In This Issue
• Sydney SailGP: Race One
• RORC Caribbean 600 race
• Athos and “Flying Machines” Prepare for Caribbean 600
• Golden Globe: The Race for 3rd continues
• America’s Cup challenger partners with Sail Newport
• The untold story of 'The Waka'
• What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
• Game On for Liga Vela Portugal in 2019
• New Team Challenges For The Australian 18 Skliff Championship
• Letters to the Editor
• Featured Brokerage
• The Last Word: Howard Beale

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

Sydney SailGP: Race One
Asia dominated the opening race of SailGP on Sydney Harbour, Nathan Outteridge’s Japan SailGP Team commanding the fleet of F50s to lead China SailGP Team through the finish in light ENE winds.

Phil Robertson at the helm of the Chinese F50 put together a high-risk dream start which paid off as he claimed 2nd place.

Outteridge said his winning move was the first jibe inside the fleet. This led to a close encounter with the Great Britain F50 and from there it was about keeping the fleet in check while enjoying clear air at the front of the pack.

“It was really good to post the first win,” Outteridge said in his post-race interview. “I’ve been waiting for this event for the best part of 8 months; there’s no better way to reward the crew and the short team than win a win. We are stoked with the result and we are looking forward to two more races today.”

Third to finish was the Great Britain SailGP team.

Results
1st Japan SailGP Team 10pts
2nd China SailGP Team 9pts
3rd Great Britain SailGP Team 8pts
4th United States SailGP Team 7pts
5th Australia SailGP Team 6pts
6th France SailGP Team 5pts

Sydney SailGP: Race Two
Tom Slingsby at the helm of Australia SailGP turned a disappointing fourth in race 1 into a win in race 2 of SailGP Sydney.

Second place went to Japan after the Nathan Outteridge skippered F50 made a huge comeback from an OCS at the start, closing right up on the rival Australian skipper but not able to get in front of Slingsby who was controlling the situation from the front.

Results
1st Australia SailGP Team 10pts
2nd Japan SailGP Team 9pts
3rd United States SailGP Team 8pts
4th Great Britain SailGP Team 7pts
5th France SailGP Team 6pts
6th China SailGP Team 5pts

sailgp.com

RORC Caribbean 600 race
The Maxi72 Proteus has officially withdrawn from the 2019 RORC Caribbean 600 after breaking her mast during training on Wednesday 13 February 2019.

No one was hurt in the incident and the RORC look forward to seeing Proteus and the team racing with the Club in the future.

The overall win under IRC for the RORC Caribbean 600 Trophy over the past decade has been dominated by teams from the United States. This year, at least 17 teams will be flying the Stars and Stripes and the vast majority will be racing under IRC. In the Class40 Division, the 2018 Route du Rhum and the forthcoming 2019 Le Défi Atlantique have assisted in creating a record 10 entries, nine of which will be flying the French Tricolour in the 11th edition.

The RORC Caribbean 600 has been an epic offshore combat zone for the Maxi72 Class and Hap Fauth's Bella Mente (USA) and George Sakellaris' Proteus (USA) have both won overall on two occasions. Both teams are back again this year, and alongside Peter Harrison's British Maxi72 Sorcha, they are among the favourites.

This will be the first RORC Caribbean 600 for the new Botin-designed Bella Mente built by New England Boatworks, Rhode Island, USA. Bella Mente's owner Hap Fauth concurrently spearheads the New York Yacht Club American Magic challenge for the 2021 America’s Cup. The afterguard for the RORC Caribbean 600 includes multiple 52 Super Series World Champion Terry Hutchinson, two-time Volvo Ocean Race winning skipper Mike Sanderson and Adrian Stead, who has been on winning teams for the '600 more than any other sailor.

The race starts on Monday 19th February.

caribbean600.rorc.org

Athos and “Flying Machines” Prepare for Caribbean 600
Royal Ocean Racing Club is preparing for the 11th Caribbean 600, which features a tortuous 600 nautical mile course that starts 18 February off Antigua and heads north to St Martin and south to Guadeloupe, taking in Barbuda, Nevis, St Kitts, Saba and St Barth’s.

Among the entries is the 203' schooner Athos, returning after her round-the-world adventure. Three of the world's fastest trimarans will be taking part: Argo, Maserati, and PowerPlay.

Argo - fresh off a record-breaking Pineapple Cup finish - recently completed a refit project at Gorilla Rigging in Newport. Rigger Jim Stone said they used Harken for 100% of the fittings because “Harken products are really good, reliable, and we can get whatever we need in 24 hours.” More than 40 blocks were replaced with Harken V™ blocks and Fly™ blocks.

In designing the V blocks, Harken engineers combined the axial and thrust bearings into a single bearing set of V-shaped titanium rollers. The result is a strong, lightweight block that offers unmatched efficiency at high loads, while spinning freely at low loads for smooth easing in light air. The high-load Fly blocks were developed specifically for use with today’s high-tech line.

Read more at caribbean600.rorc.org and Harken.com.

Golden Globe: The Race for 3rd continues
There has been good and bad news from 3rd placed Uku Randmaa and his Rustler 36 One and All. Now within 2,500 miles of the Les Sables d’Olonne finish line, the Estonian skipper has solved his immediate hunger problems by catching two large marlin during the past week, which should extend his meagre supplies of basic freeze dried food to the end of the race.

Not so good, was news that one of his running backstays supporting the mast broke on February 9, which lost him vital miles over 4th placed Istvan Kopar who is now enjoying the same Tradewind conditions 433 miles astern in terms of distance to finish. As One and All’s course meandered around on the tracker, Randmaa was forced to climb the mast twice to set up a replacement adjustable stay, and in doing so, gashed a finger badly. The deep cut has been festering since, which led him to seek medical advice from the GGR 24hr tele-medicine team at MSOS last weekend. He is now treating the wound daily and doctors are monitoring the situation.

Kopar, who is looking to take advantage of any situation to overtake Randmaa, is also fighting health issues. The American/Australian is suffering a recurring abscess under one tooth and a fungal infection under his nails. He too has called on the MSOS doctors for advice and is now taking a course of antibiotics to combat the toothache and applying antiseptic cream to his digits.

“I could not ventilate the boat in the Southern Ocean and the interior is now covered in black mould.” He reported on Monday, adding: “The black stuff is everywhere: on the plywood, sail bags, just everywhere. It is becoming a serious health issue, which could weaken my resistance to infections. I am washing everything down with bleach, but so far this doesn’t seem to be having much affect.”

Position of skippers at 08:00 UTC 13.02.19

1. Jean- Luc VDH (FRA) Rustler 36 Matmut Finished
2. Mark Slats (NED) Rustler 36 Ohpen Maverick Finished
3. Uku Randmaa (EST) Rustler 36 One and All 2544 nm to finish
4. Istvan Kopar (USA)Tradewind 35 Puffin 2977 nm to finish
5. Robin Knox-Johnston (GBR) Suhaili virtual race position in 1969 (9th Feb) 6570 nm to finish
5. Tapio Lehtinen (FIN) Gaia 36 Asteria 6283 nm to finish

Chichester Class
1. Igor Zaretskiy (RUS) Endurance 35 Esmeralda - stopped in Albany, W Australia

goldengloberace.com

America’s Cup challenger partners with Sail Newport
New York Yacht Club’s American Magic, a U.S. challenger for the 36th America’s Cup, announced Sail Newport as a Sailing Community Partner on Wednesday.

The two organizations will work together to enhance and promote Sail Newport’s youth and community programs and sailing activities with special events, sailor appearances, lectures and digital media content.

As part of the partnership, American Magic sailors will visit Sail Newport’s Pell School Sailing Program in the spring, also making special appearances at other youth programs.

The first event for the Community Sailing Partnership, titled “Sail Newport Presents American Magic,” will be held on Tuesday, March 19, at 5:30 p.m. at the Jane Pickens Theater.

Tickets for the “Sail Newport Presents American Magic” event are available at sailnewport.org. Tickets cost $20 per person, $15 for Sail Newport members or $5 for students under the age of 21. For more information, call 846-1983.

www.newportri.com/news/

The untold story of 'The Waka'
Auckland, New Zealand - 15th February 2019

In late August 2012, a grainy photo of a boat emerged online.

Most hardened America’s Cup followers will clearly remember the image that was the talk of the sailing world for many weeks. A high angle shot, looking down on a giant 72 foot red and black Emirates Team New Zealand catamaran seemingly flying above the waters of the Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour.

An image that was so far outside the realms of the imagination of most people- but not those inside the base of Emirates Team New Zealand.

The cat was out of the bag, foiling had arrived. But there had been many months of secretive R&D meetings at Emirates Team New Zealand that went into developing a concept that would transform the world of America’s Cup racing forever.

Rewind to 2011, two years out from the 34th America’s Cup in San Francisco. A time of any campaign where teams are thinking outside the square with weird and wonderful ideas having been studying the AC72 class rule, looking for loopholes and testing or attempting to validate some of the most innovative theories

A crazy concept was continuing to circle within Emirates Team New Zealand.

“What if we could make the AC72 catamaran fly above the water?”

Glenn Ashby was relatively new to the team back then and quickly understood that foiling was not just a whacky fad but something that had to be kept under wraps.

“We made sure we were not in branded team kit. To anyone walking the dog around the lake, we probably just appeared like a few old battlers towing a beat-up old catamaran down the lake for fun.” Said Ashby

“We just had quite a few people with cameras and pelican cases in tow.”

It wasn’t an instant success, but it didn’t take long for the gigantic gains that foiling presented to emerge.

“After a couple of weeks of tuning and building new foils we got to the stage where we were able to tow the boat and pop out of the water and fly stably.

The Waka was a fantastic boat to learn all about foils, to understand what you could and couldn’t do, and potentially what the future could hold for us.”

www.emiratesteamnz.com

Seahorse March 2019
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

Making the unfamiliar familiar
Not long ago, solid carbon rigging was only seen on the edgiest of grand prix racers... Carbo-Link has helped transform the sector. Now this most advanced of racing products is used on many large, high-end superyachts

Market disrupter?
J/Boats is one of the world’s most successful brands, turning out a string of IRC winners. The new J/99 looks set to follow suit. In the shorthanded arena this one could be a killer… in the best possible way, of course!

The Figaro milieu
Be there or, well, at least be ready to get left behind. And this year an extraordinary influx of great champions of shorthanded ocean racing will only make your task harder, but potentially also more instructive. Marcus Hutchinson

Fresh start?
Offering your best critical, high performance foils to regular racing customers is really not smart. Caspar Nielsen And Oyvind Bjordal

Coal face
Buying a new Mini Scow is not the answer in itself... just the first step on a complex journey Joe Lacey

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1yr Print Sub: €77 - £48 - $71 / Rest of the World: £65 www.seahorse.co.uk/shop/subs/

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Game On for Liga Vela Portugal in 2019
Cascais, Portugal: Portugal is joining the group of twenty countries running National Sailing Leagues in 2019. The concept is generating the fastest growth in sailing worldwide, and it now arrives in Portugal supported by the Sail Cascais organization.

3,000 sailors from 300 clubs currently take part in more than 100 events organized by SAILING Champion League participating nations all year long. Beyond Europe, National Sailing Leagues are being implemented in the USA, Australia and New Zealand. The concept, a simple one, replicates the model of other sports. All racing will be sailed in one-design classes (virtually all J/70’s), and will give the opportunity to the Portuguese clubs to compete against each other and fight for a spot in the SAILING Champions League!

The first event will take place from 20 to 22 September and a Junior event will be sailed from 27 to 29 August. Both events will be hosted by Club Naval de Cascais, Wild Card winner for SAILING Champions League 2019 alongside Club de Vela de Lagos.

www.facebook.com

New Team Challenges For The Australian 18 Skliff Championship
One of the highlights of the Australian 18 Footers League’s 2018-2019 Season has been the emergence of a young The Kitchen Maker-Caesarstone team as a leading contender for the top honours in the major championships on Sydney Harbour.

Skipper Jordan Girdis, sheet hand Lachlan Doyle and for’ard hand Tom Quigley were all rookies in the 18s just two years ago, now they are only one point from the lead heading into the final weekend of the 2019 Australian Championship.

Jordan and Lachlan are now having their third season together after joining the 18s in 2016-2017. Along with Nathan Edwards, they won the 2017-2018 Spring Championship in Panasonic Lumix and were rewarded by a move into their current skiff, The Kitchen Maker-Caesarstone.

Tom Quigley came into the 18s at the same time as part of a crew skippered by his father, Stephen Quigley.

Steve is not only a former JJ Giltinan (world) champion, in 1996 in AEI-Pace Express, but is one of Australia’s most respected yachtsmen. He has been in a technical and performance advisory role, sailing with the incredibly successful Sydney-Hobart maxi, Wild Oats XI team for the past six years.

Tom was a member of the 2017-2018 NSW Championship-winning The Kitchen Maker-Caesarstone team, which was led by former JJ Giltinan champion Scott Babbage, who is now sheet hand on another top contender, Bing Lee.

When Girdis and Doyle moved into The Kitchen Maker-Caesarstone, they joined with Tom for the first time and the new team immediately showed its capabilities with some consistently impressive performances.

Now the team could become Australian 18ft Skiff champion by Sunday.

The final two races of the nine-race Australian Championship will be sailed on Sydney Harbour next Sunday (17 February) and the title is still very much up-for-grabs with only four points separating the top five teams. -- Frank Quealey,

Live streaming is available on 18FootersTV
www.18footers.com.au/18-footers-sailing/18-footers-tv/

Letters To The Editor -
Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.

* From Adrian Morgan

re: 'elf and Safety

A warning to all those boat owners who are about to embark on the hideous task of scraping off old antifouling, and are tempted buy online from Tool Station a humble scraper. A few minutes after I ordered the scraper and spare blades I received an email asking for my passport...

Was I old enough to wield such a dangerous weapon? If I were to order a screwdriver, would I be tempted to stab someone, or maybe stab myself? "It's the law," I was told. "You will have to send a photo of your passport before we can send you the scraper."

So I did. And the scraper arrived, a blunt instrument with which not even the most determined assassin could hope to murder anyone.

Words fail me...

Featured Brokerage
1963 Sparkman & Stephens 43 Ft Sloop - Clarion Of Wight. 150000 EUR. Located in France.

CLARION was launched as a state of the art offshore racer, at time when beautiful boats were still a by-product of the designer's quest for speed - she remains much loved by her owners and certainly fast enough to hold her own in a modern or classic fleet.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Barney Sandeman

+44 (0)1202 330077
33 High Street
Poole, Dorset
BH15 1AB
United Kingdom

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2009 MC-TEC Akilaria RC1 Class 40. 160,000 EUR. Located in Gijon, Spain

From the board of Marc Lombard and uild by MC-TEC, this 2009 Akilarai RC1 Class 40 is a very rapid water ballast race boat with carbon rig, bowsprit, 3m T-shaped keel plus twin rudders. Fully spec’d and ready to go.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
GRABAU INTERNATIONAL
Lead broker - Michele Antonini
Tel: +39 333 74 89 281
Email:

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2015 Mills 45. 480000 EUR. Located in Adelaide, Australia

CONCUBINE, is without question one of the stand out boats on the Australian circuit, both in terms of performance and presentation..... A full grand-prix build and meticulous management from start to finish has got the boat to where she is today, consistently challenging for top spot at every event

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

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

The Last Word
I'm as mad as Hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! -- Howard Beale

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