In This Issue
• IMA Maxi Europeans
• Transat Paprec: Match Racing to the Finish?
• What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
• Duff Lite wins the RORC De Guingand Bowl
• Pro Sailing Tour first stage
• 470 European Championship
• New York Yacht Club's 169th Annual Regatta
• Finn Europeans
• 73 Boats for RORC North Sea Race
• Letters to the Editor
• Featured Charter: Sunreef 50 Eco - 'Tiril'
• Featured Brokerage:
• • 1944 Luders 24 - Belle
• • IMOCA 60 'Merci'
• • J 45 Elegance Yacht
• The Last Word: Albert Einstein

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

Lap of Capri and a photo finish at the IMA Maxi Europeans
While many were predicting the second day of inshore/coastal competition for the IMA Maxi European Championship would be cancelled due to the heinous conditions forecast and even an official storm warning issued because of an intense depression passing over Naples, in fact today provided some of the best competition and exhilarating racing yet.

With the wind blowing 15 knots, initially from the south (the opposite to yesterday), the course was set with a start area off the event's host port of Sorrento and with the island of Capri effectively becoming the race's giant, mountainous weather mark. Unlike yesterday when the rain seemed interminable, today there were fewer but larger and more intense squalls especially around the back (ie south and west sides) of Capri.

If yesterday's race was one for the smaller boats in the Maxi 4 and 5 classes, today the larger end of the fleet struck back with four former Maxi 72s and the ClubSwan 80 My Song, in Maxi 1 and 2, filling the top five places overall under IRC corrected time. The top three in particular had a spectacularly close race on the water with Dario Ferrari's Cannonball finishing just one second ahead of Pier Luigi Loro Piana's ClubSwan 80 My Song with George Sakellaris' Proteus a further 13 seconds back after two hours 17 minutes of racing. Under IRC the lower rated Proteus won, beating Cannonball by one minute 38 seconds.

Overall in the IMA Maxi European Championship H20 continues to lead but today's success of the former Maxi 72s has seen them take over the rest of the podium with Peter Dubens' Regata dei Tre Golfi winner North Star now up to second, trailing H20 by 5.5 points, but tied on points with third-placed Cannonball. Following her victory today Proteus is fourth, 1.25 points from the podium.

According to Proteus' Will Oxley, a respected meteorologist, the wind tomorrow is forecast to be 4-10 knots from the southwest but getting lighter for Thursday's deciding day at this second IMA Maxi European Championship. "The low is moving away but it is still drifting around to the north of us." Sadly the rain will remain. -- James Boyd

Full results

tregolfisailingweek.com

internationalmaxiassociation.com

Transat Paprec: Match Racing to the Finish?
With just over 500 nautical miles to the Saint Barths finish line what looked set to be a three cornered fight for victory might yet open up to surprise attacks from the mixed doubles duos in fourth, fifth and sixth.

Since Monday evening the 3890 miles race from Concarneau has had a new leader. Gaston Morvan and Anne-Claire Le Berre (Region Bretagne-CMB Performance) gybed north around 2000hrs and profited from extra breeze to take a narrow lead. And as second placed Lois Berrëhar and Charlotte Yven (Skipper MACIF) and Corentin Horeau and Pauline Courtois (Mutuelle Bleue) in third have both attacked with hitches to the northwest this afternoon, Morvan and Le Berre have seen their lead grow by nearly five miles today.

The leading trio are sailing into softer breeze and as they do so this has allowed Guillaume Pirouelle and Sophie Faguet (Region Normandie) to claw back more than seven miles since yesterday. The fourth placed duo from the north of France are at around 20 miles from the leaders and going faster as are fifth placed Camille Bertel/Pierre Leboucher (Cap Ingelec) who have closed to 26 miles behind from having been more than 50 miles adrift yesterday.

Top five at 1700hrs BST Tuesday 16th May
1. Region Bretagne CMB Performance (Gaston Morvan/Anne Claire le Berre) 556.8 miles to finish
2. Skipper MACIF (Loïs Berrehar/Charlotte Yven) + 7.5 miles
3. Mutuellle Bleue (Corentin Horeau/Pauline Courtois) + 7.9 miles
4. Region Normandie (Guillaume Pirouelle/Sophie Faguet) + 22.1 miles
5. Cap Ingelec (Camille Bertel/Pierre Leboucher) + 24.2 miles

transatpaprec.com

Seahorse June 2023
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

Narrowing the gap
Master yachtbuilders Royal Huisman have taken another big step forward to reduce the weight and rigidity advantages of composites with a new and very untraditional type of aluminium construction

Getting on with the job
The remarkable Spanish navigator extraordinaire Joan Vila has been involved in the last nine America's Cups, winning on three occasions and with two different teams. Carlos Pich

Music to the ears
Twelve years after winning the first of countless races Jason Ker's former 51-footer Varuna just completed her most radical reincarnation to date

Feeling positive
With two and soon three (and then four) round the world race successes. Rob Weiland

Ultimate glide surface
The world's fastest offshore racers require very special and specific types of antifouling, hull and deck paint... plus about 5,000 hours of highly skilled labour to apply them correctly...

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Duff Lite wins the RORC De Guingand Bowl
A total of 87 boats competed in the Royal Ocean Racing Club's De Guingand Bowl Race. Late spring sunshine and high pressure provided a complex mix of weather in a fascinating race for 437 crew racing with the RORC.

Gavin Doyle's Corby 25 Duff Lite (IRL), the smallest boat in the race, scored the best corrected time under IRC to lift the De Guingand Bowl and win IRC Four. Second overall and winner of the 37-strong IRC Two Handed Class was Sun Fast 3200 Cora (GBR) raced by Tim Goodhew and Kelvin Matthews. Third was Rob Cotterill's J/109 Mojo Risin' (GBR) racing with a full crew in IRC Three. Peter Morton's Maxi 72 Notorious (GBR), racing in IRC Super Zero, took Monohull Line Honours in an elapsed time of 14 Hrs 08 Mins 01 Secs

Congratulations to all the IRC class winners including Peter Lars Olof Elfversson's Ker 40 Swee (SWE), Ed Bell's JPK 1180 Dawn Treader GBR), Christina Wolfe's Sun Fast 3300 Red Ruby (USA), Renaud Courbon's Class40 The 3 Bros (FRA), and James Holder's Dazcat 1295 Slinky Malinki (GBR).

Full results

The RORC De Guingand Bowl Race is part of the 2023 RORC Season's Points Championship, the world's largest offshore racing series. Race six of the series is the North Sea Race. The offshore race from Harwich, UK to Scheveningen, Netherlands will start on Friday 19 May. -- Louay Habib/RORC

rorc.org

Pro Sailing Tour 2023 sees dramatic end to the first stage
The first leg of the 2023 Pro Sailing Tour concluded in dramatic fashion on Sunday with the leading two trimarans separated by less than one minute after 42 hours of high-intensity racing.

Erwan Le Roux on Koesio - racing with French Olympic sailor Audrey Ogereau and America's Cup crew Devan Le Bihan - took the 350-mile offshore leg win by just 44 seconds, successfully fending off Pro Sailing Tour newcomer Pierre Quiroga on Viabilis Oceans in a light airs duel to the finish line off Bonifacio in Corsica.

Thibaut Vauchel-Camus racing Solidaires En Peloton - ARSEP followed almost 14 minutes later, ahead of Christopher Pratt's Wind of Trust and Luke Berry on Le Rire Medecin-Lamotte, both also making their PST debuts.

The next leg in the three-week contest will see the fleet race from Bonifacio to Alghero in Sardinia, with the start at 14:00 CET on Wednesday May 17.

The 'Final Rush' to the finish in Brest will start from Alghero at 11:00 on May 21, with the fleet setting off on a 2,000-mile race through the western Mediterranean and the Gibraltar Straits, and then north across the Bay of Biscay.

prosailingtour.com

470 European Championship
Photo by A. Lelli. Click on image for photo gallery.

Day 2 of the 470 European Championship delivered some wacky races but ultimately no new results on the scoreboard in San Remo, Italy.

The blue and yellow qualifying fleets came tantalisingly close to completing a race in the maddest of wildly varying conditions. After already experiencing breeze from 0 to 26 knots, depending on whether boats were in the streak of lull or the streak of gust, the final nail in the coffin came on the final run to the finish when the breeze reversed more than 110 degrees from its original direction. Spinnakers down, the 470s now heading upwind towards what had been the leeward end of the course, and the race committee decided to blow abandon the racing and send the fleet back in to avoid further frustration.

With just two races completed, there has to be a minimum of four races to complete qualifying before the fleet gets divided into gold and silver.

Wednesday was meant to be the start of gold fleet but with today's lack of races, day three will be all about trying to finish off the qualifying phase. Three races are scheduled to start at 1100 hours local time.

Top three
1. Theresa Loffler & Christopher Hoerr (GER), 2 points
2. Jordi Xammar & Nora Brugman (ESP), 7 points
3. Camille Lecointre & Jeremie Mion (FRA), 9 points

Full results

LIVE RACE - our live blog provides race updates throughout the day

ORC Finds Strength in Numbers for New York Yacht Club's 169th Annual Regatta
With just under a month to go until the first gun, the ORC fleet for the 169th running of North America's oldest recurring regatta stands at 33 boats and is well positioned to best last year's fleet of 39 boats. The record of 49 boats, set in 2021, isn't out of reach. A total of 88 boats are currently registered for the Annual Regatta.

The New York Yacht Club's Annual Regatta was first sailed on the Hudson River on July 16 and 18, 1846. A similar competition the previous year was called a Trial of Speed. With a few exceptions for world wars and other global crises, the event has been held every year since. For the majority of its existence, the Annual Regatta was raced on waters close to New York City. Since 1988, however, the event has been sailed out of the Harbour Court clubhouse in Newport, R.I., and has settled into the current three-day format, which includes a race around Conanicut Island on Friday, two days of buoy or navigator-course racing on Saturday and Sunday and nightly social activities on the grounds of the historic Harbour Court mansion. The 169th Annual Regatta is sponsored by Hammetts Hotel and Helly Hansen.

The Club's selection as the host for the 2024 ORC World Championship has created a spark of enthusiasm in the Northeast. The last time a rating-rule world championship was held in the United States was 23 years ago when the New York Yacht Club hosted the 2000 IMS World Championship. The New York Yacht Club was scheduled to host a combined IRC/ORC World Championship in 2020, but the COVID pandemic forced the cancellation of that event.

For the Divided Sky program, and many others, the Annual Regatta in 2023 is a key steppingstone in the preparation for the Worlds in 2024.

nyyc.org/169th-annual-regatta

Domonkos Nemeth in charge at Finn Europeans
The U23 Finn World Champion, Domonkos Nemeth from Hungary, laid down a marker on the third day of the 2023 Open and U23 Finn Europeans in Csopak, Hungary with two emphatic wins that puts him back at the top of the leader board at the halfway stage. Laurent Hay, from France, drops to second with Filipe Silva, from Portugal, back in third.

It was a wet day on Lake Balaton with 12-16 knots, heavy rain, bad visibility and cold air. But it was still a good day for sailing. Though three races were planned, the fleet was sent home after two races with a wind warning elsewhere on the lake. No one really complained though as the races were good and everyone was thoroughly cold and wet.

There are two days and potentially five races left in this championship. Racing at Csopak is scheduled to continue Wednesday at 10.00, with possibly three races if conditions allow, though very strong winds are forecast.

Results after 5 races
1. Domonkos Nemeth, HUN, 4
2. Laurent Hay, FRA, 10
3. Filipe Silva, POR, 15
4. Elemer Peter Haidekker, HUN, 21
5. Alessandro Marega, ITA, 21
6. Bartosz Szydlowski, POL, 25
7. Lawrence Crispin, GBR, 26
8. Audoin Michel, FRA, 36
9. Ian Ainslie, RSA, 43
10. Volodymyr Stasyuk, UKR, 44

Full results

2023.finneuropeans.org

73 Boats for RORC North Sea Race
The Royal Ocean Racing Club's 2023 North Sea Race, hosted by the Royal Harwich Yacht Club, has attracted 73 boats for the start on Friday 19 May. The North Sea Race is preceded by the 120nm Vuurschepen Race to Harwich, which started from Scheveningen on Tuesday 16 May.

The 180nm race across the North Sea meanders around the Galloper wind farm before heading north to Smith's Knoll Buoy and across to the famous sailing city of the Hague and the Yacht Club Scheveningen. The majority of the entries come from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, with over 350 sailors taking part that include crew from Belgium, Germany, Israel, and the United States of America.

Richard Matthews has taken part in the North Sea Race for decades with victories both overall and for Monohull Line Honours. Matthews' Carkeek 52 Oystercatcher XXXV is back having taken Line Honours in 2022 in an elapsed time of 20 Hrs 34 Mins 51 Secs.

The top three teams overall for 2022 will all be returning to action in the North Sea Race. The overall winner under IRC is back to defend their title; Astrid de Vin's JPK 1180 Il Corvo won last year and returns with a new JPK 1030, which will once again be skippered by Roeland Franssens. -- Louay Habib/RORC

Race Tracker

RORC North Sea Race Entry List

Letters To The Editor -
Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.

* From Philippe Herve:

I am really happy for Mr Bezos to have such a beautiful vessel as Kuro and wish him the very best while sailing this marvel. I am definitely disappointed that he chose to register the vessel in the Caiman Islands and avoid giving back in taxes a little bit of what all of us are paying him.

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See listing details in Seahorse Charters

Contact
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Bernard-Gallay
Phone : +33 (0)467 66 39 93
Mail : or

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Featured Brokerage
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A fast, pretty and successful Classic Day Racer, Belle, a Luders 24, Hull #2 is available after 34 years of current ownership. This thoroughbred has the coveted attributes of balance, ease through the water, and sheer good looks, together with “ahead of her time” construction, in top condition, make the phrase “Rare Opportunity” highly applicable here.

With a winning record of over 60 trophies; BELLE, a genuine CRFVintage class, is race-ready and in excellent cosmetic and structural condition. Laminated mahogany, hot molded and vacuum bagged, 38ft hull construction by Allied Aviation and finished at the renown Luders Marine Construction, CT (1944). Her 1991-1992 major refit included a cold molded underbody. Professionally and lovingly maintained, re-rigged, annually upgraded and inside stored.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

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lminewport.com/lmi-luders-24-belle.php

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2005 Imoca 60 MERCI. 390,000 EUR. Located in Toulon, France.

Built and launched by Artech do Brasil in June 2005, GALILEO, as she was known, was built for South American Walter Antunes.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Bernard Gallay Yacht Brokerage
+33 (0)467 66 39 93

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Exciting 45’ offshore sailing yacht that may change all of your sailing plans. Leading edge hull design meets refined interior design to raise the bar on cruising comfort and performance like no J before it.

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See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

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The Last Word
The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- Albert Einstein

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