In This Issue
• Prada Cup Final and 36th America's Cup Match Amended Race Conditions and Sailing Instructions
• Rolex Fastnet Race: IRC winners return
• What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
• Thursday is Finish Day for Gang of Four
• World Match Racing Tour Announces 2021 Season
• Ben Ainslie looks ahead to the PRADA Cup Final
• Moving Parts | Senior Hydraulics Technician Andre Bird
• The Royal Western Yacht Club announces the 'Round Iceland Race' 2023
• National 18's 2021 Season in Cork Launched at AGM
• Team NZ seeks overseas bids for future defence in 2023-4
• Featured Charter: Swan 78 Azzurro
• Featured Brokerage:
• • SW100 Blues
• • SY Sojana
• • Vismara Marine V80
• The Last Word: Timothy Leary
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
Prada Cup Final and 36th America's Cup Match Amended Race Conditions and Sailing Instructions
The Challenger of Record and the Defender, in consultation with the Regatta Director, have decided to amend the Race conditions for the PRADA Cup Final and the 36th America's Cup Match as follows:
Upper Wind Limit
After reviewing the performance of the yachts and the variations between the yachts' wind measurement data and that of Race Management due to differing measurement heights, it has been decided to leave the current upper wind limit at 21 knots for the Prada Cup Final and the Match and not increase it to 23 knots as originally specified in the Race Conditions.
The lower wind limit of 6.5 knots remains unchanged.
The Regatta Director, after consulting with the Challenger of Record and the Defender has also changed the Sailing Instructions for the PRADA Cup and the 36th America's Cup Match as follows:
15' Rule
Similar to the rule that was used in round robins three and four of the PRADA CUP, a competitor may on one occasion ask for a delay of 15 minutes of the start of a race. Should that race be abandoned on that day or the request of delay prove that it was due to a failure of the systems independent from that competitor's responsibility, the "15 minutes card" will be reinstated and may be used again by the relevant competitor.
This provision applies both for the PRADA Cup Final (one "card" per competitor) and the 36th America's Cup Match (one "card" per competitor).
In the final two Reserve Days of the PRADA Cup Final, the "card" cannot be used in the last 60 minutes available for a start.
Rolex Fastnet Race: IRC winners return
Among the overall winners, 2017's victor Didier Gaudoux, with his trusty JND39 Lann Ael 2, is at present the only one returning with the same boat and a similar crew. On board again will be family members, including his daughter Coralie and possibly son Thomas, as well as veteran Figaro ace Fred Duthil. Lann Ael 2 hasn't changed apart from a new paint job.
In 2020 Lann Ael 2 competed in just a few races but made the most of them, winning the IRC class in the Drheam Cup, ahead of Eric Fries' JPK 11.80 Fastwave 6 and Laurent Charmy's J/111 SL Energies, both of whom are also due on the start line off Cowes in August. That event also provided good preparation, starting from Cherbourg where this year's Rolex Fastnet Race will finish for the first time.
While he is not competing on his JPK 10.80, the 2015 overall winner Gery Trentesaux is returning aboard Antoine Carpentier's latest generation Mach 40.4 Class40 Courrier Redman which finished runner-up in this year's RORC Transatlantic Race. Alexis Loisin, who became the race's first doublehanded overall winner with his father Pascal in 2013 aboard their JPK 10.10 Night And Day, is back to defend his title in the IRC Two Handed class on board the JPK 10.30 Leon with Jean Pierre Kelbert, proprietor of the successful French Chantier JPK. Loisin has won IRC Two Handed in three of the last four races and only was displaced into second in 2015 by Kelvin Rawlings and Stuart Childerley on their J/105 Jester, who that year were fourth overall under IRC and top British finishers. Rawlings and Childerley are back to try their hand again, this time with their newly acquired Sun Fast 3300 Aries.
Jacques Pelletier's Milon 41 L'Ange De Milon, which beat Lann Ael 2 into second place in IRC One two years ago, is back. While Trentesaux is not returning to defend his IRC Two title, Francois Lognone's MC34 Nutmeg Solidaire En Peloton and Tom Kneen's JPK 11.80 Sunrise, the other 2019 podium placers, will be. Nutmeg has a strong track record having won IRC Two in 2015 when she was fifth overall, while Lognone was eighth overall and third in IRC Two aboard his previous J/122 Nutmeg IV in 2011.
Arnaud Delamare and Eric Mordret who finished on the IRC Three podium in the last three editions, winning in 2017 aboard their JPK 10.80 Dream Pearls, will be sailing on Christian Maby's Sun Fast 3300, Spoutnik.
The non-IRC classes had a later deadline to enter than the IRC fleet but already Anglo-Frenchman Luke Berry was signed up to defend his Class40 title aboard the Mach 40.3 Lamotte - Module Creation. -- James Boyd
Seahorse February 2021
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
Update
Match racing round the world, are foilers the answer (or is it the wrong question), Charlie Dalin master boatbuilder, serious times in Kiwi, with a lot still to learn... and are we all heading up a blind alley? Patrice Carpentier, Jean Le Cam, Mrs Le Cam), Jack Griffin, Terry Hutchinson, Robert Laine
New classic
And an almightily pleasant one at that... the latest 600-mile IRC/ORC offshore contest takes full advantage of some of the finest sailing waters on the planet
Taking care of home
We know more about the Moon and Mars than we do about the deep ocean... but we know enough to do a better job of looking after it
It’s all in the mind - Part II
David Munge talks to Prof Vincent Walsh about doing the little things better...
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Thursday is Finish Day for Gang of Four
Heading for his fourth Vendee Globe finish Arnaud Boissieres leads group of four Thursday finishers. Shraishi Will Become First Asian Skipper to Complete the Vendee Globe. Pip Hare Has Lost Ground With FR0 Failure.
Four skippers will finish their solo round-the-world race this Thursday. Arnaud Boissieres (La Mie-Caline-Artisans Artipole) this afternoon is still leading Kojiro Shiraishi (DMG MORI Global One) and a little further behind Alan Roura (La Fabrique) leads Stephane Le Diraison (Time for Oceans) ).
This gang of four will likely finish upwind in a bitterly cold easterly offshore breezes which will be very unstable requiring them to be quite conservative in their sailplan. The famous Les Sables d'Olonne channel is not accessible between 0700hrs and 1400hrs and so it is likely that Boissieres and Kojiro Shiraishi will return up the channel together.
Shiraishi will become the first Asian skipper to finish the Vendee Globe and in so doing realise his 30 year dream of honouring the legacy of his mentor Yukoh Tada who took his own life during the 1991 Around Alone race.
Alan Roura and Stephane Le Diraison are expected afternoon Thursday. Roura has the upper hand still while skipper of Time for Oceans has lost his J3 headsail which tore itself apart yesterday.
Pip Hare is now expected in the small hours of Friday morning, A failed halyard lock strop dropped her Fractional Code Zero to the deck and into the water, damaging the pulpit of Medallia. But the British skipper remains in excellent spirits contemplating the conclusion of the Vendee Globe which has been her dream since being inspired as a teenager by the exploits of Florence Arthaud.
World Match Racing Tour Announces 2021 Season
The 2021 WMRT season will comprise of 'World Tour' events and 'World Championship' events, opening with the Szczecin Match Race, Poland, 30 April-2 May. All events are organised under World Sailing rules as Open match racing events, allowing both men and women skippers, as well as mixed teams to compete. 'World Championship' level events award higher points to the WMRT leader-board, and prize money of at least USD75,000.
Skippers will count their best four results from the tour towards the WMRT 2021 leader-board. The top 10-12 skippers on the leader-board after the penultimate event will qualify to compete at the new WMRT Final hosted by the Shenzhen Bao'an Match Cup in China, 15-19 December. The WMRT Final will carry a points multiplier of x1.5 points and an event purse of USD200,000. The skipper with the highest number of points on the leader-board after the WMRT Final will be crowned WMRT Match Racing World Champion.
2021 World Match Racing Tour Schedule
- Szczecin Match Race, Poland, 30 April - 2 May
- Porto Montenegro Match Race, 7-9 May
- NJK Open Spring Cup, Finland, 21-23 May
- GKKS Spring Cup, Gothenburg, Sweden, 29-30 May
- GKSS MATCH CUP MARSTRAND*, Marstrand, Sweden, 6-10 July
- Internationaux de France Match Racing, Pornichet, 29 July - 4 August
- The Chicago Cup, 6-8 August
- International Match Race for the Detroit Cup, 19-22 August
- Baltic Match Race, Estonia, 25-29 August
- Oakcliff International, Oyster Bay NY, 27-30 August
- Thompson Cup, Oyster Bay NY, 1-4 September
- Ficker Cup, Long Beach USA, 9-12 September
- Match Race Germany, Lake Constance, 8-12 September
- THE CONGRESSIONAL CUP REGATTA*, Long Beach USA, 14-19 September
- DBS Marina Bay Cup, Singapore 30 Sept-3 Oct
- BERMUDA GOLD CUP*, 27 Sept - 2 Oct
- SHENZHEN BAO'AN MATCH CUP, WMRT FINAL* Shenzhen, China, 15-19 December
*WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS
Ben Ainslie looks ahead to the PRADA Cup Final
"We were all very proud of how the team turned things round from a frustrating situation before Christmas. It was a real team effort and a great reward to win the Round Robin series to get that direct route into the Final. We are under no illusions, however, just how much of a mountain we still have to climb. We have not won anything yet.
"Our goal here in Auckland is to win the America's Cup and to do that we first need to win the PRADA Cup. That means beating the Italians, Luna Rossa, in a first-to-seven-win series over the next two weeks. They have been in this game for over 20 years, have been performing well across a range of conditions and do not seem to have a weak spot. They will be very tough to beat and we will need to sail incredibly well to beat them."
Taking the direct route into the PRADA Cup Final meant we have had an extra week preparation without racing compared to the Italians. That has been important as throughout this whole campaign we have been playing catch-up to a certain extent with Luna Rossa and Team New Zealand in terms of their knowledge of the concept of the boat. Now we had, for the first time, the opportunity to gain a bit of time back. That extra week has enabled us to make some changes that frankly we would not have been able to make otherwise.
In the past two and a half weeks since we raced in the Round Robin series it has been all about making the marginal gains to continue improving our performance. We are now in the stage of the cycle where it is all about fine-tuning performance, finding half of a percent here and there. If you make five or six of those small improvements you are suddenly making a 2-3% performance gain, which at this level is huge.
Moving Parts | Senior Hydraulics Technician Andre Bird
For Queen and Country. No one embodies that ideal at INEOS TEAM UK more than Senior Hydraulics Technician Andre Bird.
Andre has had a varied and unique career. In 1974 he joined the Royal Air Force as an Aircraft Engineer working on the Canberra and Vulcan Aircraft. Upon retiring from the RAF in 1997 he went on to spend 17 years in motor racing.
In between his time as an Aircraft Engineer and joining the world of motorsport, however, Andre was selected, in 1979, to join The Queen's Flight . In 1986 he then became a Wessex Helicopter Crew Chief, responsible for flying Her Majesty The Queen, Members of the Royal Family, visiting Heads of State and Senior Ministers.
The Royal Western Yacht Club announces the 'Round Iceland Race' 2023
March/ April 2023 will see the start of a completely new, solo and 2 Handed challenge. The Round Iceland Race.
(a) rear Commodore Oceanic, Adrian Gray said, "At 2750 Nautical Miles, the Round Iceland Race is set to challenge anyone who takes it on. In time we hope this race will become a true classic, just as the OSTAR is today. The race will start and finish in Plymouth, the course will simply be to leave Iceland to starboard."
As this is a mile builder for the Global Solo Challenge 2023/24, there will be a solo class. In addition, the 'RIR' will offer classes for 2 handed and ½ crew entries as well as fully crewed. IRC, non-handicap, IMOCA and MOCRA ratings will be used.
Information on this race will be available on www.rwyc.org by end of March
For information on the Global Solo Challenge please go to globalsolochallenge.com
National 18's 2021 Season in Cork Launched at AGM
The National 18's 2021 season was launched at the Royal Cork Yacht Club class's AGM last week.
Sailing is scheduled to start on 27 March with the PY 1000 All In Dinghy Race, followed by the first Wednesday evening league meeting on 7 April.
Among the news from the AGM was that an additional boat has been purchased from the UK and another has changed hands over the winter, meaning 15 boats will be active in and around Cork Harbour this year.
Highlights of the upcoming calendar include the National 18 Championships (Cock O' The North) in August, the presentation of The Curlane Cup for the overall winner of the combined harbour races plus the Cork Harbour Archipelago Raid, a series of harbour point to point races which plays on the famous Swedish Archipelago Raid.
Plans are also in motion to introduce new sailors to the National 18, both young and old. For more information on the class, contact incoming class captain Charles Dwyer.
Team NZ seeks overseas bids for future defence in 2023-4
Team New Zealand is seeking overseas bids to host the America's Cup, should it successfully defend the Auld Mug in Auckland next month.
The defender has formally begun a bid process for the 37th America's Cup, which would involve a series of build-up events all in the host city, during 2023 and 2024.
Any overseas bids would be weighed-up alongside negotiations which the team is expected to conduct in good faith with the New Zealand Government, which paid a $40 million event fee for the 2020/21 event.
Team New Zealand's approach for a further defence, is a break from the traditional assumption that winning the America's Cup would automatically bring the event to Aotearoa.
Team New Zealand hoped that the next regatta would attract, six to eight teams, sailing the current AC75 foiling monohull boats, and bids are due by the end of February.
Featured Charter
Swan 78 Azzurro. Located in Marina di Scarlino- Tuscany (Italy)
Delivered in 2019, AZZURRO sporting a clean, special satin black finish above deck and high gloss clear coat below deck. All of Nautor’s know-how and experience in racing and cruising yachts have been incorporated into this new Swan 78, a direct descendant of the original Swan 80 and 82 models of the past.It features an iconic Hall V-boom and full Future Fibres EC six multi strand rigging package. The new boat is faster, safer, easier to control and, more comfortable at sea. The appearance is that of neatness and efficiency. This new Swan is and will be, the best of her kind for years to come. Azzurro, the new Swan 78 delivered in 2019, offers big volumes areas in all her elegant and accommodating shape.Her hull form is beamy and very powerful, her big volumes host four comfortable cabins fully equipped for the guests. The sports/swim platform, off the Aft of the yacht, offers easy access to the sea, while also folding neatly up into the vessel for sleek storage. Incredible deck space not only creates a feeling of grandeur but it also provides guests with the ability to enjoy privacy.
See listing details in Nautor's Swan Charters
Contact
Nautor's Swan Charters - Nicolo Telese
Tel. +377 97 97 95 07
See the the Seahorse charter collection
Featured Brokerage
SW100 Blues. 4,400,000 EUR. Located in
Blues is the eleventh example of the acclaimed SW100 mini-series and the second to feature the raised saloon deck. Delivered in 2010, she has been built with performance in mind and is a regular on the superyacht racing circuits in the Caribbean and Mediterranean.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Jeremy Peek
Southern Wind Shipyard (Pty) Ltd
Salita Dinegro 7/1
16123 Genoa Italy
Tel. +39 010 570 4035
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SY SOJANA. Built in 2003. Complete refit in 2016.
115' (35m) Sojana is now for sale and offered in exceptional condition for the 2021 sailing season. Maintained fastidiously this Farr designed performance carbon ketch has excellent accommodation for 6-8 guests. If you have a passion for sailing this yacht offers you a perfect blend of exhilarating cruising, fast ocean passage making and regatta winning pedigree
See listing details in Carrswood Yachts Brokerage
Contact
Carrswood Yachts Limited, UK
Tel: +44 (0)7476 888639
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2014 Vismara Marine V80. 1,950,000 EUR. Located near Ancona, Italy.
Truly spectacular full carbon composite performance bluewater cruiser boasting unparalleled interior and deck layout comfort with a unique central guest cockpit. Registered length of 23.99m.
See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly
Contact
Lead Broker: Michele Antonini – Grabau International (Italia)
Tel: +39 333 74 89 281
Email:
See the RaceboatsOnly.com collection at seahorsemagazine.com/brokerage/
The Last Word
You're only as young as the last time you changed your mind. -- Timothy Leary