In This Issue
• The Ocean Race fleets are easing their way south
• Racing In The Nations Trophy
• What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
• Boudicca Wins Line Honors in Marion Bermuda
• All set for RORC IRC Nationals
• Round Iceland Challenge Part 2
• Michal Strumnik wins Kieler Woche in OK Dinghies
• Launchings
• Eight bells for sailing icon, Piet Vroon
• Featured Charter: CRUSADE - 64' Classic Yacht
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Wallynano 37
• • J Boats J/121
• • YYachts Y7
• The Last Word: Jon Stewart

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

The Ocean Race fleets are easing their way south
Nobody will be breaking any records on Tuesday in The Ocean Race.

Light winds mean speeds are still modest for both IMOCA and VO65 fleets as they slide down to the south along the west coast of the Iberian peninsula.

In the VO65 fleet, it's WindWhisper Racing Team who have done some very good work to maintain a lead of nearly 60 miles over the next four boats, all of whom are grouped together in a chasing pack separated by less than 20 miles.

The forecast is for the generally light conditions to continue although from a favourable north-northwesterly direction until the boats are through the Strait of Gibraltar on Thursday.

And on Wednesday, the first boat is expected pass the Vasco da Gama Mirpuri Foundation latitude (37-degrees north), earning a prize that will be awarded to the team's navigator in Genova.

Race Tracker

theoceanrace.com

Racing In The Nations Trophy - Swan One Design Set To Start Wednesday
A practice race and welcome cocktail on the terrace of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda kicked off The Nations Trophy - Swan One Design today, a regatta organised by the YCCS in association with ClubSwan Racing and reserved for Nautor's one-design classes the ClubSwan 50, ClubSwan 42 and ClubSwan 36. Racing will take place from 21st to 24th June, when The Nations Trophy will conclude with the prize giving ceremony in Piazza Azzurra.

A total of 29 yachts with sailors representing 24 nations will be competing, with fleets racing separately in the three one-design classes. This is a biennial event and a highlight for the ClubSwan fleets, as The Nations Trophy will be awarded to the country with the best overall result from its top two representatives. The score from this event will also be valid for the 2023 season of The Nations League circuit. Prizes will also be awarded for first to third place in each individual class.

ClubSwan Racing regattas have an owner-driver rule, and crews that can include professional sailors such as Robert Scheidt from Brazil, winner of five Olympic medals and 12 world championships in the Laser (now ILCA 7) and Star classes, tactician on Hendrik Brandis' ClubSwan 50 Earlybird, or Canada's Ross MacDonald, a veteran Whitbread Round the World Race sailor (now The Ocean Race) and winner of two Olympic medals in the Star class, tactician on Haakon Lorentzen's ClubSwan 36 Mamao. Well-known Italian sailors competing include Vasco Vascotto on Giovanni Lombardi's ClubSwan 50 Django, Michele Paoletti on Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio's ClubSwan 36 G Spot, and Enrico Zennaro on Andrea Rossi's ClubSwan 42 Mela, to name but a few. Naturally, Nautor Swan's president, Leonardo Ferragamo, will be taking part with his ClubSwan 50 Cuordileone, assisted on tactics by Manu Weiller and with ClubSwan Racing's CEO, Federico Michetti, in the role of trimmer.

Up to 8 races are scheduled, mainly windward-leewards, but with the possibility of a coastal race - scored as a single race - at the discretion of the Race Committee. The first starting signal is set for 12.00 noon each day.

yccs.it

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

Hit them with a feather
Blue Robinson finally tracks down John Winning - the giant of Australian sailing who does it all while trying his best to go unnoticed

Nailing it - Part I
The media and sporting success of his second Golden Globe Race has brought Don Macintyre out of the shadows and shoved him firmly into the light. At last... Dan Houston

A view to the future
HH Catamarans has embraced a philosophy of ‘future-proofing’ its luxury multihulls with a wide range of cutting-edge technologies

Optimised for peak efficiency
Southern Wind’s new 100X is both a return to their roots and a step forward into the future with a strong focus on efficiency… in every sense of the word

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Richard Moody's Boudicca Wins Line Honors in 2023 Marion Bermuda Race
Click on image to enlarge.

In the early morning light on Monday, Richard Moody's Boudicca crossed the Marion Bermuda Race finish line off of St. David's Lighthouse, having sailed a total of 705 miles in just 2 days, 17 hours, 26 minutes, 27 seconds.

This incredible performance beats the previous record, set in 2011 by the 76-foot Briand Sloop Lilla, owned by Simon and Nancy DiPietro, which was 2 days, 20 hours, 58 minutes, 45 seconds.

marionbermuda.com

All set for RORC IRC Nationals
The Royal Ocean Racing Club IRC National Championships is all set this weekend for three days of multiple short course racing in the Solent. Four individual UK IRC Class champions, as well as the Overall UK IRC Champion will be awarded at the Prize Giving held at the RORC Cowes Clubhouse on Sunday 25th June. The RORC IRC National Championships was first held in 1999 and in over two decades of competition the overall win has been achieved by a huge variety of boats.

IRC One
Four high performance boats of totally different designs will be racing in the big boat IRC Class. Tony Langley's TP52 Gladiator won IRC One in 2019 and was runner-up in 2020. Gladiator returns to RORC Racing as the scratch IRC boat for the Championships. A debutant boat for the Championship and to inshore racing will be RORC Commodore James Neville with his newly launched Carkeek 45 Ino Noir. Ian Atkins' GP42 Dark 'N' Stormy was runner-up last year and will provide formidable competition. A young Dutch team led by Gerd-Jan Poortman will be racing Ker 46 ROST Van Uden, which will be looking to improve on third in last year's championship. ROST Van Uden, like Ino Noir, will also be sharpening their skills for the Rolex Fastnet Race next month.

IRC Two
Ten teams, including six Cape 31s will be racing under IRC in the biggest class of the Championship. Two on-form downwind flyers are James Howells' Cowes-based Gelert, winner of three races at the RORC Vice Admiral's Cup, and American owner/driver Sandra Askew's Flying Jenny. Rob Bottomley's Mat 12 Sailplane 3, skippered by Nick Jones should be the fastest in the class upwind. Entries in IRC Two include Johnathan Blanshard's Ker 36 Skermisher, Sture Wikman's MC31 Vitres and Rupert Morgan's X-40 Xinska.

IRC Three
Adam Gosling's JPK 1080 Yes! is the scratch boat for the class. Statistically, Gosling is the most successful skipper in the history of the event, having won class five times in various boats, all called Yes! (2009, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2021). Yes! has the unusual distinction of a tie for the overall win in 2016 and last year came within 0.005 of a point of winning overall, so this year's regatta can be deemed unfinished business for the Cowes-based team. Top competition within the class includes Howell & Newell's A35 Arcus, 2020 overall IRC National Champion, and John Smart's J/109 Jukebox, class runner up last year.

IRC Four
Giovanni Belgrano's one-off 1939 classic Whooper will be hoping to emulate their overall win in 2017. Whooper is not the only classic at this year's IRC National Championship, David Murrin's 1955 sloop Cetaweyo is also from the design board of Laurent Giles. Simon Clifton's A31 Aztec from the West Mersea YC will be in the mix, as will two Corby 29s; David Mallett's Touchpaper and the RN Sailing Association's Cutlass, skippered by Henry Wilson. Chris Baldwin's Sun Fast 3200 Hair of the Dog is back racing after tenaciously completing the light airs Morgan Cup Race to Dartmouth last weekend. John Allen's X-302 Antix is a multiple IRC regional champion and has the lowest IRC Rating of the regatta. -- Louay Habib

rorc.org

Round Iceland Challenge Part 2
Day 35 of AJ Wanderlust's Around Iceland Challenge Race. Wind shifts, rainbows and towering cumulous clouds dominated today.

Thus far, AJ Wanderlust has sailed 3500 nautical miles in our Around Iceland Challenge. The rhumbline course (Plymouth start to Plymouth finish) would be 2753 nautical miles. Our diversion to the Faroe Islands due to storm force winds account for 500 miles of this total. The remainder is due to tacking and gybing angles based on wind direction. By the time AJ Wanderlust sails into Plymouth for the finish of the Iceland Challenge, we expect to have roughly 4000 miles under the keel.

The clouds today have been spectacular. Huge, towering cumulous clouds have dominated the landscape. Usually these would be associated with thundery showers and squally rain conditions. We have only had one rain squall and no thunder or lightening. We have experienced frequent 90-degree wind shifts, and thus there has been alot of tacking. Each wind shift comes with a slight increase in wind, and then a wind holds afterwards. Thus speeds throughout the day have varied greatly.

While AJ Wanderlust has not had much rain to wash her decks, there have been rainbows all around us today. Always a lovely sight.

A significant change today is activity on the VHF radio. While most of the transmissions we are picking up are from the Coast Guard (via repeater stations) and involve regular marine safety weather updates, hearing the VHF crackle to life is a sure sign we have left more remote sailing waters and are approaching civilization. AJ Wanderlust has also heard jet planes overhead today, so we seem to be under the flight path to America.

We expect AJ Wanderlust to cross the club Finish line at QAB Marina on or around Thursday 22nd evening and hope to have a great reception for them as they step ashore in Plymouth.

facebook.com/RWYCrir

Live tracker updates - follow the tracker link at the bottom of the page.

Michal Strumnik wins Kieler Woche in OK Dinghies
Michal Strumnik, from Poland, has won the OK Dinghy class at Kieler Woche from Denmark's Thomas Gabs and Germany's Sonke Behrens after three more races were sailed on Tuesday.

After three days of very light and tricky winds, Kiel saved the best to last with three tight races in 7-10 knots, though in early morning the forde was glassy calm and the forecasts none too promising.

Wearing the yellow jersey all day after his win on Monday, Strumnik was straight back into it with a clear win in the first race of the day after taking the left side on the first beat. Denmark's Jørgen Holm rounded second and maintained that to the finish with Sweden's Lars Bergfeldt in third.

It has been a frustrating week in Kiel with light winds and long delays, but as usual those who made the effort enjoyed the atmosphere and the after-race beer and sandwiches in the boat park.

Many sailors are now making the trek to Lyme Regis in the UK where the Ovington an Pro-Set Resins World Championship begins on Friday.

Final top ten results after six races:
1. Michal Strumnik, POL, 17.0
2. Thomas Gabs, DEN, 25.0
3. Sonke Behrens, GER, 37.0
4. Laban Soren, SWE, 38.0
5. Greg Wilcox, NZL, 39.0
6. Lars Bergfeldt, SWE, 41.0
7. Oliver Gronholz, GER, 44.0
8. Hakan Soderberg, SWE, 44.0
9. Mads Hansen, DEN, 47.0
10. Jorgen Holm, DEN, 47.0

Full results

okdia.org

Launchings
Click on images to enlarge.

The world debut of the Grand Soleil 72, Long Cruise version, is almost upon us.

The flagship of the Grand Soleil fleet, recently launched in Pesaro, is ready for the last leg of the journey, the most important for the people who have invested in an ambitious project: the world première at the Cannes Yachting Festival 2023, from 12 to 17 September.

The Grand Soleil 72 Long Cruise, like her twin in the Performance version, launched on the market last year, is a project curated by Cantiere del Pardo in collaboration with Franco Corazza, the project manager for the entire Grand Soleil range over 60 feet. At his side is a team of great professionals from the sailing world, such as Matteo Polli, Marco Lostuzzi and the Milanese studio Nauta Design. Together, they have created a model designed for owners who appreciate a made-to-measure approach and who love to live their adventures in comfort, safety and autonomy, while being highly considerate of the marine environment.

grandsoleil.net/model/gs-72/

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You get used to hearing about people's passion for the ocean, for sailing and for boats when you talk to IMOCA skippers, but Eric Bellion still stands out - a guy who radiates positive energy for his chosen vocation.

Right now the Versailles-born 47-year-old is on cloud nine, as he celebrates the launch of his new IMOCA, Stand as One, a boat for the Vendée Globe that presents a fascinating - even revolutionary - alternative to the current vogue for foiling.

The first IMOCA hull designed by the French naval architect David Raison, who developed scow bows in the Mini class, Stand As One has similar hull features to the latest IMOCAs, but it has no foils and will sail with daggerboards.

In a concept driven by the thinking of Jean le Cam, the idea has been to focus on what is really required to be competitive in the Vendée Globe - a race that will inevitably see considerable upwind and light-air work, as well as heavy-air reaching and downwind sailing.

Bellion's new boat is not only about daggerboards as against foils, it is also about Le Cam, Bellion and team manager Marie Lattanzio's vision of creating a two-boat team. Stand As One, which was built at the Persico yard in Italy, will be followed by the launch of an identical sistership for Le Cam in September, making this the first two-boat team in IMOCA featuring identical hulls and appendages. (Up to two more boats may be added to the stable in the build-up to the 2028 Vendée Globe).

Stands As One's first race - when Bellion will be joined by Martin Le Pape, his co-skipper for the season including the Transat Jacques Vabre - will be the 605-mile Rolex Fastnet Race, which starts from Cowes on July 22nd. -- Ed Gorman

imoca.org

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One of the newly-launched hot favourites for the Royal Ocean Racing Club's (RORC) 50th Rolex Fastnet Race in July, Ino Noir, had its boat christening ceremony at RORC. The liquid crimson 45ft monohull will catch the eye on the race circuit. Ino Noir bears all the hallmarks of its creators; Shaun Carkeek's signature lines and all-round speed, the performance, style and colours of James Neville, the owner and commodore of RORC, and the attention to detail and finish of the builder Jason Carrington. Neville will be able to seamlessly move from land to sea now with Ino Noir carefully colour-matched to his Aston Martin DB11 AMR.

Neville intends Ino Noir to build on the success of his slightly shorter HH42, Ino XXX, which was second in the IRC Overall in the 2021 Fastnet Race. Although as Commodore of RORC he would dearly love to win the 50th edition of the biennial 690-mile Fastnet Race, the boat has been created to compete in a growing number of 600-mile offshore race circuits and the liquid crimson finish shows that they will not be shrinking violets.

Boat Specifications

LOA: 13.7 metres
Displacement: 5.0 tonnes
Draft: 3.3m
Beam: 4.3m
WaterBallast: 480kg
Rating: 1.335
Sail Area: Main 80m², Jib 55m², Kite 230m2
Stern section shape: Chined for offshore
Bow: Raised profile for skimming-slightly fuller vs Ran
Stern: Overhang for offshore
Mid-section: Topside shape fullness for max RM at 23 degrees heel
Waterline Beam: Optimized for all-round performance

carkeekdesignpartners.com

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Today marks the launch at the Boatbuilding Technology Centre, the House of Swan in Pietarsaari, of the Swan 108, the first unit of the new generation of Maxi Swan. This is the first model of the new Maxi Swan era, and sees the cooperation of German Frers for Naval Architecture, Misa Poggi for Interior Design and Lucio Micheletti, Micheletti + Partners, for exterior styling.

Built with full carbon hull and deck in epoxy Sprint technology from carbon moulds, the S/Y will be registered with Rina charter classification.

One of the most important innovations is the new dual-acting transom door. This simple yet robustly engineered mechanism, is a major "small" revolution. The stern opens along with part of the aft deck to give the customer an over-sized beach club.

This solution allows to double the space available for this important area of the boat, as well as making the tender management far easier. The beach area does not compromise interior volumes.

On deck, the coamings widen in the aft part of the cockpit, allowing a further outboard position for the steering stations while still maintaining good helm protection. The extra-large main companionway provides an incredible light-well for the interior.

The maxi yacht will make her worldwide début at Monaco Yacht Show, from September 27th-30th where the team at Nautor will be delighted to showcase her to guests.

nautorswan.com

Eight bells for sailing icon, Piet Vroon
The sailing world mourns the loss of an icon. Piet Vroon, respected sailor and known from the Vroon shipping company, has passed away at the age of 93. Vroon, an avid sailor and successful businessman, was best known for his series of impressive sailing yachts.

Throughout his life Vroon made a series of considerable sailing achievements. His yachts, all named Tonnerre, were very famous in the sailing world and have won numerous regattas and races on the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) race circuit. Vroon himself was known for his determination and passion, both on the water and in the boardroom.

Vroon remained an avid sailor to the very end. He is remembered for his dedication to sailing, his love for Breskens and his significant contribution to the shipping industry.

a flurry of reactions, expressions of sympathy and condolences has been seen on ClubRacer's Facebook page . It is clear that Piet's passion for sailing and his contributions to the sailing world will be deeply missed.

clubracer.be

Featured Charter
CRUSADE - 64' Classic Yacht

Charter 64' Classic Yacht CRUSADE and race at Cowes Week 2023

CRUSADE is one of the largest, most beautiful and most famous yachts available for charter at Cowes Week 2023.

Built in cold moulded wood on the Isle of Wight in 1969, her victory in that year’s Sydney Hobart race ensured her legendary status, and to this day she continues to be a head-turning talking point where-ever she goes.

With a brand new carbon rig and a suit of equally new North race sails, CRUSADE is enjoying a new, high performance lease of life.

See listing details in Seahorse Charters

Contact
Nick on + 44 (0) 7860 152703

See the the Seahorse charter collection

Featured Brokerage
2009 Wallynano 37. 259000 EUR. Located in Palma de Mallorca.

Without a doubt one of the most graceful yet exhilarating sailing yachts on the planet. Luca Bassani and Hoek Design collaboration in full carbon construction, she has the quality to match her looks and pace. NIJI is a very special yacht with the benefit of extensive recent refit and upgrades.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Vittorio Papa - Grabau International (Palma)
Tel +34 634 339009
Email:

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2020 J Boats J/121. 425,000 USD. Located in Mamaroneck, New York.

Fully equipped Racer/Cruiser in pristine condition. Meticulously maintained and boasts exceptional race record.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact

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YYACHTS Y7. POA EUR.

The Y7 was created in collaboration with US designer Bill Tripp, considered one of the world's best naval architects. Our goal was to combine comfortable sailing performance with competitive sailing performance, even on the regatta course.

In conditions where other yachts still use their engines, the sails are already set on the Y7. A displacement of only 29 tons and almost 300 square meters of sail area at wind make move the yacht even in light winds; Y7 owners don't have to worry about the perfect weather all the time.

All halyards, sheets and stretchers run hidden to the steering columns - so the helmsman can operate the Y7 alone at any time. This is not a matter of course for a 70-foot yacht and allows the owner to sail with a very small crew or even on his own.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
T. +49 3834 5858 77-0
E.
www.yyachts.de/en/y7

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

The Last Word
Megachurches. I can't be the only one frightened when our houses of worship sound like they could take on Godzilla. -- Jon Stewart

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