In This Issue
• Palermo-Montecarlo
• Rolex TP52 World Championship
• The best just got better A+T Instruments
• The Aegean Regatta starts from Molyvos
• 2024 RORC Transatlantic Race
• Cup Spy August 19: Brits blow out mainsail
• Carey Olsen Jersey Regatta
• Irish Fireball Nationals
• 28th Illes Balears Classics Regatta
• Featured Charter
• Featured Brokerage:
• • X-Yachts X4.3 - BABY X
• • Swan 77-006 ‘CALLISTO’
• • Balance 750
• The Last Word: Thomas Merton

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

Palermo-Montecarlo
Peter Harburg's 100ft Black Jack is favourite for line honours. Photo: Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi. Click on image to enlarge.

The 18th Palermo-Montecarlo yacht race sets sail from the Mondello district of Palermo, Sicily tomorrow and will be the concluding event in the International Maxi Association's 2022-23 Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge.

Organised by the Circolo della Vela Sicilia (CVS) and Yacht Club de Monaco in partnership with Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS) under the patronage of Federazione Italiana Vela and Unione Vela Altura Italiana, this year's Palermo-Montecarlo as usual will pass through a gate off Porto Cervo, overseen by the YCCS. Competitors are then left with the option of sailing through the Strait of Bonifacio and up the west coast of Corsica or taking the longer route leaving Corsica to port. The course distance for the former is around 437 miles.

Among the 44 entries this year are four maxis, competing in the IRC fleet.

Favourite for line honours, and the Giuseppe Tasca d'Almerita Trophy, is a boat very familiar with the course. Australian Peter Harburg's Black Jack was first launched in 2005 as Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo II, but made her mark in the Mediterranean as Igor Simcic's Esimit Europa II. Among numerous accolades Esimit Europa II won line honours in the Palermo-Montecarlo four times, on her last participation in 2015 establishing a race record of 47 hours, 46 minutes and 48 seconds. However in her latest guise as Black Jack, this will be the first time Peter Harburg's team has competed in this race. -- James Boyd

Race Tracker

palermo-montecarlo.it/

Rolex TP52 World Championship
No official practice race was possible today at the Rolex TP52 World Championship as the light breezes off Barcelona proved insufficient to allow any meaningful sailing. Hopes are high that competition for the ten boat TP52 fleet will get under way on schedule on Tuesday.

A weekend of unofficial practice has maybe highlighted Harm Müller Spreer's double world champions Platoon, winners of the last 52 SUPER SERIES regatta in Mahon, Menorca in July as the boat to beat. The defending world champions, Quantum Racing powered by American Magic, have Terry Hutchinson back in the hot seat as tactician, stepping in with new, young stars of the future, Harry Melges IV as helmsman, Victor Diaz de Leon as tactician while young Italian Nico Sanfelici is in as navigator through to the end of the season at least.

There have been encouraging signs from last year's circuit runners up Phoenix, who finished just 12 points overall behind circuit champions Quantum Racing over the five 2022 regattas, but who have had a lacklustre start to this season. America's Cup winning veteran Ed Baird is back with the South African flagged team for this Rolex TP52 World Championship which Kiwi strategist Cameron Dunn believes the Phoenix team can win.

Through the first days of racing winds are expected to be light, with a seabreeze expected to come in later in the afternoon, whilst more breeze is expected for the decisive final days, Friday and Saturday.

52superseries.com

The best just got better A+T Instruments
A+T's new processor offers a wealth of new user-programmable features

A+T Instruments specialise in very well-designed and engineered displays and processors for superyachts and race boats coupled with 24/7 telephone and email support. The current installed base includes over 500 of the largest and fastest boats on the planet. This is growing faster now with the introduction of the A+T 500 series wind sensors and parts for existing legacy anemometers.

However much the system design anticipates user requirements, new sensors, new applications and new display functions are always needed by demanding and forward-thinking clients. A+T's new ATPX instrument processors now provide additional user-configurable features including Modbus connectivity, a userprogrammable layer of functionality and internal logging.

Full article in the September issue of Seahorse

The Aegean Regatta starts from Molyvos
Ready to sail the Aegean Sea for 22nd time is the "Aegean Regatta" starts from Molyvdos, located in Lesvos, on August 20th, with the official opening ceremony.

62 boats and more than 600 sailors from Greece and abroad will participate in the regatta which is an institution for the nautical sports of the Archipelago. The sailors will race in the blue waters of the Aegean Sea living at the same time unique moments in the beautiful islands – stops of the regatta.

Ready to sail the Aegean Sea for 22nd time is the "Aegean Regatta" starts from Molyvdos, located in Lesvos, on August 20th, with the official opening ceremony.

62 boats and more than 600 sailors from Greece and abroad will participate in the regatta which is an institution for the nautical sports of the Archipelago. The sailors will race in the blue waters of the Aegean Sea living at the same time unique moments in the beautiful islands – stops of the regatta.

The Aegean Regatta 2023 which is organized by the General Secretariat for the Aegean and Island Policy, in co-operation with the Hellenic Sailing Federation / Offshore Committee starts from Lesvos island at Molivos and sailors will travel to the islands of Psara, Chios, Oinousses and back to Chios for the closing ceremony, on the 26th of August.

The first sailing boats are already in Molyvos in order to start the regatta on Monday morning, sailing to Psara.

aegeanregatta.gr/en/

2024 RORC Transatlantic Race - Strong line-up expected
Starting on 7th January 2024, the 3,000-mile race across the Atlantic Ocean is organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club and supported by Calero Marinas and the International Maxi Association, along with Yacht Club de France. The RORC fleet will set off from Marina Lanzarote bound for Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina Grenada.

Entries are ramping up for the 10th edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race, promising thrilling battles right through the fleet. Racing under IRC, Maxis, high-performance raceboats, as well as two-handed warriors, are all taking up the challenge. The MOCRA division is shaping up to be the best ever with a dazzling array of multihulls in search of glory.

The RORC Transatlantic Race is a truly international affair with entries and expressions of interest from Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, the United States, Spain, and Switzerland. Once in the Caribbean, nearly all of the entries will be competing in the RORC Caribbean 600, which is celebrating its 15th edition.

Four 70-foot trimarans are lining up for the 2023 RORC Transatlantic Race, which will be the largest collection in the 10 year history of the race. Multihull Record holder Giovanni Soldini's Maserati Multi70 is on for a hattrick of Line Honours wins and for the 10th edition is expected to be taking on three MOD70s; Jason Carroll's Argo, Erik Maris' Zoulou and a new MOD70 team, Alexia Barrier's The Famous Project, whose ultimate ambition is an all-women Jules Verne Record attempt with the Maxi-trimaran Idec Sport. While the above will be gunning for Multihull Line Honours, the multihull class will also be racing under the MOCRA Rating system. The smallest Multihull entered so far is Clarin Mustad's Alibi54 Dakota. -- Louay Habib/RORC

rorctransatlantic.rorc.org

Cup Spy August 19: Brits blow out mainsail..Olympic champ returns to Luna Rossa
Ruggero Tita (ITA) winner of the Nacra 17 Event at the 2023 Allianz Sailing World Championships, at The Hague © Sailing Energy / World Sailing

Two teams sailed on Saturday in the America's Cup buildup - we are now just 12 months and two days out from the start of the Challenger Selection Series

What happened in the Cup - August 19 2023:

- INEOS Britannia sailed out of Barcelona, enjoying a test session in steady winds at the bottom end of the foiling range, and in that rarity for Barcelona - a flat sea state. But 35 minutes into the session the port mainsail skin suffered a failure in the clew, the starboard skin remained attached to the mainsail hydraulic - which acts as a mainsheet on the AC foiling monohulls.

- Luna Rossa sailed their LEQ12, in a two hour session off their main base at Cagliari. They were joined by one of their co-helmsmen Ruggero Tita (31yrs) - the current Olympic champion in the Nacra 17 class - who returned after winning his third World Championship in the Olympic foiling catamaran and top-qualifier for Italy at the just concluded "Big Show" - the Allianz Sailing World Championships at The Hague. But what to do with their Olympic Rockstar? We discuss the Italian's dilemma in the Commentary.

- American Magic remained ashore in Barcelona - unless they sailed their AC40-OD

- Emirates Team NZ - seems to be still ashore - unless they too sailed their AC40-OD

- Alinghi Red Bull Racing also appeared to still be ashore - unless they too sailed their AC40-OD

- Orient Express Team - no further report beyond their launching of the AC40-OD. One would expect that they will start sailing with their crew from the SailGP circuit - and going up the AC40 and foiling monohull learning curve will be an interesting one to watch. Construction of their AC75 started in May 2023 - pointing to a launch date of March/April 2024.

Read Richard Gladwell's full report in Sail-World.com

Carey Olsen Jersey Regatta - Silver Anniversary Edition open for entries
Organised jointly by the Island’s yacht clubs and kindly sponsored by leading offshore law firm Carey Olsen for the fourth year running, the 25th edition of the Jersey Regatta is open for entries, promising a very warm welcome for local and visiting sailors, alike.

Scheduled to run from Thursday through to Sunday, 7th to 10th September, the Regatta opens on Thursday evening with an ‘icebreaker’ reception in St Helier YC and the distribution of Regatta ‘goodies’. The race programme gets under way on Friday morning with a coastal race for cruiser classes whilst the dayboat, dinghy, sport catamaran and windsurfer classes’ come to the line in the afternoon for a series of back-to-back races in the lovely natural arena of St Aubin’s Bay. These are ‘standalone’, ostensibly practice or warm-up, races with dedicated trophies and prizes. Reduced entry fees are available for boats sailing on Friday only.

Saturday and Sunday will see a total of five ‘around-the-cans’ races for the cruiser/racer classes, racing to the south of St Aubin’s Bay, and six for all others racing, again, well within the Bay. Competition will be keen, across the board, but the event provides excitement and fun for all, novice and keen racer, alike. Each day brings its own rewards with, again, trophies and prizes in each class. Most importantly, the results of these races also count towards the coveted overall Best-Boat-in-Class Carey Olsen Jersey Regatta prizes. Running concurrently, the added attraction of the 10th GBR IRC Channel Islands Championship is a major draw for the IRC cruiser/racer classes that always produces a very high standard of competition between local and visiting boats.

Boats may enter up to and including Friday 1st September through jerseyregatta.com. This is, also, where prospective entrants will find the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions.

Irish Fireball Nationals
As boats rigged for the first day of the joint Fireball and 420 National Championships at WHSC Dunmore East a weather system was approaching faster than most forecasts predicted. At a briefing with race officer Michael Conway the Fireball and 420 classes learned of the rapidly accelerating conditions offshore and all agreed that the best opportunity was to attempt one, or maximum two, windward-leeward races while conditions allowed.

To some extent these Nationals amounted to a war of attrition in the face of really exciting but challenging conditions. Inevitably however the cream rose to the top and Butler & Oram took the win through consistency with Butler Óg & Sean Collins second. Arguably though team Butler/Oram weren't the real stars of the day. The performance of Ethel Bateman with her brother Chris crewing was astonishing. The pair revelled in the conditions and their results - 4, (6), 4, 2 - catapulted the fifteen-year-old helm and brother Chris out of the silver fleet and into third place overall.

The next major Fireball event is the Europeans in Slovenia in mid-September with four Irish boats planning to make the trek. While theoretically the Fireball summer calendar is now complete the class are looking for a suitable venue for one last hurrah, possibly in October, before frostbite season kicks in.

Full report and and results on Sail-World.com

fireball-ireland.com

28th Illes Balears Classics Regatta
Click on image for photo gallery.

The 28th Illes Balears Classics Regatta was held in the Bay of Palma organised by the Club de Mar - Mallorca between Thursday 17th and Sunday 20th August under ideal weather conditions in what is known as one of the best regatta courses in the world. The characteristic Embat of the bay accompanied during the three days of competition with an intensity at the starts of between 8-10 knots to cool down to 16-18 as the day progressed.

More than 30 beautiful historic boats competed, divided into the following classes: Vintage Boats, those launched before 1950, Classic Boats, those launched between 1950 and 1975, and the RI Classic and Spirit of Tradition classes. There is also a category called Presence for boats that participate without competing. The regatta is not only about the competition, but also about highlighting the beauty and history of these unique boats.

The regatta is part of the CIM Circuit, the most important classic sailing circuit in the Mediterranean, which includes races in Spain, Italy, France and Monaco. The event also included a programme of social and cultural activities for the participants, as well as a shore exhibition highlighting the history of the boats.

Clarionet has shown absolute superiority in the group with the most boats, the Classics group. In the year of its debut in Palma, it closed the Illes Balears Classics with three victories in the three races sailed. This Sparkman & Stephens, owned by Andrew Harvey, was conceived since its launching in 1966 to compete in regattas.

The Mariska won in the Big Boats class in which three William Fife IIIs, launched between 1908 and 1926, competed. It should be noted that Tuiga had to retire on the first day due to breakage.

Among the Epoca, boats launched before 1950, the 1948 Argyll won among the Bermudians, and the ever-competitive 1898 Marigan won among the Cangreja

Results: velaclasicamallorca.com/resultados

Featured Charter
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HYPR was meticulously refit and upgraded in 2016. She underwent a complete refit and series of performance upgrades at the Longitud Cero facility in Burriana, ESP. Design and engineering was overseen by Carkeek Design Partners.

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See listing details in Seahorse Charters

Contact
Lucy Jackson - LV Yachting
Call: +44 (0) 20 3920 6261
Email:
lvyachting.com

Featured Brokerage
2018 X-Yachts X4.3 - BABY X. 375000 EUR. Located in Lymington, UK.

Sport version of the X4.3. She has a full inventory for coastal cruising and also racing. Very easy to sail shorthanded and in excellent condition.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Ben Cooper
Berthon UK
Tel: 0044 (0)1590 679 222
E-Mail:

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1995 Swan 77-006 ‘CALLISTO’. 950,000 EUR. Located in Cala Galera, Italy

The Swan 77 was a response from Nautor’s for the discerning owner who required a larger sailing yacht. The performance enjoyed by the racing yacht owner became accessible to those who required a very high degree of interior comfort and accommodation.

See listing details in Nautor's Swan Brokerage

Contact
Stefano Leonardi

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Balance 750. POA USD.

Our Stunning new flagship is a ground-breaking high performance luxury adventure catamaran that offers both a forward cockpit and dual bulkhead helms. She also sports a flybridge sun lounge.

She's fast enough to compete with racing cats yet spacious enough to challenge super yachts. We designed her for that truly passionate sailor who just loves to sail on a boat that can turn fantastic speeds on all points of sail, but wishes to live with gracious luxury.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact

+1 484-413-2132

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

The Last Word
Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience. -- Thomas Merton

Editorial and letter submissions to

Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: or see eurosailnews.com/advertise/