In This Issue
• High speed Biscay crossing
• Out of Africa: RORC Transatlantic Race Day Three
• What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine
• Charleston Race Week - New Partnership
• ILCA 6 Women's World
• Sound of Ireland's Maritime History
• Dave Hayter: Leading the Queensland 18s
• American Magic quick out of the blocks
• Progress of Propulsion
• Featured Charter: Sunreef 70 - SEAZEN II
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Comar Comet 41 S
• • Savannah
• • 2017 J/V Pac52 “Warrior Won”
• • TP52 Alegre
• • Italia Yachts 9.98 2024
• The Last Word: Duke of Edinburgh

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

High speed Biscay crossing
The first 24 hours of the Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest, which started Sunday at 1330hrs on the Rade de Brest in the west of France, have seen the giant foiling 32m ULTIMs already display a measure of their globe devouring speeds. Crossing the Bay of Biscay last night the leaders had passed Cape Finisterre by six o'clock this morning and had eaten up most of the Iberian peninsula today.

Even though they were slowed to single digit speeds at times when they emerged out of low pressure trough around noon, overnight Tom Laperche, the young skipper of SVR Lazartigue had reported 'slaloming past cargo ships' whilst Race Direction at the Brest Race HQ polled consistent speeds of more than 45kts at times by the fastest trio of the six ULTIMs.

After the amazing start on Sunday which also marked the end of the festive holidays, whilst the French workforce were getting back to business this morning, the ULTIM skippers were getting into the high speed race rhythm, the leading group had eased into an initial 650 miles (1046 km) in just over 24 hours.

More used to the pace of the IMOCA racing round the world on his three successive Vendee Globes, solo monohull around the world record holder Armel Le Cleac'h (Maxi Banque Populaire XI) remarked this afternoon, "At this pace we can be at the Cape of Good Hope in 12 days and at Cape Horn in 30 days. In the IMOCA it took more than double the time. It totally changes your vision of a race round the world." Anthony Marchand (Actual Ultim 3) agreed: "What's crazy is this feeling of traveling very quickly, of being at the Canaries in 3 days and the Cape Verde 23 hours later. "

arkeaultimchallengebrest.com

Out of Africa: RORC Transatlantic Race Day Three
Land effects have created strategic options for the international fleet for the first three days of the RORC Transatlantic Race. On the third day, the majority of the international fleet is racing down the West African Coast. Hazards include numerous fishing boats dragging nets, but the positive gain is due to the Western Sahara Desert delivering thermal wind to the boats sailing south. The fastest boats are now heading west into the Atlantic and the strategic decisions in the future will be far from land, influenced by weather and ocean currents. Erik Maris' MOD70 Zoulou (FRA) leads the multihull division and the Farr 100 Leopard 3 (MON), skippered by Chris Sherlock is the leading monohull.

For now, the vast majority of the fleet see the Cape Verde Islands as the 'target' for their race - All bar one boat; Richard Fromentin's JPK 1180 Cocody (FRA) which was the only boat to go north of the Canary Islands and is the overall leader for the race after IRC time correction.

The race leaders on 9 January at 0600 UTC: Multihull Line Honours & MOCRA - Zoulou (FRA), Monohull Line Honours & IRC SZ - Leopard 3 (MON). IRC Overall & IRC One – Cocody (FRA), IRC Zero – Warrior Won (USA), Class40 Sensation Extreme (FRA), IRC Two Handed Tigris (GBR).

Follow the fleet and view rankings here: rorctransatlantic.rorc.org/tracking

Seahorse January 2024
What's in the Latest Edition Of Seahorse Magazine

It's a Wow!
The design brief for the 65m ketch Aquarius II posed challenges for the rig and winch designers at Rondal – who delivered some creative solutions. The 65-metre Dykstra designed ketch Aquarius II will be one of the stand-out performance superyachts of her generation when launched next year.

Promoting participation
Announcing an Admiral's Cup event is one thing, getting boats to come is another. Rob Weiland

The best just got better
As of late 2023 the Bieker VM B1 Moth was still the fastest thing out there. But that's no reason not to make it even faster. Paul Bieker

The finest vintage of all - Part II
Dan Houston revisits the 'first' Voiles de St Tropez before savouring the latest 2023 edition

Sailor of the Month
Youth vs experience, or is it the other way round?

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Charleston Race Week To Make Major Announcement About New Partnership
On Thursday, January 11 at 11:00 a.m., Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum and organizers of Charleston Race Week invite media members aboard the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown for a powerful announcement regarding the future of the race. Details will be made available related to a partnership that will transform Charleston Race Week into one of the most unique regattas in the world.

Widely considered the pinnacle of annual sailboat racing events in the country, Charleston Race Week will host its 28th regatta April 18-21. Race headquarters will be anchored in a central location on Charleston Harbor in Mount Pleasant, and will feature more than 200,000 square feet of race viewing, event, and sponsor exhibition space.

Press Conference Details:
Date: Thursday, January 11
Time: 11:00 am
Location: Landside, USS Yorktown, Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum

Members of the media are invited to RSVP to

charlestonraceweek.com

ILCA 6 Women's World
Mar del Plata, Argentina: Today was the first day of the final series of the 2024 ILCA 6 Women's World Championship, completing two races. The day's first race unfolded with northwest winds at approximately 12 knots. For the second race, conditions changed as a southwest front entered, bringing an intensity of 18 knots that gradually decreased throughout the day.

In the gold fleet, Danish sailor Anne Marie Rindom remains firm at the top after securing a 7th place finish in the first race and winning the second. Norwegian sailor Line Flem Hoest moved up to second place, trailing by only 12 points. Vasileia Karachaliou, representing Portugal, rose to third place, thanks to her consistent strategy throughout the day, achieving two fifth-place finishes.

In the silver fleet, Croatian sailor Elena Vorobeva holds the first position, just four points over New Zealander Greta Pilkington. Florencia Chiarella from Peru completes the podium in this fleet.

The final series will continue tomorrow, and the schedule has been adjusted to take advantage of the forecast and conduct three races.

Full results

2024ilca6women.ilca-worlds.org

Sound of Ireland's Maritime History to Echo Through Cork City This Thursday
A lost coastal sound will return to echo through Cork city centre for one day this January.

Found Sound (Lost at Sea) 11.1.11 is an installation by sound artist Danny McCarthy which, on Thursday 11 January, will resonate across Emmet Place outside Crawford Art Gallery and infiltrate the surrounding soundscapes of Cork.

The performance of this unique sound work commemorates the 13th anniversary of the last foghorn sounding from lighthouses along the Irish coast when they ceased on 11 January 2011.

Found Sound (Lost at Sea) 11.1.11 was created as a result of McCarthy's interest in acoustic ecology.

The sound installation will be audible intermittently throughout the day and serves as a reminder of what was once an imperative soundtrack to daily life.

McCarthy's work, which joined the National Collection in 2020, is unique to Crawford Art Gallery's context. The gallery was originally built in 1724 as Cork's Custom House and the sound work recalls its ties to the city's commercial success, since the 18th century, as a significant port for commerce, migration, and defence.

afloat.ie/port-news/lighthouses/

Dave Hayter: Leading the Queensland 18s back to glory days
Dave Hayter at the 2021 JJs. Click on image for photo gallery.

Brisbane 18 footers sailing is fortunate to have someone like David Hayter heading up the efforts to return Queensland to its former glory days in Australia's iconic sailing class.

David Hayter, a four-times Australian International 14ft Skiff champion, who will be contesting his sixth JJ Giltinan World Championship in March 2024, is leading a group of young sailors determined to get a Queensland name back on a championship winner's list.

According to David, "We are sending the same teams as last year to the JJs. Big Foot Bags and Covers, myself, Ben Roxburgh and Elliot Mahar, and C-tech, Josh Sloman, George Morton and Angus Barker."

"Unfortunately with the Australian titles spread out over so many weekends we will not be coming down for that."

David had a new hull built by Van Munster Boatbuilders for his campaign at the 2023 Giltinan and suffered with a lack of hard racing in the new boat prior to the regatta. With more time and the same crew in 2024, David and his team expect to get a better overall result with more consistency over the nine races.

The 75th JJ Giltinan Championship will be staged on Sydney Harbour from March 2-10, however, in the meantime, racing at the Australian 18 Footers League will re-commence next Sunday, January 14 when the club will conduct Race 1 of the Australian Championship.

While Queensland will not be attending this season, the battle for victory will be as tough as ever with defending champion Finport Finance (Keagan York) under pressure from the current Giltinan champion Andoo (John Winning Jr) and the recently-crowned NSW champion Yandoo, skippered by John Winning. -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League Ltd.

18footers.com

Cup Spy Jan 6-8: American Magic quick out of the blocks in the Year of the Cup
American Magic was the first America's Cup team to begin training/testing for 2024, the year of the 37th America's Cup in Barcelona.

The team sailed on Saturday January 6 and again on Monday January 8, 2024 in their AC75 Patriot which has been upgraded to some extent to accommodate upgrades permitted under Version 2 of the AC75 Class Rule.

What happened in the Cup - December 21, 2023 to January 6-8, 2024:

- American Magic - Sailed out of Barcelona on Saturday and Monday in their AC75. From the Recon Team report the US team are working the bugs out of new systems ahead of their transfer into their raceboat.

- Alinghi Red Bull Racing - Last sailed their AC75 on December 14, 2023 out of Barcelona.

- Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - Sailed their LEQ12, on December 20 and 21 after having a compression crack in its hull following an incident on December 4, 2023 in Cagliari.

- Emirates Team New Zealand - last sailed their LEQ12 out of Auckland on December 21, completing a pre-Xmas test block. They are sailing in the SailGP Abu Dhabi this weekend.

- INEOS Britannia - Skipper/CEO Ben Ainslie announced he was stepping away from sailing duties on the Emirates SailGP team to focus on the America's Cup effort. The team will switch to a program involving their two AC40's of which they have just taken delivery of AC40-10.

- Orient Express Racing Team - No report, however they will be sailing in the SailGP Abu Dhabi, this weekend.

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

Progress of Propulsion: Development of Engine and Drive Systems in Automobiles and Boats, 1800s-WWI
Presented by Evan Ide at the Herreshoff Marine Museum and streaming on Zoom

In this engaging presentation, Evan will give an overview of the birth of mechanized power for transportation from steam to the practical development of electric and gasoline motors and engines in boats and cars. He will also discuss why the three were equally popular early on, and what led to the eventual dominance of the internal combustion engine, with a particular focus on the technical developments of power systems and the technologies that dominated the era.

Evan has arranged for the presentation and display of a number of rare artifacts in the Hall of Boats relating to his lecture: examples of motors and engines from the period, as well as a 1911 Rauch & Lang electric car which originally belonged to Briggs Cunningham and is now in the collection of the Audrain Auto Museum, and a privately owned 1901 Panhard Levassor with a Daimler Phoenix engine. Both cars have been exquisitely maintained and are fully operational. These items will be on display for the evening of the lecture only! Lecture attendees will be invited to view them in the Hall of Boats during a reception with Evan following the talk.

Thursday, January 18, 2024
Doors at 6pm
Lecture at 6:30pm

In-Person Tickets:
Members: $15
Non-Members: $20

Virtual Tickets:
Members: $10
Non-Members: $15

This year, for the first time, you can buy or gift a season pass to the whole 2024 lecture series! This covers all standard* in-person attendance and virtual attendance, and all recorded lectures will be sent to attendees after the fact whether you attended in-person or virtually. Series passes are available to Members of any level for $125 each. Never worry about pre-registering for lectures for the whole year!

Purchase tickets

Featured Charter
Sunreef 70 - SEAZEN II. From 30,000 per week EUR. Located in West Mediterranean.

A uniquely designed catamaran, SEAZEN II is a Sunreef 70 catamaran offering accommodation for up to 8 guests.

Charter Destinations:

SUMMER : West Mediterranean
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WINTER : West Mediterranean
French Riviera | Corsica | Naples & Amalfi Coast | Sicily |Sardinia Marseille to Saint Tropez | Tuscany & Elba

See listing details in Seahorse Charters

Contact
Charter Department
Bernard-Gallay
Phone : +33 (0)467 66 39 93
Mail : or

See the the Seahorse charter collection

Featured Brokerage
Comar comet 41 S. 105,000 GBP. Located in Central South Coast UK.

Beautifully constructed, Italian designed and built performance cruiser racer from Studio Vallicelli and Comar Yachts. Rare to the UK market, and ideally suited for club racing, offshore duties or simply family cruising. Lots of recent updates & maintenance. Located Central South Coast, ready to go!

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
James McNeil
Tel: +44 (0)7979907210
Email:

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90' Savannah

Savannah’s all carbon kevlar construction ensures thrilling performance & impeccable balance thanks to her deep fin keel. In truth this Modern Classic Legend has never really been matched since her launch in 1997. Achieving a particularly good rating, it is no wonder Savannah continues to turn heads on the racecourse where she has achieved podium results in Antigua, Newport RI, St Tropez and Cowes. With hydraulic winches & furling genoa, SAVANNAH can be easily sailed by 2-3 pers. and is an ideal purists cruising yacht in which to cruise the Mediterranean or US coastline. This is a fine yacht not to be missed!

In 1997 the classic design of SAVANNAH set new standards of grandeur and elegance under sail. Her long overhangs and low freeboard were inspired by the magnificent J-Class yachts of the 1930's.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Carrswood Yachts Limited, UK
email:
Tel: +44 (0)7476 888639

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2017 J/V Pac52 "Warrior Won". POA USD.

2017 J/V Pac52 "Warrior Won", one of the worlds most potent offshore racing yachts is for sale.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Collin Leon
+1.516.361.9156

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Shogun 43. POA EUR.

Developed with a focus on performance and ease of use, this yacht goes beyond conventional and traditional design, taking performance cruising to the next level. It is the yacht for you who love speed and want to sail fast without a full crew. It is for you who want to have fun on the water and maximise your sailing experience every time you go out, but still want comfort onboard. Shogun 43 gives you both.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact

Nacka Strand, Stockholm, Sweden
shogunyachts.com

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Italia Yachts 9.98 2024. 315,000 (ex VAT) EUR.

Last available Italia Yachts 9.98 racing yacht!

If you decide quickly enough, we can equip this small rocket exactly as you want!

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
YM Yachts & Brokerage

yacht-match.com/yachts/italia-yachts-9-98-fuoriserie/

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

The Last Word
A government is not a tyranny or a democracy or corrupt just because of the way the constitution is written: it is made one way or the other depending on the morality and convictions of the individuals within it. -- The Duke of Edinburgh

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