EuroSail News #5368 - 7 July
In This Issue
• First Finishers in Transpac
• Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta
• A view to the future - HH Catamarans
• Fastnet IRC Two Preview
• Gladiator's perfect double bullet day
• 2023 Women's Match Racing World Championship
• World Yachting Sustainability Forum - Genoa
• French America's Cup Challenger sailing squad
• Sailing World on Water
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Corby 37 - "Aurora"
• • J Boats J/121
• • New Verdier Class40 No192
• The Last Word: George R.R. Martin
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
First Finishers in Transpac
Honolulu, Hawaii: This morning at 02:48 Hawaii Standard Time Justin Shaffer's MOD70 Orion crossed the finish line at Diamond Head as the first finisher in the 2023 Transpac. Their elapsed time of 4 days 17 hours 48 minutes fell short of breaking the multihull course record of 4D 6H 32M set by H.L. Enloe's ORMA 60 Mighty Merloe in 2017, but impressive nonetheless considering the slow start last week's Saturday starters encountered while getting off the California coast. Among both Multihulls and Monohulls this is nonetheless the 6th fastest elapsed time in the entire history of the race, first sailed in 1906.
Maserati Multi 70 skippered by Giovanni Soldini was about 200 miles astern, with this team from Italy finishing at 08:55 HST for an elapsed time of 4D 23H 55M, the 8th fastest time in Transpac history.
Both teams followed a strategy common to this year's fleet: a North Pacific high pressure centered well north of its usual position allowed teams to closely follow the rhumb line for most of the race, thereby minimizing the distance to Hawaii. Only in the last few days on the west side of the racecourse do the 15-20 knot breezes shift more to the east from the northeast, prompting teams to sail north of the rhumb line on starboard tack to stay in the best wind velocity before gybing to port to make their final approaches to Hawaii.
With the multihulls finished, the question now becomes: who will be the first monohull to cross the finish line?
Bill McKinley's Ker 46+ DENALI3 is a strong contender for this honor. With 485 miles to go at 0700 PDT today and at boat speeds of 11-12 knots, this fast carbon race boat and it's Michigan-based team who started a week ago in Ocean Navigator Division 4 will soon pass the three leading cruiser/racer teams of Tuesday starters in Boatswains Locker Division 7 who are sailing at a 2-3 knot slower pace. If DENALI3 continues at the current rate she could be at Diamond Head in about 40 hours, at or before dawn on Saturday.
Strong Winds Cancel Most Races on the First Day of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023
The J109 'Blast on Chimaera' crew return to harbour when strong winds cancelled the first races of Ireland's biggest sailing event at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta on Dublin Bay Photo: Bob Bateman. Click on image to enlarge.
Dublin Bay, Ireland: The first day of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta saw the cancellation of nearly all racing due to strong winds.
Five of the six courses at Ireland's largest sailing event were cancelled as the southerly breeze on Dublin Bay reached 38 knots.
Although around 400 boats and 2,000 sailors went to sea, the organisers had to cancel racing due to the gale force winds before the first warning signals.
Only the Flying Fifteens and Beneteau 211s one-design yachts managed to complete the first race out of the 22 competing classes. However, even on the more sheltered Salthill Race area in the northwest of the bay, both fleets were significantly reduced in number, and one of the 211s was dismasted.
The strong winds are expected to continue until Saturday, and the regatta will continue until Sunday. The Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, National Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club, and Royal St. George Yacht Club are organizing the ninth Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta.
A view to the future - HH Catamarans
HH Catamarans has embraced a philosophy of 'future-proofing' its luxury multihulls with a wide range of cutting-edge technologies
It's rather common to make claims in the marine industry about how certain new products are "bold" or "innovative" or "cutting edge" for their clever new approach to design, fabrication and/or function. And these claims are often not untrue, with technology moved forward another incremental step towards us being able to sail into the future faster, smarter and safer. At HH Catamarans they're not content with these adjectives: they prefer to use the term "disruptive" to describe what they do, and their approach to design and fabrication in their new performance luxury catamarans as "future-proofing."
Some dictionaries define this rather techy-sounding term as the process of making a product or system unlikely to become obsolete or fail in the future, certainly a laudable goal when considering the high pace of technological progress and the considerable investment made to own boats in this sector.
Full article in the July issue of Seahorse
Fastnet IRC Two Preview: Classics, Doubles and Round the World Adventurers
Expect the doublehanders to have a big say in the outcome of IRC Two. There are some powerful duos ready to show what they can do across 695 miles of race track.
There will also be some major 'races within a race' taking place in the IRC Two fleet, including: seven JPK 1080s, 12 JPK1030s, 15 Sun Fast 3600s and a whopping 22 Sun Fast 3300s. There are also nine J/Boats of various sizes and speeds. One of those is Ajeto!, a J122e which the Dutch doublehanded team of Robin Verhoef and John van der Starre sailed to great effect in the North Sea Race in May, winning IRC Overall.
For sheer consistency and such commitment to RORC competition, a strong contender in IRC 2 will be Ross Applebey's Scarlet Oyster, whose family has been campaigning their Oyster Lightwave 48 continuously for 30 years. During this time they have racked up numerous race wins and class victories notably in the Rolex Fastnet Race and RORC Caribbean 600. Recent IRC 2 class successes include victory at the RORC Cervantes Trophy Race and a second place in the RORC Myth of Malham Race.
The British Armed Forces are fielding two boats in the Sun Fast 3600 fleet. The Royal Naval Sailing Association is entering a team in Yoyo, and the British Army is entering Fujitsu British Soldier, skippered by Major Henry Foster, a former Volvo Keelboat Squad member and regular on the yacht when she was known as Redshift. The team is competitive, winning the RORC Season's Points Championship in 2018 with their X-41. Now, with the Sun Fast 3600, the team have achieved solid results and have started the season strongly with a second class win in the Cervantes Trophy Race. -- Andi Rice / RORC
Gladiator's perfect double bullet day
Photo by Max Ranchi, www.maxranchi.com. Click on image for photo gallery.
After a disappointing eighth and a ninth on the opening day of the Menorca 52 Super Series Royal Cup Wednesday, Tony Langley's GBR-flagged Gladiator bounced back with two good, solid race wins today. Harm Muller-Spreer's Platoon retain the overall regatta lead thanks to their second and fifth places today.
The northeasterly breeze dropped through the afternoon to make the second race especially testing, completed in an awkward leftover chop and light airs. Gladiator used the same strategy to win both races, tacking early to the right and sailing fast in clear air. They move up to fifth overall after four races, whilst Platoon – who have won both of the last two times the 52 Super Series have been in Mahon – lead overall by three points ahead of Andy Soriano's super consistent Alegre.
In the shifty breeze, circuit leaders Provezza sailed a good second run to steal a hard won second place, whilst Alpha Plus were unlucky to lose two boats on the finish line.
Racing continues Friday, Saturday Sunday with LIVE TV streaming on 52 Super Series TV.
Menorca 52 Super Series Royal Cup Provisional Standings After Four Races
1. Platoon (Ger), Harm Muller-Spreer, 1+3+2+5 = 11
2. Alegre (Gbr), Andy Soriano, 4+2+5+3 = 14
3. Sled (Usa), Takashi Okura, 5+1+4+4,5(Rdg) = 14.5
4. Provezza (Tur), Ergin Imre, 2+8+6+2 = 18
5. Gladiator (Gbr), Tony Langley, 8+9+1+1 = 19
6. Quantum Racing Powered By American Magic (Usa), Doug Devos, 6+6+3+6 = 21
7. Alpha+ (Hkg), Shawn And Tina Kang, 9+4+8+4 = 25
8. Paprec (Fra), Jean Luc Petithuguenin, 7+5+7+7 = 26
9. Vayu (Tha), Whitcraft Family, 3+7+9+10(Dnf)+3(Pen) = 32
2023 Women's Match Racing World Championship
Click on image to enlarge.
Middelfart, Denmark: Already littered with spectacular capsizes and impressive sailing, the 2023 Women's Match Racing World Championship proves that women are not afraid to go full throttle when they fight for the gold medal.
A few days ago, Dutch sailors did a spectacular nose-dive followed by a Chinese gybe. The images of the crash went viral within the sailing community.
Today, Swedish skipper Anna Östling, current number two on the match race world ranking list, is already making headlines after she crashed her boat in an aggressive move in the quarter-final against Meghan Thomson (NZL). A move that didn't go as planned.
- It was blowing a lot on the downwind, and I thought I had enough room to gybe behind Meghan. It was a mistake to gybe, but in the gybe, the tiller extension ended up in the mainsheet, so the boat suddenly spun around, and at that moment, I hurt my knee, tells skipper Anna Östling as she is waiting to be brought to the hospital in Kolding for a checkup by doctors.
The current world champion, Pauline Courtois (FRA), continues her impressive winning series, and still hasn't lost a match since a race since the end of May, and she sailed another flawless day again today.
World Yachting Sustainability Forum - Genoa
Click on image to enlarge.
Friday 30th June saw the next generation of consumers and the sustainable innovations driving the yachting industry's energy transition take centre stage during the first World Yachting Sustainability Forum, held in Genoa. The event was a world first, organised by International Boating Industry (IBI) and the Italian Marine Industry Association, with the support of McKinsey & Company.
Speakers included: Troy Baltic, Michael Harney, Jakob Fleischmann and Erik Dellborg representing McKinsey & Company, Stefano Pagani Isnardi (Italian Marine Industry Association), Eugenio Blasetti (Mercedes) Michele Francioni (MSC Cruises), Jeff Wasil (NMMA), Nicola Pomi (Volvo Penta), Carlo Iacovini (Energica), and event moderator Ed Slack (IBI).
Animating the keynotes and panel discussions were tomorrow's consumers and future solutions for sustainable yachting, despite the industry's minimal environmental impact and already considerable investments committed to technological solutions. As a particularly segmented industry, with boats stretching from 4 metres to triple digits, there can be no one-size-fits-all solution. There needs to be a much broader approach to sustainable fuelling, allowing not just for more electric recharging stations, but greater access to biofuels. The future of the industry must cater to everyone, from today's owners, who want to be able to use their boat for the next 10 to 20 years, to the growing demand of tomorrow's consumers, with the average owner predicted to fall into the 35-45 age bracket within the next decade, a generation that is keenly focused on technological and sustainable innovation.
This event and its key points will be picked up at the 63rd Genoa International Boat Show (21st – 26th September).
French America's Cup Challenger sailing squad is revealed
Orient Express Racing Team - the French Challenger for the 37th America's Cup - has reached another significant milestone en route to next year's showdown in Barcelona with the unveiling of the sailing squad.
Quentin Delapierre and Kevin Peponnet will be the helmsmen for both the AC40 Orient Express and AC75, with François Morvan, Matthieu Vandame and Jason Saunders the trimmers. Between them the quintet bring vast experience at an Olympic and international level, with their skills forged more recently in the intense heat of the SailGP racing circuit.
At the same time the squad of 'cyclors' - the literal powerhouse who provide the energy needed to operate the AC75's controls - were named as Germain Chardin, Maxime Guyon, Olivier Herlédant, Tim Lapauw, Antoine Nougarede, and brothers Rémi and Thibaut Verhoeven. The group comes from backgrounds in sailing, rowing, cycling and crossfit, all also with international and Olympic credentials.
Sailing World on Water
Highlights of what happened globally in the sport of sailing in the last 7 days.
Two days after the IMOCA fleet arrived in Genoa Italy, 11th Hour Racing Team arrived at the Grand Finale venue as worthy champions of The Ocean Race. Here the crew of the second placed Imoca, Holcim PRB, welcome in the winners, led by their skipper, Charlie Enright.
Here is your weekly Sailing Highlights show, the World on Water, July 07, 2023. -- Geoff Waller
Featured Brokerage
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"Aurora" (ex-Blondie), is now for sale exclusively with Ancasta Race Boats. One of the top boats in the IRC 2 class and still taking top places at major regattas, shows "Aurora" is still bang on the money.
New sails in the quiver for 2019 and again in 2022 and upgraded keel work from Corby, makes her a more forgiving owner-driver machine.
Particularly strong in the light to medium airs, but with an optimized and upgraded sail inventory, she still has the ability to hold onto the longer/wider boats in class throughout the upper wind ranges too.
A real head turner and looking for another passionate owner, "Aurora" is ready to go!
Currently located in Sweden with EU or UK VAT paid.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Race Boats
+447759 424900
+442380 016582
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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.
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See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge. -- George R.R. Martin
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Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: or see eurosailnews.com/advertise/
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