In This Issue
• Vale Bob Fisher
• Less than 24 hours to First Vendee Finish
• An exciting opportunity to join Spinlock as a Project Manager
• Palanad 3 win the 2021 RORC Transatlantic Race Trophy
• Better than ever - Nautor Swan
• Exciting career opportunities
• Steady signups show enthusiasm for 29th Block Island Race Week
• The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild abandons her Jules Verne Trophy record attempt
• Young Azzurra Team to take part in the Youth Foiling World Cup
• 2021 Eric Twiname Junior Championships postponed
• Featured Charter: Sailplane 3 - Mat 12
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Beneteau First 47.7
• • Dazcat 1495 Apollo
• • Provenance - 94ft Sailing Yacht Ketch
• The Last Word: Douglas Adams

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

Vale Bob Fisher
Photo by Daniel Forster

Bob Fisher, the larger-than-life yachtsman, journalist and author crossed the bar peacefully on January 25 surrounded by family. He was 85.

Three days before, Sir Ben Ainslie had called him from Auckland New Zealand where he and his INEOS America’s Cup team had just won the most exciting race in the 170-year history for the ‘Auld Mug’ to dedicate their victory to this fabled Cup historian.

Bob Fisher was born and bred in the coastal town of Brightlingsea, Essex UK and made sailing his life. Engaged by stories from the professional Brightlingsea fishermen who crewed the big yachts of their day, including Sir Thomas Sopwith’s two British J Class America’s Cup challengers Endeavour and Endeavour II in 1934 and ’37, he first made a name as a top crew, winning 7 national and world titles in the National Hornet and Fireball high performance dinghy classes. He also won the International Yacht Racing Union trials to select a 2-man trapeze catamaran trials with his Brightlingsea friend Reg White which led to the Tornado being chosen as the first Olympic multihull class.

White was Britain’s top multihull sailor, and it was on his recommendation that Bob went on to claim international fame, winning the 1967 Little America’s Cup in C-Class catamarans, racing the British defender Lady Helmsman with Peter Schneidau against the Australian challenger Quest III, winning the series in dominant style 4:1. Fisher’s prize was an all- expenses paid trip to Newport Rhode Island to watch the American 12m yacht Intrepid beat the Australian challenger Dame Pattie in the real America’s Cup. It led to a life-long obsession with Bob covering all the matches since, bar the current racing off Auckland.

The author of 30 books on all aspects of the sport, they including 8 covering The Whitbread/Volvo round the world race and 1986 Book of the Sea award winning tome - Greatest Race: Official Story of the Whitbread Round the World Race, 1985-86 – and 7 on the America’s Cup.

In 1992, Bob set about to write the definite history of the America’s Cup, supported by that year’s Cup winner, American philanthropist Bill Koch. The 2-volume An Absorbing Interest took 15 years to research and write and has become the go-to opus to answer any question about the Cup. His latest work An Absorbing Interest Vol III covering the past two decades of Cup Races is due to be published in the Autumn.

Bob’s greatest hope had been to see Britain finally win back the famous ewer first competed for in 1851 in a race around the Isle of Wight. That has not happened in his lifetime, but he did follow the INEOS team come-back from oblivion in preliminary races in Auckland before Christmas to win a place in the finals of the Prada Cup challenge trials 5:0, and was cheered even more by Sir Ben’s last race dedication to our Mr America’s Cup. The final chapter of Bob’s last book may yet record his greatest wish fulfilled.

Bob Fisher is survived by his wife Dee, two children Alice and Carolyne, three grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Donations in Bob Fisher’s memory are welcomed to be sent to the Sir Thomas Lipton Foundation with a very brief reason why is www.sirthomasliptonfoundation.org

Messages and condolences are welcome on Bob Fisher’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/bob.fisher -- Barry Pickthall

Less than 24 hours to First Vendee Finish
Title will be decided between the Famous Five, Dalin ETA Late Afternoon Early Evening Wednesday

With something less than 24 hours until the first solo sailor finishes the Vendee Globe off Les Sables d’Olonne Wednesday night, even the most advanced modern weather routing programmes operated by some of the finest minds in ocean racing cannot seem to agree who the likely winner of a truly epic ninth edition of the non-stop solo round the world race will be.

The margin of victory looks set to be down to tiny minutes after 80 days and 24, 350 miles of racing. With five skippers harbouring realistic hopes of winning, the reality is that any one of Charlie Dalin, Boris Herrmann, Louis Burton, Thomas Ruyant and Yannick Bestaven have delivered performances equally worthy of overall victory.

Over 80 days and nights, 24/7, always on, they have engaged millions of spectators like never seen before since this race was founded in 1989.

With less than 400 miles to the finish this evening Charlie Dalin (Apivia), 36, leads by over 85 miles heading into his long, dark final full night at sea from 39 year old Boris Herrmann (Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco) who will become the first German to finish the race.

Louis Burton (Bureau Vallee 2), 35 from Saint Malo is third at 57 miles behind Herrman. Fourth placed Thomas Ruyant, 39 from Dunkirk has with Dalin and Bestaven been one of the occupants of the podium positions all the way round the globe, while Yannick Bestaven (Maitre Coq) celebrated his 48th birthday leading the race just west of Point Nemo and is fifth at 295 miles behind Dalin.

Pre race favourite Dalin has raced surgically precise courses with metronomic consistency on the newest and most proven boat. He has led for 36 days and at two of the three great capes.

Herrmann has paced his attack perfectly, quietly and efficiently preserving himself and his equipment, like a grand tour cyclist, in readiness to ratchet up his attack when the final miles chime perfectly with the sweet spot of his slightly older - but perfectly prepped and optimised boat. He has never led the race but - with a time compensation of 6 hours - may well become the first ever non-French winner.

Top ten at Jan. 26, 2021 - 9 p.m. (UTC)
1. Charlie Dalin - APIVIA, 337.82 nm to finish
2. Boris Herrmann - SEAEXPLORER - Yacht Club De Monaco, 72.24 nm to leader
3. Louis Burton - Valley 2 Office, 97.85 nm
4. Thomas Ruyant - LinkedOut, 202.35 nm
5. Yannick Bestaven - Maitre CoQ IV, 240.34 nm
6. Damien Seguin - GROUPE APICIL, 304.05 nm
7. Giancarlo Pedote - Prysmian Group, 369.93 nm
8. Jean Le Cam - Yes We Cam!, 461.7 nm
9. Benjamin Dutreux - OMIA - WATER FAMILY, 623.58 nm
10. Maxime Sorel - V and B-MAYENNE, 861.8 nm

Tracker

www.vendeeglobe.org

An exciting opportunity to join Spinlock as a Project Manager
Major grant funded product development projects are starting that need us to add new skills. The Project Manager will lead these exciting projects, coordinating work with our existing development team and external partners, whilst managing the compliance and deliverables with the grant funding organisations. This is a new UK based role and requires English as a first language.

To make a success of the role it would be useful to have…

Experience in electronics product development.

Knowledge of GNSS and PNT products or systems.

Engineering qualifications.

Involvement with grant funded projects.

Confident commercial communication skills.

Prospective applicants should register their interest by submitting their CV to

Palanad 3 win the 2021 RORC Transatlantic Race Trophy
Congratulations to Olivier Magre and his crew on French Class40 Palanad 3 as the overall winner of the 2021 RORC Transatlantic Race. Palanad 3 has posted the best elapsed time under IRC to win the RORC Transatlantic Race Trophy. Palanad 3 is the seventh winner of the antique sterling silver trophy and the first Class40 to do so. Antoine Carpentier’s Class40 Redman, also a Mach 40.4, was second overall under IRC.

“I am so happy to have won overall; it is a magnificent trophy!” smiled Olivier Magre. “This is a perfect race for Class40 because it is relatively shorter than other transatlantic races and the timing is perfect to join other events such as the RORC Caribbean 600. I am sure that in the future if we have a number of Class40s it would be a beautiful race and we have the added attraction of challenging bigger boats as well. I think mixing Class40s with other boats under IRC is a good thing because it increases the challenge and the performance required.”

Interview - (FR)Palanad 3 remporte le RORC Transatlantic Race Trophy:

Video:

Better than ever - Nautor Swan
Nautor’s Swan has always worked hard to ensure that owners continue to enjoy their yachts long after the pink ribbon comes off. Now the new Nautor’s Swan Experience takes this already rarified level of customer care to an even higher level

‘We have long wanted to present the Nautor Group at 360 degrees and the Nautor’s Swan Experience concept has been on our table for many months. The current situation, with the cancellation of nautical events all over the world, has speeded things up, but we are ready. Nautor’s Swan is a brand walking hand in hand with its owners, making them feel part of an amazing and international family,’ says Giovanni Pomati, Nautor Group CEO.

Fully respecting all the regulations regarding Covid-19, from 13 to 20 October, Nautor’s Swan Experience was held at the Marina di Scarlino on the Tuscan seaboard. Comprising two overlapping events, the inaugural Swan One Design Worlds and the Scarlino Private Boat Show, the event was the first of a new series of unique opportunities to become immersed in the whole world of Swan.

Full article in the February Issue of Seahorse

Exciting career opportunities
A+T is the rapidly growing manufacturer of high performance and beautifully engineered instruments for the superyacht and racing markets, see www.AandTinstruments.com.

We have continued to expand through the Covid period and are looking to build our sales and marketing team with two senior positions:-

Technical Support and Sales; a good technical grasp of marine electronics and good knowledge of superyachts and race yachts is needed, with opportunities to visit and sail at major regattas world-wide.

Sales manager; to expand our now well established footprint on over 400 superyacht and raceboats to the wider market of refit yards, brokers, new-build yards and electronics dealers. Some sales experience and knowledge of the market necessary, such as ex yacht broker, but not deep technical understanding.

Based primarily from Lymington, UK, these both offer competive salaries and the chance quickly to build senior management roles in an innovative and growing marine company.

Please contact . Please also pass on to anyone you know who might be interested.

Steady signups show enthusiasm for 29th Block Island Race Week
With 81 boats already registered for Storm Trysail Club’s 29th Block Island Race Week presented by Margaritaville, the 2021 edition is shaping up to be one of the biggest turnouts in recent years. We are pleased to report that we have over 30% more signups compared to this time in the previous two editions, so this early enthusiasm is a promising sign for the biennial event.

Even more encouraging, new skippers make up half of the sign-ups. This was true in 2019 as well, as many newcomers told us this was a “bucket list item” for them; speaking to the appeal and unique nature of this regatta. We are thrilled to welcome this growth among our expanding sailing community. Many of these registrations are in our most popular “Performance Cruising Division” with their race pursuit-style, once-per-day, around government marks.

For One-Designs, the J/105, J/88, and J/109 fleets are back along with the J/44’s who sat out the last cycle. There are also a few additional potential One-Design classes in the works with just a few more registrations needed for us to designate a class- exclusive start.

The J/109 ‘s will take this opportunity to run their East Coast Championships.

The biggest news for the Storm Trysail Club organizers is that Margaritaville is returning as the presenting partner

Reminder: Feb 15th is the last day to lock in the early bird rate for registration. Even pre-registered boats must pay by this date to get the discount.

Sailors are encouraged to register and learn more at blockislandraceweek.com. Please note Storm Trysail Club and Margaritaville are committed to putting attendee health and safety at the forefront of the event and are continuously monitoring health guidelines as provided by the CDC and local entities.

The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild abandons her Jules Verne Trophy record attempt
Sailing in the Indian Ocean since yesterday afternoon and their passage of the longitude of Cape Agulhas, the men of Gitana Team were positioned at 48°28 south at 11:00 UTC with a lead of over 860 miles over the record when they informed their shore team of damage to the giant’s float rudder to starboard.

After a thorough inspection carried out by David Boileau, the boat captain, the verdict is in. The appendage’s stock is seriously damaged, which means the rudder can no longer be used on this tack. With the six sailors unable to effect repairs in the open ocean as the part would need to be entirely replaced, the crew of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild has been forced to interrupt its Jules Verne Trophy record attempt.

It’s a massive disappointment, as much in the roaring forties as in Lorient, at the heart of the technical base, but the most important thing right now is that the crew is able to head into more hospitable latitudes.

This was the team’s second effort this season, having abandoned a first attempt that lasted just three days in November 2020.

An effort led by Thomas Coville on the 32m trimaran Sodebo Ultim 3 to claim the Jules Verne Trophy also had to be abandoned due to damage to the starboard rudder. The team was on Day 17, sailing between the Kerguelen and Cape Leeuwin, when they had to stop on December 11, 2020.

While they had built a lead in the Atlantic of more than 600nm over record holder Idec Sport, the forecast in the Indian Ocean was far less favorable and the team lost miles on their advantage each day, falling behind the needed pace the day prior to their accident.

sailingscuttlebutt.com

www.gitana-team.com

Young Azzurra Team to take part in the Youth Foiling World Cup
Young Azzurra, the sports project launched in 2020 by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda dedicated to talented young Italian sailors, is set to take part in international regattas in 2021 including the Youth Foiling World Cup and several legs of the Persico 69F Cup circuit. The team, composed of skipper Ettore Botticini, Federico Colaninno (flight controller), Francesca Bergamo and Erica Ratti - the two mainsail trimmers who alternate on board, along with coach Enrico Zennaro, has recently resumed training aboard the Persico 69F in the waters off Gaeta.

The town in southern Lazio region will also be the location for the first event of the year for the team: the opening leg of the Youth Foiling World Cup, which will take place from 24 February to 12 March.

Young Azzurra will return to Lake Garda between the end of April and the beginning of May for the first regatta of the Persico 69F Cup circuit. The other events will take the YCCS crew to Porto Cervo in early July, where they will make their racing debut in home waters.

www.yccs.com

2021 Eric Twiname Junior Championships postponed
The 2021 Eric Twiname Junior Championships is to be postponed until the summer in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The regatta, which pits hundreds of budding young sailors against each other in a ‘battle of the RYA Regions’, was due to take place at Bassenthwaite Sailing Club near Cockermouth, Cumbria, from May 1 to 3.

However, given the uncertainty surrounding current national lockdown, and the fact that the competitors - chosen from the British Youth Sailing Regional Training Groups and Home Country Squads - have had very little time to train over the winter months, the decision has been made to postpone.

Doing so will hopefully give organisers more clarity and will give young sailors more time to train locally and better prepare, when lockdown restrictions are eased.

The RYA, Bassenthwaite Sailing Club and the Eric Twiname Trust have agreed that it is in the best interests of all stakeholders to reschedule, and are now considering the option of the weekend of July 10 and 11.

This year’s championships is particularly poignant as Bassenthwaite Sailing Club was the home club of influential sailor and journalist Eric Twiname, in whose memory the event is named.

More information will be issued in due course. For all updates stay tuned to British Youth Sailing social media channels or go to www.britishyouthsailing.co.uk.

Featured Charter
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Sailplane is a combination of a pure-bred IRC racing boat with the comforts of a cruiser. For full details please go to....bit.ly/3pNUqRO

See listing details in Seahorse Charters

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

See the the Seahorse charter collection

Featured Brokerage
1999 Beneteau First 47.7. 10500 EUR. Located in Porto, Portugal.

Commerically-coded and recently refitted/updated yr2000 model Beneteau First 47.7 with fantastic performance cruising/racing specification.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
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Tel: +44 (0)1590 673715
Email:

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2016 Plymouth, UK. 750,000 + vat GBP. Located in Plymouth, UK.

Dazcat - the best of performance cruiser-racer catamarans hand engineered by Multimarine Manufacturing for quality, comfort, ease of use, strength and lightweight displacement inshore and offshore. D1495 'Apollo', pure Dazcat pedigree, is for sale. Virtual viewings available.

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PROVENANCE - 94ft Sailing Yacht Ketch. 3,950,000 EUR. Located in Antibes, France.

Sailing yacht PROVENANCE is a classically designed, auxiliary ketch with the character and style of the 1960’s with the luxurious comfort, amenities and advantages of a modern yacht. Her strength and long range will provide endless enjoyment for local and world cruising.

PROVENANCE is a 28m ketch designed in 1967 by renowned naval architect Alan Buchanan and built in Italy by Cantiere Craglietto Yard number 62. Her keel was laid in 1967 and she was completed in 1968.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

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+33 (0)467 66 39 93

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The Last Word
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