In This Issue
• First weekend of the America's Cup Match postponed
• RORC Return to Offshore Racing
• He’s back! - C-Tech
• Mastercard Superyacht Regatta
• 52 SUPER SERIES Reschedules 2021 Season and Venues
• Alexia Barrier Finishes 24th in the Vendee Globe on TSE - 4myplanet
• 18ft Skiffs Club Championship, Race 15
• Graham Dalton enters the Golden Globe Race
• INEOS America's Cup debrief with Sir Ben Ainslie & Grant Simmer
• Oyster Yachts announces the Oyster World Rally 2024-25
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Bavaria C42
• • Nautor Swan 601 - FLOW
• • HH 50 New Boat
• The Last Word: Tony Benn

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

First weekend of the America's Cup Match postponed
In light of the latest Auckland COVID-19 Level 3 lockdown put in place by the Government from 6am this morning for the next 7 days, America's Cup Event Ltd has postponed the first weekend of racing on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th of March.

The purpose of this early decision is to provide at least some certainty in planning for all event stakeholders with regard to next weekend initially.

America's Cup Event Ltd Chair, Tina Symmans said, "As ACE has always said that it wishes to hold as much of the racing under Level 1 restrictions as possible. But to be prudent, ACE will apply for an exemption to race under Level 3 restrictions so as to keep as many options open as possible. However, racing will not occur before at least Wednesday 10th March."

In the meantime, ACE will continue to work closely with the relevant authorities over the next few days as this latest COVID situation unfolds.

"We need to understand all likely scenarios so that an updated racing schedule can be put in place whilst also ensuring the regulatory requirements are met," concluded Symmans.

www.americascup.com

RORC Return to Offshore Racing
Photo by Rick Tomlinson, rick-tomlinson.com. Click on image to enlarge.

Following on from the UK Government's 'Roadmap out of lockdown' on Monday 22nd February, the RORC Committee, working with the RYA and Government, is confident that overnight racing will return for the 2021 RORC Season's Points Championship. Some changes will be necessary for the early part of the season, but unless the recovery from the pandemic changes, the world's largest offshore championship will go ahead, including the 49th edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race.

"Whilst the RORC would like to run our full programme of races, the reality as a consequence of the pandemic is that the RORC Easter Challenge, Cervantes Trophy and North Sea Race are cancelled. However, with COVID-19 protocols in place, the club intends to organise a RORC Spring Series during April and May. We are also considering an additional longer race for Two-Handed Teams," commented RORC Racing Manager Chris Stone.

"The Rolex Fastnet Race is expected to be a fully crewed race, but more than likely to have some COVID-19 protocols for crews to follow. Our meetings with immigration authorities in both the UK and France have been positive and productive, and we continue our discussions with the RYA and health professionals on minimising risk to our competitors. Throughout this pandemic, our partners in France have never wavered in their commitment to give all competitors a fantastic welcome when they arrive in Cherbourg," continued Stone.

The 2021 RORC Spring Series will consist of three long day races, starting from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line. Designed to last between 6-8 hours, the permitted crew is expected to be up to 80% of the IRC certificate allowance, which is to be confirmed in March following further consultation with the relevant authorities:-

RORC Spring Series 1 - Saturday 03 April
RORC Spring Series 2 - Saturday 10 April
RORC Spring Series 3 - Saturday 01 May

The 2021 RORC Season's Point's Championship is scheduled to continue with regular offshore races from late May through to September, including the 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race, starting from Cowes on Sunday 8th August. -- Louay Habib

www.rorc.org

He’s back! - C-Tech
But this time Swiss engineer Thomas Jundt decided to go all old-school and squeeze in a hull between the rig and foils...

A no-compromise foiling 35ft yacht intended for European lake racing has driven a multinational group of sailors, designers and builders to the extreme edges of technology in a collaboration that has even stretched to what might be termed "positive deception" to achieve its objectives.

Tasked with designing and producing the 14.5m rig, C-Tech's Tim Willetts says they soon learned that Jundt's 'goal was to push us to the point where we were squealing and squirming like stuck pigs'.

With discomfort and life in the red zone, however, comes a certain exhilaration and much learning. As a result, this foray into building a keelboat mast has enabled the New Zealand company to expand its capabilities to a new level, which is already bearing fruit in the form of new mast orders of similar size.

Full article in the March Issue of Seahorse

Mastercard Superyacht Regatta
Click on image to enlarge.

A glamour day of beautiful Auckland weather and scintillating superyacht sailing has brought the Mastercard Superyacht Regatta 2021 to a close at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

After four days of racing on the Hauraki Gulf, it's the team on Tawera who have won the first superyacht regatta in the world for over a year, claiming the Mastercard Superyacht Regatta trophy by a nine-point margin. Tawera owner Mike Mahoney was thrilled with how the week unfolded -

"Unbelievable, given the climate we are operating under now, it shouldn't have happened, but thanks to the Squadron, to get this regatta underway was just unbelievable. Everyone's had a wonderful time, the races were fantastic, the courses were brilliant, and we are really happy to come out with a good result."

Today's Barfoot & Thompson Race Day Four consisted of one final race, with a 16.5 nautical mile course set by Harold Bennett and his Race Management team. The racing was again outstanding, with plenty of tight crosses, lead and sail changes, as well as lots of hard-fought battles right down to the finish line.

One of the highlights included the battle between Miss Silver and Sassafras who were both pushing each other to the limit for the entire day. Miss Silver held a slender lead at the final mark, forcing Sassafras to tack away and split off in the opposite direction as both boats plotted their final run to the finish. As it turned out, the experienced team on Sassafras made the right call, sailing the best lines and picking the wind beautifully to cross the line ahead of Miss Silver by just over a minute.

Tawera finished off their brilliant regatta with a second-place finish, meaning they never slipped outside the top two in any races this week, followed by Miss Silver, who even though they were beaten to the line, still managed to pip Sassafras on handicap and finish third.

The overall standings though were clear, with Tawera (ten points) sailing away with the overall Mastercard Superyacht Regatta victory. Miss Silver (nineteen points), who sailed a brilliantly consistent regatta, took home second place overall, followed by Silvertip (twenty points) riding their three race wins to finish in third. Whirlwind (twenty two points) finished fourth overall, followed by Sassafras (twenty four points), Catalina (thirty five points) and Aschanti IV (thirty eight points). -- Andrew Delves

www.rnzys.org.nz

52 SUPER SERIES Reschedules 2021 Season and Venues
With the prospect of being unable to run the early season events to an appropriate standard and have them properly accessible to all of their teams from around the globe, the 52 SUPER SERIES has taken an early, pragmatic decision to reschedule elements of the 2021 regatta season.

The primary objective behind the decision taken by the 52 SUPER SERIES management board this week is to offer the highest degree of certainty to owners, teams and venues. At the present time, teams are still unable to travel, and local restrictions still prevent gatherings at major sporting events.

In light of this, the Saint Tropez, Baiona and Cascais events that were due to take place in May, June and July are postponed until 2022. Instead, the objective is to run four regattas in July, August, October and November.

Valencia Mar Marina - July 12-17
Puerto Portals, Mallorca - August 23-28
Menorca - September 27-October 2
RCNP Mallorca, Rolex TP52 World Championship - November 1 - 6

"This has been a tough decision to take but ours is a circuit that draws owners and teams from all around the world, and while you might say things are moving in the right direction in many parts of Europe, unfortunately there is still not enough certainty. Our approach is to be responsible and pragmatic looking to what we feel confident we should be able to deliver, rather than overpromise and underdeliver. In this dynamic situation we need to minimise the risk to everyone and put ourselves in the best position to deliver safe, competitive events commensurate with the status of the world's leading grand prix circuit," Agustín Zulueta, CEO of the 52 SUPER SERIES explains.

www.52superseries.com

Alexia Barrier Finishes 24th in the Vendee Globe on TSE - 4myplanet
On a perfect Sunday morning, 28th February, at 06 23 44 hrs UTC French skipper Alexia Barrier crossed the finish line of the ninth Vendee Globe off Les Sables d'Olonne to finish her race in 24th position of the 33 skippers who started the race on Sunday 8th November. Racing the oldest boat in the fleet, the 41 year old Mediterranean skipper showed great stamina and tenacity for a passage time of 111 days, 17 hours, 03 minutes.

As part of a partnership signed between the IMOCA Class and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, Barrier sailed with a thermosalinograph, a mini laboratory that allows her to collect water samples taking temperatures, salinity and CO2 from all along the course. She also deploys a Meteo France buoy and an ARGO float.

on February 15, a little over a week before the arrival at Les Sables d'Olonne, the sailor had a bad fall while dressing and hurt her back.

She is quite immobilised by the intense pain to the end, but true to herself she pushes her injured body until she achieves her goal competing the race wearing her big smile and her head held high "I am not fed up about my back I will soon have completed my Vendee Globe and that's all that matters." She said a few days before her finish.

Asked before the start "What is your main quality?" she replied instantly "My fighting spirit".

Completing her Vendee Globe today proves that is only but one of her many qualities but probably the one which got her to the finish line.

www.vendeeglobe.org

18ft Skiffs Club Championship, Race 15
tech2 and Smeg had a race-long battle behind the three leaders. Click on image for photo gallery.

Sydney Harbour: The tech2 team of Jack Macartney, Charlie Wyatt and Lewis Brake added another title to their already impressive 2020-2021 list of championship victories when it took out the Australian 18 Footers League's Club Championship series, which concluded on Sydney Harbour today.

tech2 had won the NSW Championship earlier in the season, then last Sunday retained the Australian Championship after a wonderful battle with the Smeg team of Michael Coxon, Ricky Bridge and Trent Barnabas.

In the Club Championship, which has been sailed over 15 races during the season, tech2's consistently good performances enabled the team to go into the final race with an unbeatable lead, but today's race was also the final hit-out for next week's 71st JJ JGiltinan Championship.

A light, fluctuating South East breeze tested the fleet throughout the entire race, which also produced several lead changes and a dramatic finish.

After one hour and 40 minutes of racing, the Finport Finance team of Keagan York, Matt Stenta and Phil Marshall grabbed a last minute 29s victory from Winning Group (John Winning Jr., Seve Jarvin and Sam Newton), with Shaw and Partners Financial Services (Jim Colley, Shaun Connor and Harry Bethwaite) 11s further back in this place.

Championship winner tech2 came home in fourth place, followed by Smeg and Noakesailing (Sean Langman).

On overall points in the championship, Winning Group was runner-up to tech2, with Smeg in third place, followed by Finport Finance, Yandoo (John Winning) and Noakesailing.

The 71st JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship begins on Sydney Harbour next week. -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League Ltd.

Race dates for the championship are:
Saturday - March 6 - Race 1
Sunday - March 7 - Race 2
Tuesday - March 9 - Races 3 and 4
Wednesday - March 10 - Races 5 and 6
Thursday - March 11 - Race 7
Saturday - March 13 - Race 8
Sunday - March 14 - Race 9

www.18footers.com

Graham Dalton enters the Golden Globe Race
Graham Dalton , the older brother of New Zealand's America's Cup champion Grant Dalton , will compete in the 2022 Golden Globe Race. The 66-year-old Auckland tough has an unfinished task: to sail solo around the world and win !. Two previous attempts have ended in disappointment. In the 2003 Velux 5 Oceans, a four-stop solo circumnavigation, he was dismasted near Cape Horn and in 2007 he completed the same race but outside the time limit.

But taking part in the next round the world solo non-stop of the GGR, starting from Sables d'Olonne, in France, on September 4, 2022, was not easy. After being dismasted, suffering from broken rudders, torn sails, 4 fractured ribs and chronic food poisoning from previous attempts, Graham says, "This time I waited until I thought to myself that I wanted to do it again three days in a row. It took a while to resolve it. "

A mentor is Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, the 73-year-old French sailor who led the 2018 Golden Globe Race from the Cape of Good Hope to the finish. Graham bought the Rustler 36 Matmut from Van Den Heede , which improved Sir Robin Knox-Johnston's winning time by 100 days in the Sunday Times first Golden Globe Race in 1968/19. He not only purchased the winning yacht, but hopes to benefit from the knowledge and experience gained by 6-time solo circumnavigator Jean-Luc .

If coronavirus-related travel restrictions allow, Dalton plans to travel to France in May to complete the yacht's layout and navigation tests before heading out into the Atlantic for a 2,000-mile solo qualifying sail to dispel any lingering doubts. "I have some ideas to make Matmut even faster. I have no interest in going around the world again. It is the competitive aspect that really appeals. I entered the GGR to win, and with no distractions I think I can. " He says.

goldengloberace.com

INEOS America's Cup debrief with Sir Ben Ainslie & Grant Simmer
Matt Sheahan sat down with Ben & Grant for an exclusive interview at their base in Auckland where they talk candidly about the British campaign discussing its strengths and shortcomings along with how and why the campaign struggled. They also give their thoughts on the prospects of another crack at the Cup as well as their views on who has the upper hand in this one.

Oyster Yachts announces the Oyster World Rally 2024-25
Oyster Yachts has announced the dates of its fourth Oyster World Rally, allowing a limited number of lucky sailors to reserve their places for the voyage of a lifetime.

The forthcoming Oyster World Rally 2022-23 is fully subscribed, and high demand from Oyster yacht owners wishing to take part in a world circumnavigation has resulted in Oyster Yachts announcing its fourth event, starting in Antigua on 14 January 2024.

With strictly limited spaces, the announcement of the 16-month, 27,000 nautical mile circumnavigation of the world, opens up the Oyster World Rally 2024-25 event booking process, and a number of Oyster owners have already committed to take part.

The rally departs Antigua on 14 January 2024, and heads south through the Panama Canal, to the Galapagos Islands, and on to French Polynesia, Tonga, and Fiji before arriving in Australia at the end of July 2024. Sailing north up the east Australian coast, stopping off at the Whitsundays, Cairns and Darwin, the fleet then sails to Southern Indonesia and across the Indian Ocean to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Mauritius and Reunion before arriving in Durban, South Africa. A short hop to Cape Town for Christmas precedes the journey to St Helena, before heading back across the Atlantic to South America and northwards, returning to Antigua in April 2025.

The Oyster World Rally team provides world class technical and logistics support from sign-up to attending each major destination along the rally route. As well as pre-rally technical training, this includes boat preparation and service, boat health checks, liaising with local agents, assistance with Panama Canal transit, managing clearance and immigration procedures, finding berthing in marinas, offering tips on provisioning and even providing professional crew through Oyster Yachts Crew Finder service.

oysteryachts.com

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The clever details that BAVARIA YACHTS is known for, both above and below deck, has been further refined in the BAVARIA C42, providing this unusual 12.38m long sailing yacht with the best of the newest innovations in yacht building.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
bavariayachts.com/sailing-yachts/c42

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2005 Nautor Swan 601 - FLOW. 1100000 EUR. Located in Badalona - Spain.

Hull No. 005 of eight Nautor Swan 601s build by Nautor. All true cruiser/racers with an impeccable pedigree. The Swan 601 is the perfect boat for racing in Swan Events, as there is a good rivalry between the other 601s, so fun sailing.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Ben Cooper
Berthon Yacht Sales
Tel: 0044 (0)1590 679 222
E-Mail:

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HH50- NEW BOAT

Carbon construction and luxury interiors come together on a platform well suited for exhilarating, yet safe sailing. Kept deliberately simple for single or double handing, this is a perfect yacht for exploring the remote corners of the world without the need for crew. 12-18 month lead times mean the dream could be closer than you think.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

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www.hhcatamarans.com

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

The Last Word
If you cannot get rid of the people who govern you, you do not live in a democratic system. -- Tony Benn

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