In This Issue
Great Britain Sail Grand Prix
Third wave of the fastest boats get the fastest start in the 2021 Transpac
BSI is here to keep you sailing
Pacific Yankee Doubles Up at Melges IC37 National Championships
Recapturing its heritage - Royal Western Yacht Club
For British Sailing Team Supporters: the Challenge 6000 Initiative
Badloe to lead a stellar cast in Men's Windsurfing - RS:X at Tokyo 2020
Extravaganza
World's Largest Sailing Ship Detained in UK due to Legal Dispute
Jeanie Johnston Tours Cancelled
Letters to the Editor
Featured Charter
Featured Brokerage:
• • 2008 Archambault A40RC
• • Dunning GP44 - Rigadoon
• • BoatThree
The Last Word: Alan Wallace

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

Great Britain Sail Grand Prix
Photo by Ingrid Abery, www.ingridabery.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Sail Grand Prix Paul Goodison, who is temporarily driving the British F50 in Ben Ainslie's absence, delighted home supporters by signing off his two-event stint at the helm of the Great Britain SailGP Team with a race win in the team's home Grand Prix in Plymouth.

In the second and final day of the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix, Britain's Ocean City Plymouth once again delivered stunning conditions for the eight-team fleet, the thousands of home supporters lining the Plymouth Hoe and the hundreds of supporter boats out on the water.

After struggling in the opening day, it was a much-improved performance for the British crew who finished third and first in their two races. That positioned the Great Britain SailGP Team in fourth of the overall Grand Prix table, just three points short of qualifying for the final winner-takes-all 'Podium Race'.

With the American, Australian, and French teams ultimately qualifying for the final podium race, it was Tom Slingsby's Australians who took the Grand Prix win in a neck-and-neck final. The results from Plymouth leave the Great Britain SailGP Team in second place on the overall Championship leaderboard, level of points with the leaders Australia SailGP Team, ahead of Ben Ainslie's return to the British team in the ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix in Aarhus in August.

The final winner-takes-all podium race to take home the title at the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix was neck-and-neck throughout, with the lead changing frequently between all three teams due to high-octane racing combined with unforced errors.

The key manoeuvre of the race came on the sixth leg, when on a crucial cross Slingsby's Australia SailGP Team executed a perfect gybe in front of the French F50 in second place. That meant the Australian team, with local Devon hero Nick Hutton onboard, was able to take the win by six seconds.

The results from the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix leave the British and Australian teams tied on 22 points at the top of the SailGP leaderboard. The Championship leaderboard is incredibly close, with just five points separating the top and bottom teams. Great Britain SailGP Team CEO Ben Ainslie will return to drive the team's F50 in the ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix in Aarhus, Denmark on 20-21 August.

Great Britain Sail Grand Prix // Plymouth
1 // Australia
2 // France
3 // United States
4 // Great Britain
5 // Denmark
6 // Japan
7 // New Zealand
8 // Spain

SailGP Season Championship leaderboard (after 3 events):
1 // Australia // 22 pts
2 // Great Britain // 22 pts
3 // France // 21 pts
4 // United States // 19 pts
5 // Japan // 19 pts
6 // Spain // 19 pts
7 // Denmark // 17 pts
8 // New Zealand // 17 pts

Full results

sailgp.com

Third wave of the fastest boats get the fastest start in the 2021 Transpac
Powered by the best breeze of the week - 10-15 knots at the start off Point Fermin - today's final 19 entries in four divisions vaulted off the start line towards Honolulu, 2225-miles away, in the 2021 Transpac. These are the fastest boats in the fleet entered in Divisions 1, 2, 3 and 4, and vary from 52 to 77 feet in length, with all expecting a speedy passage ahead.

The current monohull course record set by the VPLP 100 Comanche in 2017 is 5D-1H-55M-26S, an average speed of over 18 knots. "A few days ago we got excited when the weather models lined us up for what looked like could be a record run," said Peter Isler, navigator on Roy Disney's turbo Volvo 70 Pyewacket. "This is less certain now, but it still looks like a fast race ahead if we can get off the coast tonight."

Out on the race course about 200 miles west, yesterday's starters in Divisions 5, 6 and 7 are in a relatively tight group about 40 miles from front to back, charging towards Hawaii relatively close to rhumb line (right inset YB tracker image). Bob Pethick's Rogers 46 Bretwalda is leading this pack, high-speed reaching at 10-11 knots in 20 knots of wind. This group will be closing the gap and likely overtaking the tail enders in the first wave of starters in Division 8 in a few days at the current rates of speed.

The boat closest to Hawaii now is Cecil and Alyson Rossi's Farr 57 Ho'Okolohe, who is approaching the halfway point in about another day's time at their current rate of about 10 knots in boatspeed.

YB trackers are on board all entries, with positions indicated on the YB website at this link: yb.tl/transpac2021. The positions have been delayed by 4 hours, except when within 200 miles of the finish, where they revert to real-time tracking.

transpacyc.com

Transpac

BSI is here to keep you sailing
WHAT Sailing regattas are back. Staycations are the latest craze. The BSI global network of riggers and agents continue to keep you, our customers, sailing.

“Anything that floats, with a mast and sails, appears to be sailing in 2021,” comments Ulf Josefsson Worldwide Superyacht & Custom Sales at BSI Rigging. “We have seen a huge increase in demand for rigging across all boat sizes and all markets, from 20ft keelboats across the board to the superyacht sector, and it doesn’t look as though things are easing up.”

BSI has witnessed a shift in buying habits over the past 12 months, COVID and staycations appears to have seen a strong increase in the demand for secondhand boats, which has had a knock-on effect on service and rig refits.

“We want to let you know that the lights are always on at BSI and our team are working around the clock and around the world to help us meet the current demand and help you maintain your rigs,” comments Ulf.

Remember to keep checking your standing rigging and hardware. Wear and tear are inevitable, however catastrophic events can be avoided with a simple inspection followed up phone call. BSI offer wire, Kevlar, and rod rigging solutions for when compromise is not an option, you will receive a superior product, without the superior price tag.

For more information on BSI Rigging and the high-quality marine brands within the group Jefa Steering, GORI Propellers, Hundested Propeller and OYS Rigging please visit bsidk.com

Pacific Yankee Doubles Up at Melges IC37 National Championships
Newport, Rhode Island, USA: Over the first two days of the Melges IC37 National Championship, the defending champion Pacific Yankee team was dominant, winning three of four races and building a substantial lead. But, says skipper Drew Freides, the narrow margin for error in this competitive one-design class doesn't allow for playing it safe.

The Melges IC37 National Championship was run concurrently with the ORC East Coast Championship by the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court in Newport, R.I. Both events took place July 16 to 18, with the Melges IC37 fleet competing seven buoy races while the ORC divisions sailed six buoy races and one middle-distance race. The two regattas were sponsored by Safe Harbor Marinas, Hammetts Hotel and Helly Hansen.

While the Melges IC37 class rules requires an all-amateur crew, with one exception, Freides and Ruh have modeled their program after successful professional sailing teams. The crew list remains the same from event to event and they always put in the extra time practice, including two full days prior to the national championship.

A subtext to the overall title was the battle for the New York Yacht Club's spot in September's Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup. Commodore Christopher Culver and Peter Levesque's Blazer II started the regatta with a significant lead over Members Only thanks to a strong performance in the 167th Annual Regatta in June. But by the final race of the National, Blazer II's lead in the qualifying series was down to just four points.

If there was a common theme to the three division winners in the ORC East Coast Championships is was their comprehensive dominance across a variety of conditions and course configurations. The three winning boats earned 16 of 21 individual race victories and won ORC A, B, and C by 11, 7 and 2 points, respectively.

Photos: Paul Todd/Outside Images

2021 ORC East Coast Championship

ORC A (ORC - 7 Boats)
1. Vesper, IRC 72, Jim Swartz , Forked River, CA, USA, 8
2. Stark Raving Mad IX, Carkeek 47, Jim Madden , Newport Beach, CA, USA, 19
3. Interlodge, Botin 44, Austin and Gwen Fragomen , Newport, RI, USA, 26

ORC B (ORC - 8 Boats)
1. Impetuous, Swan 42, Paul Zabetakis , Jamestown, RI, USA, 16
2. Entropy, Swan 42, Patricia Young , Jamestown, RI, USA, 23
3. Cool Breeze, Mills 43, John Cooper , Cane Hill, MO, USA, 25

ORC C (ORC - 7 Boats)
1. Flying Jenny, IC 37, Sandra Askew , Annapolis, Md, USA, 11
2. Orion, J 122, Paul Milo , Leesburg, VA, USA, 13
3. Trim, J 105, William Sutton , Annapolis, MD, USA, 26

Melges IC37 National Championship (18 boats)
1. Pacific Yankee, IC37, Drew Freides / Bill Ruh , Los Angeles, CA, USA, 15
2. Rima37, IC37, John Brim , Palm Beach, FL, USA, 22
3. Members Only, IC37, Cross / Kinney / Swett , Newport, RI, USA, 30
4. Das Blau Max, IC37, Cory, Mark and Nick Sertl , Jamestown, RI, USA, 35
5. Gamecock, IC37, Peter McClennen , Newport, RI, USA, 3

nyyc.org

Recapturing its heritage - Royal Western Yacht Club
Royal Western Yacht Club The Royal Western Yacht Club in Plymouth was there at the very start of shorthanded racing so it's no surprise to see them creating new events and opportunities for the latest generation of racers

Short-handed sailing is here to stay and Plymouth's Royal Western Yacht Club (RWYC) is leading the way with a host of short-handed sailing opportunities designed to whet the appetite of sailors who, due to the Covid situation, have been starved of races, up until now.

In 1960 the Club, which was founded in 1827, introduced an innovation that had a profound effect on ocean racing - short-handed races. The first Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic Race (OSTAR) was the result of a request from Lt.Col. H.G. (Blondie) Hasler to organise a singlehanded race against the prevailing winds and current across the North Atlantic. Five yachts sailed from Plymouth to New York with Francis Chichester coming first in Gipsy Moth III. This was followed in 1966 by the first Two-Handed Round Britain and Ireland Race (the RB&I), and in 1981 by the Two-Handed Transatlantic Race (or TWOSTAR) - and so a tradition was established.

Full article in Seahorse magazine

For British Sailing Team Supporters: the Challenge 6000 Initiative
Challenge 6000 InitiativeWe are beginning our final preparations out here in Tokyo - over 6000 miles away from our training base back in Weymouth. The team are excited to get racing and are hoping to make you proud. However, these Olympic Games will be different and we will all miss having our friends and family out here to support us.

We are hoping you might show your support in a different way this year by supporting our Challenge 6000 initiative. It is estimated that over 8 million tonnes of plastic enters our oceans every year and we often see first hand the devastation this causes. Therefore we hope you will join our challenge to remove a combined total of at least 6000 pieces of debris from the environment between the 23rd July and the 8th August. To get involved, please visit debristracker.org to download the Marine Debris Tracker App and select the British Sailing Team from the list of organisations.

Tracking debris through the app helps to support scientific research and informs data driven solutions. If it is safe, please recycle or dispose of the debris properly. Do not try to pick up large items, dead animals, or anything that you suspect to be hazardous. Please consider your own safety and surroundings and use appropriate PPE, such as gloves or litter pickers. Further information on how to use the app, including Frequently Asked Questions, can be found on the Marine Debris Tracker website.

Badloe to lead a stellar cast in Men's Windsurfing - RS:X at Tokyo 2020
Winner of the past three RS:X World Championships, Kiran Badloe (NED) is the clear favourite for Men's Windsurfing gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Competition and with Lilian de Geus in the women's division it could be a Dutch Double victory.

It can also pay to be tall, which was part of the reason why Dorian van Rijsselberghe, at 1.9m, was able to dominate the past two Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016. The Dutchman was working towards a third Olympic gold for Tokyo but lost out in the selection trials to Badloe, his good friend and close training partner who goes to his first Games.

Dutch dominance in men's windsurfing goes all the way back to 1984 when Stefan van den Berg took the first ever windsurfing gold medal at Los Angeles.

Second at both this year's World and European Championships, Mattia Camboni (ITA) has benefited from an extra year's build-up to Tokyo and looks well placed to win a medal for Italy.

More than 10 years older than Camboni is Byron Kokkalanis of Greece who finished close behind the Italian at this year's Worlds for third place overall. A Greek windsurfer of partly Filipino ancestry, Kokkalanis competes at his third Games, having finished sixth at London 2012 and fifth at Rio 2016.

Another veteran in his late 30s but coming from a strong Polish squad is Piotr Myszka who won the World Championships as far back as 2010 and again in 2016. Having finished fourth at Rio 2016, Myszka is pulling out all the stops to win an Olympic medal to round off a glittering career on the RS:X.

There are a few countries where winning Olympic selection is almost as tough as competing at the Games. Emerging from a strong Chinese squad is 25-year-old Kun Bi, who showed he has good skills on the challenging Olympic waters when he finished second at the Hempel World Cup Series in Enoshima 2019.

Similarly in the French selections Thomas Goyard had to fight hard just to earn his place in Tokyo and looks to at least match - if not improve upon - Pierre Le Coq's bronze medal at Rio 2016. Now aged 29, Goyard took to windsurfing at the age of eight when living in French Polynesia and then spent his formative years in New Caledonia until moving to France at the age of 18. He's also a formidable force on the PWA World Tour.

Israel has a strong history in Olympic windsurfing and Yoav Cohen's victory in last November's European Championship puts him in the frame for the podium.

Following the retirement of Nick Dempsey, after winning three medals from five Olympic Games for Great Britain, it's down to Tom Squires to fly the British flag in Tokyo.

The Men's Windsurfing - RS:X fleet will feature 25 sailors. They are scheduled to start racing at 12:00 JST on Sunday 25 July on the Enoshima racing area. -- Andy Rice

tokyo2020.sailing.org

Extravaganza
Wonderful news filtered over the social media channels this week that Ben & Georgie Ainslie became parents again with the announcement of the birth of Fox Ainslie, understandably explaining his 'planned absence' from the global Sail GP circuit. Family comes first and it's an awesome time for them as a family as they welcome a new 'fox cub' (as they say) into the world. Great stuff. Life affirming. Congratulations.

So whilst Ben is up to his guts in nappies and trying to grab a moment's sleep, the Sail GP extravaganza pit-stops in Plymouth this weekend and sets up its Big Top with the most fantastic weather forecast. It's always like this in Britain...ahem.

And as usual, the Sail GP team are putting on a great show, dominating the social media airwaves with everything from creating a new sustainability league to attracting the best Royal - Zara Tindall, the Queen's grand-daughter and Musto ambassador sailing with the French Team - to the fabulous Sail GP 'Inspire' programme.

I really like this 'Inspire' initiative and it's something that has been sorely missing from the sport for like...forever. Sixteen young people shoreside have been given the chance to develop career ideas with everything from content creation, hydraulics, data analytics, hospitality or race management to boat building and it's just so important that pathways are made for young people to get into the sport behind the scenes as much as on the water in the yachts themselves. Big tick to Sail GP on this one.

Magnus' full editorial in Rule69Blog

World's Largest Sailing Ship Detained in UK due to Legal Dispute
Click on image to enlarge.

Golden Horizon The world's largest sailing ship was detained today at the Port of Dover in the UK hours before the passenger cruise ship was due to begin its maiden voyage. The arrest of the ship was the latest development in a long-running legal dispute between the Brodosplit Group in Croatia, that built the vessel, and the cruise line which originally ordered its construction.

At 8,770 gross tons and a length of 531 feet, the five-masted Golden Horizon is the world's largest square-rigged sailing vessel and a near-replica of the 1913 built France II. The design features over 6,000 square meters of sail area, more than twice that of the famous Cutty Sark sailing ship, which was meant to keep the ship under sail up to 80 percent of the time. Her design speed is 16 knots.

Croatian media reports that the UK Admiralty court ordered the ship detailed at the Port of Dover after the vessel arrived today from a pre-inaugural travel industry event. Star Clippers of Monaco sought the order in a financial dispute with the builders, which continue to own the ship and chartered it to a newly formed company, Tradewind Voyages. She was scheduled to begin a series of cruises as part of the UK's domestic cruise restart program before beginning a world tour.

Executives of Star Clippers told the Vijesti media outlet in Croatia, "despite several attempts to collect, the Croatian shipyard Brodosplit refused to voluntarily meet its financial obligations, so stopping the ship became inevitable."

Update: Crotian media is reporting that the shipyard made a partial payment overnight to Star Clippers and the detention order has been withdrawn. AIS data confirms that the Golden Horizon has sailed and as of the afternoon of July 16 is heading to Torquay.

www.maritime-executive.com

Jeanie Johnston Tours Cancelled Over Youths Jumping Off Rigging Into Liffey Waters
Tours of the Jeanie Johnston Famine ship in Dublin city centre were cancelled this weekend over safety issues arising from young people jumping off the tall ship's rigging, as RTÉ News reports.

The attraction's manager John O'Neill said the anti-social posed a danger not only to his staff but to the youths themselves.

Such dangerous diving has been an issue in Dublin's Docklands for many years, with the Irish Coast Guard previously warning that such activity amounts to "literally jumping into the unknown".

afloat.ie/safety/

Jeanie Johnston

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As you would expect having been last campaigned for the Hobart it is fully prepared and optimised, including a new Norths 3Di 3-reef main, #5 headsail and spinnaker stay-sail. This yacht has phenomenally high stability with a STIX of 46, so would lend itself very well to short-handed offshore racing.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
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Fresh out of the yard and virtually unused. Dunning GP44 RIGADOON has shown huge potential and is at the top of the design game. Reverse flared topsides and top-level spec, with inventory only used for a few weeks, and some sails never used. For sale as owner has had a change of plans.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

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

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See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Sea Ventures (UK) Ltd
Swanwick Marina
Swanwick Shore Road
Swanwick
Hampshire SO31 1ZL
+44 (0)1489 565444

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

The Last Word
One of the most persistent of all delusions is the conviction that the source of our dissatisfaction lies outside ourselves. -- Alan Wallace

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