In This Issue
• Record Breaking forecast for RORC Transatlantic Race
• Six Cruising Club of America Awards
• Spot on! - McConaghy boats
• Cape2Rio Race
• Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
• Challenges for Team Malizia
• 50th Rolex Fastnet Race Notice of Race Published
• How The Tour Voile Moved To Figaro Beneteau 3
• Obituary: Multihull design pioneer Derek Kelsall
• Featured Charter: VOR65 Ambersail 2
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Volvo 70 - Telefonica Black
• • Open 42 one-off
• • Ichi Ban TP52 from Botin 2017
• The Last Word: Omar Khayyam

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

Record Breaking forecast for RORC Transatlantic Race
Racing in IRC Super Zero - Johannes Schwarz's Volvo 70 Green Dragon. Photo by Tim Wright/ photoaction.com. Click on image to enlarge.

Near perfect, record conditions are forecast for the start of the RORC Transatlantic Race, supported by Calero Marinas, the International Maxi Association and the Yacht Club de France. The international fleet is set to depart Marina Lanzarote on Sunday 8th January. Weather forecasts are predicting five days or more of 20 knot plus north-easterlies; a perfect angle for a high-speed 3,000-mile race across the Atlantic Ocean.

The overall winner of the RORC Transatlantic Race is decided by IRC time correction. The multihull fleet will race under the MOCRA Rule and for Multihull Line Honours. The monohull fleet are divided into three IRC Classes with prize winners for each class, including a special prize for the best Two-Handed team.

Three of this year's multihull alumni are turbo-charged MOD70s that are capable of eclipsing the Multihull Race Record (2015, Lloyd Thornburg's MOD70 Phaedo3, 5 days 22 hrs 46 mins 03 secs).

Giovanni Soldini's Multi70 Maserati (ITA) is competing for the fourth time and is the reigning multihull race champion, having taken line honours in a photo-finish last year. MOD70 Zoulou (FRA), formerly Powerplay, is sailed by Erik Maris and has a stellar crew, including highly experienced MOD70 driver Ned Collier Wakefield and the enigmatic Loick Peyron. Frank Slootman's American MOD70 Snowflake is skippered by US-based Kiwi Gavin Brady. Snowflake was formerly race-record holder Phaedo3 and record-holding skipper Brian Thompson is back on board for this year's race.

Vincent Willemart's TS42 Banzai is the fourth multihull in the division and while the Belgium team will not be as quick as the 70-foot trimarans, the class winner is decided by MOCRA time correction. Banzai's crew includes one of Belgium's most decorated sailors, Michel Kleinjans; winner of the Global Ocean Race and class winner for the Route du Rhum.

Four Maxis racing in IRC Super Zero are favourites to take Monohull Line Honours and lift the IMA Transatlantic Race Trophy. The largest boat competing in this year's race is the Supermaxi Swan 115 Jasi, skippered by Toby Clarke. The 21-strong crew includes top professionals; Ken Read, Paul Wilcox, Mark Sadler, Andy Meiklejohn and Mike Pammenter. -- Louay Habib

rorctransatlantic.rorc.org

Six Cruising Club of America Awards
The announcement of the 2022 Cruising Club of America awards for adventurous use of the seas puts the spotlight on achievements ranging from ocean crossings by young and old, a rescue at sea, and a new award recognizing sailing innovation, to service to the Club itself.

Blue Water Medal: Kenichi Hori - For a lifetime of ocean-crossing achievement, Japan's best known ocean sailor has been named winner of the prestigious Blue Water Medal,

Young Voyager Award: Cal Currier - This high-school student from Palo Alto, California, had a big year in 2022 - first learning to sail, then buying and preparing a modest, 30-foot sloop. Last summer, he set sail alone from Marion, Massachusetts, and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to Lagos, Portugal, via the Azores.

Rod Stephens Seamanship Trophy: Kirsten Neuschäfer - The South African sailor is this year's recipient of the CCA's seamanship award for playing a pivotal role in the successful rescue of a fellow 2022 Golden Globe Race competitor, Tapio Lehtinen.

Diana Russell Award: Mary Crowley - The winner of the inaugural CCA award, which recognizes a club member for innovation in sailing design, methodology, education, training, safety, and the adventurous use and enjoyment of the sea, is a lifelong sailor.

Richard S. Nye Award: Barbara Watson - The 2022 winner has served, and continues to serve, the Cruising Club of America (CCA) at the highest levels.

Far Horizons Award: David Tunick - Recognizing CCA members for a particularly meritorious cruiser or series of cruises, the 2022 award, recognizes the winner's pair of transatlantic passages solo aboard his 55-foot Sparkman & Stephens yawl, Night Watch, more than two decades apart.

The awards will be presented at the CCA's Spring Meeting in New York, March 4, 2023. The club's awards and medals are described on the Awards page of the club website. -- John Burnham

cruisingclub.org/awards

Spot on! - McConaghy boats
As amazing as the debut of the AC40 was - even more impressive is that it was delivered straight out of the box

A long-distance collaboration between Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) and McConaghy boatbuilders in China to produce the new AC40 class of foiling monohulls resulted in both parties lifting their game to achieve an exceptional result.

ETNZ undertook the design of the new machine, which packs a host of complex hydraulic, mechatronic and electronic systems within its 11.8m length, but had to find a build partner with the highest possible composite credentials and the capacity to do a production run within a very tight timeframe.

Founded in Sydney in 1967, McConaghy has produced some of the world's most successful maxi yachts, including Alfa Romeo and seven-time Sydney-Hobart winner Wild Oats XI, along with high-tech defence and aerospace commissions and a deep-sea submarine for movie-maker James Cameron. In 2006, the company expanded into China where it operates from a high-tech 20,000m2 facility.

Full article in the January issue of Seahorse

Cape2Rio Race
A sunny Cape Town provided the perfect backdrop for the Cape2Rio start on Monday 2 January. 16 teams left Royal Cape Yacht Club in a light westerly wind of 10 knots for a 14h00 start just off Granger Bay. Alan Winde, Premier of the Western Cape, signalled the start of the race by firing a historic race cannon.

The 2023 running of the iconic Cape2Rio yacht race marks the 50th anniversary of the race first won by Ocean Spirit. The yacht was co-skippered by world-renowned sailor, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to sail single-handedly non-stop around the world.

Entries this year are varied and include two multihulls and 14 monohulls. Adrian Kuttel on Atalanta is the only single-handed sailor in the race this year. Kuttel competed in four Cape2Rio races to date (2003, 2006, 2009 and 2014). Nyamezela is the only double-handed entry with Vaaldam sailors Hubert Saayman and Wynand Grove on board.

Popular entries include JustJinjer's lead singer Ard Matthews on The Impossible Machine (TIM), and the young crew from RCYC Sailing Academy, sailing on Alexforbes ArchAngel. Skipper Sibusiso Sizatu (30), first mate Daniel Agulhas (29), Renaldo Tshepo Mohale (29), Azile Arosi (22) and Justin Peters (21) hail from Masiphumelele, Khayelitsha, Grassy Park and Athlone in Cape Town and are an inspiration to South African youth, especially from disadvantaged communities.

Several of the competitors are sailing for a cause - the Felix crew is sailing for Autism, and the tag line for Translated9, an Italian crew is: "We believe in humans". Their purpose is to connect people globally through translation services. The Indian Navy's entry, INSV Tarini, was built in Goa and named after the Tara Tarini temple.

Supporters can follow the race on the live tracker on cape2riorace.com, cape2rio.live or download the Yellow Brick App (YB) from Google.

Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
A bit about the sponsor of this competition... Wight Vodka and its parent company 50 Degrees North:

For over 40 years, the team of 50 Degrees North have enjoyed the ocean and island life with extraordinary visits to the world's greatest coastlines and harbours. From Salcombe, Hong Kong, Bali and Sydney, to Jost Van Dyke, Yarmouth, Monaco and Block Island.

Inspired by the spirit and enthusiasm for sailing and yachting, as well as the centuries-old regatta traditions of the Isle of Wight, (and of course a healthy appreciation of vodka martinis), the vision was created for Wight Vodka in 2006.

Wight Vodka prides itself in being family run, whilst supporting our yachting fraternity both near and far.

Wight Vodka is created, blended and bottled in Clapham, at one of the smallest distilleries in London. The distillery is run by the seventh generation in a family lineage of distillers dating back to the 1700s.

Wight Vodka has been developed with the understanding and appreciation of the centuries of seamanship born from the United Kingdom and reaching out into the world.

Nominations for the top ten closes at midnight GMT Friday/Saturday. Send us YOUR nomination at eurosailnews.com/sailors-bars

Challenges for Team Malizia before the start of The Ocean Race
As we come into the new year, in only two weeks time we'll be crossing the start line of leg one of The Ocean Race. Over the next six months we will be racing over 30,000 miles and will complete a lap of the planet, something that's quite hard to comprehend when we haven't even started yet. For now, we're doing our final preparations getting the food, equipment and boat ready as well as preparing ourselves mentally for the challenges ahead.

The biggest bit of training we've managed to do before the start is to sail the boat back from Guadeloupe to Alicante after the finish of the Route du Rhum. It was the first long distance test for the boat while sailing with a crew of five on board, the same as the configuration for the Ocean Race.

It's amazing how much we learned about the boat, we've been able to apply this the last few weeks while the technical team has been working through the jobs list. But also, on a performance side we could see how we were able to push the boat with a crew on board. It's going to be an interesting race and it feels like the teams will learn more about how to sail the boat and how the crew can work together as the race goes on. Leg 1 results could look very different to Leg 7... -- Will Harris

Read more in Sail-World.com

team-malizia.com

theoceanrace.com

50th Rolex Fastnet Race Notice of Race Published
With one week to go until the all-important registration date for the 50th Rolex Fastnet Race, its organiser, the Royal Ocean Racing Club, has published the event Notice of Race.

In addition to the broad details of the event, the NoR includes its full schedule from registration opening at 1200 UTC (1300 French time) on Wednesday, 11 January, to the start date of Saturday 22 July when the first warning signal will be at 1200 BST.

The start will be preceded by a skippers briefing and press conference on Friday 21 July, with a crew presentation and show taking place for French competitors in the Cherbourg race village on Thursday 20 July at the same time as a crew party will be taking place in Cowes.

At the finish in Cherbourg there will be a presentation for the faster 'pro' classes, followed by a crew party and 'Happy Hour' on Tuesday 25 July, while the main prizegiving will take place on Friday 28 July.

Read the NOR

rolexfastnetrace.com

How The Tour Voile Moved To Figaro Beneteau 3
A little less than a year after the withdrawal of Normandie Evenements, which organized only one edition, in 2021, the Tour Voile will be back next July on a new class, the Figaro Beneteau 3. The announcement was made official during the prize giving ceremony of the France Elite offshore racing championship by the president of the Figaro Beneteau class, Jean-Bernard Le Boucher, and that of the French Sailing Federation, Jean-Luc Denechau.

"There was a real desire within the Federation to deliver a competition that could train young people in offshore racing, explains Denechau. "We worked with the Figaro class on a project with two key words: training and financial accessibility ." Hence the choice of the Figaro 3 - the agreement with the class covers three years - and is so far preferred, for example, to the future Sun Fast 30 One Design (ex Class30), which its promoters, including the UNCL, would have seen as the class for the Tour in the medium term.

The president of the UNCL, now joined with the Yacht Club de France, Gery Trenteseaux are not taking umbrage: "I met Jean-Luc Denechau and Corinne Migraine (vice-president) at the beginning of September about this and they were clear, so there is no disappointment. And anyway, our one design would not be available in sufficient quantities in 2023."

After agreeing with the Figaro class, the FFVoile approached Amaury Sport Organisation, owner of the Tour Voile since 2012, which gave up organizing it at the end of 2020, to take on the license. What ASO accepted, granting the Tour Voile brand to the federation for a period of three years on the model of a kind of lease-management, as already previously used with Normandie Evenements.

Full report in Tip & Shaft's December newsletter

Obituary: Multihull design pioneer Derek Kelsall
The sailing world has lost a pioneering multihull designer and boat builder. Derek Kelsall, the man who during his life created the modern day trimaran, who famously introduced Eric Tabarly to multihulls and who was one of the first to champion foam sandwich construction, died on Saturday 11th December in hospital in Thames, New Zealand, aged 89.

Derek's greatest series of race boats were the various 'Three Legs of Mann' trimarans built and sailed by Isle of Mann-based Nick Keig. The most successful of these was the 53ft Three Legs of Mann III, which Nick raced to second place in the 1980 OSTAR, however the most innovative was VSD, launched in 1982, a hybrid cat-trimaran with a flying centrehull. Although VSD achieved little on the race course largely thanks to its sub-standard rig, its concept was subsequently adopted in various forms by future catamarans ranging from the D35s to Alinghi 5.

On the larger stage Derek achieved perhaps greater success from his pioneering use of, and experience in, foam sandwich construction. This attracted some of the very top campaigns. Sir Thomas Lipson's 1968 OSTAR victory led to Derek building the Alan Gurney-designed Great Britain II for Chay Blyth, at 78ft long the largest 'composite' boat ever to have been built when she was launched in 1973. In the first Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973-74 she set the elapsed time record and went on to compete in five further editions of the race.

Great Britain II led to Derek designing and building two large trimarans for Chay Blyth, the 80ft long Great Britain III and the 53ft Great Britain IV aboard which Chay and Rob James won the 1978 Round Britain & Ireland Race.

Derek is survived by his partner Paula Henderwon and his daughter Victoria Liepins and son Liam and Liam's two children Elena and Libby. Meanwhile Derek's designs, including many of his early work from the 1960s, thanks to their foam sandwich construction, have survived him and are still to be found in every corner of the globe.

A memorial service will take place for Derek in New Zealand on 25 January 2023. -- James Boyd

Featured Charter
VOR65 Ambersail 2. Located in Caribbean, Europe, Mediterranean.

The Volvo Ocean 65’s are built for speed and extremely well known for superb performance, in a very strong and durable hull, they offer exhilarating acceleration for thrill seeking sailors. Available to charter in the Caribbean, Europe and the Mediterranean.

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
2008 Volvo 70 - Telefonica Black. 225000 GBP. Located in Portsmouth, Hampshire - UK.

Strong and well maintained Volvo 70. In excellent working order, she provides a good platform for the next owner to continue the charter experience or for personal offshore goals.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

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

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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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Ichi Ban TP52 from Botin 2017. POA GBP. Located in Sydney.

Ichi Ban is the most successful IRC yacht in Australian History having won three Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht races (2017, 2019 and 2021), three Australian IRC Championships and three CYCA Blue Water Pointscores.

RORC yacht of the year in 2018.

Built in 2017 to compete in offshore, coastal and inshore races this yacht is in immaculate condition and comes with two masts (Southern Spars), two booms, three rudders, water ballast and many spares and sails. Many upgrades have been made to her during 2022. Ready to race.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
For specifications and inventory please email Matt Allen at

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

The Last Word
Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life. -- Omar Khayyam

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