In This Issue
• RORC Transatlantic Race: Childhood 1 wins the International Maxi Association (IMA) Trophy
• 49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17 WORLDS DAY THREE - LIVE ALERT
• Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
• Young Talent Shines Through on Day Three of SSL Finals
• Royal Albert Dock Confirmed As Clipper Race Finish
• Supermaxi yacht, Wild Oats XI, on the mend - repaired mast to be stepped this Sunday
• Chasing the dream - Andres Lage qualifies for Tokyo 2020
• For the Record
• World Sailing Trust release Women in Sailing Strategic Review
• World Sailing Race Officials announced for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
• Letters to the Editor
• Featured Charter
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Swan 90-703 'B5'
• • Botin 65 - High Spirit
• • Race For Water - MOD 70 Trimaran
• The Last Word: Breece D'J Pancake
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
The 11th annual Wight Vodka Best Sailor's Bar search is on... Send us your thoughts and drink recipes...
RORC Transatlantic Race: Childhood 1 wins the International Maxi Association (IMA) Trophy
Swedish VO65 Childhood 1, skippered by Bouwe Bekking, has taken Line Honours in the 2019 RORC Transatlantic Race. Childhood 1 crossed the finish line outside Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina, Grenada in an elapsed time of 11 days 11 hours 34 mins 49 secs. The International Maxi Association Secretary General, Andrew McIrvine, presented Bouwe Bekking and the team with the IMA Trophy for Monohull Line Honours.
The rhumb line for the race course from Marina Lanzarote to Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina is approximately 2,900nm. However the optimum route taken by Childhood 1 took the team far south, racking up nearly 4,000nm in the race. The majority of the crew were young sailors with ambition to take part in The Ocean Race 2021-22.
Childhood 1 crew: Bouwe Bekking, Antonio Cuervas Mons, Ysbrand Endt, Pablo Garcia Mujica, Julius Hallstrom, Edmond Hilhorst, Steven Melkman, Pelle Norberg, Simbad Quiroga, Aage Reerslev, Pieter Tack, Jelmer van Beek, Jorden van Rooijen and Laura van Veen.
Childhood 1 is a new project racing for children's rights, raising awareness and funding for the Childhood Foundation. One of the project leaders Pelle Norberg was part of the crew for the RORC Transatlantic Race.
49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17 WORLDS DAY THREE - LIVE ALERT
Starting now we have 49erFX Gold and 49er Gold getting into the business end of the championship. For Nacra 17 fans the third course covered is the Nacra 17 Silver fleet.
Starting later this afternoon will be the Nacra 17 Gold along with the 49er and 49erFX fleets.
The forecast is for building breath into the upper teens so should be fantastic racing!
All these races are live on sideline via 49er.org/live
Head to the regatta website for result and race highlights from day 1.
Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
Sometimes the best drinks are simple and straightforward. As in the case of the Lime Squash, a favored beverage at last year's winner, Cloggy's in Falmouth Antigua.
Cloggy's was a huge favorite of the many journalists and photographers covering Antigua Sailing Week last year. There's no organization better at judging bars and drinks that SINS (Society of International Nautical Scribes). The usual criminals have spent decades honing their craft at seaside pubs and bistros and can be relied upon for good recommendations (and for honoring your presence by allowing you to pick up the check).
Here's the simple, and simply wonderful Lime Squash from Ton and Vanessa;
Wight Vodka
4 small or 2 medium-size limes
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) carbonated water (mineral water, club soda, etc.)
For the maximum juice, roll the limes over the counter back and forth with the palm of your hand. Cut the limes in half and juice them by hand or with a juicer. You should have 1/2 cup (4 ounces) of juice. Put the juice and honey into a bowl and mix well with a wire whisk or fork. Pour the mixture into a pitcher. Add vodka. Add the carbonated water and stir until all of the ingredients are well combined. Taste and adjust it for the desired sweetness. Serve it over ice. You can substitute lemons or mix lemons and limes.
Best accessorized with a straw hat, flip flops, and an Adirondack chair.
Pretend it's summer again, sip a few, and then tell us about YOUR favorite bar. The winner this year gets a custom 3D map handcrafted by Bobby Nash of Latitude Kinsale. You can see one on the wall at Cloggy's.
Young Talent Shines Through on Day Three of SSL Finals
A lighter 6-12 knot day on Nassau's Montagu Bay brought a fresh set of winners among the 23 competing teams on day three of the SSL Finals, the event determining 2019's 'stars of the sailing world'.
Star of the day was Australian Torvar Mirsky, sailing with Ireland's Robert O'Leary. With the wind due north, the 2017 Match Racing World Champion was unbeatable upwind, leading at the top mark in all three of today's races. However it was only in the second when they converted this to their first bullet.
Generally the lighter conditions favoured the youngsters. While Mirsky-O'Leary were the class act, scoring just one point more today were Scottish Laser European Champion Lorenzo Chiavarini and his German crew Kilian Weise, whose 3-3-6 left them in seventh (following yesterday's two DNFs).
Also going well today were Brazilians Haddad and Boening who posted a 2-7-7, leaving them 10th. "For sure the light conditions were better for us, but we were really aggressive with our plan to stay on the right side on the upwinds, where the big puffs and shifts were coming from," explained Haddad. As to beating the heroes of the sport he added: "It is something that we don't think about on the water, but when we look at the results and are ahead of many of them, it is a great feeling."
Another three races are scheduled Friday starting at 1100. These will be the last of the qualification round. After this the top 10 alone will be heading on to Saturday's Finals rounds.
Top 10 results after eight races and one discard:
1. Mateusz Kusznierewicz POL / Bruno Prada BRA, 33
2. Iain Percy GBR / Anders Ekstrom SWE, 43
3. Diego Negri ITA / Frithjof Kleen GER, 46
4. Eivind Melleby NOR / Josh Revkin USA, 46
5. Xavier Rohart FRA / Pierre-Alexis Ponsot FRA, 51
6. Oskari Muhonen FIN / Vitalii Kushnir UKR, 52
7. Lorenzo Chiavarini GBR / Kilian Weise GER, 54
8. Paul Cayard USA / Phil Trinter USA, 55
9. Torvar Mirsky AUS / Robert O'Leary IRE, 57
10. Henrique Haddad BRA / Henry Boening BRA, 63
starsailors.com
finals.starsailors.com
Royal Albert Dock Confirmed As Clipper Race Finish
The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race has announced the Clipper 2019-20 Race Finish will be held at Royal Albert Dock (RAD) in the heart of the capital's Royal Docks. This comes as the event's new partnership with Royal Docks and RAD, London's new international destination for business and leisure, is revealed.
After the teams have raced 40,000 nautical miles around the planet, RAD will play host to the Race Finish festivities. This unique waterfront location, situated between three DLR stations, London City Airport and the new Crossrail station at Custom House, is expecting to attract people from far and wide to come and absorb the fun atmosphere. Royal Albert Dock has a growing reputation for delivering spectacular events, such as the EFG London Jazz Festival Summer Stage and the Cristal Palace (the closing gala for the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival) as well as international business and tech conferences.
The Royal Albert Dock development, masterplanned by world-famous Farrells Architect, is set to create over 30,000 jobs and generate £6 billion to the London economy, is benefiting from £1.7 billion investment from developers ABP (Advanced Business Park). This is London's newest international business district, with the first phase already completed of the 4.7 million sq ft office, residential, retail and leisure facilities on the 35-acre site, and the first project to be undertaken outside of China for ABP - which specialises in revitalising sites into thriving business districts.
Supermaxi yacht, Wild Oats XI, on the mend - repaired mast to be stepped this Sunday
The 30m supermaxi yacht, Wild Oats XI, which was badly damaged during a coastal race three weeks ago, is now on schedule to be on the start line for this year's Rolex Sydney-Hobart yacht race.
Owned by the Oatley family, the state-of-the art racing maxi is recognised as the most successful yacht in the 75-year history of the 630-nautical mile classic. The race will start on Boxing Day, December 26.
On November 8 Wild Oats XI's 45-metre high carbon fibre mast fractured at deck level when the yacht was leading the fleet in the 150 nautical mile Cabbage Tree Island race out of Sydney.
The yacht was charging downwind at 32 knots when the carbon fibre mast failed at deck level. Incredibly, through great skill on the part of the crew, the wildly gyrating mast remained aloft while the yacht was guided to shelter in Newcastle Harbour.
After returning to Sydney the following day an around-the-clock local and international effort has seen the extensive repairs completed ahead of schedule. This included repairing the mast and replacing a large section of the yacht's deck.
The result of that effort will become evident at 7.30am this Sunday (December 8) at Wild Oats XI's waterfront base at Woolwich Dock, on Sydney Harbour. The yacht will be moved from the large shed where it was housed then the repaired mast will be lifted by a crane and put back into place.
If everything goes to plan there is a remote chance the yacht will be under sail that afternoon. -- Rob Mundle
Chasing the dream - Andres Lage qualifies for Tokyo 2020
For much of his life, Andres Lage from Venezuela has been chasing a dream - to sail at the Olympic Games. That dream finally became real last week after he qualified for Tokyo 2020 in the Finn Class following the South American Continental Qualifier, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 25-30 November.
The 10-race regatta was won by Antonio Moreira, from Pablo Guitian and Pedro Lodovici. Lage placed fourth, but that was enough to secure a place at Tokyo 2020 with a day to spare.
It had been a long and tough journey for the 27-year old, a story of perseverance against adversity and of lows and highs. He has been helped by many people along the way, most recently by long time Finn sailor Michael Kurtz.
Back in 2001 Kurtz formed a friendship with French Finn sailor Guillaume Florent and helped him the through two campaigns, ending up with the bronze medal in Beijing 2008. In Lage, Kurtz saw a similar talent and stepped in to help the Spanish based Venezuelan with equipment and support to be able to get to the Continental Qualifier in Rio and to be as prepared as possible for the most important regatta of his life to date.
Lage has also been a recipient of the Finn Class development programme, FIDeS.
With the South American Qualifier now finished, there are just four places left to be decided for Tokyo 2020. In two weeks time the Oceania Qualifier takes place in Melbourne at the Finn Gold Cup, then the North America Qualifier will be at the World Cup in Miami, followed by the African and European places at the World Cup in Genoa.
The full version of this article is on the Finn class site.
For the Record
The WSSR Council announces the establishment of a new World Record:
Record: Port Louis (Lorient) to Port Louis (Mauritius)
Yacht: "IDEC Sport". 103 ft Trimaran. Singlehanded.
Name: Francis Joyon. FRA
Dates: 19th October to the 8th November 2019
Start time: 09;11;32 on 19/10/19
Finish time: 03;26;17 on 08/11/19
Elapsed time: 19 days 18 hours 14 minutes and 45 seconds
Distance: 8100 nm
Average speed: 17.08 kts
Comments:. Benchmark: IDEC. Francis Joyon. FRA. Nov 2009. 26d 4h 13m 29s
John Reed
Secretary to the WSSR Council
World Sailing Trust release Women in Sailing Strategic Review
The World Sailing Trust is pleased to release its Strategic Review into Women in Sailing, a report that explores gender balance and makes a case for change to address disparities within the sport.
Announced on International Women's Day 2019, the Strategic Review forms part of the Trust's Access to Sailing work and focuses on increasing gender diversity across the sport. The document provides insight from 4,500 respondents aged 11-83 from 75 nations with a variety of experience across the sport. Respondents' backgrounds vary from dinghy and keelboat sailors with offshore and inshore experience to Member National Authorities, Class Associations, Race Officials, volunteers and event organisers.
Authored by Vicky Low, the report brings together all of the findings and is supplemented by discussions and interviews with numerous stakeholders within international sailing and sport. To address the disparities within sailing, the report also identifies nine recommendations to balance the playing field.
These recommendations include:
Diversity and inclusion working group
Gender Charter
Equality policy
Increasing participation and creating space for women to compete
Gender equality for officials
Gender design working group
Female coaching programme
Fast track leadership programme
Women's mentoring programme
Outlined in further detail within the report, these recommendations will be put forward to World Sailing, Member National Authorities, Class Associations and the global sailing community.
Women in Sailing Strategic Review.
World Sailing Race Officials announced for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
World Sailing, the world governing body of the sport, is pleased to announce the names of the Race Officials who have been appointed for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Competition.
The 60 International Race Officials from 31 nations are spread across the Technical Delegates, Race Management Team, International Jury, Technical Committee with an additional Event Disciplinary Investigating Officer.
Full list of Tokyo 2020 Race Official Appointments and the selection procedure.
Tom Duggan of the USA will head the Race Management Team as the Principal Race Officer (PRO) and Spain's Maria Torrijo will act as the Deputy PRO. Both Duggan and Torrijo attended the READY STEADY TOKYO - Sailing Olympic test event and hold several years of international experience across the sport.
Duggan and Torrijo will lead a team of six Course Representatives, responsible for running the racing for each of the Olympic classes, with 12 further International Race Officers supporting the team.
Great Britain's John Doerr will Chair the International Jury with Spain's Andres Perez Alvarez as Vice Chair. They will make up a 27-person International Jury who will ensure the Racing Rules of Sailing are properly applied to ensure a fair competition.
In addition, Australia's David Tillett has been appointed as the Event Disciplinary Investigating Officer (EDIO) and will be responsible for investigating complaints of misconduct.
The Technical Committee will bring together 11 International Measurers and will be Chaired by Dimitris Dimou of Greece with Belgium's Jurgen Cluytmans acting as Vice Chair. The team includes International Measurers will specific expertise on the six pieces of Olympic Equipment that will be in Enoshima. They will be responsible for ensuring that each boat complies with the Class specific rules.
Alastair Fox and Jon Napier from World Sailing will lead the International Race Official team as Technical Delegates to ensure a fair competition and level playing field for the 350 sailors racing across ten Olympic Events to compete on.
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 Paddy Smart
Ben Remocker's heartfelt plea to us to pay to watch TV coverage of 49er, 49er FX and NACRA 17 worlds, though well intentioned, does not just throw light on the fact there is simply not much interest in watching racing, even among sailors (racing and non-racing).
Who thought that conditional access to coverage of this event would be a flyer? Are they optimists and dreamers or misguided realists? I don't want to knock this attempt to raise the profile of our sport but things like this and World Sailing's TV show (polished as it is, it gives us features on events we've already seen 3 weeks earlier) show program-makers have not just been slow to evolve, their output appears to still have primordial soup gathered around its webbed feet....
Sailing is a challenging spectator sport, to put it mildly. "What about golf?" (someone always says in response). What about it? It's so different on so many levels there is no comparison.
Stakeholders and producers need a new approach just to get sailors to watch, let alone pay to watch, should that day ever come. There are good reasons why Sailing La Vagabonde and its type, along with event "moments" like starts/finishes of big offshore races are popular and fleet racing one design dinghies, even at world championship level, is not.
Perhaps sailing should forever remain a sport that is most enjoyable to do, rather than watch.
Featured Brokerage
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See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Giorgio Passarella
Nautor's Swan Brokerage
T. +377 97 97 95 07
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2015 Botin 65 'High Spirit'. 1,850,000 EUR. Located in Spain.
There were no costs spared in building this magnificent racer, from her design and construction to the addition of high tech equipment. During the winter of 2016, she was intensively prepared for racing. She now has a stable heading in any wind and easily hydroplanes in 10 knots.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
BERNARD GALLAY Yacht Brokerage
www.bernard-gallay.com
Tel +33 (0) 467 66 39 93
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2011 MOD 70 Trimaran RACE FOR WATER. 1200000 EUR. Located in Lorient, Bretagne, France.
The MOD 70 class is born in 2009 with the experience gained in the Orma 60 trimaran class, from an association between 3 passionate entrepreneurs & sailors: Marco Simeoni, Steve Ravussin and Franck David.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
I'm going to come back to West Virginia when this is over. There's something ancient and deeply-rooted in my soul. I like to think that I have left my ghost up one of those hollows, and I'll never really be able to leave for good until I find it. -- Breece D'J Pancake
Editorial and letter submissions to
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