In This Issue
• Clean Start Heralds Next Chapter in Rolex Middle Sea Race
• 44Cup 2023 Alcaidesa Marina
• No surprises - IMZA
• IMOCA Class votes against T-rudders
• Sail GP - Nowhere To Hide - OnCourse Ep27
• The Finns Triumph In Cape Town
• Cup Spy Oct 21: Kiwis and Swiss strike rare westerly breeze
• Transat Jacques Vabre Race Village Opens
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Italia Yachts 9.98 2024
• • S&S Swan 44 - Pomeroy Swan
• • Kobe 43 PEGASE
• The Last Word: Oscar Wilde

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

Clean Start Heralds Next Chapter in Rolex Middle Sea Race
The 44th Rolex Middle Sea Race fleet was sent on its way today. The start of a 606 nautical mile adventure around Sicily and back to the finish in Malta. 110 yachts representing 26 nations crossed the start line, their 1000 plus crew from close to 50 countries fired up and ready for whatever lies ahead. An already mixed weather forecast played hardball, with each class experiencing often wildly different conditions during their start. The most important detail, though, was that all yachts left Grand Harbour safely.

By 1600 CEST, the MOD70 Limosa with its stellar crew led by The Famous Project founder Alexia Barrier was making great strides north. Parallel with Syracuse having passed through the transit point at Capo Passero, some 55 nautical miles into the race, at 1430 CEST the French trimaran was trucking along at 20 knots. The other two multihulls were doing their best, but such is the power of Limosa, Jacopo Bracco's American Banuls 53 Finn is already some 50nm in arrears, with Aldo Fumagalli's Italian Rapido 40 Adamas a further 12 miles back. Hitting speeds of 30 knots or more at times, Barrier and her crew had been fair licking along, possibly benefiting from the wind reality being different to that predicted. While the forecast northwesterly continued its approach into the course area, it was slower than expected and the eastern seaboard of Sicily had enjoyed an unexpected strong southerly.

* The 44th Rolex Middle Sea Race is now over 24 hours old, and the picture is starting to develop. The fleet has spread out over the course, with the front-running multihull well on the way to Favignana and the slowest monohull still parallel with Etna, over 200 nautical miles in arrears. After a slow start for many classes yesterday, the wind picked up in the afternoon for the passage to Sicily, as the northwesterly filled in. Overnight crews experienced tough conditions as they made progress up the eastern seaboard of Sicily towards the Messina Strait. The predicted transition to a northerly wind, developed a bruising sea in the hours darkness causing problems for some crews. Sunday has not been a day of rest, but at least conditions have been calmer.

By 1600 CEST on Sunday 22 October, Limosa, the French MOD70 led by Alexia Barrier, was just past Palermo towards the northwest corner of Sicily making 10 knots in a similar amount of westerly breeze. By contrast the leading monohulls, Leopard 3 from Monaco - last year's monohull line honours winner - and Italian entry Bullitt (second on the water in 2022) were just north of Alicudi also tacking upwind in 10 to 12 knots and making 11 knots.

Race Tracker

rolexmiddlesearace.com

44Cup 2023 Alcaidesa Marina
Going into the final race of the final day of the 44Cup Alcaidesa Marina, just two points separated the top four boats and, with nine points on the table, mathematically any of the top six could still win. Added to this was the venue with a third day of racing from a third direction – the east, blowing across La Linea.

Racing started in moderate wind and rain beneath an ominously dark sky, before building to 20+ knots in the gusts for the third and final race.

Leading by one point going into this race life was made easy for owner Igor Lah, tactician Adrian Stead and the crew of Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 as their most threatening rivals tied themselves up. Ceeref won the pin, claimed the left and returning on port screeched into the starboard layline and from there rounded the top mark just ahead of Team Nika and Chris Bake's Team Aqua. At this point their top four rivals were not featuring: leader going into the final day and generous host of the 44Cup Alcaidesa Marina, John Bassadone and his Peninsula Racing and star of the first two days – Christian Zuerrer's Black Star Sailing Team – were eighth and ninth respectively both having committed to the unfavored right. The closest of Ceeref's rivals was Aleph Racing in sixth.

44Cup Alcaidesa Marina Results:
(After nine races)

1. Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860, 34
2. Aleph Racing, 38
3. Black Star Sailing Team, 41
4. Peninsula Racing, 41
5. Team Aqua, 42
6. Charisma, 46
7. Team Nika, 47
8. Artemis Racing, 48
9. Noticia, 69

44Cup Overall Results:
(After four events, with one discard)

1. Charisma - 2 1 1 6 - 4
2. Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 - 1 5 5 1 - 7
3. Aleph Racing - 3 3 4 2. - 8
4. Peninsula Racing - 4 2 6 4 - 10
5. Team Nika - 5 4 3 7 - 12
6. Team Aqua - 7 7 2 5 - 14
7. Black Star Sailing Team - 8 6 7 3 - 16
8. Artemis Racing - 6 8 8 8 - 22

44cup.org

No surprises - IMA
We are back in peak Maxi racing season having just completed a very successful Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup (MYRC) in Porto Cervo and are now en route for Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez (LVdeST). Both attract some 50 Maxis although there is substantial variation between the fleets which begs the question: 'what makes a regatta really attractive to Maxi owners?'

As estate agents say the main drivers really are location, location and location. We go to Saint-Tropez twice in a season – in June for the Rolex Giraglia Regatta which has inshore racing followed by the classic offshore, and then again in October where there is just inshore racing.

At the glamorous 12-strong racing boat end of the Saint-Tropez fleet, 10 were also racing at the MYRC. But scrolling down to the sub-class of smaller, more cruiser-racer boats it is a very different mix with 14 boats only two of which were in Sardinia.

Full article in the November issue of Seahorse

IMOCA Class votes against T-rudders and approves on-going work on reducing emissions in boat building
With just over a week to go to the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre, the IMOCA Class has re-affirmed its ban on introducing T-foils on its boat's rudders, and voted overwhelmingly in favour of introducing new restrictions on boat building to reduce carbon emissions.

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Class took place in Le Havre on Friday, with most of the almost 40 teams taking part in the Transat Jacques Vabre present at a forum that also included votes on a revision of the one-design mast which aims to increase safety coefficients, possible new rules on engine size, limits to the number of sails carried during races and other technical measures and improvements.

But the biggest discussion point was on the issue of T-foils on rudders which would convert IMOCAs from skimming boats with foils to even faster fully flying ones. Those in favour of the change say it would be within the spirit of innovation that is a cornerstone of the IMOCA Class's philosophy, that the change can be made simply and that it would greatly improve the level of comfort for skippers as they fly above the waves.

imoca.org

Sail GP - Nowhere To Hide - OnCourse Ep27
SailGP's fourth season is the busiest so far with 13 events around the world. And while the dominant Australians continue to lead the overall standings, recent results suggest that their reign is coming under increasing pressure.

Several of the teams competing for a shot at the America's Cup next year are also racing in SailGP, which makes high quality racing in the world's fastest one designs an obvious choice. But, while there are clear benefits in getting match fit in a fleet of identical boats while understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, there is also nowhere to hide when things go pear shaped. All of which makes this SailGP season especially interesting for the rest of us.

With this in mind we take a look at what happened in St Tropez, Taranto and Cadiz.

We also go behind the scenes at One Sails for a rare tour of their manufacturing facility to see how and why their sails are different. Plus, we talk to offshore record holder and PlanetSail regular Dee Caffari about an exciting campaign to set a new round the world record.

On top of this we get aboard the newly revised Farr X2 along with gorging on a double helping of Docktalk and much, much more.

planetsail.co.uk

The Finns Triumph In Cape Town
There were emotional scenes as Spirit of Helsinki FI (71) crossed the finish line of the McIntyre Ocean Globe Race taking line honours for leg one. At 08:10 UTC, the Swan 651, having sailed for 39 days, 20 hrs and 10 mins and covering 7670 nm from the UK to Cape Town, also took first place in Sayula Class.

The lack of wind, drizzle and low cloud-consumed Table Bay Harbour and slowed Spirit of Helsinki to a painful 2knots on approach to the breakwater just outside the V&A Waterfront. The last 10 nm taking 6 hours to complete. But it did little to dampen the crew's excitement on their achievement.

Pen Duick VI led the race for 37 days until the decision was made to turn east towards Cape Town much earlier than the traditional route of heading south to 40 degrees, and then approaching Cape Town from the southwest. This proved a costly mistake for the much-loved French yacht that raced in the 1973 Whitbread by Marie's father, Eric Tabarly.

The Bermudan Ketch was a firm favourite with many sailing fans, so this move provided a major shock when her lead began to slip and was finally swallowed up by the Swan 651.

But it might also be noted that Spirit of Helsinki may not have been given the respect she deserved at race start – with many considering only the Flyer Class yachts the potential winners. This has proved a mistake.

oceangloberace.com

Cup Spy Oct 21: Kiwis and Swiss strike rare westerly breeze
Two of the six America's Cup Challengers Alinghi Red Bull Racing and Emirates Team New Zealand, sailed on Saturday experiencing a breeze from a direction that is unusual in Barcelona.

What happened in the Cup - October 21, 2023:

- Alinghi Red Bull Racing sailed in a funky 4-9kt breeze, before the WNW breeze dropped below foiling speed. The Swiss called it a day just before 1500hrs

- Emirates Team New Zealand reported a similar breeze 4-9kts from WNW accompanied by shifts of up to 45°. Interestingly they sailed with a what the AC37 Recon team believed to be a LIDAR unit on the port side - presumably to record windshifts as they approached the AC75. They still have some testing planned before their imminent program closedown at the end of the month.

- Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - No report from the AC37 Joint Recon team

- INEOS Britannia - No report from the AC37 Joint Recon team. Their test boat T6 is still in the shed after the catastrophic destruction of their rudder and rudder assembly during a towing session.

- American Magic - No report from the AC37 Joint Recon team

- Orient Express Racing Team - No report from the AC37 Joint Recon team

Richard Gladwell's commentary in Sail-World.com

Transat Jacques Vabre Race Village Open
Let's go for a week of festivity! Officially inaugurated by edouard philippe, this morning, the village welcomed, despite the unpredictable weather, its first visitors delighted to admire the numerous boats in the paul vatine basin, but also to take advantage of the various activities offered on the docks.

The rain and the gusty wind will not have discouraged the most daring. From 10 a.m., armed with their umbrellas and their finest oilskins, the first curious people entered the doors with a row of masts, hulls and colorful sails in front of them, now lined up in a row along the docks.

There are of course the novices, impressed, amazed and then the regulars "I've been coming for 30 years," confides Jacky, " during the village, I'm there almost every day, just for the atmosphere." Sitting in front of a hot (and free!) Jacques Vabre coffee, at the official pavilion, Jacky and his friend Michel have seen the race and its decorum evolve over the years. The small blocks which served as footbridges have given way to large, more practical and aesthetic bridges. Boats have also changed a lot "In 30 years, the beauty and technological evolution of boats are remarkable" notes Michel.

And speaking of technology, behind them, a well-known noise repeats itself, that of the winch installed on the Normandy Region stand. Children and parents (even grandparents!) battle to see who can turn the machine the fastest to virtually hoist a 15-meter sail. Without a doubt the most visited attraction given the queue that is starting to form.

transatjacquesvabre.org/

Featured Brokerage
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Last available Italia Yachts 9.98 racing yacht!

If you decide quickly enough, we can equip this small rocket exactly as you want!

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
YM Yachts & Brokerage

yacht-match.com/yachts/italia-yachts-9-98-fuoriserie/

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S&S Swan 44 - "Pomeroy Swan". 130000 GBP. Located in Hamble, UK.

"Pomeroy Swan" is a beautifully presented S&S Swan 44. Based in the UK, she is a real gem and has been lucky to have had recent owners with such a passion for this yacht. Not only a truly capable cruiser, she is a real bandit on the race track too with super competitive IRC handicap. A fine examp

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Boat Sales
+447759 424900
+442380 016582

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2009 Kobe 43 PEGASE. 295,000 EUR.

Launched in 2009, PEGASE sailed locally in Brittany in 2009 & 2010 in order to fine tune her development. She sailed around the world between 2011 and 2018, passing through Cape Verde, the West Indies, the Caribbean arc, Panama, Galapagos, Tuamotou, Tahiti, New Caledonia, the Torres Strait, Singapore, Thailand, the Seychelles, Madagascar, Cape of Good Hope, St Helene, Brazil, Azores and La Trinite landing. An impressive 30,000 miles of trouble-free navigation. PEGASE's days of offshore sailing at 200 nautical miles are proven.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Bernard Gallay Yacht Brokerage

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

The Last Word
Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes. -- Oscar Wilde

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