In This Issue
• Snipe Western Hemisphere: Patience was Rewarded
• Hempel Mixed Two Person Offshore World
• OYS is ready to service your yacht rig
• Aspire takes six point lead into final day of 5.5 Metres in Cannes
• We're back!!! - Caribbean Sailing
• Game Over
• Thousand Islands Race is back in pandemic variant
• Nine Events For The Selden Sailjuice Winter Series 2021-22
• Barcolana 53
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Baltic 43 Ice
• • Tarac 33 - Rhapsody
• • Blackcat 50
• 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

Snipe Western Hemisphere: Patience was Rewarded
Boston, MA, USA: Today's races were built around the forecast which ran the gamut from 5 knots to 20, and which proved to be true. The fleet headed out in beautiful wind of 8-11 that quickly had rain squalls roll through, leaving an unstable breeze and a challenge for Matt Hill and his Race Committee to set a proper course. After a recall start, followed by AP for 2 hours plus with little to no wind, the wind finally settled into a South Easterly with 8-11 knots and mostly sunny skies.

Race 5 found Brazilians Rodrigo Stephan de Almeida and Gustavo Baiano lead from the start and gave credit to a Brazilian sailors quote. "when the wind is the strongest you should work really hard and hike a lot" which we did in his honor. Gustavo continued that "we were really fast downwind!. Finishing in second behind them was Ernesto Rodriguez and Kathleen Tocke (USA) and third was Arthur Blodgett and Gracie Howie (USA). Regatta leader Diaz/Brotons (USA) sailed their throw-out race, which kicked in after race 6.

The RC started race 6 immediately following the last finisher returning to the start area. Race 6 was signaled with an Olympic course with puffs to 20 at the weather mark. George Szabo and Dianna Waterbury were caught OCS and the rest of the fleet was off, with Rodriguez/Tocke taking an early lead which they extended to a horizon job. Sailors had from 10 to 20 knots and changed gears as they hit the puffs and lulls. Second across the finish was Matias and Constanza Seguel (CHI) followed by Alfonso Garcia Bringas and Andre Guaragna (MEX).

With the drop race now factoring in, Diaz/Brotons (USA) remain in the lead with 16 points followed by Blodgett/Howie (USA) with 22 and Rodriguez/Tocke (USA) who moved up after a stellar day (2-1) which moved them into 3rd with 23 points, throwing out a 22nd in race 3.

Racin. continues through Saturday with 9 races scheduled. Tomorrows forecasts looks ominous with winds exceeding the Snipe wind limit (25+) and heavy rain.

Full results

2021.snipewho.org

Hempel Mixed Two Person Offshore World Championship to be decided on final sprint to Venice
The outcome of the 2021 Hempel Mixed Two Person Offshore World Championship will be decided at the finish line in Venice on Friday 24 September.

The final 60-mile sprint from Marina di Ravenna to Venice is the culmination of 816 nautical miles of racing in Figaro 3 semi-foiling keelboats, with eight nations participating in the 10-boat fleet. Leg 3 will start this morning at 1000 (GMT+2).

The most consistent performers have been ITA1 Team ENIT (Claudia Rossi & Pietro D'Alì) who were fourth in Leg 1 and second in Leg 2. They hold the top of the leaderboard with Team Belgium (Sophia Faguet & Jonas Gerckens) their closest rivals in second overall. Winning Leg 2 has propelled ITA2 Marina Militare (Giovanna Valsecchi / Andrea Pendibene) up to third overall and with an outside shot at the title.

The final leg carries a scoring co-efficient of just 0.2 points, so it's a low-scoring leg that makes it harder for the leaders to be overtaken. The South African team (Michaela Robinson / Siyanda Vato) were ecstatic to have stolen third place from Belgium near the end of such a hard leg.

Tracking

www.nastrorosatour.it

OYS is ready to service your yacht rig
Who has been to a boat show this September or has got one in the diary? We couldn’t be happier to see the calendar filling up with boat shows and regattas, a trend we hope will continue.

Boat shows are one of the best environments to see latest boats and kit all in one place, plus they provide a great opportunity to book your rig in for a service. Given that there has been a huge increase in demand of use of boats this year, we suggest you book your Autumn/Winter rig check now.

“It’s been a busy 18 months on the water and in refit for OYS customers around the world” comments Robbie Sargent OYS Rigging Sales Manager. “We understand the importance of rig maintenance, and therefore our team our working around the clock to help keep you sailing.”

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 by a phone call. OYS offer rod and Kevlar rigging solutions for when compromise is not an option, you will receive a superior product, without the superior price tag.

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

Aspire takes six point lead into final day of 5.5 Metres in Cannes
Aspire (POL 17, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, Przemysław Gacek, Simon Fry) moved into a six point lead on the penultimate day of the 2021 5.5 Metre French Open at the Regates Royales in Cannes, with just two races to sail, after a day of constantly changing conditions and some very close racing.

While Momo (SUI 229, Dieter Schön, Markus Wieser, Thomas Auracher) is up the second, New Moon II (BAH 24, Mark Holowesko, Peter Vlasov, Christoph Burger) drops to third, despite winning the first race of the day. Aspire won the second race before Black & White (SUI 219, Daniel Schenker, Mark Dangel, Renato Marazzi) won the dramatic third and final race of the day.

The third day of competition again brought great sailing conditions with the wind quickly rising to 15-16 knots in the first race before decreasing through the day to 6-8 knots for the final race.

Racing at the 5.5 Metre French Open in Cannes concludes with two more races scheduled for Friday with quite light wind forecast.

Top five after 9 races
1. Aspire (POL 17, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, Przemysław Gacek, Simon Fry) 15
2. Momo (SUI 229, Dieter Schön, Markus Wieser, Thomas Auracher) 21
3. New Moon II (BAH 24, Mark Holowesko, Peter Vlasov, Christoph Burger) 24
4. Ali-Baba (BAH 23, Craig Symonette, Flavio Marazzi, William Alloway) 24
5. Black & White (SUI 219, Daniel Schenker, Mark Dangel, Renato Marazzi) 35

Full results here

5.5class.org

We're back!!! - Caribbean Sailing
Of all the regattas lost in the last 18 months the cancellation of a full Caribbean season was perhaps the most dispiriting to sailors around the world. Now this fabulous marker of sailing life 'as normal' is back in action

Like the sun coming out after a storm, competitive sailing has resumed in the Caribbean. It might not be readily apparent, especially for those not in the region, because for two seasons now most major Caribbean regattas have been cancelled or postponed due to precautions and protective protocols against the pandemic. However, in a region that boasts more sea than land, year-round warm temperatures and steady trade winds, local club racing, junior regattas, and learn-tosail programmes have proved the perfectly socially distanced activity post quarantine. Combine this with increasing vaccination rates, island governments' progressive pandemic management and race organisers focused on world-class sailing competition and the 2022 Caribbean regatta season is a bright spot on the horizon.

'We are incredibly lucky in the Caribbean that over the last year although island to island travel has been challenging and international regattas in the main did not take place, most islands were able to sail locally,' says Alison Sly Adams, president of the Caribbean Sailing Association (CSA) and president and commercial director of Antigua Sailing Week (ASW).

Full article in the October issue of Seahorse

Game Over
We haven't seen a press release like this since the 1983 America's Cup. It's properly ugly now as Team New Zealand goes over the top with specific details of a Zoom call, allegedly initiated by Mark Dunphy and an email sent to the Commodore of the New York Yacht Club by legal eagle Hamish Ross with Dunphy cc'd, lobbying the club to support the removal of the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes as the Challenger of Record. I'm speechless.

What's most galling, and will no doubt have members spluttering on their pink gins is that both Dunphy and Ross are themselves members of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron - the very club whose processes to select a venue they were trying to undermine. In my locale, you'd be drummed out of the club, asked to return your membership card and told never to sully the premises again.

And what of the Kiwi public now who have had their hopes dashed, seemingly of a defence on home waters? The Kiwi Home Defence project is surely over and that's a nasty trick to pull on ordinary people. I still contest that the very tenet and message of that campaign is spot on and absolutely correct but the way things have unfolded is simply downright disappointing. And as Grant Dalton says: "ETNZ is disappointed by Mark Dunphy's underhanded and deceitful attempts to undermine the RNZYS, ETNZ and the RYS with his despicable actions." Ouch - 'underhanded' , 'deceitful' , and 'despicable' are strong words to put in a single sentence.

Trust has left town in a Ferrari with fire coming out of its exhaust. Hope is evaporating in the locked-down Kiwi public and this is a regrettable chapter in the story of AC37. We're all now waiting for the smoking gun proof of contact with Ernesto Bertarelli and Larry Ellison - Team New Zealand wouldn't name those guys without specific evidence - and so the big reveal of that, if it happens, might well be the final depressing nail in the coffin of this whole saga.

Who the whistle-blower is, is anyone's guess but never underestimate the strength of the relationships between the yacht clubs involved and the inter-connected nature of the America's Cup community at the very apex of the Great Game. It's been an incredible week and it's only Wednesday. Who knows where we will be by Friday?

My suspicion is that it's Game Over now for the Kiwi Home Defence project but I, and I suspect you too, would love another twist in this tale. Fingers crossed heh? -- Magnus Wheatley in Rule69blog

rule69.blog/2021/09/22/game-over/

Thousand Islands Race is back in pandemic variant
The Thousand Islands Race had to be postponed in 2020 to 2021. Situation is a bit better now but still restrictions adversely affect Thousand Islands Race organisation. In spite of difficulties and respecting wish of the sailors to see on the water, Thousand Islands Race will take place in a reshaped fashion.

The course is a merger of planned two legs into one. The start was on Saturday 18 September in Rijeka on a course without stop over in Montenegro among more than thousand islands and return to Rijeka after rounding island Sv. Andrija. The course is 482 miles long what makes Thousand Islands Race one of the most challenging in the Adriatic.

This arrangment is a temporary fix to respect present epidemiological conditions. However, next year we are looking forward to come back to normal, therfore to traditional format consisting of two legs from Rijeka to Porto Montenegro and back. Porto Montenegro Yacht Club continues as devoted partner in the organisation and awards the winner a voucher of 5000 EUR value for annual berth in Porto Montenegro Marina.

Changes on European covid chart caused that several already entered boats gave up at the last moment because it was difficult to organise crew and boat tranfers. In spite of all at the start on Saturday 18 September at 18:00 from Rijeka seven boats took part with two multihulls among them. Among competitors this year is 2019 winner: Christian Phann's "Vento Cadela" from Austria and also runner up form the same year Žiga Mehar's "Macropus" from Slovenia. Berislav Vranic's "Damaco", a Swan 45, will defend local colours. Berislav Vranic with same named boat, a Millenium 40, was the winner in 2014.

Novelty this year is start from Rijeka harbour where starting and finishing line will be set between bow of Botel Marina and Port Authority Control Tower. As in all previous years regatta can be followed alive on the Internet using GPS/GSM tracking system that shows boats positions under corrected time . Time limit is at noon on Sunday, 26 September. Weather permitting first boats are expected at finishing line after 3-4 days of racing.

scor.hr/regate/2020e/tir.htm

Nine Events For The Selden Sailjuice Winter Series 2021-22
The 13th edition of the Selden SailJuice Winter Series kicks off in a couple of months' time, starting with the Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash on 20 & 21 November 2021. In total there are nine events in this winter's calendar, concluding with the Oxford Blue on 19 February 2022.

Competitors will count their four best scores from the nine events. With the uncertainties around Covid still around, and only one event completed last winter, the aim is to have sufficient events to constitute a viable series even if some of them are unable to go ahead.

There is also going to be a North & South day on 27 December when two events will take place at the same time: the Yorkshire Dales Brass Monkey in the north and five hours drive further south, the Burghfield Breezer, just off the M4 motorway in Berkshire.

As ever, the Selden SailJuice Winter Series aims to appeal to as many classes as possible, with typically almost 100 different types of boat represented across the season. The Great Lakes Handicap numbers continue to be refined every season and are well proven to deliver fair racing most of the time.

The following events are in the Selden SailJuice Winter Series 2021/22:

Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash, Draycote Water SC - 20 & 21 November 2021
Datchet Flyer, Datchet Water Sailing Club - 11 & 12 December 2021
Yorkshire Dales Brass Monkey, Yorkshire Dales SC - 27 December 2021
Burghfield Breezer, Burghfield Sailing Club - 27 December 2021
Grafham Grand Prix, Grafham Water Sailing Club - 2 January 2022
Bloody Mary (TBC), Queen Mary Sailing Club - 8 January 2022
King George Gallop, King George Sailing Club - 22 January 2022
John Merricks Tiger Trophy, Rutland Sailing Clu. - 5 & 6 February 2022
Oxford Blue, Oxford Sailing Clu. - 19 February 2022

Entry for the events opens in a few weeks at www.sailjuiceseries.com

Barcolana 53
Trieste, Italy: New routes at sea with RoundItaly Genova-Trieste, new routes on land with the Barcolana Sea Summit, the sustainability theme, and the great joint effort of Barcolana and Generali, to highlight and emphasise the women of the sea on the way towards visibility and inclusion: Barcolana53 presented by Generali is all set to go, scheduled from October 1st to the 10th. The great sea celebration of Trieste was presented today in the presence of the Chairman of Generali, Gabriele Galateri di Genola, and the Chairman of the Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano, Mitja Gialuz. The official closing of the subscriptions of Barcolana53, which also this year relies on RAI's main media partnership, is scheduled on September 30th.

This year with Generali, the Barcolana has planned "Trofeo Generali - Women in Sailing", a story whose goal is to highlight and emphasise the women of the sea. The symbol of this new route is the Trofeo Generali - women in sailing, which will be awarded to the first helmswoman of a mixed crew that will cross the Barcolana's finishing line. But the story will go way beyond this, with stories belonging to the women present at the event - from the Olympic gold medallist in Tokio, sailor Caterina Banti, to the scientists who study the sea, protagonists of the Barcolana Sea Summit; to the many sailors that have been protagonists of the Barcolana for many years now and who with their spirit of women of the sea can contribute to inspiring other women to be protagonists in their own fields, and to make their role and contribution more visible

www.barcolana.it

Featured Brokerage
2007 Baltic 43 Ice. 490,000 VAT PAID EUR. Located in Italy.

It is not uncommon for owners of larger yachts to commission smaller sailing boats for easy, shorthanded day sailing. ICE is such a yacht, a fully custom, high performance day-boat. Her simplicity and stunning looks set her apart. Her large, open-transom cockpit provides a perfect working area for two and with no backstays or runners, a single point mainsheet, powerful rig, high aspect ratio appendages and a hydraulically-powered lift mechanism for the keel she was designed for really easy handling. Built in carbon vacuum bagged sandwich with nano-epoxy to increase laminating properties. The accommodation provides shelter with a clean, modern, minimalist design touch.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
+49 152 345 00 585

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2011 Tarac 33 - RHAPSODY. 54950 GBP. Located in Lymington, UK.

Super cool little day sailor/racer sports a great interior for overnighting/weekending while supplying maximum fun on deck. Four berths proper heads and galley below deck with a superior finish throughout. On deck she sports a great cockpit easily managed with all lines lead aft.

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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Blackcat 50. POA.

BLACKCAT 50 is an entirely new superyacht platform, setting the standard in large cruising catamarans.

The world of superyacht sailing is rapidly changing. Over recent years superyachts have grown dramatically in size and improved performance.

This is mainly due to stronger and lighter construction materials coupled together with evolution in design and innovation. All these developments lead to the most logical conclusion in your next choice of superyacht.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact

Ph: +34 696 483 962

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

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

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Advertising inquiries to Graeme Beeson: or see www.eurosailnews.com/advertise.html