In This Issue
• Fournier Fires Pintia to Victory in IRC One
• Juzzy Comes Good In IRC TWO
• Allegra Secures MOCRA Class Win
• Blink of an eye - Diverse Performance Services
• Dramatic day in fresh winds for Italians and Kiwis
• Rolex China Sea Race 2024 - Starts on 27 March
• 49er and FX Junior U23 World Championship
• Marina Militare Nastro Rosa Tour
• Moving Day at the 56th Governor's Cup
• Featured Brokerage:
• • IRC GP42
• • Nautor Swan 48 MkII
• • Arcona 415
• The Last Word: Lewis Carroll
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
Fournier Fires Pintia to Victory in IRC One
Cherbourg-En-Cotentin: Gilles Fournier and his family and friends on Pintia couldn't quite believe they had managed to win IRC One after such a close battle with Sunrise III. Having raced offshore regularly for the past half century and now 77 years old, Fournier hasn't yet decided whether or not this was his last Rolex Fastnet Race. Chances are he would miss the challenge and camaraderie, not just with his own crew but with the opposition too.
Pintia finished at 18:20:47, her corrected time just over 1 hours 20 minutes ahead of Sunrise III, with Ed Bell's Dawn Treader completing the IRC One podium. This is Pintia's second time topping the podium having won class in 2017.
Fournier met his rival skipper on the dock soon after they stepped ashore, victorious in Cherbourg. Tom Kneen, owner of the JPK 1180 which was overall winner of the Rolex Fastnet Race in 2021, is a formidable campaigner and one that Fournier never expected to beat on Pintia, a J/133.
Almost half Fournier's age, Kneen is a relative newcomer to the sport of offshore sailing, yet the softly-spoken Plymothian has a fierce approach to his racing and the Rolex Fastnet Race in particular. "This is going to take some adjustment to my thinking," said Kneen with a smile, having become so used to winning on a regular basis. "This is the first time since 2020 that I haven't won in class, but I couldn't be happier to lose to you and Pintia," he said to Fournier.
There is a lot of mutual respect between the top two finishers in IRC One. The two boats have very different sweet spots, with J/133's longer waterline length working well for her on the upwind but the lighter weight of the JPK 1180 making Sunrise a downwind planing weapon in the right conditions. -- Andy Rice / RORC
Juzzy Comes Good In IRC TWO
Cherbourg-En-Cotentin, France: The outcome of IRC Two hung in the balance until the very end, but it was Juzzy who came through to win at the end, as the fleet arrived in a wet, wild and windy Cherbourg early on Thursday morning.
For the duo racing Juzzy, a bright blue JPK 1030, this was their first Rolex Fastnet Race. But seeing as skipper Thomas Bonnier and his co-pilot David Prono are both veterans of the Mini Transat, their victory is not so surprising. They're both vastly experienced offshore racers.
What's more surprising is that Bonnier, now aged 61, hadn't attempted the Fastnet before. "I first got interested in the race when I sailed in Cowes Week in 1979 with my uncle and we dismasted just the day before the Fastnet Race," said Bonnier, referring to that fateful edition of the race. Perhaps the dismasting was a blessing in disguise, yet Bonnier has always wanted to return to the race that he almost competed in as a teenager.
It was a hard start and a hard finish for the boats in IRC Two.
Festa 2 crossed the finish line in second place on corrected time, although Jean Francois Hamon knew that it wouldn't end so well after the Sun Fast 3300 was among those to have started too soon on that windy, tidal start line out of Cowes last Saturday. So close were the finish times in IRC Two, the two-hour penalty for a premature start has shoved Festa 2 from second down to eighth in class.
Festa's penalty misfortune means Maxime Mesnil's J/99 Axe Sail takes second in class with Frederik Nouel's JPK 1080 Karavel taking third, just three minutes on corrected time ahead of the fast finishing wife and husband duo from the USA, Christina and Justin Wolfe who got better and better throughout their first Fastnet aboard the Sun Fast 3300 Red Ruby.
Allegra Dominates Again: Secures Consecutive MOCRA Class Win at Rolex Fastnet Race
In a repeat of their previous success, the 84ft Nigel Irens designed catamaran Allegra, owned by Adrian Keller and skillfully skippered by Rob Grimm, has once again triumphed at this year's Rolex Fastnet Race.
Blink of an eye - Diverse Performance Services
seahorse 
Faster tacks, smart logic, easy operation. Diverse Performance Systems has found some intriguing new ways to improve on the standard water ballast system
Fully crewed IRC yachts increasingly use water ballast to reduce weight of the keel bulb without sacrificing stability upwind and when power reaching. Despite the ubiquity of such systems in short-handed racing the top IRC teams have found scope for innovation and improvement. RORC Commodore James Neville's new Carrington built Carkeek 45 Ino Noir, for example, has a water ballast system with 500 litre tanks each side developed by Hamble, UK-based Diverse Performance Systems. This is an evolution of the setup on Niklas Zennström's Carkeek 52 Ran 8, which launched last year.
'We've made it neater, lighter and more compact,' says Diverse MD Nick McGarry. 'We've also added our own pneumatic actuation systems with on-deck push button control.' Instead of the stand-alone valves used by Imoca 60s, custom units with pneumatic valves iare ntegrated with the manifold. This reduces weight and complexity, streamlines installation and allows for a very simple actuation system on deck.
Full article in the August issue of Seahorse
Cup Spy July 25: Dramatic day in fresh winds for Italians and Kiwis
Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa were the only two teams to venture out in fresh winds at Barcelona and Cagliari respectively.
The Kiwis sailing their AC75 seemed to cope well with the fresh winds and likely awkward seastate off the seawall at Barcelona.
In Cagliari Luna Rossa also seemed to have a good session, again comfortably handling the fresh breeze, however the team had the misfortune to do a slow speed capsize in their LEQ12, which was recovered and towed back to the team base.
What happened in the Cup - July 25, 2023:
- Luna Rossa sailed their LEQ12 from Cagliari, but did a low speed capsize at the end of the session.
- Emirates Team New Zealand sailed their AC75 in fresh winds and appeared to handle the conditions without an issue.
- INEOS Britannia have set up in their new base in Barcelona but remained ashore. They will sail their AC40 and test boat T6 next week.
- American Magic - stayed ashore
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing did not sail. The team are moving into their new permanent base, in Port Vell.
- No further news from the Orient Express Team (formerly K-Challenge).
Richard Gladwell's full report in Sail-World.com
Rolex China Sea Race 2024 - Starts on 27 March
Entries are now open for the Rolex China Sea Race 2024, with the just-launched Notice of Race encouraging sailors from around the world to join one of the most tactical offshore races in the world. The race will start on 27 March 2024 in Hong Kong's iconic harbour and take competitors 565nm across the South China Sea to Subic Bay in the Philippines.
2024 marks the 62nd Anniversary of this World Sailing Offshore Special Regulations Category 1 race organised by the multi-faceted and cosmopolitan Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, one of the oldest and most prestigious clubs in Hong Kong. Rolex has been a partner of the Club since 2007 and Title Sponsor of it's flagship Race since 2008.
This 565nm Category 1 Offshore Race is run under the auspices of RORC, and takes competitors from Hong Kong, China to Subic Bay in the Philippines. The 2020, 2021 and 2022 editions of the Rolex China Sea Race were eventually cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic situation and uncertainty regarding international border openings. Rolex China Sea Race 2023 was the first offshore race resumed in Hong Kong after which the race will return to its original rhythm of 'even' years for the biennial race.
In the 2023 edition, Nick Southward's Whiskey Jack lifted the China Sea Trophy for corrected time on IRC handicap and Ernesto Echauz's Standard Insurance Centennial 5 marked the first time in the race history that a Philippines entry has taken Line Honours at the Rolex China Sea Race.
The Notice of Race can be found on the official Rolex China Sea Race website:
rolexchinasearace.com/competitors
49er and FX: Returnee Participants Poised for Junior U23 World Championship
The Junior U23 World Championship for 49er and FX sailors has kicked off at Travemünder Woche in Germany, and the first day of racing has brought forth some consistent performances from emerging top sailors. With the offshore winds proving to be shifty and tricky, the competitors faced challenges, but some managed to excel and grab the early lead.
The 56 49er teams started the regatta in split fleets. For eighteen-year-old, Richard Schultheis (MLT) it was a dream start along with new crew Yoenn Bertinn. They began the day with a third-place finish and then improved each race to score a second and a first to take the overall lead.
Marina Militare Nastro Rosa Tour's Historic Stop in Portoroz
Marina Militare Nastro Rosa Tour made an exciting and historic stop in Portoroz, marking its first and only destination outside of Italy. The journey to Portoroz was not without challenges, as adverse weather conditions caused a one-day delay in the arrival of the fleet. However, the delay did not dampen the spirits of the sailors and enthusiasts, who eagerly await the arrival of the Figaro Fleet.
During the waiting period, participants took the opportunity to engage in intensive WASZP and Wingfoil training sessions.
After a revitalizing stop in Slovenia, the Marina Militare Nastro Rosa Tour will gear up to embark on the next phase of its journey. The tour will soon return to the captivating shores of Italy, making its way to the magnificent city of Venice for the grand finale of this year's highly anticipated event.
Moving Day at the 56th Governor's Cup
Tonight, three flights remain in the double Round Robin phase of the 56th Governor's Cup, hosted by Balboa Yacht Club and presented by DISC Sports and Spine Center and the Call of the Sea Foundation.
The race for the other three semi-final slots is amazingly tight.
Only three of the twelve teams from eight countries have been mathematically eliminated from advancing to the Semi-finals, which will begin later Friday after completion of the Rounds Robin. Those three: Tom Higgins (IRL), Timothée Rossi (FRA) and Alec Coleman (CAN).
Today 2021 GovCup winner Jeffrey Petersen (USA) continued his undefeated streak, ending the day with 19 wins, including defeating his cross-harbor rival Morgan Pinckney (USA, Newport Harbor Yacht Club) in their final match of the day. However, a pre-start collision in that match, which Petersen won, resulted in minor damage. After racing Petersen was given a one-point penalty from the International Umpires for "failure to avoid a collision resulting in damage."
Petersen was asked if having that penalty point removed the "curse of going undefeated" - the superstition in match racing circles that going undefeated in the Rounds Robin leads to a loss in the Semis or Finals.
"At the end of the day," Petersen said, "I guess the curse has been avoided, but there are less expensive ways than a collision which will use up all of my damage deposit. And I'm sorry the boat bosuns will have extra work tonight - I owe them at least one."
Both Friday and Saturday, live TV coverage begins at 11:30a PDT (18:30 UTC) on the GovCup Facebook page and the Balboa Yacht Club YouTube channel. -- Susan Kenney
Featured Brokerage
2009/2020 IRC GP42. 300000 GBP. Located in Hamble, UK.
"Dark N Stormy" is an IRC/ORCi racer. Launched as GP42 in 2009, she is a full carbon build with extensive refits for the IRC FAST 40 circuit. New deck in 2020 and updated sail inventory from North. Most successful IRC boat in the UK for past 3 years. Huge potential - she just keeps winning!
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Race Boats
+447759 424900
ancasta.com/raceboats
-----------------------------------------
2020 Nautor Swan 48 MkII. 1,350,000 EUR. Located in Sardinia.
Launched 2021. Huge spec, and extremely well-presented latest generation Swan 48 with carbon rig and almost every possible option ticked.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Michele Antonini - Grabau International (Italia)
Tel: +39 333 74 89 281
Email:
-----------------------------------------
Arcona 415. POA EUR
The Arcona 415 is one of the first series produced sailing yachts with electric propulsion as standard.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Arcona Yachts AB
Odelbergs Vag 2
134 40 Gustavsberg
Sweden
+46 8 519 410 40
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there. -- Lewis Carroll
Editorial and letter submissions to
Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: or see eurosailnews.com/advertise/