In This Issue
• Disaster At Start Of Leg 7 Of The Ocean Race
• Line Honours in the Rolex Giraglia 70
• SailGP Season 4
• Moth World Championship - Day 4
• ORC Sportboat European Championship
• Last finisher in Golden Globe Race 2022
• Sailing World on Water June 16.23
• Ultims join Rolex Fastnet Race fleet
• Rolex Middle Sea Race
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Balance 620
• • Elan 450
• • RM 1070+
• The Last Word: The Iron Sheik

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

Disaster At Start Of Leg 7 Of The Ocean Race
Click on image to enlarge.

The Hague, The Netherlands: At 18:32 local [16:32 UTC], just 17 minutes into the start of the final leg of The Ocean Race 2022-23 and during the short, inshore race course, 11th Hour Racing Team's 60-foot race boat was hit by competitor Guyot environnement - Team Europe on its port side, leaving a large hole in the aft section of the boat.

All crew are safe, and there were no injuries on either boat. The team dropped their mainsail and returned to the harbor in The Hague to assess the damage.

A devastated Skipper, Charlie Enright (USA), speaking on the dock, said, "We did our best to avoid it, and I don't want to speculate on what was going on on their side of the fence. We protested them as a result, and the Umpires dealt with the Racing Rules of Sailing on the water, and Guyot were black flagged.

"All of that aside, those are the small details. The most important thing is that everyone on their boat and our boat are ok. Where we go from here is uncertain at this stage. It's life, it's racing. There is nothing we would have done differently, and accidents happen.

The team has two workstreams: one is looking at the extent of the damage, and the team is speaking with the boat's designers and engineers to make a full assessment. And in parallel, the other workstream is looking at the rules and redress.

For this final leg to Genoa, Italy, Skipper Charlie Enright (USA), has returned to the crew he started this mammoth race with back in January 2023. Simon Fisher (GBR) as the Navigator, Jack Bouttell (AUS/GBR) and Francesca Clapcich (ITA) as Trimmers, and Amory Ross (USA) is back onboard as the team's Media Crew Member.

After a hat-trick of back-to-back leg wins, 11th Hour Racing Team is currently sitting at the top of the overall leaderboard, by two points over Team Holcim-PRB, and six points over Team Malizia. The team were setting off on Leg 7 of The Ocean Race 2022-23, destination, Genoa, Italy, with an ETA of June 25.

theoceanrace.com

Peter Harburg's Australian 100-footer takes Line Honours in the Rolex Giraglia 70
Photo by Carlo Borlenghi, carloborlenghi.com. Click on image to enlarge.

The 100-footer (which set the race record in 2012 as Esimit Europa 2), crossed the finish line in Genoa at 11:33:16 after 26h30m16s of racing. It was an impeccable regatta for the big maxi which led the fleet all the way back from the Giraglia to Genoa and so won the Rolex Trophy for the first in real-time to cross the finish. On board Black Jack was a crew of stars including Adam Beashel, Scott Beavis, Simon Daubney and many others… More than a crew, a Hall of Fame of Olympic winners, America's Cup sailors and legends of the Ocean Race.

We will have to wait until the rest of the fleet arrives to see the winner of the Rolex Giraglia 70, which is awarded to the best in corrected time of the most numerous class (IRC).

The key moment of a Rolex Giraglia which proved a long upwind fight was the rounding of the islet: "We came to a halt there just after midnight," said German helmsman and expert Jochen Schumann on Magic Carpet 3, "There we lost our lead and saw Black Jack pull away in the night thanks to a puff of air it found. It was there that it took the lead it maintained as far as Genoa. We were stuck for about an hour with a dozen boats in the same state, so close that sometimes I worried we would bump into each other."

With the first group of 31 maxis in group 0 arriving today, from tonight the smaller yachts currently between Corsica and Genoa will start arriving for the last leg of the 90 miles of the Rolex Giraglia 2023.

rolexgiraglia.com

Largest-ever SailGP fleet ready for record SailGP Season 4
Chicago, Illinois, USA: With SailGP's Season 4 opening event taking place in less than 24 hours, 10 national teams are poised for battle on the stunning waters of Lake Michigan for the Rolex United States Sail Grand Prix at Navy Pier in Chicago. With official practice racing called off due to weather teams will have to hit the ground running for tomorrow's first race day of the season.

It's been six weeks since the Mubadala Season 3 Grand Final in San Francisco which saw the Australia SailGP Team defend its title for the second time. The Germany SailGP Team entered the league soon after Tom Slingsby lifted the trophy for the Aussies, with the newcomers led by double Olympic sailing bronze medallist Erik Heil. The announcement of Germany joining the league has been heightened by the fact the team is backed by four-time F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel and leading businessman Thomas Riedel.

With the announcement of four US host cities added to the line up this season, including Los Angeles and New York, expectations for US SailGP team driver, Jimmy Spithill, are higher than ever. The team has spent the last six weeks analyzing the data and insights from last season to bring their best to this opening event .

The season commences at 4 p.m. local time tomorrow and can be seen on CBS Sports in the United States and streamed live on YouTube. For all the details on how to watch around the globe, visit SailGP.com/watch.

Day One Racing: Friday, June 16, 4-5.30 p.m. Central Daylight Time
Day Two Racing: Saturday, June 17, 4-5.30 p.m. Central Daylight Time

sailgp.com

Wetsuit Outlet and Zhik International Moth World Championship - Day 4
After a short delay ashore, the fleet were released on to the water around 8.15am, when it felt like a breeze was beginning to build. Alas it was not to be.

Even in moments of severe strain, Principal Race Officer David Campbell-James has managed to keep a semblance of a sense of humour; when his mark laying team reported there was no wind at the windward end of the course, quick as a flash he asked which direction it was from.

There is of course frustration at the situation, but also pragmatism amongst the sailors and an understanding that the organisers are doing all they can to run racing. However, when the majority of Portland Harbour is a mirror all day, and when breeze does come in it's from two directions at once, there's simply no way to hold fair world championship racing.

When racing was cancelled for the day, we spoke to Jason Belben, Mike Lennon, Ricky Tagg, Simon Payne, Les Thorpe and Hiroki Goto about the past, present and future of the class. The 'elder statesmen' shared their knowledge and gave some hugely valuable insights in this must-watch Q&A.

sail-world.com

ORC Sportboat European Championship
Kalamaki, Athens, Greece: The Nautical Club of Kalamaki (NCK) is proud to host the 2023 ORC Sportboat European Championship, held from September 25 to October 1, 2023, as well as the Open Greek National ORC Sportboat Cup, which will take place from September 22 to September 24, 2023.

NCK was established in 1947 by people who love the sea and all water sports. Over this long continuous history of 76 years of activity and enthusiasm for sporting life on Greece's famous sea coast, NCK has been proudly producing Olympic sailing champions, World sailing champions, winners of numerous Balkan competitions, and Greek championship winners.

There is solid preliminary interest in the event, with several teams already registered from GRE, TUR and UKR.   For more information visit the event webpage at orcsportboat2023.eu as well as the Club's webpage at nok.com.gr

Last finisher in Golden Globe Race 2022
Prize giving celebration Les Sables d'Olonne Saturday 24th June
It's all over! Once again, the third edition of the Golden Globe Race has delivered an incredibly spectacular human adventure that no one could ever have imagined when the 16 sailors set out from Les Sables d'Olonne on Sept 4th last year. Armed only with sextant, paper charts, radios and their own determination to follow a dream, they faced fear, incredible deprivations and hardships completely alone. Just three completed the challenge. Once again, sailors and non-sailors around the world followed every minute of this extraordinary event.

Jeremy Bagshaw in Chichester class officially closed the GGR when he moored Olleanna on the GGR dock after 277 days at sea! It was an excruciating finish for him, following 24 days of headwinds with a broken forestay. When 400 metres from the finish, he was becalmed and the current took him back to sea. He crossed the line 6 hours later with no food, or water. He was welcomed on the water by fellow GGR competitors Mark Sinclair (AUS), Simon Curwen (GBR) and Arnaud Gaist (FRA) and many people of Les Sables in the Channel.

The city of Les Sables d'Olonne, the world's Capital of solo sailing, and the GGR Race Office are gearing up for the upcoming Prize Giving Ceremony on Saturday 24th of June. That same week-end, Les Sables d'Olonne, home of the Golden Globe Race is hosting the Enjoy Ocean Festival dedicated to the promotion of water sports, a unique opportunity to get into discovery initiation and cultural activities linked to water sports for free at three sites across the city : the sea base, Port Olona and Lac de Tanchet on June 23 and 24. The GGR will have Stands at the Base de Mer and Port Olonna by the Vendee globe dock to meet the GGR family and members of the public on the 24 and 25 of June

Saturday, June 24, is the official closing date for the Golden Globe Race 2022 with a full festive programme.

goldengloberace.com

Sailing World on Water June 16.23
An international fleet of 155 yachts are contesting the 2023 edition of the Rolex Giraglia, a renowned and historic contest first held in 1953. Following the start from Saint-Tropez, France, ahead of the fleet is a shortened version of the traditional course, measuring approximately 215-nautical miles (398 kilometres) to Genoa, Italy, via La Giraglia, a rocky islet off northern Corsica.

Winner of the Bol d'Or Mirabaud, Christian Wahl has definitively conquered the Bol d'Or Challenge, awarded to the skipper who wins three editions of the race in five years. Wahl is the fourth owner to win this prestigious Challenge over the history of the race. Here we join the regatta with the crew of Spindrift Yann and Dona.

The 54th CISM World Military Sailing Championship took place in Faliro Bay of Piraeus, with the participation of 9 countries, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Spain, France, Italy, Poland, Ukraine and Greece. The end of the games found the Brazilian team winner at first place, Greece at second place and Italy at third.

This is the weekly Global Sailing highlights show, the World on Water, June 16. 2023.

boatsontv.com

World's fastest offshore racing yachts join Rolex Fastnet Race fleet
The Ultim trimarans are set to become especially newsworthy over the next months with the first ever race for five of these extreme 32m long by 23m wide flying trimarans, around the world, non-stop, singlehanded, setting sail from Brest, France on 7 January next year.

Before then two of the main contenders will be leading the charge on the rather shorter 695 mile Rolex Fastnet Race, which sets sail from Cowes on 22 July. SVR-Lazartigue and Banque Populaire XI are skippered by two titans of offshore racing, Francois Gabart and Armel le Cleac'h respectively. Both are Vendee Globe winners (Gabart 2012, le Cleac'h 2016). Le Cleac'h is part of the exclusive club of triple winners of La Solitaire du Figaro (the unofficial world championship of solo offshore racing). He has been racing Ultims since 2013, this being his second boat. Similarly, Gabart joined the Ultim class in 2015 winning many events with his MACIF trimaran, culminating in his record for sailing singlehanded non-stop around the world of just 42d 16h 40m 35s, incredibly just under two days shy of the fully crewed record.

Gabart has competed in the Rolex Fastnet Race twice before, winning on his IMOCA MACIF in 2013 and then, in 2019, leading into the Plymouth finish line aboard his Ultim trimaran, only to be pipped at the post by Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, finishing less than one minute astern. "That was a little disappointing," Gabart admits.

François Gabart will be joined by co-skipper Tom Laperche on SVR-Lazartigue. Laperche will skipper their Ultim in January's solo non-stop round the world race © Guillaume Gatefait

For Le Cleac'h this will be his fourth Rolex Fastnet Race having competed in it twice on his IMOCA and once before on his previous Banque Populaire Ultim.

The 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race will have the greatest line-up of French multihulls gathered outside of France. -- James Boyd/RORC

rolexfastnetrace.com

Registration Open for the Rolex Middle Sea Race
The Royal Malta Yacht Club (RMYC) is pleased to confirm that the Notice of Race for 44th Rolex Middle Sea Race is available online and yachts may already register their participation. Last year's race attracted 118 yachts, another exceptional achievement for a race that aways draws an impressively international fleet. The RMYC is looking to attract another varied participation and to challenge the record number of entries, 130, set in 2018. The 2023 race is scheduled to start on Saturday, 21 October from Grand Harbour, Malta.

Always seeking to build on the previous year, the RMYC is excited to announce it is employing a new registration system, which forms part of an updated race management backend suite geared to improving the experience of owners, crew, fans, media and the race team itself.

Several crews have already indicated their intention to compete, including both familiar names and some less well-known, in the context of the 606nm Rolex Middle Sea Race. One of two headline boats is the Stephane Neve skippered Wally 107, Spirit of Malouen, racing as Paprec Sailing Team and representing France. The Judel/Vrolijk designed yacht (ex. Open Season, ex.Hamilton), built by Green Marine and will be the second Wally yacht to take on the Mediterranean's most challenging offshore race following the successful participation of Bullitt last year. Despite her formidable 32.55 metre / 107 foot length, the record for the largest yacht remains with the 43m / 140ft Skorpios. Neve previously took part in the race in 2021 with a TP52 finishing a day behind the first monohull home, Comanche, which set a new course record.

Another newcomer is Pyewacket 70 from the United States. The Pyewacket name was first made famous in the yachting world through the series of boats owned by the avid ocean racer Roy E. Disney, a nephew of Walt Disney and who passed away in 2009. His son, Roy P. Disney, is a hugely experienced offshore racer in his own right and continues the Pyewacket legacy with this latest iteration. Originally designed by Juan K and launched in 2011, Pyewacket 70 (ex. Black Jack, ex. Telefonica), is a modified Volvo 70, sporting a taller rig and deeper, lighter keel. Overall and Line Honours winner at the 2023 RORC Caribbean 600, the Pyewacket team's next challenge begins on 1 July at the 2023 Transpac. Despite some well-founded attempts, no Volvo 70 (modified or not) has won the Rolex Middle Sea Race on handicap. I Love Poland did, of course, take line honours in 2020.

The 44th edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race will start on Saturday, 21 October 2023.

rolexmiddlesearace.com

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The Last Word
Take a minute of your day to be nice to someone you dumb son of a bitch -- The Iron Sheik

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