In This Issue
• Spectacular Start For RORC Transatlantic Race
• Isabelle Joschke (MACSF) abandons the Vendee Globe
• Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
• The Weirdest Victory - OnCourse Episode Nine
• 18ft Skiffs NSW Championship, Race 5
• North Sea Regatta
• RYA postpones 2021 Youth National Championships
• Alex Thomson departs Cape Town and ‘heads for home’ onboard HUGO BOSS
• The Resolute Syndicate
• Jules Verne Trophy, Round 2
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Mills IRC 41 - Ambush
• • Pilot Classic 55
• • Ker 40 - "Icebreaker"
• The Last Word: Marcus Tullius Cicero

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

Spectacular Start For RORC Transatlantic Race
The 2021 RORC Transatlantic Race started in glorious conditions outside Marina Puerto Calero on Saturday 9th January. With the RORC Racing Management Team operating remotely, the race start was officiated by Manuel Torres, Sporting Director, Real Club Náutico de Arrecife. With a highly experienced team from the Royal Yacht Club, the RORC fleet got away to a spectacular reaching start for the 7th edition of the race.

An hour into the race, all of the competing boats had rounded Punta de Papagayo on the southern tip of Lanzarote. The IRC56 Black Pearl, sailed by Stefan Jentzsch, was leading on the water, followed by Johannes Schwarz’s Volvo 70 Green Dragon. Oren Nataf’s Multi50 Trimaran Rayon Vert, skippered by Alex Pella had a conservative start but was soon scorching along at close to 20 knots of boat speed.

In the Class40 duel, Antoine Carpentier’s Redman got away well at the Committee Boat end and was a mile ahead of Olivier Magre’s Class40 Palanad 3, passing Punta de Papagayo. However, Palanad 3 has taken a more northerly route and is posting a higher boat speed than their immediate competition. What is more, over the next 100 miles or so, Redman will need to point higher than Palanad 3 to pass north of Tenerife.

Two hours into the race, all of the fleet were experiencing exhilarating reaching conditions with double digit boat speed, blasting towards the sun as it sets to the west.

http://rorctransatlantic.rorc.org

* The IRC56 Black Pearl, sailed by Stefan Jentzsch, contacted the RORC Race Management Team at 11:30 UTC on 10th January to report that Black Pearl is retiring from the race and heading back to Lanzarote. All are well on board. Black Pearl was approximately 20 miles west of the island of El Hierro, some 250 miles from Lanzarote. The RORC Race Team and Marina Puerto Calero will be standing by should Black Pearl require any assistance.

At 1200 UTC on the second day of the RORC Transatlantic Race, the leading boats had left the Canary Islands behind and were at full pace, blasting into the open seas of the Atlantic Ocean. It will be many days before the sailors see land once more.

Oren Nataf’s Multi50 Trimaran Rayon Vert, skippered by Alex Pella is leading the fleet, having raced 350nm in the first 24 hours. Johannes Schwarz’s Volvo 70 Green Dragon is second on the water, sailing close to the rhumb line, placing the Austrian Volvo 70 just five miles behind the multihull.

Olivier Magre’s Class40 Palanad 3 has fully lit the blue touch paper, revelling in the ideal conditions and wind angle for a Class40. A ballistic 340 nautical miles in 24 hours has put the French team 30 miles ahead of Antoine Carpentier’s Class40 Redman. “We have seen between 20-30 knots of wind with waves up to three metres. It is a wet and bumpy ride with the sea state on the nose!” commented Luke Berry on board Palanad 3.

Isabelle Joschke (MACSF) abandons the Vendee Globe
Isabelle Joschke has been forced to abandon her Vendee Globe on the 62nd day of racing after a further failure of the keel canting system on board her IMOCA MACSF.

Joschke was lying racing in 11th place racing in difficult conditions, in 30-35 knots of wind in the South Atlantic some 1100 miles east of the Argentinian coast.

During the late afternoon today Saturday 9th January Joschke realised that the hydraulic cylinder which was holding her keel centred had failed. After the main keel canting system failed on January 3rd she had been sailing with the keel centred, held in place by this replacement ram. But the keel is no longer held centred. She immediately lowered the mainsail and was sailing under storm jib to keep the boat as stable as possible.

Alain Gautier, MACSF team manager, explained: “Isabelle is currently taking stock of the situation. She has reduced speed completely to minimise the effect of the waves and to make sure water doesn't get into the boat. The first problem is that she is sailing in the direction of the depression and conditions will deteriorate overnight. Tomorrow a shift in the wind direction should allow her to escape to the north-east to escape this low pressure, and flatter seas should make things easier. It is obvious that Isabelle can no longer continue with her Vendee Globe and will have to retire. We are in constant contact and are studying the various options with her for the next few days. "

Top ten at 04 Jan. 2021 - 21h (UTC)
1. Yannick Bestaven - Maitre CoQ IV, 4849.07 nm to finish
2. Charlie Dalin - APIVIA, 181.81 nm to leader
3. Damien Seguin - GROUPE APICIL, 256.11 nm
4. Thomas Ruyant - LinkedOut, 274.66 nm
5. Louis Burton - Valley 2 Office, 313.22 nm
6. Benjamin Dutreux - OMIA - WATER FAMILY, 429.2 nm
7. Jean Le Cam - Yes We Cam!, 448.73 nm
8. Boris Herrmann - SEAEXPLORER - Yacht Club De Monaco, 459.7 nm
9. Giancarlo Pedote - Prysmian Group, 472.81 nm
10. Maxime Sorel - V and B-MAYENNE, 541.74 nm

Tracker

Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar
We're now down to the top ten bars! Voting is open to choose the winner.

A note from the Yachting Journalist Association CEO Cliff Webb:

I have just cast my vote in the Wight Vodka Best Sailors Bar competition – thanks for running this again, some light hearted relief in dire times!

I feel reasonably well qualified to vote, having visited 7 of the 10 establishments shortlisted (hmm what does that say about me...?), some more, and indeed, longer (!) than others. But my vote went to the Soggy Dollar Bar.

It’s a lovely chilled out place where you usually swim ashore to the bar (hence the name – my kids once found $26 dollars while snorkelling about 5m off the beach = about 4 Painkillers. Sent them back every hour.

It gets a bit crowded finding a space near to the beach to park your boat sometimes, but we have had a ‘hellofalotoffun’ there on many occasions...hoping to go again at some stage soon, so am offering to take your trophy with me if they win...!

Head to eurosailnews.com/sailors-bars to vote!

The Weirdest Victory - OnCourse Episode Nine
Throughout 170 years, the battle for the America’s Cup has delivered plenty of fascinating stories about people and their campaigns. But there are few stranger tales than the story of how a tiny New Zealand boating club with a car for a clubhouse got its name on the world’s oldest international sporting trophy.

Matt Sheahan heads to the site of the story to see for himself and to recount this extraordinary America’s Cup victory. He also considers how far things have come with the AC75s since designers ditched 20 tonnes of lead and allowed their boats to fly. And while the boat speeds between the current boats and NZL60, the Cup winning yacht of 2000 are worlds apart, the physical concepts are closer than you might think.

Plus, Steve Ancsell reports on the deep ocean stage of the Vendee Globe as the leaders round the infamous Cape Horn. And as usual, we have our selection of snippets in Docktalk.

18ft Skiffs NSW Championship, Race 5
Sydney Harbour: Racing resumed today, after the annual break over the Christmas-New Year period, when the Australian 18 Footers League conducted race 5 of the 2020-2021 NSW 18ft Skiff Championship on Sydney Harbour.

Defending champion Winning Group team of John Winning Jr., Seve Jarvin and Sam Newton won the start and were never headed over the entire North-East course before going on to record a comfortable 1m36s victory over the Smeg team of Michael Coxon, Ricky Bridge and Trent Barnabas.

The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines (Aron Everett, Courtney Mahar, Charlie Gundy) was a further 21s back in third place, ahead of a dramatic finish in which Yandoo (John Winning) crossed the finish line just 1s ahead of Nick Daly's Bird and Bear.

Series leader going into today's Race 5, tech2 was involved in an incident with Smeg as the two skiffs approached the top mark on the first leg of the course. The collision resulted in tech2 being forced out of the race with a broken wing. The tech2 team has lodged a protest seeking redress.

Subject to the decision over tech2's protest, provisional points going into next Sunday's final race of the 2020-2021 NSW Championship are Winning Group on four points, followed by tech2 (Jack Macaartney) on seven, Smeg on nine points, The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines and Finport Finance (Keagan York) equal on 11 points, Andoo (Marcus Ashley-Jones) on 13 and Yandoo on 14.

Today's race was sailed in a 10-15 knot North East wind with most of the fleet electing to sail with their No1 (big) rigs. A notable exception was Shaw and Partners Financial Services (Jim Colley) which raced with the smaller No. 2 rig.

The re-sail of Race 2 of the NSW Championship, in conjunction with Race 1 of the Australian Championship, will be conducted next Sunday (January 17). -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League Ltd.

www.18footers.com

North Sea Regatta
2021 is finally here and we are looking forward to an exciting year with more sailing!

For obvious reasons last year's edition couldn't take place, but we are full of confidence that this year the NSR will be back better than ever and we are starting the year with lots of good news.

First of all, registration is open and we know you can't wait to sign up for this year's edition. 2021 will be a special anniversary edition as we have moved the 75th anniversary the Vuurschepen Race to this year.

In order to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the 120 nautical mile long offshore Vuurschepen Race we have a gift for you. Our sponsor Navionics has generously offered to give away 30 free charts for the first 30 entrants of the Vuurschepen Race.

So hurry up and head over to our Manage2sail portal, secure your spot and claim your Navionics chart!

On Tuesday January 12th navigator Jolbert van Dijk will navigate you through the Vuurschepen Race in the highly successful e-seminar series from Team Heiner. By the end of this seminar you will not only know how to plan the smartest route, but also learn how to effectively use technology such as Grib files, Adrena, polars, expedition, PWG, Navionics and PWE. If you are planning to compete in the Vuurschepen Race you don't want to miss this!

Book your ticket today via Team Heiner.

nsr.nl

RYA postpones 2021 Youth National Championships
The RYA has decided that in light of the current Covid-19 situation it is in the best interests of all parties to postpone the 2021 Youth National Championships.

The prestigious regatta, the UK’s premier youth racing event, was due to take place from April 4 to 9 hosted by Plymouth Youth Sailing Club in Plymouth, Devon.

With the UK currently in lockdown and likely to revert to the tier system once restrictions ease, the decision has been made to delay the regatta until the summer.

This will give organisers the time to plan for the best possible event, as well as giving time for the nationwide vaccination programme to take effect.

We are also very mindful that the young sailors will have lost training time over the winter and this gives them time to be ready for such an event.

It is hoped the rescheduled event will take place at the same venue the week commencing August 9, 2021. It is intended that further details and any Notice of Race will be shared before the end of January.

www.britishyouthsailing.co.uk

Alex Thomson departs Cape Town and ‘heads for home’ onboard HUGO BOSS
Alex Thomson today departed from Cape Town, South Africa to begin the 6,500nm journey back to the UK onboard his HUGO BOSS boat.

After being forced to retire from the Vendee Globe round-the-world yacht race - which is still under way - Thomson sailed his IMOCA yacht to Cape Town where the boat remained over the Christmas and New Year period.

Thomson and members of his technical team this week returned to Cape Town, successfully replaced the boat’s starboard rudder - which was damaged beyond repair, causing the skipper’s withdrawal from the race - and have since been preparing to sail the boat back to the south coast of England. The delivery is expected to take Thomson and his three crew members around three weeks to complete.

“I’m looking forward to getting back out on the water sailing again” said Thomson, as he prepared to leave the V&A Marina in Cape Town today. “Of course, this is certainly not where we expected to find ourselves. We were expecting to be up there, competing with the leading boats in the Vendee Globe. But we’ll be watching the race closely and wishing all the skippers the very best for the rest of the race.

“For us, the next three weeks provide a very good opportunity to get some more miles under our belts and to learn even more about this beautiful boat and what she’s capable of. We’ll also be continuing to develop some of our game-changing onboard technology projects alongside the team at Nokia Bell Labs”. -- Sarah Taylor, Communications Director

www.alexthomsonracing.com

The Resolute Syndicate
2020 was an interesting year - for you and for us here at HMM. Early on, when we weren't sure we were going to be able to deliver against the mission at all in 2020, we called on our supporters to help us battle our way through this thing. We created the Resolute Syndicate, a nod to both the 100th anniversary of RESOLUTE's victory in the 1920 America's Cup, and to the attitude with which our crew has faced up to the challenge presented by the pandemic.

By "our crew", I refer both to the HMM staff, and to the generous donors who've made the Resolute Syndicate a reality. We set out to recruit 20 syndicate "members". As of today, we have 19, and their names will be forever memorialized on a stone marker on the HMM waterfront. But not just any stone marker. This one is being created by Nick Benson at the John Stevens Shop (founded in 1705) in Newport, RI, the oldest in the country.

We are so thankful for their generosity and commitment to our mission, and I'd like to take this opportunity to invite you to be our 20th Resolute Syndicate member and to help us close this campaign with a bang! $10,000 and WE ARE DONE! An amazing achievement, and one that provides so much validation for what we do here and so much motivation for the HMM "crew"!

What are you investing in? So many great things on tap for 2021:

- A new HMM Rigged Model exhibit in the Aria Gallery
- A totally unique STEM Education program focused on inspiring the next generation of problem solvers
- A new collections management platform which will allow us to make more of our collection available digitally to you
- A virtual tour of the renowned NGH Model Room - the cradle of innovation in yacht design and construction
- Ongoing investment in the preservation of the historic buildings that comprise the HMM campus on the shores of Narragansett Bay

We're moving forward with purpose and determination. No crying over spilt milk here, BUT... we can really use your help. The last slot in the Resolute Syndicate needs to be filled - please consider having your name carved in stone in perpetuity at HMM by the best and oldest stone carvers in America. Join us today. -- Bill Lynn, Executive Problem Solver

Donate

Jules Verne Trophy, Round 2
With the precision of a metronome it was at 2 hours 33 minutes and 46 seconds that the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild set off on Sunday January 10 on a new Jules Verne Trophy record attempt. With a northeasterly wind of around twenty knots and in a manageable sea, the six sailors left the island of Ouessant by its way and saluted the Creac'h one last time, emblematic lighthouse of this crossing of the line.

Having left their base in Lorient a few hours earlier, just before sunset, Franck Cammas, Charles Caudrelier, Morgan Lagravière, David Boileau, Yann Riou and Erwan Israel had to wait a few hours offshore to adjust their starting window as best as possible; precise timing, skilfully calculated with their onshore weather router Marcel van Triest.

With their time of 40 days 23 hours and 30 minutes, Francis Joyon and the Idec Sport crew have set the bar very high. To break the record and become the 10th crew to inscribe its name on this monument of ocean racing, the men of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild will have to be back off the Brittany point before February 20 at 2 hours 3 minutes and 15 seconds.

By then, nearly 22,000 nautical miles are ahead of the bows and a high-speed planetary adventure awaits them.

www.gitana-team.com/en/

Featured Brokerage
2016 MILLS 41 - "Ambush". 350000 USD. Located in Hong Kong.

AMBUSH is an IRC41 from Mark Mills. With a detailed understanding of the IRC rule, this FAST 40 style racer was penned with a more offshore focus, whilst keeping similar DNA to the inshore flyers that we have seen taking IRC by storm. A great option for both an inshore and offshore calendar.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Race Boats
+447759 424900
+442380 016582

-----------------------------------------

Pilot Classic 55. 895,000 EUR.

PC55 - With 2 hulls completed they have proven to be wonderful cruising yachts with great performance

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Mark Speirs

+44 7818 119 656
performanceclassicyachts.com/pc55-3/

-----------------------------------------

2011 Ker 40 - "Icebreaker" 170000 GBP. Located in Auckland.

One of NZ's most successful 40'fters in the last 8 years,Icebreaker has really been the benchmark boat. Foam glass hull with twin carbon wheels and carbon mast, ensure a lightweight and powerful arrangement, but with plenty of durability. New Keel and pedestal have kept the performance push goin

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Race Boats

+442380 016582
+447759 424900

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

The Last Word
A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. -- Marcus Tullius Cicero

Editorial and letter submissions to

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