In This Issue
• Heaven and hell in RORC Caribbean 600
• Cup Spy: A significant design deadline looms
• Your chance to own a piece of Zhik!
• Road To Gold
• A class of their own - P40 class
• Wing Ding
• The Sat Comm Wars are Heating Up
• Finn Class News - February 2023
• Olympic champion sailor Eilidh McIntyre retires
• Featured Charter: Sailplane Mills 41
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Reichel/Pugh 45 - Pterodactyl
• • Pogo 12.50 Hermes
• • Outremer 45 - New Boat
• The Last Word: Eric Clapton

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

Heaven and hell in RORC Caribbean 600
At the break of dawn on the second day of the RORC Caribbean 600, Giovanni Soldini's Maserati Multi70 (ITA) was in pole position, an hour inside race record pace for the 600 mile race. Video footage from on board Maserati reveals hellish conditions on deck at over 30 knots of boat speed

MOD70 Zoulou (FRA), sailed by Erik Maris was just 17 minutes behind Maserati, but one break down or error and that lead will fly away. At dawn on Day Two, Maserati and Zoulou were slugging it out in the wind shadow of Guadeloupe. Zoulou rolled the dice, passing south of Marie-Gallante. To set a new Multihull Race Record, the time to beat is 17:08:44 AST (UTC -4) on Tuesday 21 February. There is a strong possibility that either Maserati or Zoulou will become the new record holder for the RORC Caribbean 600.

IRC Super Zero
Pyewacket 70 (USA) skippered by Ben Mitchell leads the charge south hitting over 20 knots of boat speed. The American Volvo 70 was about halfway in the race, 100 miles from Guadeloupe. Volvo 70 I Love Poland (POL) skippered by Grzegorz Baranowski was 15 miles astern of Pyewacket 70, but after IRC time correction leads the class by just over one hour. The leading VO65 in the race was Wind Whisper (POL) skippered by Joca Signorini. 16 miles behind I Love Poland, Wind Whisper was third under IRC.

IRC Zero
At the northerly extreme of the course the front runners in IRC Zero fought an epic duel through the night in the Anguilla Channel. Kate & Jim Murray's Pac 52 Callisto (USA) and Niklas Zennstrom's CF520 Ran 8 (SWE) staged a dog fight to Ile Tintamarre. Swapping tacks in the pitch-black first night at sea, Callisto won the skirmish, rounding three minutes and 20 seconds ahead of Ran 8. Callisto was leading the class after IRC time correction. RORC Vice Commodore Eric de Turckheim, racing NMD 54 Teasing Machine (FRA), rounded Tintamarre 20 minutes and 19 seconds after Callisto. After IRC time correction, Teasing Machine was in second place with Ran 8 third. -- Louay Habib and Trish Jenkins reporting from Antigua.

Race Tracker

caribbean600.rorc.org

Cup Spy: A significant design deadline looms
Five of the six teams entered in the 2024 America's Cup are sailing, some with only one boat, others with two, and Emirates Team New Zealand with three.

For the first time in recent America's Cup history the teams are able to run multiple streams of boats, and strategies - which for competitive reasons, they are unwilling to make comment.

Looming fast is the approaching cut-off date for the teams to sign off on the final hull design for their AC75 race boat to be sailed in the 2024 America's Cup, and for which construction will start in March or maybe a month later.

In the technically complex AC75 Class, construction from the lofting of the first lines in the building facility, to launch is typically 12 months.

Working backwards from the start of the America's Cup Regatta in October 2024, and allowing six months for work-up, that points to a target launch date of April 2024. And again working backwards, we get a construction start in March/April 2023 for Challengers. Emirates Team New Zealand, have indicated they will start construction in "the second quarter of 2023".

Richard Gladwell's full report in Sail-World.com

Your chance to own a piece of Zhik!
Innovative, technical water apparel brand Zhik has launched a crowd funding campaign giving everyday sailors and loyal customers the opportunity to become shareholders and invest in the company’s future success. Registration is now open following one of Zhik’s most successful years, with sales growing 40% in the financial year ending June 2022.

Zhik are inviting sailors, brand followers and water sport enthusiasts to register. Successful investors will receive VIP perks associated with their level of investment. See the introductory video below.

Triple Olympic medallist, Mat Belcher, who stepped up from the Zhik Board to take over as CEO in October 2022, is leading the equity crowd funding campaign to raise AUS $4m to drive future growth. “This campaign kicks off an exciting new chapter for Zhik. Our investment plan is centred around continuing to drive our digital capabilities and working closely with our extensive trade partners to expand into new territories and grow market share,” explains Mat. “Plus, we want to continue investing in developing more sustainable technical and lifestyle products, whilst expanding our range for the broader sailing, boating and watersports markets.”

To join Zhik’s journey to build innovative gear that drives the industry forward, discover more in this video with Mat Belcher and register your interest here.

zhik.com/crowdfunding

Road To Gold
Thursday, 23 February, 1900 hours UTC: Q&A Call with James Peters & Fynn Sterritt, the No.1 GBR 49er team and recent winners of Lanzarote International Regatta

TOPIC - Life as a full-time sailors versus life and work in the 'real world'...

It has also been a difficult time for the 49er class transitioning to new masts and new sails, so we'll be asking James and Fynn their tips on how best to spend your time when there's too much to do and what they've learned from the setbacks over the years.

Join Road To Gold for a free Zoom call and a 60-minute Q&A session with James and Fynn to learn how to apply their own hard-earned experience to your sailing program.

Road To Gold Q&A calls are free to join live, and offer a rare opportunity to speak directly with some of the best sailors in the world. If you've got questions about training, teamwork, attitude, technical challenges, anything related to making your boat go faster, join these calls live. Road To Gold's Andy Rice and Hamish Willcox will be fielding live questions throughout each 60-minute session.

Join Zoom Meeting with James Peters & Fynn Sterritt

Meeting ID: 846 6777 2126
Passcode: 221537

To subscribe to Live Coaching Calls: roadtogold.net/p/calls

For more about the 12-step blueprint for a World Class Campaign: roadtogold.net

A class of their own - P40 class
Now all these 40ish footers can compete fairly together within a new well thought out structure

A few years ago the idea was mooted to create a new class for boats about 40ft in hull length (IRC band 1.060 to 1.140), largely cruiser-racers with almost entirely Corinthian crews. The P40 Class.

A First 40 is at the bottom of the band and an XP44 is at the top. The class includes but is not limited to J111s, J121s, J122s, Grand Soleil 43s, JND 39s, Mills 39s, Ker 39s, MAT12s, King 40s, and JPK 1180s.

To his great credit this idea was put together by Dave Swete and then developed with a small group of interested owners. The concept was doing quite well and then along came the pandemic which halted further progress.

Full article in the March issue of Seahorse

Wing Ding
St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, California, is pleased to announce the 2023 Spring Wingding Regatta, to be held April 14-16, 2023, and open to all wingfoil competitors. The Notice of Race is posted and registration is open. The event will also serve as the inaugural Pacific Coast Championships for this burgeoning sport.

Race organizers are planning three days of short course racing on the San Francisco Cityfront in the shadow of Golden Gate Bridge, with up to five races per afternoon. In addition, on Saturday, a distance race, known as the San Francisco Bay Challenge, will take place. This race includes a long windward-leeward bay tour course that will take competitors from Crissy Field to Berkeley and back. Windsurfers and kitesurfers are also invited to compete in the San Francisco Bay Challenge.

Situated on San Francisco Bay adjacent to Crissy Field with views of Golden Gate Bridge, St. Francis Yacht Club is fortunate to have consistently ideal wingfoil conditions directly outside the clubhouse windows. Steady afternoon breeze in the 15-20-knot range, combined with challenging currents and fetch that can kick up surfable waves, surrounded by sublime Northern California scenery, makes Spring Wingding a bucket list regatta for eager competitors.

Notice Of Race & Registration

The Sat Comm Wars are Heating Up
It was only two months ago that I was crowing in this space about how rapidly cruisers were adopting the new Starlink sat comm technology due to its fairly low entry price and fixed rate for a monthly unlimited data plans. That put Starlink in direct competition with the IridiumGo! that we've been plugging for a couple of years now. Big picture. For almost 40 years the only game in town for sat comms was the INMARSAT system of satellites and the vendors who provide the hardware and software to access the system. And while the system does provide the best high speed data transfers for streaming and surfing the web, it has always been expensive and considered by cruisers to be a commercial product.

Now, IridiumGo! has upgraded their system to IridiumGo! exec, which is 40 times faster than the original, and puts them into similar (but still slower) data speeds as Starlink. And if you compare the pricing, the two new systems are similar in both hardware and data plans. INMARSAT and its vendors are paying close attention and are now offering their hardware and plans at some fairly deep discounts putting them in the general price range, albeit higher, of Starlink RV with a mobile antenna and the full installation kit for IridiumGo! exec.

It is going to be interesting to see how the sat comm wars play out. Starlink is new and does not have worldwide coverage, but who knows how soon they will be global. IridiumGo! exec is a big improvement on the original and is global but it still has slower data speeds that limits streaming and internet browsing. The INMARSAT system is still the gold standard and supported by a collection of vendors who have been perfecting their games for generations. In the end, this competition will improve the products and hold the price down, which will be good for all sailors. (Note that I did not quote prices for each system because there are so many deals out there it is hard to compare apples to apples.) -- George Day

Sign up for Cruising compass

Finn Class News - February 2023
Entry is now open for all major Finn Championships in 2023. This week entry has opened for the 2023 Finn European Masters Championship in Campione de Garda, the final major championship of the year.

First up is the Open Europeans at Csopak on Lake Balaton, at the club managed by 2020 Olympic silver medalist, Zsombor Berecz. Berecz and double Finn Olympian Ian Ainslie are planning two training clinics prior to the event, which in addition to another regatta the week before provides a solid block of Finn sailing on the lake.

From Hungary many boats will head south to Kavala, Greece, for the Finn World Masters for a week in an idyllic beach location that promises a huge amount of sailing and fun.

After that, next up is the Finn Silver Cup for the U23s on the beautiful Lake Como and there is already considerable interest in this event, with a number of cheap charter options available. Early booking is recommended.

Finally the Finn European Masters takes place at Campione del Garda in September, with a large entry expected for the season Finn-ale. -- Robert Deaves

2023 Finn Silver Cup - Lake Como
Finn World Masters - Kavala, Greece
2023 Finn European Masters - Campione Del Garda
World Tour For Finns 2023

finnclass.org

finnworldmasters.com

Olympic champion sailor Eilidh McIntyre retires
Tokyo 2020 champion Eilidh McIntyre has announced she is retiring from Olympic campaigning.

Last summer McIntyre fulfilled her lifelong dream of winning a gold medal at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, cemented her place in sport's history books.

The 28-year-old topped the podium in the women's 470 class alongside Hannah Mills, and in doing so matched the gold medal won by her father Mike 34 years prior at Seoul 1988.

The win also helped Mills to become the most successful female Olympic sailor of all time.

For the Paris 2024 cycle the 470 class moved to mixed gender pairs, with McIntyre teaming up with Martin Wrigley, a training partner for Luke Patience and Chris Grube for Tokyo.

The pair finished inside the top ten at every event they've competed at, but McIntyre said she had come to the decision that she was not on course to win gold at Paris 2024.

McIntyre's retirement brings to a close a stellar 13-year career with the British Sailing Team, having joined the ranks in 2010 as a talented 15-year-old.

McIntyre's compelling story of success at the Tokyo Olympics is covered in the feature documentary Chasing Tokyo, released last summer.

The 90-minute film can be streamed for free at Olympics.com or watched on Discovery+ with a subscription.

McIntyre now plans to explore opportunities in professional sailing, while also starting a property business alongside her sister.

McIntyre and her father Mike will be talking candidly about their Olympic journeys at the RYA Dinghy and Watersports Show at Farnborough International on February 25.

Featured Charter
SAILPLANE - Mills 41. POA GBP.

Sailplane Mills 41 available for FASTNET charter - includes Fastnet entry. Class winner and 5 overall in the 2022 Fastnet. Current P40 champion. 3rd in IRC Europeans 2022 class 1

See listing details in Seahorse Charters

Contact
Rob Bottomley +447799696748
email:

See the the Seahorse charter collection

Featured Brokerage
2006 Reichel/Pugh 45 - 'Pterodactyl'. 375000 USD. Located in Newport, RI - USA.

he evergreen Reichel/Pugh 45 is a very good all round option for inshore, coastal and offshore racing. PTERODACTYL has had numerous updates in recent times and is still very competitive, having recently won the prestigious Vineyard race in the USA overall.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

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

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

2012 Pogo 12.50 Hermes. 295,000 USD. Located in NYC, USA.

Fully equipped Class40 racer-cruiser, this turbocharged 2012 Pogo 12.50 is a turn-key package. Two sets of sails - racing and cruising - fully self-sufficient for worldwide sailing, ocean racing and live aboard.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Ocean Racers

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

Outremer 45 - New Boat. POA EUR.

The Outremer shipyard took up the challenge to create a new Outremer 45 that would meet and surpass the success of its earlier version. The new design won the challenge!

Little brother of Outremer 51 and 5X, it shares the DNA of the shipyard: safe, fast, strong and easy to maneuver. A true ocean sailing catamaran.

It has been designed and built for blue water cruising, to allow families to live their dreams in serenity.

Created in collaboration with world respected designers: hulls and structure by Barreau-Neuman, style by Patrick Le Quément and interior by Darnet Design.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact

Tel : +33.467 560 263

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

The Last Word
I think everybody has their own way of looking at their lives as some kind of pilgrimage. -- Eric Clapton

Editorial and letter submissions to

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