In This Issue
• Gentler Mediterranean conditions prevail
• Brad Butterworth joins Shirley Robertson
• Spanish-British Duel
• JOG Launches Youth Programme
• IMOCA60 vs VO65 - Who Knew?
• Greek Customs acknowledges the rights of UK yachts to retain their EU VAT status
• 70 Boats expected for Champagne Charlie Regatta
• Summer '23
• Vale Dag Pike
• Featured Charter
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Dunning GP44 - Rigadoon
• • Excess 15 - Catamaran
• • LM46 Performance Cruiser
• The Last Word: Dorothy Parker

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

Gentler Mediterranean conditions prevail
The weather conditions experienced by the 12 international professional crews competing in The Ocean Race Europe have moderated considerably from yesterday's fierce headwinds winds that funnelled against them through the Gibraltar Strait.

However, despite the Mediterranean's gentler breezes and flatter seas, the high intensity of the racing remains undiminished as the closely packed fleet closes in on the leg two finish in Alicante, Spain.

The screaming winds that pounded the yachts for most of the day in the Gibraltar Strait eventually gave way to ultra-light Mediterranean zephyrs yesterday evening, offering a chance for the sailors to rest a little and take stock of any damage to their boats.

While some faced a more difficult passage than others, the fleet appears to have made it through the notorious strait relatively unscathed

At the front of the VO65 class there is a familiar scene with the two frontrunning teams for most of the first leg from Lorient, France to Cascais, Portugal - Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team (POR) and AkzoNobel Ocean Racing (NED) - once again match racing for the lead.

In the IMOCA 60s Thomas Ruyant's LinkedOut (FRA) crew continue to hold on to the lead as they have for almost the entirety of the second leg. Sixteen nautical miles (30km) behind them in second is Nicolas Troussel's CORUM L' Épargne (FRA), with the hard chasing 11th Hour Racing Team (USA) a further four nautical miles (seven kilometres) adrift.

Current weather routing estimates suggest the leaders could now reach Alicante as early as 0700 UTC / 0900 CEST Wednesday June 9.

www.theoceanrace.com

Brad Butterworth joins Shirley Robertson
Shirley Robertson's guest this month is one of the most successful tacticians of the modern era. From the America's Cup to the Whitbread, the Admirals Cup to the Sydney Hobart, New Zealand's Brad Butterworth has been at the sharp end of competitive sailing for his entire adult life, and has a grand prix sailing CV few could match.

The duo sat down together at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Auckland where Butterworth had been consulting for the official Challenger of record, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. The pair kick things off by discussing various aspects of the thirty sixth America's Cup, including the adoption of the new Cup Class, the AC75, and Brad's role as mediator between the Challenger and the Defender.

Sailing since his early school days, Butterworth has strong opinions on various aspects of the America's Cup, and as a winner of four consecutive Cups for two different nations, has more back to back race wins than any afterguard member in Cup history, a fact that in 2004 saw him honoured in the America's Cup Hall of Fame. Robertson and Butterworth spend much time discussing this rich Cup history but also talk about his days campaigning with Sir Peter Blake, in the Whitbread Race of 1995, a race that saw 'Steinlager II' dominate the fleet, a fact that had a great effect on the up and coming Butterworth...

The podcast is produced and written by Tim Butt - for further enquires, please contact . Brad Butterworth photos copyright and courtesy of Thierry Martinez www.thmartinez.com

This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley's own website, at www.shirleyrobertson.com/podcast or via most popular podcast outlets, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast and aCast.

Spanish-British Duel
On the second day of the event, Cascais did not disappoint and once again showed its full potential to welcome the world best sailors.

The opening race was held at the Guia race area with winds from the northwest quadrant with 15 knots and a rising wind in intensity during that race. Once the wind increased in intensity, the Race Committee for the second and third race moved the race course to Cascais bay in order to provide more moderate conditions for the Olympic sailors. During the second race of the day, the Race Committee had to abandon this race since the wind had faded and would not allow the sailors to finish the race within the time limit.

The duel between the United Kingdom and Spain is raging, with Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey on the British side (1-8-5) and Tamara Echegoyen and Paula Barceló on the Spanish side (2-15-2), being first and second respectively of the overall. The Argentine team of Victoria Travascio and Sol Branz dropped to third position having scored 7-6-12.

As with the Tokyo Olympic Games, the third day of the championship will be a rest day, as all scheduled races have been successfully completed. The fleet of 21 teams of the 49erFX Olympic class will return to competition in Cascais Bay this Thursday, June 10th.

In total there are 5 continents represented – North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania – in a total of 19 nationalities will sail in Cascais Bay. The championship takes place in Cascais from the 7th to the 12th of June. 12 races are scheduled plus a Medal Race that will count double points for the final overall.

This championship was supported by Turismo de Portugal, Visit Cascais, Cascais Municipality, Portuguese Sailing Federation, Cascais Marina and Vista Alegre. We also have the institutional support of the non-governmental association Sailors For The Sea - Portugal

Results after 6 races: www.cncascais.com

JOG Launches Youth Programme
JOG (Junior Offshore Group) have launched a new youth programme entitled 'Generation JOG' , which aims to support and promote the next generation of sailors, with a view to bridging the gap between youth dinghy sailing and offshore keelboat racing. It is geared towards those aged 25 years old and under who are either new or existing members.

Generation JOG will roll out the programme using a number of initiatives including giving preferential listings on JOG connect, the JOG crew finder site, https://www.jog.org.uk/crew-finder , introducing a new Generation JOG class for all those boats with program members on board, regular Zoom meetups with the occasional guest appearance from a prominent sailor and free JOG membership for the first 18 months.

With finances being one of the main obstacles to sailing of younger generations, the program has been supported by some of JOG's sponsors. Generous amounts of kit given will be awarded throughout the season based on JOG Generation member's achievements. Crewsaver is the first sponsor to come onboard and have given life jackets and gloves to be handed out throughout the rest of this year.

If you are 25 years old and under or you know of anyone that is, you can register and sign up at myjog.jog.org.uk/sign-in

IMOCA60 vs VO65 - Who Knew?
As the Ocean Race Europe fleet headed off on Leg 2 from Cascais to Alicante we had time to take stock and consider what we saw at the coastal race, the Mirpuri Trophy race. What looked like being a pretty straightforward 40nm dash up and down the coast ended up being pretty thought provoking, especially ahead of the Leg to Alicante.

With the VO65s leading the way to Spain, here's a quick look at some of the issues that are becoming popular conversation down here. -- Matthew Sheahan

www.planetsail.org

Greek Customs acknowledges the rights of UK yachts to retain their EU VAT status
Following the complaint to the European Union (EU) by the Cruising Association (CA) on the VAT Status of UK yachts in Greece after returning from outside EU Waters, the latest announcement received from the Greek Customs authority acknowledges the rights of UK yachts to return to Greek Waters and retain their EU VAT Status.

Greek Customs announced on 3rd June 2021 that, following a request to the EU Commission for clarity on this matter, they have followed EU advice and announced the acceptance of UK yachts returning from non-EU Countries to regain their Union Goods Status, provided they return within three years under the same ownership, with no changes to the vessel.

There is one area of clarity still needed, in that they ask for proof of the "yachts being in EU waters on the 31st Dec 2021". This needs to be extended to anywhere in the world, excepting those in UK Waters on that date who now are UK VAT status.

In Brief the rules are:
a) All UK yachts in Greece or the EU 27 will be treated as full Union Goods status and will therefore not require a Transit Log to be issued of any sort whilst they remain in Greek Waters, the yachts being "in Free Circulation".

b) On return to Greek Waters inside three years, they will need to apply for "Customs Procedures" (Returned Goods Relief) and provide proof of VAT payment in the EU 28 and proof of their "Presences in EU Waters on 31st Dec 2021". Note: This needs to be formally agreed to "anywhere in the world other than the UK".

www.theca.org.uk

Disclaimer

This item has been written by the Cruising Association. It has been prepared voluntarily by members and others and they and it have tried to ensure that the contents are accurate. However, the Cruising Association, its employees, contributors and relevant members shall not be liable for any loss, damage or inconvenience of any kind howsoever arising in connection with the use of, or the inability to use, this item, save to the extent required by applicable law.

70 Boats expected for Champagne Charlie Regatta
An impressive fleet of about seventy boats is expected to enjoy a weekend of racing and superb shoreside entertainment at the Royal Southern Yacht Club. The Champagne Charlie June Regatta (12-13 June) is supported by Charles Heidsieck Champagne and North Sails. This will be the second regatta of the Royal Southern YC Summer Series featuring two racecourses in the Solent for eight classes. The SB20 Class will be competing for the Southern Area Championships.

Black Group will feature three IRC Classes, plus HP30, Performance 40 and Club Class (VPRS Handicap). Over 40 yachts are expected for Black Group, racing on a mixture of tight Solent legs and coastal courses.

Over 30 boats are expected to be racing in White Group. Ten short sharp windward leeward races are scheduled for the SB20s and the J/70 Sprint Series. The XOD Class is proving very popular for the Royal Southern Summer Series, with the classic wooden one-designs scheduled for up to six races.

www.royal-southern.co.uk

Summer '23
"Rumour is a pipe blown by surmises, jealousies and conjecture," - the exacting, razor-sharp words of William Shakespeare who would have surely revelled in the farce, comedy, history and tragedy of the America's Cup. And if the dockside chatter is right, it's happening in the UK in the summer of 2023 in Cowes. That's the word on the street. That's the machiavellian gossip doing the rounds imparted in that truly British conspiratorial manner by pretty well-placed individuals saying so and sounding so very, very convincing. And the further opine is that the Kiwi government negotiations are a busted flush, a Shakespearean farce being played out for 'Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow', with both parties recognising that there simply isn't the money required or the will in the quill to mount a defence of any reasonable proportions.

Not sure I quite buy it all yet - much as I would love to - and I still would have a very tough time betting against the Kiwis defending even if they commandeered a Maori Waka and staffed it with the next generation sailors. They've always done the Cup on a shoestring, the last defence was no different, and what a mighty force they are. But is the tide going out on the make-do-and-mend mentality?

Team New Zealand is fighting hard behind the scenes and, it would seem, very much making itself open to commercial offers with title sponsor deals rarer than hen's teeth in the current environment. Cue the benefactor source of last resort - a bored billionaire - and oh how one of Swiss descendancy might well be licking his lips at a turn-key proposal that just needs the rocket fuel of cash, of which he has plenty, to scoop up and turn into commercial and sporting gold. It would be the story of stories.

Magnus Wheatley's full column inm Rule69blog

Vale Dag Pike
Maritime expert and prolific author of books on seamanship, Dag Pike, has died on 28 May at the age of 88.

Dag's reputation in the maritime world was peerless, his 65 years at sea resulting in expertise in a huge range of disciplines including navigation, powerboat racing, search and rescue and safety at sea. He was perhaps best known for his work on developing RIBs, devising the concept and building an early prototype whilst he was Inspector of Lifeboats for the RNLI in the early 1960s.

Rescued at sea himself 12 times, Dag had considerable personal experience of search and rescue operations which he put to use when writing his Royal Ocean Racing Club Manual of Safety and Survival. He was the author of more than 25 papers and 40 books on topics ranging from electronics and navigation to weather forecasting, surveys and safety at sea.

Dag navigated and piloted some of the fastest boats in the world culminating in him winning the World Offshore Powerboat Championship in 1988. He also navigated Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Challenger on its Blue Ribband record-breaking fastest Atlantic crossing by powerboat in 1986.

Dag was also a regular expert witness, appearing in both civil and criminal courts advising on subjects such as navigation, assessment of conditions and collisions on cases involving including insurance companies, the Treasury and HM Customs and Excise.

Dag was still working at the age of 88, producing copy for Boating Business's sister magazine Maritime Journal and putting the finishing touches to his latest book 'Work and Patrol Boats', due to be published by Mercator Media.

www.boatingbusiness.com

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See listing details in Seahorse Charters

Contact
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See the the Seahorse charter collection

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Contact
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Tel: 0044 (0)1590 679 222
E-Mail:

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The Last Word
If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to. -- Dorothy Parker

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