In This Issue
• Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli wins the PRADA Cup
• Sprezzatura!
• We now have a Challenger for AC36
• Catching the (global) mood - Offshore Doubles
• Genova, Italy will host the finish of The Ocean Race Europe
• The Cunningham Hits The Big Time
• The Robots are Coming
• Autissier salutes Hare and the greatest race since the inaugural Vendee Globe
• The longest days
• 11th Hour Racing IMOCA Build
• Featured Brokerage:
• • ICE 52 RS
• • Nautor Swan 44
• • Dazcat 1495 Apollo
• The Last Word: Clarence Darrow

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

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli wins the PRADA Cup
Photo by Luca Butto. Click on image to enlarge.

The G.H. Mumm Champagne was flowing for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli who sailed to victory today in the PRADA Cup Final. The Italians winning the Series 7-1 over INEOS TEAM UK, now move onto the America's Cup Match, the ultimate goal four years in the making, starting in 12 days time.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli outraced the British team in today's medium to light conditions that proved to favour the Italians so markedly.

For the second time in their six attempts, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli have their name included in the exclusive list of just 36 challengers in 170 years that have made it to the America's Cup itself.

As happened 20 years ago, the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand will face Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli on the Hauraki Gulf to decide who will win the most difficult and oldest trophy in international sport.

Sir Ben Ainslie, INEOS TEAM UK Skipper & Team Principal congratulated his opponents. "Well done to Luna Rossa and well done to Italy. It's a big deal in Italy to get into the America's Cup again. So congratulations to the team, to Jimmy and Checco and all the boys, they sailed brilliantly and deserve to take the Final. Hats off to them we are obviously disappointed we didn't get through but we are to go away, back on the drawing board and see what we can do."

The 36th America's Cup Match starts in less than two weeks, on the 6th of March with the first race scheduled to start at 4:00 PM NZT - 03:00 UTC.

www.americascup.com

Sprezzatura!
More of a concept than a word and created in the 16th century by Italian diplomat Baldassare Castiglione to convey a kind of effortless elegance, being truly 'sprezzatura' is to make sure you never look like you are trying too hard. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli are through to The Match against Emirates Team New Zealand in true 'sprezzatura' fashion after an utterly dominant performance in 8-12 knots of breeze where they had the beating of Team Ineos all day, barely breaking a sweat with a masterful, stylish, polished masterclass of a performance. A 7-1 thrashing - this is how you win the America's Cup - and the stage is set now for a titanic battle against Team New Zealand who spent the day buzzing the course, prowling menacingly, gathering valuable data. Beware the Ides of March though - the first full moon could be red in colour and Italian by birthright.

For the British it's all over. The fabled Ainslie fightback didn't materialise and the brutal nature of this competition sees Team Ineos bow out of the Cup, clinically beaten by a better boat and a better team performing at the very peak of its capabilities. It's tough but fair. The best, the fastest, the slickest won and all credit to the Italians. This is a big moment, a moment of history for them that sets up a fabulous, tantalising final for the greatest prize in sailing and one of the most coveted trophies in sport. For the Ineos team it's the end of the road. The end of a campaign that promised so much but delivered little when it really mattered. Just one win in the Prada Cup Final was a poor return. No excuses. Prada simply executed better and sailed like Roman Gods. -- Magnus Wheatley

rule69blog.wordpress.com

We now have a Challenger for AC36
The Challenger for the 36th America's Cup has been selected.
Thoughts and views on what we saw and what may lie ahead, plus a summary of what we saw today.

I so wanted this stage of the series to go down to the wire

From the evidence of the Round Robin there was every reason to expect that it would.

But in the end, I don’t think it is unfair to say that there was a sense of inevitability about today’s result. It’s always easier to see what was going on after the final result has been delivered, if nothing else it’s the first time we get to step outside the bubble and look at the series as a whole.

The reality is that Ben and the boys delivered two very impressive starts where they showed that they had the foresight and the skills to mix things up and put the super slick Italians on the back foot during the start.

The trouble was that in both races the early British advantage was scrubbed out barely a third of the way up the first leg.

No wonder Spithill and Bruni have been so relaxed in the post-race interviews and press conferences – they knew they had speed to burn. They knew that they had another gear in the gearbox in which they could either climb out of trouble, survive in the dirt, or squeeze ‘till it hurt and bounce the Brits off. -- Matthew Sheahan

www.planetsail.org/oh-dear

Catching the (global) mood - Offshore Doubles
Fast out of the traps

How many minutes of sailing have you seen covered on your TV in the past few Olympics? We, the sailing public, would of course like to see more. In an effort to make it more exciting we changed to faster, more exciting boats and even foiling but there has been little change in the amount of mainstream coverage sailing has received anywhere in the world. Why is this important? Especially as we'd like to see our sport grow and greater mainstream media coverage is one way to help that.

The new Mixed Offshore Doubles Olympic Event tentatively scheduled for Paris 2024 (Marseilles) certainly has the potential to shake things up in this area and bring sailing to the mainstream public in a more humanised and accessible way - being on tap to view online 24/7 throughout a single 'medal race'. Like the Olympic downhill... but with more than that 100 or so seconds in which to enjoy it.

Full article in the March Issue of Seahorse

Genova, Italy will host the finish of The Ocean Race Europe
The first edition of The Ocean Race Europe will finish in Genova, Italy in June.

The historic maritime city is already the home of The Grand Finale - the finish of the next edition of round the world race in 2022/23. Now, Genova will also host The Ocean Race Europe.

The Ocean Race Europe is open to VO65 and IMOCA class yachts. The Race will start from Brittany, on the Atlantic coast of France, at the end of May with teams racing in stages to the finish in Genova, Italy, in the third week of June. The remaining iconic cities hosting the race will be revealed in turn.

The VO65 fleet will also participate in The Ocean Race Europe Prologue event starting in the Baltic Sea in early May.

"For the VO65 teams, The Prologue and The Ocean Race Europe itself marks the start of our journey towards The Ocean Race around the world in 2022-23," said Bouwe Bekking, an eight-time veteran of The Ocean Race.

"Whether we are trialling new crew or equipment, or using the event for fundraising and sponsorship, it's a critical first step on the road to The Ocean Race and an opportunity for all of us to feel the pull of this great Race once again."

"The Ocean Race Europe will be a good test for our team to compete with other similar boats and a great opportunity to get racing in our IMOCA again," said Nicolas Troussel, skipper of the CORUM L'Epargne Sailing Team in announcing his entry in the IMOCA class last week.

Organisers of The Ocean Race Europe are prioritising the health and safety of all competitors and stakeholders and will follow all relevant regulations and advisories with respect to COVID-19.

www.theoceanrace.com

The Cunningham Hits The Big Time
For most sailors watching, a Cunningham is a little string on the luff of the mainsail, just above the tack…

Upon finishing the phenomenal PRADA Cup Round Robin Day 4, packed with lead changes between INEOS Team UK and Luna Rossa PRADA Pirelli, Sir Ben Ainslie described an issue on the boat: Britannia's Cunningham hydraulic ram failed to work for the entire race. Pre-start, INEOS Team UK had to set it and (hope to) forget it. Ainslie remarked in the post-race interview that his team was "missing one of the key power settings."

Ken Read, President of North Sails, understood what was happening and why INEOS Team UK was struggling. In this high-performance foiler, the sail plan's adaptability has become reliant on the Cunningham like as never before; it is now a vital factor in an AC75's performance. Read took the opportunity to explain how Ainslie's commentary is related to North Sails Helix Structured Luff technology.

"For most sailors watching, a Cunningham is a little string on the luff of the mainsail, just above the tack," he said. "You pull it down; it tightens the luff, and that's your upwind mode. You let it off for downwind mode. Wrinkles/no wrinkles- not a huge speed producer."

Not the case in the 36th America's Cup- wherein in this new age of the AC75 foiling monohull, the little Cunningham has a big job.

It takes some serious power, or sail depth, to lift the 6.5-tonne AC75 out of the water. Initially, the AC75 needs massive depth in its mainsail to generate power for lift-off. As soon as the boat is foiling, that depth becomes drag and the mainsail needs to be flat. As the boat accelerates, the mast bends, and a significant part of that bend comes from the Cunningham's action. Therefore, the sail flattens, and boat speed increases geometrically. Turn the corner and head downwind, and you want some of that power back; the Cunningham gets eased. Rinse and repeat!

www.northsails.com

The Robots are Coming
Robots may not have taken over the world (...yet), but this summer, they will be invading the waters of Block Island Sound.

The Storm Trysail Club has announced that automated mark technology will be used to set courses in the 29th Storm Trysail Block Island Race Week presented by Margaritaville. This will reduce the number of volunteers usually needed by the race committee by about half, saving the Club money on volunteer expenses, reducing the environmental impact footprint, and allowing for more socially-distanced race management.

In lieu of the traditional inflatable marks, the regatta will be using a relatively new product: MarkSetBots -- self-propelling, remote-operated buoys developed by a company based in Michigan. They use GPS to zero-in on a specific location and stay in place until the Race Committee decides to move it. If the wind changes direction, the RC can reposition the mark using an app; no mark boat crew or anchor hauling necessary.

Dick Neville Regatta ChairmanRace Committee Chair Dick Neville had the chance to see the MarkSetBots in action last summer while coordinating a last-minute series with the Great Lakes 52 fleet. Since many top events, such as the Chicago-Mackinac race, had been cancelled due to Covid-19, boat owners were looking to put together races that were both inexpensive and didn't require several people on a small mark boat.

"I knew they were using [MarkSetBots] in some pretty significant events all over the world, and so we brought them in for our event and we had a great experience with them," says Neville. Even on a day with big breeze and seas, the marks maintained their positions.

"I can't believe how many professional sailors came up to me and said, 'Wow, those things are pretty good aren't they?' I mean, they were surprised as I was at how good they were," he adds.

Join us on May 28th for Storm Trysail Club's 75th Block Island Race. This overnight race starts and finishes in Stamford, CT and offers competitors the choice of two course ranging from 125 to 190nm.

stormtrysail.org/regattas/block-island-race/

Autissier salutes Hare and the greatest race since the inaugural Vendee Globe
"She embodies the spirit of the Vendee Globe!" Not a bad accolade from the great Isabelle Autissier, but that is her respectful and admiring assessment of British sailor Pip Hare, as the Medallia skipper became the second woman to finish this remarkable 2020-21 Vendee Globe.

We asked Autissier, who sailed in the 1996-'97 Vendee Globe and became the first woman to sail solo around the world when completing the BOC Challenge in 1990-91, for her thoughts on this year's race. She was keen to share her enthusiasm for what she said has been the greatest race since the first epic in 1989.

"It has been an incredible race," she told the IMOCA Class. "I would say maybe the best one, except the first one of course which was something new. I have never seen a regatta like this; until the end we did not know who the winner was and even then, the winner was not the first one on the course."

"All of that makes it a very special Vendee, very interesting and very high level," added Autissier who is the president for France of the World Wildlife Fund. "What I feel has been interesting is there have been very few retirements compared to normal which means the boats have been well-prepared and the skippers are well prepared too, which is a very good point."

She was delighted to see Yannick Bestaven, an old friend from her hometown of La Rochelle, take the win on Maître-CoQ IV after the most exciting finish in the race's history.

"I know him quite well," she said. "When I saw him in the race my first thought was he could do something well, but I was never thinking of him as the winner. So I was very impressed by what he did.He was always in the right place at the right moment with the weather and recovered very quickly after searching for Kevin Escoffier."

Autissier knows how mentally exhausting and distracting it can be to try to look for a missing colleague - she had to do that when helping to search for the Canadian sailor Gerry Roufs, who was lost overboard in the southern ocean in the 1996 race - and she knows how hard it must have been for Bestaven to get back into the swing of the race afterwards.

imoca.org

The longest days
The first competitors of this 9 th Vendee Globe arrived 25 days ago! Almost a month since Yannick Bestaven, Charlie Dalin, Louis Burton and the others are trying to get back to normal life. Time seems to have passed so quickly! But for the four sailors still at sea, off the Canary Islands or around the Azores, time lasts a long time and this end of the race looks like a long journey ...

" I'm only 1386 miles from the finish, and that's all that matters ! Says the navigator of TSE - 4myplanet who ticks every day the miles gained towards the finish line. Injured in the back since a shock suffered 6 days ago, Alexia suffers in silence and looks good, despite her inability to stand on the deck or throw back canvas." I move on all fours or crawling. Only the reclining station, the painkillers and the prospect of being able to uncork the champagne on the pontoon of Port Olona in a week allow him to endure the pain. But she is not complaining, true to that unwavering optimism that gave her the impetus, three years ago, to embark on the adventure of her life with very few resources and a good old boat.

The 41-year-old Mediterranean should complete her first solo circumnavigation around February 27/28, in 24th and penultimate position. Before that, she will have to go through one last test: the strong winds that have raged since the start of winter off the Bay of Biscay and which make it difficult to approach the French coast.

Meanwhile, the last skipper in the race, Ari Huusela, seems to be making the fun last. Entangled for more than 48 hours in a high pressure field stretching off the Canary Islands, the Finnish airline pilot plans a landing around March 5. If this is confirmed, this 58-year-old enlightened enthusiast will have spent 117 days at sea, that is 46% more time than the first ... No wonder the he feels a little physically damaged. But his morale did not weaken.

www.vendeeglobe.org

11th Hour Racing IMOCA Build
11th Hour Racing Team began planning the build of its new IMOCA 60 in June 2019, before the team had even announced its plans to be entering a team in the world's longest sporting event - The Ocean Race 2022-23.

The Team's requirements for this new build were exacting both from a race performance point of view, and also a desire to work with designers, specialists and builders who would fully embrace the vision of building a boat that had sustainability and performance working hand-in-hand.

The Team's sustainability program manager, Damian Foxall, visited CDK Technologies in Port-la-Fôret, France, along with skipper Charlie Enright, and crew members to see how the build was coming along.

This film takes a look behind the scenes at some of the sustainability initiatives the Team and CDK Technologies have introduced and embraced for the build, and hear from Michel Ollivier, their Deputy Industrial Director on the benefits a sustainable approach brings their business.

www.imoca.org

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The Last Word
I have never killed any one, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction. -- Clarence Darrow

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