EuroSail News #5311

In This Issue
• Weis Captures Ficker Cup at LBYC
• Big Tom Dolan & The Top Guns Save It For Sailing In Ireland
• Back to the millimetres - 52 Super Series
• Charlie Enright: Regrouping after a brutal leg
• Cup Spy : Kiwis take on two Cup game breakers
• Maverick Marketer
• IOC Conditions of Participation
• Leask & Todhunter join INEOS Team Brittania
• Yacht Club Costa Smeralda Sporting Season
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Nautor Swan 60 FD
• • Ichi Ban TP52 from Botin 2017
• • Bavaria C50
• The Last Word: Napoleon Bonaparte

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

Weis Captures Ficker Cup at LBYC; Advances To Congressional Cup Along With Thomson
Long Beach, California: In a stunning upset Chris Weis (USA) ousted Jeffrey Petersen (USA) in the Ficker Cup semifinals today, and advanced to the finals against Megan Thomson (NZL): going on to capture his first Ficker Cup title. Both Weis and Thomson will move on to the Congressional Cup Grade One match race championship which starts Tuesday April 18. Petersen defeated Nicole Breault (USA) in the petit finals, and took third and fourth respectively.

The Ficker Cup is a Grade Two match race hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club and part of the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT). The event, which was held April 14 to 16, also serves as a qualifier for the Congressional Cup.

In three days of racing in variable conditions - which ranged from blustery winds in the high teens, to this morning's light breeze - eight teams from across the US, New Zealand and Ireland battled for Ficker Cup honors.

Each duo - Weis vs. Thomson and Petersen vs. Breault - went one and one, leaving the decision to the last match of the day in this best-of-three series. Weis triumphed over Thomson, and Petersen over Breault.

Weis and Thomson will round out the 10-team roster for Congressional Cup. Thomson, a 25-year-old Kiwi skipper, admitted she had a boost from her crew: Congressional Cup competitor Nick Egnot-Johnson and his WMRT Championship team. In an ironic twist, Thomson will go on to compete against Egnot-Johnson and his crew in the Congressional Cup next week: with a pick-up crew.

Final results
1. Christopher Weis, USA
2. Megan Thomson, NZL
3. Jeffrey Petersen, USA
4. Nicole Breault, USA
5. Pearson Potts, USA
6. Peter Holz, USA
7. Dave Hood, USA
8. Ruairi Finnegan, IRL

lbyc.org

thecongressionalcup.com

Big Tom Dolan & The Top Guns Save It For Sailing In Ireland
Politicians are dictated to by fickle public opinion, and whereas sailors are fascinated by the minutiae of their sport and its boat and equipment and the lovingly-analysed details of each and every race in events such as Spi Ouest and Top Gun, the public - and hence the government - are only interested in narrowly-focused high-profile value for money in the hope of a return in the form of medals. Consequently, the public funding for sailing - a sport in which only a tiny minority will ever have a serious interest in Olympic participation - is inevitably skewed in favour of national high-performance squads.

That in turn means there is a very biased reliance on the success of rising stars. In fact, an entire mini-industry has grown up around the hope of the continuing emergence of young Irish sailors who will have the ability and character - almost inevitably with exceptional and extraordinary support from their families and circles of friends - to bring home the Olympic-flavoured bacon. Ultimately, it's just as crude as that.

It's something of which everyone is particularly aware this weekend, with the Youth Nationals 2023 at Howth seeing the adult stars of tomorrow being put into the pressure cooker of junior performance to become the youth stars of today.

WM Nixon's full editorial in Afloat magazine

Back to the millimetres - 52 Super Series
Indicative of how close and competitive the 52 Super Series fleet will be in 2023, the first week of April saw the majority of the fleet already in Valencia for testing, tuning and training, all underpinned by a major dose of FOMO (fear of missing out). The search for fractions of a knot here and there continues for some, while others, like the 2022 World and circuit champions Quantum Racing, have an exciting new posse of young blood to bring up to speed before the curtain rises less than three weeks later in Saint Tropez.

As America's Cup commitments take up more time and energy from here on, Terry Hutchinson will not be leading the defence of Quantum's double titles this season. Correspondingly Doug DeVos, we hear, will be visiting some of the regattas, observing progress and cheering on 'Quantum Racing powered by American Magic' with his usual infectious enthusiasm. Indeed the average age onboard plummets with the arrival of a new grinder, new strategist, new mid-bow, new driver, but the new tactician - none other than John Kostecki - will make sure youth doesn't entirely take over the run of the ship.

Full article in the May issue of Seahorse

Charlie Enright: Regrouping after a brutal leg
If overcoming adversity makes you stronger, watch out for Charlie Enright and his 11th Hour Racing Team after a series of testing moments in leg 3 left the team bloodied but unbowed...

One day, when the scars have had time to heal, Charlie Enright might be able to look back on Leg 3 of The Ocean Race and allow himself more than a wry smile. He might be able to look back on Leg 3 with a sense of pride.

Those 38 days at sea were among the hardest that the skipper of 11th Hour Racing Team has experienced in his three editions of the race.

"Leg 3 was brutal right from the start. We had 40 knots in Table Bay and 40 knots shortly after leaving Table Bay. And we immediately had a breakdown and had to suspend racing. Then a couple other breakdowns along the way."

Quite a bit more than a couple of other breakdowns, as it turned out. 'Keeping the wheels on the wagon'. Enright had predicted that this would be the priority even before they left Cape Town, and so it proved. It was every bit the war of attrition that he had feared and expected.

Cup Spy: Kiwis take on two Cup game breakers
Off the back of the last America's Cup all teams have two major work-ons which are critical to their success or otherwise in the 2024 America's Cup in Barcelona.

The first, the stickiness of the AC75's, in light winds, became apparent in the America's Cup World Series event sailed in Auckland in mid-December 2020.

Stickiness is the AC40/AC75's ability to lift itself from displacement to foiling mode in light winds. It's the difference from sailing at speeds of 15-16kts as a displacement boat, to 25-55kts as a foiler. There's a variety of factors involved including wingfoil design, hull and foil drag, rig power, overall weight (lighter is better) and the skill of the crew. Parasitic or aero drag really only comes into serious play once the AC40/75 begins foiling, as does foil cavitation. Both factors are more a constraint on top-end speeds, rather than being factors which affect the AC40/AC75's ability to self-launch onto its foils.

In very simple terms self-launching onto foiling or flight is similar to an aircraft getting airborne off a runway. Both need to hit a takeoff speed, and then lift into the air. In the case of the AC40/AC75 takeoff speed is about 16-18kts.

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

Maverick Marketer
Bob Johnstone, a founder of J Boats, Inc. and MJM Yachts is a world-class sailor, inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame and recipient of the Mystic Seaport Museum's America and the Sea Award.

According to family lore, sailing and innovation have been running through Bob Johnstone's family DNA since the age of piracy in the Caribbean.

In "Maverick Marketer," Johnstone considers the course of his life, from taking the helm of a sailboat in a race at age 2, through college days at Princeton, to creating the leading performance brand in sailing, then doing same with powerboats. Regaling readers with sailing stories and how award-winning boats were created, Johnstone seeks to ignite a creative spark in others, urging them to follow their passion and chart their own course to victory. Part memoir, part love story, part marketing case study, "Maverick Marketer" is an entrepreneurial success story brimming with lessons on innovation, business development, and problem-solving. Rebecca White, Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Tampa, said, "I'd recommend Bob Johnstone's book for every college student today."

"Maverick Marketer" is available for purchase on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and bookship.org.

Conditions of Participation for individual athletes and support personnel with a Russian or Belarusian passport
The World Sailing Board convened this week to consider the new guidance which places any decision at the sole discretion of International Federations. The Board supports the Fundamental Principles of Olympism in the Olympic Charter and recognises that the principles guide the IOC's recommendation to allow the return of Russian and Belarusian competitors as independent neutral athletes.

Noting that the IOC Executive Board have not yet considered the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the Olympic Games at Paris 2024, the Board's current view is that in regard to Olympic qualification events, the Semaine Olympique Française (SOF) in April 2024 represents the targeted opportunity for any potential readmission to Olympic qualification events. SOF is a major regatta in the Paris 2024 qualifying process, more details of which can be found here.

Given the broad diversity of sailing and given the strong views held by World Sailing's Member National Authorities, the Board's position is that the wider decision on the return to international sailing events will be made in consultation with the World Sailing Council at the Mid-Year Meeting, to be held on 18 May 2023. Following the Council meeting, the Board intend to make a decision, subject to World Sailing's policies and regulations.

World Sailing remains wholly committed to supporting Ukraine's sailing community through what continues to be an unimaginably difficult time.

sailing.org/

Rowers Harry Leask & Ryan Todhunter join INEOS Team Brittania
Meet Harry Leask and Ryan Todhunter, two new signings to the INEOS Britannia sailing team. For both, this is their debut in the world of professional sailing, as they set their professional careers in Rowing to one side to compete in the Americas Cup.

Tokyo 2020 Silver Medalist, Harry Leask explains how he was first introduced to rowing. "I started rowing by accident. My brother had started rowing and after school I would have to go and wait for my brother to finish rowing to go home. After a few months of doing that, someone said why are you waiting around here? You should just go rowing. I was like no I don't want to do that. But I got forced into it. And then I really enjoyed it!"

Ryan was first introduced to Rowing when he went to watch the rowers in the London 2012 Olympics. "Rowing was the only thing we could get tickets for and I didn't really know anything about it at the time - but I enjoyed it. Then I saw an article about a rowing course at my uni so I joined that and did a learning to row course. I progressed through that and got offered a scholarship at Durham two years into the sport. So, I did my masters at Durham and then moved to Leander Club, where we won Henley did a world cup for GB and then I moved into the senior squad."

ineosbritannia.com

Yacht Club Costa Smeralda Officially Presents 2023 Sporting Season
The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda has presented its 2023 sporting calendar. The presentation in Milan on April 12 included news on the anniversary of the first Italian challenge for the America's Cup with Azzurra, in 1983, updates from the athletes of the Young Azzurra sports programme, and the presentation of the 2023 racing highlights, including the Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta and the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, together with The Nations Trophy - Swan One Design and the 5.5 Metre Class World Championship.

The 2023 Sporting Calendar will commence with the RAN 630 - Regata dell'Accademia Navale, scheduled from 23 April to 1 May, where the Club offers its technical support as the fleet rounds the course mark off Porto Cervo. The Boeris Trophy then returns to the calendar, followed by the traditional Vela & Golf event. The first major regatta of the season will be the Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta (6-10 June). Around 15 boats are already enrolled, including a debut outing for the 48-metre Nilaya, a new design by Nauta Yachts and Reichel Pugh, built by Royal Huisman. Around 10 yachts from the Southern Wind shipyard are expected to attend as part of the Southern Wind Rendezvous and Trophy, which takes place within the event.

June will close with the Nautor Swan fleet racing in Porto Cervo in The Nations Trophy - Swan One Design, scheduled from 19 to 24 June. The regatta, open to ClubSwan 50, ClubSwan 42 and ClubSwan 36, will see more than 30 boats doing battle against the unique backdrop of the La Maddalena archipelago.

The Coppa Europa Smeralda 888 will kick off July (6-9 July), followed by the YCCS J/70 Sailing Clinic (20-23 July), the YCCS Members' Championship (5-6 August), and a supporting role in the Palermo - Porto Cervo - Montecarlo race, scheduled from 22 to 27 August.

September will, as always, be the month of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 3 to 9 September.

The YCCS sporting season will conclude with the return of the 5.5 Metre Class to the Costa Smeralda, with the Scandinavian Gold Cup and the Class World Championship scheduled from 20 to 29 September. The 5.5 Metre Class will be back in Porto Cervo for the second time in its history, having first raced there in 1984.

yccs.com

youngazzurra.it

Featured Brokerage
2018 Nautor Swan 60 FD. 1,800,000 EUR. Located in Barcelona

With just one owner since new, this is an absolutely immaculate and very highly specified example of the ultra-competitive Swan 60 FD from Nautor.

Sailed for less than 2 months in total and with competition in just one regatta, she is barely run-in, yet offers a substantial saving over a new-build project. Thanks to her push-button hydraulics and electric winches, she is also equally at home fast cruising as she is racing, and boasting a 3-cabin, 3-heads white-stained teak interior, she is also supremely comfortable.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Lucio Pellegrini
Tel: +34 675 236 174
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

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The BAVARIA C50. POA EUR.

Beauty and performance. Perfect view of the sails, the course and all the fun.

Our aim was to make the BAVARIA C50 nothing less than a new benchmark in the 50-foot sailing yacht category. It offers an elegant, flat hull line and stunningly dynamic silhouette. Everything is clear and minimalist, reflecting our understanding of good, modern yacht design. No other yacht offers so much space, so much comfort and so many possibilities.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
bavariayachts.com/sailing-yachts/c50

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

The Last Word
It is not necessary to bury the truth. It is sufficient merely to delay it until nobody cares. -- Napoleon Bonaparte

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