EuroSail News #5450 - 10 November

In This Issue
• One problem after another
• Ultim: Duel In The Sun
• What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
• Cup Spy Nov 9: Kiwis look slick and quick
• Top 20 Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image
• China Club Challenge Match
• How the industry's largest trade show began
• RORC Caribbean 600
• 54th ORC Annual Meeting
• Featured Brokerage:
• • 2008 KER 39 - Tiger 3
• • 2012 Riptide 41
• • Shogun 43
• The Last Word: Thomas Jefferson

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

One problem after another
From Brest to Cascais, including Lorient, Vigo and La Coruna... Several IMOCAs and a handful of Class40 boats, who were the worst hit in the severe conditions have headed for shelter to carry out a pit stop. Some have already set sail again, while others are still hard at work trying to get their boat back in shape. The IMOCA, Maitre CoQ V (Bestaven / Pulve), whose mainsail was torn and the brand new Class40 Legallais (Delahaye / Douguet) whose structure was damaged, are heading for port. Most of those that stopped, firmly intend to set sail again and make their way to Martinique.

Five IMOCAS carrying out pit stops: Maitre CoQ V, MACSF, Oliver Heer Ocean Racing, Groupe APICIL and Lazare.

Class40s carrying out pit stops: Legallais, Curium Life Forward, The Sea Cleaners - Univerre - ENSM, Bleuet de France and Trimcontrol.

transatjacquesvabre.org

Ultim: Duel In The Sun
Finding it tougher to keep up with SVR Lazartigue upwind in light to moderate conditions, and probably annoyed to see them take the lead yesterday rounding Ascension Island, Banque Populaire XI has been pushing hard through the night. The two leaders are now sailing downwind after passing their final course mark and are sailing at more than 35 knots. This morning, Banque Populaire XI took the lead again and is now keeping her rival in check. "We found the right way to trim when we were diving down the Atlantic downwind and now, it's going well again," confirmed Sebastien Josse this morning. "The adrenaline is keeping us going after twelve days of racing. It's not every day that you experience a duel like this one."

The wind is set to strengthen for the frontrunners today, while 600 miles further back, Sodebo Ultim 3 and Actual Ultim 3, which have just rounded Ascension Island, are having their own little race. Still managing to stay closer to the leaders (140 miles), Maxi Edmond de Rothschild can still hope to catch up, particularly if the two frontrunners do not continue to get 100% out of their boats.

The 2500 miles left to race will not offer them much rest with lots of manoeuvres along the edge of the Brazilian exclusion zone and the entry into the trade winds in the Northern Hemishere is scheduled for tomorrow: "When I see how many gybes we need along the coast of Brazil, it's certainly not going to be a straight line. It may come down to each manoeuvre and each little squall," said Armel Le Cleac'h's co-skipper, who is determined to push hard. The ETA is still for 12th November and the outcome may be decided in Fort de France Bay...

transatjacquesvabre.org

Seahorse November 2023
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

Ideas to reality
Super simple and super efficient, the ACCWing holds great promise for a wide range of watercraft. There have been many attempts at popularising wing sails but few are as simple or efficient as this design. The ACCWing system consists of a fixed, free standing carbon mast around which a soft wingsail rotates.

A question of balance
Patrice Carpentier counts the many lives of offshore champion Corinne Migraine

Update
When it's good it's good, but when it's not it's bad (very bad), on top in Porto Cervo (finally) plus solid steel... Santi Lange. Jack Griffin, Terry Hutchinson, Carlos Pich

My 'favourite' topic
When is a sheet not a sheet? Rob Weiland

Sailor of the Month
And a definite flavour of persistence this month

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Cup Spy Nov 9: Kiwis look slick and quick in good testing breeze
Having not seen Emirates Team New Zealand sailing an AC40 for five months, it was hard to resist popping down to the waterfront for a look and shoot, on what felt like a summer's day.

For the second day since their return from Barcelona, the Kiwis continued to conduct wing foil and sail testing on their LEQ12 on the Waitemata Harbour and Hauraki Gulf.

From the chase boat track they spent about 2.5hours sailing in the Course D area from the 2021 America's Cup (which was never used) - and beyond in the passage between several of the Gulf Islands, which gave flat sheltered water - ideal for speed testing on the new wing foil, revealed earlier in the week.

The breeze started light - around 7kts - slightly above the minimum for starting a race, but filled in to 10-15kts, but was angled more south than usual - which allowed the straight long runs upwind and down - ideal for speed testing.

The AC40/LEQ12 was kept slightly heeled to windward most of the time, with the point of balance appearing to be reached when the tip of the windward foil wing was close to cutting the surface. It was also trimmed slightly bow down - but not as extreme as we have seen in the past.

The advantage is to impart maximum leeway resistance from the leeward, however if the windward wing tip strikes the water, the drag is increased and if the boat hits an area of soft pressure, then it can fall into windward.

Richard Gladwell's full commentary in Sail-World.com

Discover the Top 20 Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image award 2023
144 professional photographers representing 30 nations entered the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image award 2023 photo competition. Today we reveal the Top 20 images. The winners will be celebrated on November 16 at METSTRADE in Amsterdam.

The winners of the contest will be announced and celebrated on Thursday, November 16 in the presence of some of the sports' leading personalities from all over the world during a ceremony at METSTRADE. All yacht racing photographers are cordially invited to the event (see below for registrations).

Three prizes will be awarded to the winners: the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image Award (main prize), selected by the international jury, the Public Award, based on the number of public votes cast online and the Delegates Award based on votes by METSTRADE visitors.

The winners will share prize money while gifts provided by our official supplier 727 Sailbags will be distributed to the best ranked photographers present on site.

yachtracingimage.com

China Club Challenge Match
China Cup. Photo by Zeen Wang. Click on image for photo gallery.

The 17th China Club Challenge Match in Xiamen ran from 21st October through to 27th on the waters off Xiamen Island in Fujian, China.

In the past the event which had used a fleet racing element over 3-4 days to arrive at the qualifiers for the match racing part a few weeks later. This year however, for the first time the two elements were combined in one week long regatta which makes a lot of sense.

The event was sailed in J-80s and 37 teams threw their hats in the ring making the Club Cup once again, the largest one design keelboat regatta in Asia.

The top six plus the top ladies team and top Corinthian team (no former pros or coaches on board) progressed to the match racing.

The event culminated in a first to three final in very light conditions that made boat handling and wind reading a premium. After a win in the first race Beijing Sailing Centre elected to not change boats, a decision readily agreed on by the other team, Xiamen Ocean University Sailing Team. You see, they had recognised that they had the faster boat. Not a lot but enough and so it proved in Race 2 - 1:1

In race 3 Beijing three threw everything into the pre-start, landing a penalty on their Xiamen giving them just enough breathing space to eke out a second victory. 2:1

Race 4 saw Beijing on the back foot, in contact but behind until the final top mark a sharper rounding and hoist gave them the opportunity to roll their opponents and to do so with enough gauge so they couldn't get to the windward boat. Once past Beijing went inti soak mode to put Xiamen directly behind therefore taking out the match 3:1

A long week with 17 races for the finalists ended taking the plunge with his whole crew. They knew they had been in a fight but their win was still deserved. -- Alistair Skinner aka Shanghai Sailor

How the industry's largest equipment trade show began and who were the prime movers
The origins of METSTRADE lie in the demise of the former European Marine Trade Exhibition which was held in Hamburg from 1970 to 1991. That show, known as EMTEC, was designed as a standalone three-day event owned by the International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA). Beforehand, ICOMIA had commissioned a feasibility study on the need and viability of the show from International Boat Industry's (IBI) founding publisher John Threlfall* and once a contract to launch the show had been agreed with Hamburg Messe, he was appointed its first director.

This innovative exhibition continued for three or four years on its own, but a decision was made to merge it with the Hamburg Boat Show and dedicate two days of the public show exclusively for trade visitors. However, as a result it began to lose its identity and purpose as a trade-only exhibition and the combination was not widely appreciated by the industry. This hybrid solution was eventually reduced to one trade day by which point the executive committee of ICOMIA was becoming increasingly frustrated with Hamburg Messe but was contractually obliged to support the show in this format until 1991.

However, behind the scenes the members of ICOMIA's executive committee were certain that a dedicated international business-to-business exhibition in Europe was needed and in 1987 authorised its secretary general Anthony Skinner and honorary treasurer Paul Boomsma to contact certain exhibition organisers to see if they might take over running an international B2B event focused on leisure marine equipment.

ibinews.com

RORC Caribbean 600
The Royal Ocean Racing Club's 15th edition of the RORC Caribbean 600 will start on February 19th, 2024. Since the first edition in 2009, the race around 11 Caribbean islands, starting and finishing in Antigua, has evolved into one of the world's most famous 600-mile races. The 15th anniversary edition has already attracted 40 teams from around the world.

The 2024 RORC Nelson's Cup Series starts on February 13th. The new fixture was introduced last year and gives teams the opportunity of racing in all or part of a series of six races, including the Antigua 360, round the island race.

The expressions of interest and official entry list includes boats of all shapes and sizes with professional and amateur crew from six continents. The overall winner lifts the RORC Caribbean 600 Trophy, having scored the best corrected time under the IRC Rating System. The Multihull Class battle is for their Line Honours Trophy and the corrected time win under MOCRA. Competition in IRC classes is as fierce as the level rating Class40 Division.

Niklas Zennstrom's Rán Racing Team will be competing for the third time, having won overall in 2012 with the Maxi 72 Rán. Zennstrom is returning for the second year in a row with his CF 520 Rán (SWE), which will also defend their overall win in the inaugural RORC Nelson's Cup Series. -- Louay Habib

For more information including on-line entry and the full event schedule: caribbean600.rorc.org

54th ORC Annual Meeting
The 54th edition of the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) Annual Meeting will start on Friday, 10 November and last through Tuesday, 14 November in Malaga, Spain. This event features meetings of the ORC's Management, Promotion and Development, Offshore Classes and Events, Measurement, and Rating Officers Committees, culminating in the meeting of the ORC Congress on Tuesday, 14 November.

The meeting's Schedule, Submissions and Agendas are all found at orc.org/agm-2023-submissions. Minutes will also be posted on this page as they become available.

Access to all but the Management Committee meetings are open to the public. In-person Committee Meetings will be held at the NH Hotel in Malaga, where interested observers may register with the ORC Secretariat in Room 107 of the hotel.

Observers interested in attending virtually should first register at this link: orc.org/organization/about/observers-registration. Registered observers will receive an email message confirming the coordinates for each meeting they indicate they would like to attend.

Featured Brokerage
2008 KER 39 - Tiger 3. POA.

Tiger 3 was the last of the very successful Ker 39 design, built. She was finished as a bespoke project by the owner with no expense spared and considered by many to be the finest example of the design

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Chris Noble:

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2012 RIPTIDE 41. 499,000 USD.

Blue- is an exceptional, turn key, offshore racing sailboat designed by Paul Bieker. Built using Carbon Fiber and Divinycell core by Jim Betts in Anacortes Washington.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Fraser Yacht Sales Ltd.
Brian Huse-BCYBA

Tel: +1 250 516 4393

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1991 Farr 72' Sloop "Maximizer". 150,000 OBO EUR. Located in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA