42% ABV potato-based vodka. One sip of Wight Vodka will make a believer out of the most discerning connoisseur, and the company welcomes your joining a unique and elite class.

www.wightvodka.com

Do you know of a pub that deserves a nomination for our annual award? A special drink recipe that makes it stand out?

Tell us about it... eurosailnews.com/sailors-bars

Welcome to Saint Lucia ARC 2022
November has seen some near-perfect trade wind conditions across the mid-Atlantic for the 37th edition of the ARC which has meant a fast crossing for the fleet of 2022. So far, it has been a true ocean sleigh ride, a little rocking and rolling at times, but the boats have fared well, and crews have shown great spirit as the miles fall away to approach the shores of Saint Lucia.

Regularly covering over 220NM per day it has been hugely exciting to watch the progress of Marsaudon ORC 50 Malolo speeding toward the finish line. Since leaving the shores of Gran Canaria on Sunday 20 November, Malolo headed well south of the rhumb line to pick up the trades. After a superb effort from the entire crew, the sleek carbon-composite catamaran crossed the finish line in Rodney Bay at 20:42:26 local time on Thursday 1 December 2022.

Canadian skipper Duncan Gladman and American owner Tom Kassberg along with 4 further crew sailed the Marsaudon Composites designed performance catamaran 3,108NM across the Atlantic on what proved to be an adrenaline-filled ride. They were thrilled to lead the ARC fleet into Rodney Bay, realising a long-held dream of Tom's to complete an Atlantic crossing. Before leaving Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Malolo's crew had certainly been picked as the ones to watch, bringing racing experience from several regattas on the west coast of the United States and having taken part in a number of ocean races in the Pacific. The ORC 50 was launched from the factory earlier this year and after Tom and his family had finished cruising in the Mediterranean, the ARC beckoned to really stretch the boat's performance capabilities.

Fleet Viewer

Rally website

Eileen Ramsay - the Queen of Yachting Photography
Eileen Ramsay was at the centre of a unique period in yachting history, and this wonderful book, featuring her classic photography, celebrates an extraordinary woman and her extraordinary subjects. Eileen's heyday was between 1950 and 1970 - a time when eccentrics ruled, records were there for the setting, and women weren't often to be found behind the lens. But Eileen established herself as one of the greatest yachting photographers of her time, taking famous portraits of sailing icons like Francis Chichester and Eric Tabarly, Olympians, including Rodney Pattisson and Keith Musto, and historic pictures from the first Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic (OSTAR) Races. She was the only photographer Chichester allowed on his Gipsy Moth yachts, and commissioned to photograph notorious charmers like Uffa Fox and Max Aitken, learned to stave off their amorous advances.

Eileen Ramsay - the Queen of Yachting Photography, is a spectacular celebration of a pioneering photographer and a fascinating time in yachting history.

Order from South Atlantic Publishing

Seasonal Solent Salutations
Still smiling from a packed and successful 2022 season on our beautiful Solent, we have gone straight into planning and prepping the next one!

2023 promises to be an equally exciting year on the water, with most of the big events on the Solent sailing calendar already confirmed.

Whether you would like to participate or spectate, or organise an event specifically avoiding these "big dates"; please get in touch with your requirements to secure your booking.

Round the Island Race: 1 July 2023
Taittinger RSYC Regatta: 14-16 July 2023
Cowes Week: 29 July - 4 August 2023
Little Britain Challenge Cup: 8 - 9 September 2023

solent-events.co.uk

Anonymous GSC entry revealed as Australian Henry Rourke on Custom 53ft Racer
Original, near-sistership, of Henry Rourke's Custom 53. Click on image to enlarge.

Swiss-based, Australian, Henry Rourke had been tempted by an 'adventurer' entry in the Vendee Globe but never saw a realistic path to making that dream come true. A couple of years back he acquired an unfinished hull and deck designed by a famous IMOCA design team, and built by JMV. The boat is due to launch in early 2023. The result is a stunning custom 53 footer with a canting keel and dagger boards. They say a project is just a dream with a set start date. With this boat and his entry in the Global Solo Challenge Henry finally had a very definite plan to finally make his dream come true: complete and launch the boat, prepare and train, and be on the start line of the GSC in A Coruña in November 2023 together with the faster boats in the fleet.

Boat name: TBA
Project: Custom 53
Sail number: TBA
Year: 2021
LOA: 53ft
Displacement: 7,000 kgs
Upwind sail area: 195m2
Downwind sail area: 330m2

globalsolochallenge.com/henry-rourke-news/

Robert Keefe
Robert Cotter "RC" Keefe passed through the Golden Gate for the last time on December 4th, 2022. Bob was 90 years old and the Senior Staff Commodore of the St Francis Yacht Club where he was a member since 1950.

His life was dedicated to the St. Francis and sailing, he lived and breathed everything that ever floated. He was the Club Historian for over 30 years, writing monthly articles in the Club's Mainsheet magazine.

Bob joined the Barient Winch Company in the 1960s where he grew the company to the most prominent winch company in the world. While at Barient, he oversaw the development of the "self-tailing winch" which is the same basic design we used today.

After Barient, he founded the Keefe Pacific Company where he developed and built anchor windlasses. Not surprisingly, the license plate on his car was "Winch".

Bob was part of the golden years of sailboat racing on San Francisco Bay. He raced aboard Bolero with Denny Jordan and then on Baruna with Jim Michael. It was during this time that he had the idea to have a large sailboat racing event on the Bay. The idea of the "Big Boat Series" was started with the first event in 1964.

He is credited as the father of Big Boat Series.

www.sailingscuttlebutt.com

Featured Charter
ELISE WHISPER - 78ft Sailing Yacht From 28,000 per week EUR. Located in West Mediterranean.

Designed as a cruiser-racer, ELISE WHISPER is ideal for both bluewater navigation and competitive races.

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
2017 Italia Yachts 9.98 Fuoriserie. 135000 EUR. Located in Varnu, Bulgaria.

Highly competitive example of the all-conquering and multi ORCi World Champion Italia 9.98 Fuoriserie. Offering rocketship performance with unparalleled ORC and IRC potential. Nominated for European Yacht of the Year and now available immediately.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Michele Antonini
Tel: +39 333 74 89 281
Email:

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2012 Open 42 one-off. 250,000 VAT excluded EUR.

Canting Keel Kuka-Light has been constantly upgraded and shown to be as fast as the best 50 and 60 footer in races like Giraglia and Middle Sea Race.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
www.racing-yachts.com
Zuidersluisweg 41, Lelystad, The Netherlands
Tel +31 (0)6 42444433
Email:

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Premier JV74 Nyumba. 4,450,000 Vat Paid EUR.

A unqiue judel/vrolijk 74 Cruiser/Racer in Full Carbon, launched 2018

The jv74 NYUMBA is a modern Full-Carbon high-tech Cruiser/Racer built by Premier Composite Technologies in Dubai. The yacht is designed for two purposes, Fast Cruising with small crew in comfort, as well as for Racing with Squaretop-Mainsail and extended bowsprit.

With her Lifting-Keel she allows high-performance sailing with 5,00 m draft and the possibility to reach shallow waters with only 3,30 m draft. The ergonomic cockpit is designed for crewed racing or extended cruising.

Below deck NYUMBA offers 3 spacious cabins with ensuite heads. The large Dinghy Garage fits a 4,20 m Tender. Remarkable is the outstanding Light Weight of only 26,5 t.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
judel/vrolijk & co design + engineering GmbH
Phone: +49 152 34500 585
Email:

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

The Last Word
To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift. -- Steve Prefontaine

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