In This Issue
• Superyacht Cup Palma
• 18ft Skiffs 'Supercup' Series
• A new better world - Fibre Mechanics
• RORC Time Over Distance Series
• Shirley Robertson on NZL Broad Reach Radio
• Sacha Creus is the 10th Entry in the Global Solo Challenge
• Updated templates for NOR and sailing instructions
• Sir Ben Ainslie's anger at final insult after Team UK's Prada Cup loss
• Ari Huusela and Stark Awarded As The Sponsorship Of The Year In Finland
• Lipton Cup about to hit century mark
• Featured Charter: Garcia 85 Sloop FANI
• Featured Brokerage:
• • YYACHTS Y7
• • Swan 82 'Grey Goose'
• • Baltic 45 - "Flomali"
• The Last Word: Man Ray

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

Superyacht Cup Palma
Top-level yacht racing is set to go ahead at Superyacht Cup Palma (SYC) 2021 with a new-look event adapted to local pandemic restrictions.

Organisers have put the focus firmly on the racing in the Bay of Palma from 23-26 June, with the shoreside venue relocating to Superyacht Cup's long-standing race management collaborator Real Club Nautico De Palma (RCNP).

With an encouraging level of interest from owners and skippers, organisers are optimistic the 25th anniversary of Europe's longest-running superyacht regatta will attract a competitive range of entries.

Adding to the appeal, 2021 will see the debut of the Superyacht Cup Performance Class. Featuring a competitive fleet start and racing on a separate course, the new Performance Class will join the long-standing original Superyacht Class and the non-spinnaker Corinthian Superyacht Class, which itself proved immediately popular when introduced in 2017.

The range of racing options has attracted early interest across the diverse superyacht world, with the 46m Dubois designed Ganesha looking set for a return in the Superyacht Class, while the lightweight 30m WallyCento Magic Carpet3 is a possible contender in the Performance Class.

Also eyeing a return is the 40m modern classic ketch Huckleberry, whose Superyacht Cup Palma debut in 2019 was rewarded when they received the inaugural North Sails Trophy, the Boat of the Day award dedicated to the memory of North Sails founder Lowell North which will be awarded annually.

In addition, entries from the J Class fleet are seen as a distinct possibility, with owners, captains and crews perhaps inspired by the venerable Velsheda's narrow but fully deserved overall SYC Palma victory in 2018, when they held off a determined challenge from the superketch Mari-Cha III. Should three or more J Class yachts compete they will be given their own racing class, further adding to the Superyacht Cup's broad offer.

The Notice of Race is now available -- Daphne Morgan Barnicoat

www.thesuperyachtcup.com

18ft Skiffs 'Supercup' Series
Trevor Barnabas. Click on image for photo gallery.

Some of the world's best 18ft Skiff Racing champions will be among the guests on display on Friday (February 26) when they skipper boats in the Australian 18 Footers League's annual 'Supercup' series on Sydney Harbour.

Former JJ Giltinan world champions, an Olympic two times Gold Medalist, international speed record holder, along with Round-the-World and America's Cup competitors as well as other international champions, will skipper boats from the League's 18-boat fleet in an attempt to become the 2020-2021 'Supercup' champion.

The event will be conducted over three races on specially-designed courses to maximise the skills of the teams and provide spectators with non-stop action.

A cumulative pointscore over the three races will determine the winner.

JJ Giltinan world 18ft Skiff champions likely to compete in the 'Supercup' include six-times champion Trevor Barnabas and three-times winner (two as skipper and one as crew) Euan McNicol. Other Australian champions include 1996 winner Stephen Quigley and 2000 winner John 'Woody' Winning.

Two other JJ Giltinan world champions in the fleet are UK winners, Tim Robinson (the first winner from the northern hemisphere) in 1999, and Rob Greenhalgh in 2004. -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League Ltd.

The list also includes:

Adrienne Cahalan
Sean Langman
Kevin Wadham
Warwick Rooklyn
Chris Nicholson

www.18footers.com

A new better world - Fibre Mechanics
The first of the new Carkeek CF520s 52-foot IRC racers is now taking shape at Fibre Mechanics' Lymington yard, with the structure of boat one nearing completion. You may wonder why a boatyard would choose the name 'Fibre Mechanics'... Well here's a clue

Building a racing yacht today is a very different experience from how it was 25 years ago and it's not just due to advances in materials. In fact, the basic materials and techniques have hardly changed. The resins are tougher, the carbon is stiffer, and the honeycomb is now made of Kevlar not Nomex. But compared with the materials revolution that took place between 1980 and 1995 you'd have to say that the development of race yacht building materials has plateaued.

Nonetheless, things are very different now for two reasons. First, developments of the 1980s and 90s left us with materials that have more predictable properties, and this allows composite engineers to design far more sophisticated structures.

Full article in the March Issue of Seahorse

RORC Time Over Distance Series
The Royal Ocean Racing Club Time Over Distance Series continues with RORC member Pip Hare talking to Louay Habib just days after becoming the first British sailor to finish the 2020 Vendee Globe.

Since childhood, Pip Hare has dreamt of competing in the Holy Grail of solo racing. In a chartered older generation IMOCA 60, Medallia, Pip showed incredible seamanship and extraordinary tenacity for the 95 days of the race.

Watch the hour-long exclusive interview with Pip Hare, which will premiere on RORC Facebook and YouTube on Friday 26th February at 1700 UTC.

RORC Facebook

RORC Time Over Distance Playlist on YouTube

Shirley Robertson on NZL Broad Reach Radio
Shirley Robertson has one of the most recognisable voices in the sailing world, as a commentator for anything from the Olympics and America's Cup to magazine shows and SailGP. She's also one of the most successful female sailors of all time, having won two Olympic titles and been named female world sailor of the year. There are so many layers to her story, and she talks about her work as a broadcaster, including her present role as part of the commentary team for the America's Cup in Auckland, and delves into her experiences as a sailor which featured heartbreak before success. We also explore gender inequality in the sport, talk about her plans to chase a third Olympic gold medal in Paris in 2024 and, like all guests, Shirley details her worst wipeout ever.

Sacha Creus is the 10th Entry in the Global Solo Challenge
Sacha Creus from Belgium has sailed since childhood progressing from dinghies to small keel boats and later to cruisers. He is the 10th entry in the Global Solo Challenge. With more confirmed entries to be announced and an ever increasing number of enquiries about the GSC is building momentum very fast.

How Do You Plan To Prepare For This Event?
First of all check and make the boat conform the those aspects of the Regulations requiring a structural intervention, I am referring in particular to the watertight bulkheads.

Then I will take care of the upgrade of the electronics on board, although this point has already been the subject of special attention on my part. There are nevertheless some improvements to be made.

Once all this work is completed, I will be able to devote myself to testing and testing the equipment in real conditions.

In parallel there is also all the preparation inherent in this type of challenge such as food supplies, stress management, planning to receive weather information and routing, not to mention finding the necessary sponsors to participate in this kind of event.

It is in fact the complete management of a large project.

globalsolochallenge.com/sacha-creus-belgium/

Updated templates for NOR and sailing instructions
Yachting New Zealand have updated the templates for the notice of race and sailing instructions to accommodate the changes to the Racing Rules of Sailing for 2021-24.

These documents, put together by the Yachting New Zealand race management sub-committee, are very similar to Racing Rules of Sailing Appendix KG and LG which are the basic templates recommended by World Sailing. Our versions have been tweaked to align with the requirements for our national events.

The race management sub-committee recommend that when writing the notice of race and sailing instructions for an event that you start with these new templates. It's worth starting afresh because there are a number of terminology changes which could easily get missed otherwise.

The templates are sufficiently open ended to be able to be adopted for any event and it would be helpful to our clientele - the sailors - if all notices of race and sailing instructions were written with the same sequence of topics.

The New Zealand version of the Racing Rules of Sailing 2021-24 are in the final throes of publication and will be available soon.

www.yachtingnz.org.nz

Sir Ben Ainslie's anger at final insult after Team UK's Prada Cup loss
An angry Sir Ben Ainslie described as "one of the most insulting things I've experienced" an initial plan to exclude his Team UK from the media conference following their elimination from the Prada Cup.

Stuff witnessed an upset Ainslie in a heated post-race exchange with the head of the Italian Challenger of Record, (COR) which made the media arrangements to follow a cup victory by Italy's Luna Rossa.

COR told Stuff the original "winning-team-only" plan was an error of judgement, which it changed when it realised it had caused upset, and both teams attended what became Team UK's exit from the regatta.

Relations between Ainslie's team and COR, linked to the British outfit's main rival Luna Rossa, have soured over a series of decisions in the challenger series which COR ran.

The last-day wrangle began after midday Sunday on what would be the deciding day in the Prada Cup final, which Luna Rossa were close to winning and going on to the America's Cup, eliminating Team UK.

COR, which is the event-managing arm of the Prada-sponsored Luna Rossa campaign, issued the plan for how the post-race period would unfold, if the Cup contest was decided.

Unusually, the plan excluded the losing team – as it turned out, Team UK – from the final media conference.

www.stuff.co.nz/sport/

Ari Huusela and Stark Awarded As The Sponsorship Of The Year In Finland
Finnish Vendee Globe skipper and his main sponsor Stark have won the top categories in the Finnish Sponsorships and Events Awards the 18th of February.

Huusela's Vendee Globe project was awarded as the Sponsorship of the Year and Audience Favourite in sponsorships.

The Jury evaluated more than 40 projects and selected Stark and Ari Huusela for the finals in three categories, Sponsor of the Year, Sponsorhip of the Year and Sports Sponsorship.

"An exceptional equation where stakes are high but results even tougher. The sponsor's brand is influenced by a surprising connection, a huge visibility value as well as potential long-term effects. A great storytelling case that has provided it's followers an extraordinary experience",the Jury commented it's coice.

"This is a wonderful tribute to us but first of all to Ari. In Ari's life time goal, we saw exceptional courage and perseverance as well as a great story. We wated to make his dream come true. This race of almost three months long has been built of themes of joy but also some serious drama. Warm thank you to the Jury, voters, audience, encouragers and followers - your support has been of great importance to Ari. He has gained super happy joy of that people have lived along this amazing story", says Jarmo Salmi, Stark's Commercial Director.

www.imoca.org

Lipton Cup about to hit century mark
Whether it was by cunning or cogency, no one is really sure, but the Ponsonby Cruising Club were given a magnificent trophy in 1920 that will be contested for the 100th time next month.

The 100th running of the Lipton Cup takes place on March 20, when the biggest fleet in the event's recent history is expected to compete.

The Lipton Cup is New Zealand's oldest yachting trophy competed for by the same class. The race is sailed in 22ft L-Class yachts, commonly referred to as mullet boats, and some of the race fleet are now well over 100 years old.

The Lipton Cup trophy was made by the same London silversmiths who made the America's Cup and donated by Sir Thomas Lipton, who in 1905 was made a vice president of the Ponsonby Cruising Club. The club approached him for a trophy, and he had the Lipton Cup made.

This is where facts are a little sketchy.

It was said that club members sent a photo, perhaps cunningly, of the committee standing outside Devonport's Esplanade Hotel and that Lipton was suitably impressed by what he thought was their clubrooms that he created such a striking trophy. Others say Lipton recognised something of himself in the working-class membership of the Ponsonby Cruising Club.

Lipton was famous for challenging for the America's Cup five times and dubbed by the Americans as the "world's best loser" for his sportsmanship and determined efforts to win the Cup.

The only stipulation Lipton put on the trophy was that it was competed for by a specific class so the Ponsonby Cruising Club settled on mullet boats and raced the inaugural Lipton Cup on April 8, 1922.

www.pcc.org.nz/lipton-cup

www.yachtingnz.org.nz

Featured Charter
Garcia 85 Sloop FANI. 18 000 - 22 000 / week EUR. Located in Saint-Malo.

A Berret-Racoupeau design, FANI is a Garcia 85 aluminum sloop with a lifting keel. She is exceptionally well built and maintained, as proven by her round the world tour. She had a major refit in 2014 and 2020/21 and is now ready to undertake similar cruising trips.

See listing details in Seahorse Charters

Contact
Lisa Spiller
Charter Manager
Bernard-Gallay
Phone 1 : +33(0)6 33 42 45 09
Phone 2 : +33 (0)467 66 39 93
Mail :

See the the Seahorse charter collection

Featured Brokerage
YYACHTS Y7. POA EUR.

The Y7 was created in collaboration with US designer Bill Tripp, considered one of the world's best naval architects. Our goal was to combine comfortable sailing performance with competitive sailing performance, even on the regatta course.

In conditions where other yachts still use their engines, the sails are already set on the Y7. A displacement of only 29 tons and almost 300 square meters of sail area at wind make move the yacht even in light winds; Y7 owners don't have to worry about the perfect weather all the time.

All halyards, sheets and stretchers run hidden to the steering columns - so the helmsman can operate the Y7 alone at any time. This is not a matter of course for a 70-foot yacht and allows the owner to sail with a very small crew or even on his own.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
T. +49 3834 5858 77-0
E.
www.yyachts.de/en/y7

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2006 Swan 82 'Grey Goose'. 2,950,000 EUR VAT Paid. Located in Valencia, Spain

This Nautor's Swan 82 FD "Grey Goose" has been built for two defined missions. One is luxurious and short handed family cruising with performance but without any stress on deck. The second mission is competitive racing in all conditions inshore as well as offshore and even transatlantic racing. She is not a pure race boat even more she demonstrates the real Swan DNA by accomplishing both missions in a perfect manner beeing comfortable, sea worthy and very fast. She has proven her outstanding performance in several racing events and in numerous family holidays cruises.

See listing details in Nautors Swan brokerage

Contact
Lorenzo Bortolotti
Nautor's Swan Brokerage
T. +377 97 97 95 07

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2009 Baltic 45 - "Flomali". 395000 EUR.

Baltic Yachts exceptional quality, in an easily sailed yacht for fast cruising with your family and friends or convert her to race mode and head offshore. The lifting keel reduces the draft to two meters allowing access to unlimited cruising grounds and powered winches allows easy sail control.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Sam Pearson - Ancasta Race Boats

+447759 424900
+442380 016582

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

The Last Word
I would photograph an idea rather than an object, a dream rather than an idea. -- Man Ray

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