In This Issue
• Sled Triumph In Puerto Portals
• Stage 2 of the 52nd La Solitaire du Figaro
• Yacht Captain and Chef/Deck crew wanted
• Two new 2021 ORC Sportboat European Champions
• One Horse
• Melges World League
• Future Proofed! - Osprey
• Grant Simmer appointed as Australian Sailing Board Director
• 5.5 Metre German Open
• Poole Week
• Featured Brokerage:
• • X-Yachts - X56 
• • Swan 40-114 MKII Christina
• • Kinetic Catamarans - KC62
• The Last Word: P.G. Wodehouse

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

Sled Triumph In Puerto Portals
Photo by Ingrid Abery, www.ingridabery.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

Takashi Okura's Sled team were crowned winners of the first regatta of the 2021 season, the 52 SUPER SERIES Puerto Portals Sailing Week, after conflicting breezes on the Bay of Palma meant no racing could be held on the final day. Sled triumph by just one single point at an event which saw five different teams win races and only six points separate the top six boats after six races were sailed.

In six boat 20th Anniversary Invitational fleet, racing under IRC, the victors were the Beau Geste of Hong Kong's Karl Kwok who has a long and proud history with the TP52 class, dating right back to the origins of the class on the Transpac race. Sadly neither owner could be in Puerto Portals to compete.

Final results Puerto Portals 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week
1. Sled (USA) (Takashi Okura) (4,7,1,1,2,7) 22 points
2. Quantum Racing (USA) (Doug DeVos) (2,1,2, 6,7,5) 23
3. Phoenix (RSA) (Toni Norris) (3,8,7,4,1,3) 26
4. Provezza (TUR) (Ergin Imre) (7,3,4,3,9,1) 27
5. Alegre (USA/GBR) (Andrés Soriano) (5,5,3,2,6,6) 27
6. Platoon (GER) (Harm Muller-Spreer) (1,4,9,8,4,2) 28
7. Bronenosec Gazprom (RUS) (Vladimir Liubomirov) (8,2,6,5,5,4) 30
8. Interlodge (USA) (Austin Fragomen) (6,6,5,9,3,8) 37
9. Gladiator (GBR) (Tony Langley) (9,9,8,7,8,9) 50

20th Anniversary Invitational
1. Beau Geste (Karl Kwok, HK) (1,1,1,1,1,RDG1,RDG1) 7 points
2. Air is Blue (Roberto Monti, ITA) (2,3,4,5,3,1,2) 20
3. XIO (Marco Serafini ITA) (3,DNF8,2,3,2,2,1) 21
4. THA72 (Kevin and Tom Whitrcraft, THA) (4,2,3,2,4,4,5) 24
5. Arobas (Gerard Vogel, FRA) (5,6, DNC 8,4,6,3,3) 35
6. Zero Emission (Samila Leisti, FIN) (6,4.5,5,7,5,5,4) 36.5
7. Blue Carbon (Tony Guilu, ESP) (7,4.5,6,6,7,DNS8,6)

52superseries.com

Stage 2 of the 52nd La Solitaire du Figaro
Being as it is, at the epicentre of French solo and short-handed ocean racing it was appropriate that Lorient bid a big, passionate farewell to the 490 miles Stage 2 of the 52nd La Solitaire du Figaro offering up a preliminary demanding technical circuit with three key sail changes. Raced in perfect overhead conditions, sunshine, fluffy cumulus clouds and a solid 11-15kts of north easterly breeze, this was a great display of solo round the buoys racing at its best.

Stage 2 is a much more intense, coastal passage. From Sunday afternoon's Lorient start there is a 100 miles downwind passage to a turn at Rochebonne - a rocky plateau off Les Sables d'Olonne - after which the 34 strong fleet should follow the rocky Breton coastline, passing around the Cherbourg Cotentin peninsula and then east into the English Channel to a finish at Fécamp, just east of Le Havre.

Later this Sunday evening could be one of the first keys to the course as the wind is due to drop away before Belle Ile then return in from the North East building to 17kts for a fast downwind sprint to Rochebonne. The leaders should be at the mark at around 0100hrs Monday morning in 20kts of wind. All the time the sailors need to be pressing hard to be in the lead group.

Race Tracker

www.lasolitaire.com

Yacht Captain and Chef/Deck crew wanted
Click on image to enlarge.

Extensively cruised and superbly maintained 82' yacht seek experienced Captain and Chef/Deck couple for family cruising and a limited number of Charters. Annual seasons in the Mediterranean and US/Caribbean. Currently located in the UK.

Immediately available Crew with relevant experience including Yachtmaster Ocean and competence in engineering systems plus confident chef/deck partner please forwward CV's to:

Two new 2021 ORC Sportboat European Champions
Istanbul, Turkey: Two races today sailed in a pleasant 6-9 knot southerly breeze has produced two new ORC Sportboat European Champions: Saruhan Cinay skippering his Turkish team on HSSK's J/70 NIMBUS in Class A, and Ott Kikkas's Corsa 915 SUGAR, helmed this week by Branko Brcin, in Class B with a mixed Estonian and Italian crew.

At this year's event there were 27 entries that raced together while being scored both overall and in two separate classes that define ORC Sportboat Class A and Class B. NIMBUS scored 21.0 points in 6 races to be on top of a very competitive 15-boat Class A, only 1.5 points ahead of Levent Peynirci's J/70 CHEESE SAILING. Besides skipper Cinay, the NIMBUS team included Canbert Mete, Deniz Topal, Sevan Habes, and Nayra Dursun.

In contrast, SUGAR dominated the 12-boat Class B by over 40 points to their nearest rival, Sinem Ergun's SB20 HARMONIX, helmed by Guray Zunbul. Besides Kikkas and Brcin, racing on board SUGAR was Matteo Polli, Paolo Bucciarelli, Maraliisa Umb, Karl-Robert Trink, Risto Riim, and Maurizio Loberto.

The strong turnout of local teams along with interest from outside Turkey from new designs like the Corsa 915 indicates continued significant growth potential in the ORC Sportboat class. To be defined as an ORC Sportboat, the boat must be between 6.00 - 9.15 m in length, be no more that 2000 kg in weight, and have a displacement/length ratio of < 6.00.

Complete results

www.orcsportsboateuropeans2021.com

One Horse
Set the dial. Stop the clocks. Cowes is out. Valencia is bust. The Irish bid is, well…all a bit Irish. Auckland is available but unlikely (more's the pity). The America's Cup is going to the Middle East as sure as night follows day. The sun is setting on the bidding war. The tide is out and we can see who's been swimming naked. The desert is red hot now.

Join the dots, trace the money, eye the sponsors, look at the desire and everything points east. Football's grandest competition couldn't resist it. World Athletics fell over themselves to get there. Formula 1 loves it. And the all-time ultimate money-game, the Cup, just can't wait to get there. It's going to be stupendous.

For sure, it will have its problems and no doubt will be challenged in the courts. Human Rights can't be ignored, deaths of un-fawning journalists can't be brushed aside, women's rights must be respected but the 37th Cup desperately needs the dollars to expand the show and there's simply nowhere else on the planet, in the current climate or any other climate, that can match the Emirates for dollars.

Magnus Wheatley's full editorial in Rule69 Blog

Melges World League
On a day with light wind, after the spectacular conditions of the last two days, in Villasimius the Melges World League crowned the winner of the fourth act of the seasonal circuit: in the Melges 20 fleet, the winner responds once again to the name of Dario Levi's Fremito d'Arja.

The victory achieved by Fremito d'Arja at the end of a day characterized by a light and shifty breeze, in stark contrast to the conditions of the previous days, allows Dario Levi's crew to lengthen their pace and consolidate the leadership in the seasonal ranking, whose final order will be determined only at the end of the last regatta of the year, scheduled in Puntaldia at the end of September.

On the podium, behind Fremito d'Arja with only two points, Nika by Vladimir Prosikhin in second place and Russian Bogatyrs by Igor Rytov in third.

The races of the Melges 32 fleet will resume tomorrow at 10.30: up to three regattas will be held, at the end of which the winner of the Sardinia Rally 2021 will be revealed.

Villasimius Melges World League event, promoted by Melges Europe, boasts the organizational support of the Marina di Villasimius and Lega Navale Italiana - Section of Villasimius.

Melges 32
Melges 20
Melges 14

Future Proofed! - Osprey
With so many diifferent electronic system aboard the modern yacht getting them to work properly together is where this new young UK company aims to deliver big practical gains

When it comes to IT, being told 'it should be possible' often rings alarm bells for those who've been there before. On the face of it the expression is optimistic, but unfortunately the reality is that it frequently means, 'we haven't tried it and it's probably unlikely to work first time around.'

As the MD and founder of Osprey Technical, Rachel Oliver is all too familiar with the problems and challenges of interfacing modern electronics. Yet the company's extensive knowledge in this area and its ability to deliver complex systems, reliable networks and unparalleled remote assistance is what has put Hamble-based Osprey Technical in demand around the world.

Full story in the September issue of Seahorse

Grant Simmer appointed as Australian Sailing Board Director
Four-time America's Cup winner and America's Cup Hall of Fame inductee Grant Simmer OAM has been appointed to the Board of Australian Sailing for a term of two years.

The vacancy on the Board was created with Alex Baumann's resignation as an Appointed Director upon his appointment as CEO of Swimming Australia.

Simmer was co-owner of North Sails Australia for 17 years until 2000 and has a deep understanding of local and international commercial sailing trends.

He has competed in 11 America's Cup cycles as crew or team leadership for four wins, including his role as Navigator on Australia II's historic victory in 1983. He helped design the winning 2003 and 2007 boats for Alinghi before joining Oracle Racing for the 2013 and 2017 where he added another victory.

Simmer joined Ben Ainslie Racing in 2017 and was CEO of INEOS Team UK through to the completion of the last America's Cup in Auckland.

Along with the other America's Cup winning crew from 1983, Grant was inducted into the Australian Sailing Hall of Fame in its inaugural year.

Grant previously served on the Australian Yachting Federation board, finishing that stint in the year 2000. Before joining the AYF Board Grant led the Australian Offshore Group which looked out for the interests of offshore sailing and influenced the formation of the AYF's Offshore Committee.

sailing.org.au

5.5 Metre German Open
Sunnschien. Click on image to enlarge.

For a second day in a row the wind abandoned the Wannsee in Berlin, Germany. Therefore the 2021 5.5 Metre German Open at the Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee (VsaW) was decided by a single sailed race, the long distance race on Friday.

New Moon II (BAH 24, Mark Holowesko, Christoph Burger, Peter Vlasov) took the German Open on the result of Friday's long distance race, the only race sailed all weekend, after both Saturday and Sunday were lost with no wind. After weeks of good breeze in Berlin there was disappointment all round.

The fleet of 15 5.5 Metres in Berlin was certainly a mix with just five moderns, and a range of Evolutions and Classics, but one of the boats that certainly caught the eye was Sunnschien (GER 17, Uwe Baykowski, Sabine Kupfer, Michael Schulz). This boat was awarded the Concourse d'Elegance for the most beautiful boat at the event.

Sunnschien was most successful German 5.5 Metre boat in Olympic times, getting fourth in Acapulco in 1968. A Briton Chance design, and built in Ontario, Canada in 1967, she was renovated by the current owner Uwe Baykowski, from Kiel, after finding her in very poor condition in The Netherlands.

5.5class.org

Poole Week
Photo by David Harding. Click on image for photo gallery.

For many of the fleets competing in Poole Week, much was riding on the final day. Points were tight at the top - often tied - and it could all go down to the last moments of the last race.

Those who had already secured their victories, or as good as, could relax and enjoy their sailing in a wind that, yet again, was from the north east and extremely patchy. Not surprisingly, the lack of pressure didn't slow them down in the least. Nigel Yeoman continued his winning ways in the Dolphins. Peter Stacey and Suzie Clayton recorded a 1, 2 in the Darts to finish four points clear of Bill Parker and Andy Baldwin. Parkstone YC's sailing secretary, Steve Tyler, crewed by his wife, Ally, won the fast handicap fleet ahead two other Merlin Rockets.

In the slow handicap fleet, Nigel Pearce added to his row of bullets to finish 11 points clear at the top. Similarly, Jackie Dobson and Dave Mitchell led the Wayfarers home in both races. Jackie's late father, Basil Hodder, a stalwart of the Parkstone Wayfarers, won Poole Week twice in the 1980s. Finally, having competed in over 30 Poole Weeks herself, his daughter will have her name engraved on the same trophy.

The only boat in all the fleets not to compete on the last day having already secured victory was the RS200 of Georgie and Dan Vickers. Had they sailed, however, they might have been pushed by Peter Loretto and Lucy Wise, who eventually had a few shifts go their way to finish 2nd and 1st in the final two races.

It was Malcolm Bell again in the Shrimpers, but Andy and Jackie Barker were nipping at his heels.

Of the Parkstone Platform fleets, it was the XODs where things were closest. By the end of Thursday, Willie McNeill in Lara, X 123, had just edged ahead of Gill Ellis and her crew of David and Will Bedford in Heyday, X173. Back in 1986, Bedford helmed Heyday - then based in Poole - to victory in Cowes Week. Now part of the Lymington fleet, Heyday hadn't forgotten the way around Poole Harbour but it was Lara that came home with the trophy.

With a points-tie at the top of the Flying Fifteens going into Friday's racing, the pressure couldn't have been greater. In the end, it was Pete and Jo Allam's day, despite a discarded 9th in the final race. Crispin Read Wilson and Steve Brown finished 2nd overall, with Bob Alexander and Huw Willetts 3rd despite a broken spinnaker halyard having cost them both races on Sunday.

The biggest story of the day, however, was the Connellan brothers from Middle Nene SC in Northamptonshire sailing their classic Fifteen, sail number 2700, to second place in the last race.

The ILCA 6s had also gone into the final day with the top two - Freddie Howarth and Roberta Hartley - tied on points. They were still tied after the final two races, so it came down to the number of firsts and that tipped it in favour of young Freddie.

Things weren't quite as close in the ILCA 7s, the home club's Hywel Roberts winning both races to end the week with a four-point lead over Alan Davis from Oxford. -- David Harding

www.pooleweek.org

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The Last Word
Unseen in the background, Fate was quietly slipping lead into the boxing-glove. - P.G. Wodehouse

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