EuroSail News #5504 - 21 February

In This Issue
• RORC Caribbean 600 | Day Two Report
• 2024 Aegean 600
• French skipper denies skulduggery on the high seas
• No time to relax (... but still one heck of a finale!) - Doyle Sails
• Superyacht Raven Takes Flight - OnCourse Ep29
• INEOS Britannia’s AC40 suffers fire onboard
• 12ft Skiff Port Jackson Championship
• Fisher’s Vareo wins gusty Oxford Blue
• Industry News
• Featured Charter: Grand Soleil 44 - Andiamo
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Volvo Ocean 65 - AMBERSAIL 2
• • TP52
• • Swan 78-007 'Nina II'
• • X-Yachts - Xc 47
• • Beneteau First 36
• The Last Word: Robert Lowell

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

RORC Caribbean 600 | Day Two Report
By morning (0800 AST) on day two of the RORC Caribbean 600, the vast majority of the fleet was negotiating the northerly extreme of the course, weaving through the chicane of islands; Saba, Sint Maarten, and St. Barths. The leading MOD70s were negotiating the infamous wind shadow of Guadeloupe; Jason Carroll’s Argo (USA) was four miles ahead of Erik Maris’ Zoulou (FRA). The two boats are locked in a battle for line honours, likely to be decided later today, Tuesday 20 February. Alexia Barrier’s MOD70 Limosa - The Famous Project (FRA) was 14 miles behind Argo, less than 30 minutes in MOD70 speed.

Argo’s Chad Corning managed a quick message as they passed out of the wind shadow of Guadeloupe: “All good out here; we managed to survive Guadeloupe and are on our way to the point at Grande Terre. We have had a nice battle with both MOD’s - hoping to stay in front!”

The leading monohull was Farr 100 Leopard 3 (MON) skippered by Joost Schuijff, which was halfway down the long leg from St Barths to Guadeloupe. Prior to the race start, the wind was due to drop on Wednesday 21 February, but the latest forecast shows an improved picture for the smaller, slower boats in the RORC Caribbean 600. The trade winds are still forecast to become unstable, but more wind is now expected. -- Louay Habib

Satellite Tracking

caribbean600.rorc.org

2024 Aegean 600
Click on image to enlarge.

Organizers at the Hellenic Offshore Racing Club (HORC) are pleased to announce the 2024 edition of the Aegean 600 is now open for entry. The event is being held over 5-13 July 2024 and is co-organized by the host venue at Olympic Marine.

Now in its fourth annual edition, the race has grown in interest and popularity every year, with last year's third edition attracting 500 sailors racing on 45 yachts from 16 nations. What attracts them is this race's unique format: a scenic offshore journey of 605 miles that starts and finishes under the watchful gaze of the Ancient Temple of Poseidon poised on the sea cliff above Attica's Cape Sounio.

Besides this amazing and historic start and finish venue, the course itself is a spectacular tour that passes 13 iconic Greek islands, including a lap around the volcanic caldera of Santorini in the first part of the race and later towards end of the race through a gap at the islands of Dilos and Mykonos.

The ever-present northerly Meltemi winds that can peak to over 30 knots propels the fleet around this course, challenging their skills in both seamanship and navigation, yet also delivering clear sunny skies, starry nights and warm waters throughout.

Seaworthy monohulls of minimum length of 9.00 m and seaworthy multihulls of length 9.15 m and larger are welcome to enter with ORC and/or IRC certificates.

Recognized offshore class yachts such as Dehler 30 One Designs, Class 40's, Mini 6.5's, Figaro 2's and Figaro 3's are also welcome to enter. The event will also welcome Maxi yachts as a race on the 2024 International Maxi Class (IMA's) calendar of events.

Notice of Race

aegean600.com/the_race/

French skipper denies skulduggery on the high seas
A French yachtswoman has denied accusations of cheating in the last Vendee Globe solo non-stop round the world sailing race.

"We never cheated," Clarisse Cremer insisted on Thursday in a joint statement with her husband Tanguy Le Turquais.

They were responding to an anonymous e-mail sent to the French Sailing Federation (FFVoile) last Sunday.

In it Cremer was accused of using information relayed to her by the land-based Le Turquais to help plot her route during the 45,000-kilometre 2020/2021 Vendee Globe.

Outside assistance of this nature is strictly forbidden in the rules of the mythic race that sets out and finishes at the French port of Les Sables-d'Olonne every four years.

An international jury has been established to investigate the affair based on screenshots of WhatsApp conversations between the couple sent to the federation in Sunday's tip-off.

The couple questioned the motive and timing of their anonymous accuser with the pair among the 44 candidates for the next Vendee Globe starting in November, with only 40 allowed to take part.

They are considering legal action.

france24.com

* Tip and Shaft has an excellent editorial:

Since Monday, ocean racing has been rocked by a new affair following the revelations in Le Telegramme about suspected routing during Clarisse Cremer's last Vendee Globe by her companion Tanguy Le Turquais. Tip & Shaft tells you more.

The story began on Monday when Le Telegramme revealed that Jean-Luc Denechau, President of the French Sailing Federation, had asked for an investigation to be opened into suspicions of routing during the last Vendee Globe. Denechau confirmed this in a message to us: "I received an anonymous e-mail on Sunday afternoon concerning a skipper in the last Vendee Globe, in which we can assume that there is a presumption of routing. In application of rule 69 of World Sailing's Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS), I have asked the president of the race committee and the organising authority of the last Vendee Globe to appoint a new race jury. This jury will be able to hear the various parties involved and possibly draw up a report. We will then be in a position to decide whether to initiate disciplinary proceedings."

The anonymous email in question - which was also sent to several media outlets and sailors - contained photos of WhatsApp conversations during the last Vendee Globe, taken from the onboard phone of the Imoca Banque Populaire X, between the skipper, Clarisse Cremer, and her companion, Tanguy Le Turquais. The photos on the phone were taken from the Banque Populaire XI trimaran on an unspecified date. Who took them? When asked, the Banque Populaire team, busy organising Armel Le Cleac'h's technical stopover in Rio de Janeiro on the Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest, didn't get back to us.

Read the full article: tipandshaft.com/

No time to relax (... but still one heck of a finale!) - Doyle Sails
Doyle Sails builds on success with a renewed focus on next-level R&D

A stellar showing at the 2023 Maxi World Championships might have been just cause for celebration at Doyle Sails. Instead, the mood of quiet satisfaction was eclipsed by a determination to keep focused on pushing the technology, design and development of high-performance sails on their upward trajectory.

‘We are obviously very pleased for the owners and teams who did so well,’ says Doyle Sails CEO Mike Sanderson. ‘We are part of those teams and hope that together we can add more good results next year. We have exciting new products in the pipeline that will move the bar again.’ Business as usual.

Full article in the March issue of Seahorse

Superyacht Raven Takes Flight - OnCourse Ep29
When the 111ft superyacht ‘Raven’ emerged from her builders Baltic Yachts in Finland, she turned plenty of heads. Built in secret and with giant foiling arms on either side, there was no shortage of comment as to whether this concept would work. Now, with footage of her first trials we have the answer.

And with 100ft in mind, racing solo around the world on an Ultim trimaran is beyond comprehension for most of us. But as the six skippers in the Arkea Ultim Challenge took on their 24,000 mile lap of the planet we have been able to see the extraordinary performance of these incredible machines and their skippers.

We report on this incredible race as Dee Caffari explains what has been going on.

There’s also been plenty of speculation as to when America’s Cup teams would launch their AC75s, the boats that they will use for AC37. Now we know as three teams break cover and consider what this means. The full schedule for the Cup has also been published, it’s going to be busy in Barcelona.

Plus, a double helping of Docktalk.

planetsail.co.uk

INEOS Britannia’s AC40 suffers fire onboard whilst training in Barcelona
INEOS Britannia, Britain’s challenger for the 37th America’s Cup, has suffered damage to one of their one-design supplied AC40 training boats, Athena, after a fire onboard.

The two British one-design AC40s (Athena & Sienna) had left the dock early for a two-boat race-training day and towed to the Northeast of Barcelona City to find some good breeze. At 10:05 CET whilst sailing off Mataro, the crew onboard Athena were required to react to a very sudden electrical fire highlighted by smoke coming out of the forward hatch.

The team chase boat was quickly alongside, fire extinguishers were deployed, but water was required to be pumped into the forward hatch to submerge the lithium battery to contain the fire, no one was injured in the incident.

After stabilising the yacht and contacting the emergency services, the team had a long tow back to the INEOS Britannia team base, with constant monitoring of the crew onboard and the lithium battery.

At 14:45 Athena arrived back at the team base, where the fire services were waiting and the battery was then safely removed. The response was well managed with specialist training coming to the fore.

The damage will now be assessed by the shore team, both AC40’s were not due to be on the water next week, with a planned maintenance week.

12ft Skiff Port Jackson Championship
Terms & Conditions finished third. Photo credit 12 Foot Skiffs. Click on image to enlarge.

The Sail Inc crew of Nick Press and Andrew Stevenson have taken out the 12 Foot Skiff Port Jackson Championship for the Graham ‘Curly’ Colless Memorial Trophy under some of the most trying circumstances imaginable on Sydney Harbour yesterday afternoon, ahead of the Australian Championship, to be held at the end of March.

Hosted by Sydney Flying Squadron, it was an horrendous day, as tugs accompanying the tall ship, James Craig for its 150th birthday celebrations on the Harbour, covered the fleet of 12’s with spray from their water jets, while some of the large spectator craft strayed onto the course area.

Then top mark drifted, so officials were forced to abandon the race halfway through and re-start it. It didn’t stop there either, but Press steered his way to a close win from Brad Phillips/Oscar Wilson (Terms & Conditions, LCSC). Will Beck/Brendan Jenkins (Sydney Sailmakers, LCSC) were third. James Birdsall/James Glassock on Gizmo (LCSC) took the handicap win.

Thanks go to the Sydney Flying Squadron and their volunteers for running the event. The Club will also host the upcoming 12 Foot Skiff Sprint Series on 17 March.

Following the Sprint Series, Lane Cove Sailing Club will host the Australian Championship, also sponsored by Your Move Conveyancing, to be held from Friday 29 March to Sunday 31 March. -- Di Pearson/12ft Skiff media

Sydney Flying Squadron

Fisher’s Vareo wins gusty Oxford Blue
The Oxford Blue brought the Selden Sailjuice Winter Series to a spectacular close last Saturday, 17 February. With 103 entries from 49 different classes it was Luke Fisher from Emberton Park SC who came out on top in his RS Vareo.

After a winter of great breeze and mild temperatures, it was hard to imagine that Farmoor Reservoir would enjoy great conditions too, but it did! As the fleet launched from the edge of the reservoir, the wind was blowing a nice Force 3, albeit with some significant gusts and lulls to keep the competitors on their toes.

At times the wind gusted over 15 knots and at others it dwindled away to just 5 or 6, making it vital to change gears throughout the day as well as keep an eye out for the next favourable line of breeze. For all the chopping and changing, however, Fisher proved remarkably consistent with scores of 1,2,1 from the three back-to-back races around an excellently laid rhomboid course.

Former winner of the Selden Sailjuice Winter Series, Matt Mee, was racing a GP14 with Chris Robinson and the Burghfield team hiked their way to second overall, just one point in front of the dominant performer of the season, Castle Cove’s Sam Pascoe in his Musto Skiff. Pascoe struggled on the first beat of race one and had a lot of overtaking to do in order to come back to 10th place. He made amends in race 2, sailing brilliantly throughout to take the race win away from Fisher, but couldn’t repeat the feat in the final race.

So Pascoe finished third overall, with Paignton’s Ben Flower just missing out on tiebreak to finish fourth in his ILCA 7. Just a point back in fifth was another ILCA 7 sailed by Rob Holmes from Tynemouth. In sixth was Sam Blaker, the Thorpe Bay competitor winning the RS Aero Winter Championships in his RS Aero 6.

Sustained top speeds from SailRacer GPS trackers
Sam WHALEY Waszp 2 - 17.48 kts
Sam PASCOE MUSTO 636 - 11.81 kts
Sam BARKER MUSTO 638 - 11.58 kts

Corrected top speeds from SailRacer GPS trackers
Sam BLAKER Aero 6 - 9.72 kts
Ben FLOWER ILCA7 - 9.3 kts
Luke FISHER Vareo - 9.42 kts

Top Lady: Ellie Craig (RS Aero 6)
Top Local - Edward Francis O’Callaghan (ILCA 6 )
Top Youths - Daniel and Adam Larsen (RS Feva from Magdalen College School - 25th)

Winner of the Selden sticker competition, and one of many spectacular photos taken by Tim Olin during the day, are the 420 team from Great Moor SC, George Vincent and Jack Mawson.

Prizegiving for the Selden SailJuice Winter Series takes place this Saturday, 24 February, at 1015am on the Main Stage at the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show in Farnborough.

Overall Results from Oxford Blue

Industry News
It's not too late to join us at the RYA Dinghy and Watersports Show supported by Sunsail.

Buy your tickets in advance and save! With adult tickets starting at just £14.00.

Don't forget, RYA members can claim a FREE ticket and children 15 and under go FREE!

Get your tickets here

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New Laser book at the Dinghy Show...

From The Laser To The ILCA... Click on image for cover, author page and table of contents

The single manufacturer one-design (SMOD) Laser was launched just over 50 years ago and has now been renamed the ILCA and moved to multiple licensed builders. To reflect this change, the leading book on Laser sailing since 1979, The Laser Book, has now changed its name to The ILCA Book and moved from a single to multiple authors.

In this latest update, ILCA guru and multiple champion Jon Emmett has updated Tim Davison’s seminal text to make it completely relevant to today’s ILCA sailors. All the latest control lines, masts and sails are covered for all 3 rigs.

Targeted at the club sailor, The ILCA Book covers the techniques and skills needed to succeed in ILCA sailing, for those starting out through to those striving to win a Club Championship. Whether you are a youngster moving into an ILCA 4 or 6, or a club sailor looking to improve your ILCA 7 results, the expert advice from the authors and contributions from Laser / ILCA gold medallists, world champions and their coaches, will take your ILCA sailing to the next level.

Over 350 photographs show you exactly how it’s done, and 50 diagrams illustrate key boat parts, the different points of sailing and complex on-the-water scenarios with clarity. Whatever your background, your current level or the extent of your ambition, this book gives you all the tools you need to get out on the water and improve your ILCA / Laser sailing.

Team GBR ILCA 7 athlete, Micky Beckett, selected for the Paris 2024 Olympics described it as “the best learning resource for the class.”

Published by Fernhurst Books as part of their Start to Finish series, as a paperback and eBook, The ILCA Book will be available to buy from all good bookshops, websites and direct from fernhurstbooks.com. The book will be launched at the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show at 12 noon on Sunday 25th February on the Fernhurst Books stand (M32) - next to Rooster. This will be an opportunity to meet the authors, Tim Davison and Jon Emmett.

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... and a new Topper Book also at the show... Click on image for cover, author page and table of contents

Topper Sailing From Start To Finish

The Topper is a brilliant boat - over 50,000 have been sold and thousands of people learn the basic sailing skills in Toppers every year.

This is the only book which shows you how to rig, sail and race the Topper - right up to World Champion standard. It is packed full of advice, go-fast tips, photo sequences and diagrams. This new third edition covers all three Topper rigs (4.2, 5.3 and 6.4) and is fully up to date with details of the new rota-moulded (grey) boats as well as the traditional injection-moulded (red) boats.

It starts by describing how to rig and sail the boat before moving on to racing and providing masterclasses for success in competitions.

Written by GBR’s longest-serving National Topper Coach and a former Topper National and European Champion, the book features recent Topper World and National Champions and is the bible for Topper sailing. UK Topper National Champion Jess Powell demonstrates the techniques required, as well as what not to do, in over 300 photos and has contributed to the text, making sure it is completely relevant to today’s Topper sailors.

The book is being launched at the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show at 2.30pm on Saturday 24th February on the Topper International stand (L30) and will be available on the Fernhurst Books stand (M32) - next to Rooster. This will be an opportunity to meet Dave Cockerill and Jess Powell.

fernhurstbooks.com

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The crew at Haven Knox-Johnston invite you to register for their free of charge, upcoming online webinar, “How to get into racing”, which is being held on Thursday 29th February at 7:30pm.

Whilst primarily known for their expertise in boat insurance coupled with fantastic customer service, Haven Knox-Johnston have also been making waves in the boating community with their informative and interesting “From the Helm” Webinar series. From “Switching to Lithium Batteries” to “Sailing Across the Channel and Cruising Northern France”, their recent webinars have gone down a storm with the live events “selling out” and thousands of people tuning in to watch the recordings on YouTube.

This upcoming webinar is proving to be no less popular! Tailored to a cruising yacht owner who wants to get more out of their yacht, it will equip them with all the knowledge they need to go from cruising their local waters to jostling for position on the start line of the Round The Island Race, or just a bit of Monday night racing with their local Yacht Club.

Webinar details

Join the HKJ crew for the Getting into racing webinar on Thursday 29th February at 7.30pm.

To find out more, and to register for this free webinar

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The Gunboat 72 has been nominated for 2024 Multihull of the Year. With the 72, Gunboat set out to disrupt the definition of the flybridge multihull, as they continue pushing the boundaries on both sides of the performance-cruising continuum.

Gunboat design and engineering together with VPLP, Patrick le Quément, Christophe Chedal Anglay, and Isabelle Racoupeau, worked closely to incorporate a streamlined flybridge and bespoke interior - built with the latest in lightweight construction technology and comprehensive performance engineering.

The Multihull of the Year Award is organized by Multihulls World / Multicoques Mag and the International Multihull Show teams and awarded on April 3rd during the International Multihull Boat Show in La Grande-Motte, France.

Vote Here

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OneSails has announced a headline sponsorship deal with the Women’s Open Keelboat Championship (WOKC), this year taking place on 11-12 May 2024 at the Royal Southern Yacht Club in Hamble-le-Rice, to help grow female participation in UK sailing. WOKC, which was founded in 2008 as the only female-only open keelboat event in the UK, says OneSails long-term commitment will help it grow the female agenda beyond the Solent to reach women elsewhere in the UK.

OneSails aims to help overcome some of the key barriers to entry for females at the event by hosting training sessions for all crews on Friday 10 May as well as on-the-water coaching on the Saturday of the event.

If you would like to enter your boat, find a boat to race on, look for crew for WOKC or are interested in the apprenticeship scheme run by OneSails, please email the WOKC Committee on

For more information about OneSails please contact: Alexis Eyre, +44 (0) 7881 104616,

Featured Charter
Grand Soleil 44 - Andiamo. Located in the Mediteranean.

The Grand Soleil 44, designed by Matteo Polli Yacht Design, represents a pinnacle in high-performance yacht design. With a focus on optimising for ORC and IRC racing, this 44-footer seamlessly combines racing prowess with the amenities expected of a cruising yacht.

See listing details in Seahorse Charters

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

See the the Seahorse charter collection

Featured Brokerage
2013 Volvo Ocean 65 - AMBERSAIL 2. 695000 EUR. Located in Torrevieja, Spain.

Volvo Ocean 65 AMBERSAIL is the only Volvo 65 to have completed only one lap of the planet. She is in great condition and has been used for coastal racing since the fleet refit. She comes with a spare rig and is ripe for optimization.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

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

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TP52. 290,000 EUR. Located in Barcelona.

High Performance Full Carbon (DSPM-7,000 K.)

Designer: Botin & Carkeek
Builder: Goetz (EEUU 2007)
Updated: Longitud 0 (2015)

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
For more information:

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Swan 78-007 'Nina II'. 7,800,000 EUR ex-VAT.

The Swan 78-007 ‘NINA II’ has just been delivered in the summer of 2023. This is a unique opportunity to purchase one of these highly sought after models without the need for a two year wait.

See listing details in Nautor Swan Brokerage

Contact
Giorgio Passarella

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X-Yachts - Xc 47. POA EUR.

The Xc 47 marks the beginning of a completely new generation of XCruising. The concept is built on years of experience and a desire to accommodate the growing number of sailors looking for a true bluewater cruiser.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
X-Yachts A/S
Fjordagervej 21
6100 Haderslev, Denmark
Tel: +45 74 52 10 22
Fax: +45 74 53 03 97
Email:

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Beneteau First 36, From 238,813 (VAT excluded) EUR.