In This Issue
• Meilhat new IMOCA leader
• Youth in the limelight at Antigua Sailing Week
• Less than 90 days to the AEGEAN 600
• Antigua Wingfoil Championship
• The New Alegre Tops The Leaderboard
• America's Cup: Kevin Shoebridge
• RAN 630, Lunatika first
• International Etchells Spring Regatta
• Racing on the Edge
• Nations' Cup 2024
• Featured Charter: Advanced 80 Mindfulness
• Featured Brokerage:
• • Mousetrap
• • JND 39 - Xanaboo
• • 2017 J/V Pac52 "Warrior Won"
• • Fujin - 2015 Custom Bieker 53' Catamaran
• • Reichel/Pugh 86 - Way of Life
• The Last Word: Ernest Hemingway

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

Meilhat new leader as IMOCA fleet struggle to find new strong Northerly wind
Some 130 miles off the SW corner of Ireland the IMOCA leaders of the Transat CIC have been negotiating the unsettled winds around the centre of a low pressure which is moving slowly west. They are all seeking to break into the new, strengthening NW'ly breeze first, picking the best, fastest angle west towards New York.

And so it has been a second very active, busy night after the passage of a front yesterday, all the skippers already feeling tired after the passage of a first front which brought winds of more than 30kts.

New leader in the IMOCA fleet is Paul Meilhat on Biotherm. He and Nico Lunven (Holcim-PRB), among others, have profited from their choice of staying a little more south yesterday and last night, away from what have been the trickier, lighter and more unsettled winds and they are scored to be first and second this morning only 2.5 miles apart.

Damage : bowsprit fracture on Bleu Blanc Planete Location
While Quentin Le Nabour was sailing under large gennaker in manageable conditions, the bowsprit of the Class40 Bleu Blanc Planete Location broke in two. After recovering the sail and getting the boat to safety, the skipper is off to a port in Brittany to study the next steps for The Transat CIC.

thetransat.com

Youth in the limelight at Antigua Sailing Week
Celebrating youth sailing on Axxess Marine Youth 2 Keel Race Day at Antigua Sailing Week Photo by Paul Wyeth/pwpictures.com. Click on image to enlarge.

The breeze was on the up for the second day of Antigua Sailing Week, celebrating youth sailing on Axxess Marine Youth 2 Keel Race Day. The 10-knot easterly breeze piped up during the day, gusting up to 15 knots. Today's race courses were a windward leeward festival of racing along the impressive south coast of Antigua. The keys to victory were nailing the manoeuvres and staying in clear air, especially in the CSA Racing Classes on the Rendezvous Course.

Congratulations to all of the provisional Class Winners on Axxess Marine Youth2Keel Race Day: Wavewalker, Sang Neuf, Clippers Ship Daub 6, GFA Caraïbes - La Morrigane, Pepsi Zero-Montebello, Credit Mutuel Jivaro, Quintessence III, McFly on El Ocaso, Strada Geothermal Escapado, Caccia alla Volpe, Alpha Centauri of London, Eira, Absolute Properties Blue Peter, Hightide, Braque-KH+P, Lunatic Fringe Island Time, Nevis KH+P, Jabberwock and Fresia.

Full results on YachtScoring.com

Less than 90 days to the AEGEAN 600
Click on image to enlarge.

It is now less than 90 days to the 7 July start of the 2024 AEGEAN 600, the annual offshore race organized by the Hellenic Offshore Racing Club in conjunction with Olympic Marine. This spectacular 605-mile race starts at Cape Sounio under the watchful gaze of the ancient Temple of Poseidon for a scenic tour of 23 islands of the Aegean archipelago before finishing back at Cape Sounio.

Among the offshore racing world's classic 600-mile races, this is the newest, with the first edition held in 2021. Since then the event's popularity has grown every year, with already 60 monohull and multihull entries from 18 nations planning to participate in this year's 4th edition, a figure that is on its way to a new record turnout with the entry deadline still a few weeks away on 30 April.

These entries represent a large cross-section of the offshore sailing world, ranging in size from Jerry Petratos and Evi Delidou's double-handed Dehler 30 AETHER to George Procopiou's Volvo Open 70, ex-I LOVE POLAND, last year's runner-up elapsed time champion. Teams also range from amateur crews racing for fun to all-pro squads in search of elapsed time course records and corrected time victories in IRC and/or ORC scoring.

In this latter category are two successful international teams making their AEGEAN 600 debut: Austrian Stefan Jentzsch's Botin water-ballasted Botin 56 BLACK PEARL and American Jason Carroll's MOD 70 trimaran ARGO. Both have proven track records and highly-experienced crews that are regular competitors in the world's most competitive ocean races.

"The challenge of this course is precisely why we are coming," said ARGO project manager Chad Corning. "That and we have heard this is a fantastic race, a very cool course and a must-do on the global circuit."

Notice of Race

aegean600.com/the_race/

Antigua Wingfoil Championship
Eleven Wingfoilers took part on slalom style courses, combined with a long distance downwinder race. To make competing fun for everyone, two classes were created for each of the disciplines, meaning all featured a professional and a leisure class. Full information.

Three days filled with wind, new records, and camaraderie marked the triumphant conclusion of the second edition of the Antigua Wingfoil Championship 2024 at Antigua Sailing Week. Local Wingfoiler Idani Edwards emerged as the undisputed star of the event, claiming victory in every race and setting a new long-distance record of just 29 minutes. Reflecting on his success, Idani exclaimed, "I am absolutely thrilled with this event! We had a blast, with fantastic racing and incredible Antiguan conditions!"

Over the course of three action-packed racing days, a total of 18 course races and one long-distance race tested the skills of the competitors. Despite fierce competition, the leaderboard remained tightly contested. Sammy Martin secured an impressive overall second place with consistent performance, while Eli Fuller managed to clinch third place, utilizing three discards to discard unfavourable scores.

sailingweek.com

The New Alegre Tops The Leaderboard
Photo by Max Ranchi, www.maxranchi.com. Click on image for photo gallery.

After three good races today on the Bay of Palma - each with a different winner - Andy Soriano's brand new Alegre leads the 52 Super Series PalmaVela Sailing Week, but only on tie break ahead of Doug DeVos's Quantum Racing powered by American Magic.

With Aussie Olympic medallist Will Ryan and Brit Nic Ashercombining on strategy and tactics and the owner Soriano steering, Alegre won the second race of the day complementing a second in the first contest and a third in the third, scoring best in the fleet today.

Racing in 13-18kts of SW'ly breeze with a building Palma Bay chop, Quantum Racing powered by American Magic won the first race and looked strong on the first legs of the successive races, but their pair of fifths leave room for improvements over what promises to a big breeze finale expected for the last two days of this first circuit regatta of 2024.

52 Super Series PalmaVela Sailing Week Provisional Standings
1. Alegre (GBR), Andy Soriano, 8+2+1+3 = 14
2. Quantum Racing Powered By American Magic (USA), Doug Devos, 3+1+5+5 = 14
3. Sled (USA), Takashi Okura, 2+8+4+1 = 15
4. Interlodge (USA), Austin & Gwen Fragomen, 9+3+3+2 = 17
5. Provezza (TUR), Ergin Imre, 7+4+2+4 = 17
6. Paprec (FRA), Jean-Luc Pethuguenin, 5+7+6+6 = 24
7. Gladiator (GBR), Tony Langley, 1+9+8+8 = 26
8. Alpha+ (HKG), Shawn & Tina Kang, 6+5+9+9 = 29
9. Platoon (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 4+10+10+7 = 31
10. Vayu (THA), Whitcraft Family, 9+6+7(+3)+10 = 35

Racing continues Wednesday with strong winds forecast through the day, The first warning signal is at 1300hrs.

52superseries.com

America's Cup: Kevin Shoebridge reflects on the journey so far as the Kiwis head for Barcelona
Click on image to enlarge.

Emirates Team New Zealand's Kevin Shoebridge is one of several current members of Emirates Team NZ team members who sailed as part of the first New Zealand Challenge for the America's Cup off Fremantle.

Shoebridge was a sail trimmer aboard KZ-7, the 12 Metre, and had his first taste of the America's Cup on October 5, 1986, against the Buddy Melge skippered Heart of America on Gage Roads off Fremantle.

Earlier this month, 37 years after that first race, Shoebridge was announced as one of four Inductees into the America's Cup Hall of Fame.

Quietly spoken, Shoebridge has won four America's Cups and is a veteran of ten America's Cup campaigns, as well as six Whitbread/VOR round-the-world races.

Once a sailmaker and jib trimmer in New Zealand's first America's Cup challenge, he is now the Chief Operating Officer of Emirates Team New Zealand. He has co-managed the team with CEO Grant Dalton since 2003.

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

RAN 630, Lunatika first to the Faraglioni of Capri wins the Terra delle Sirene Trophy
Livorno - Italy: Lunatika, the Sunfast 3600 skippered by Guido Baroni in Double Handed with Alessandro Miglietti, already overall winners of the 2023 edition of the Regatta of the Naval Academy, was the first boat to round the mark in front of the Faraglioni of Capri on the morning of April 26.

The seventh edition is characterized by the alternation in the lead of Lunatika with Alessio Bernabò's Class40 Vaquita, which rounded first the gate of Porto Cervo, while at the Faraglioni of Capri it lapped with only a 6-minute gap.

The leading paor of boats stretched further ahead of the rest of the fleet over the course of the crossing of the Tyrrhenian Sea to Capri, managing to latch on to a southerly flow of air, later coming from the southeast, while the chasing group remained entangled in wide areas of calm conditions.

Lunatika rounded the Capri mark on April 26 at 10:52 a.m. with a wind of about 7 knots followed by Vaquita at 10:58 a.m. We then had to wait until 10:24 p.m. for the third yacht to transit, Luca Bettiati's Figaro 3 Muttley BDM Audit followed by Amapola II at 11:09 p.m. Subsequent passages all occurred during April 27: Audace at 3:01 a.m., Pegasus at 7:56 a.m., the two Navy boats Antares at 8:11 a.m. and Gemini at 8:30 a.m., Adrigole at 8:57 a.m., Blues at 10:30 a.m., Ojalà II at 12:24 p.m., and Tattoo at 4:15 p.m. Currently only the small Shark has not yet transited while Kokopelli has reported withdrawal due to a technical issue.

The fleet is sailing in light breeze to Livorno where the leading duo is expected between late afternoon and evening tomorrow, April 29. Nevertheless, a becalmed breeze, which may go to form just before Livorno, makes the estimated time of arrival very tentative.

RAN 630 is part of the Accademia Navale - Città di Livorno International Sailing Week and organized by the Yacht Club of Livorno in collaboration with the Naval Academy and the Livorno Navy Sailing Section "Riccardo Gorla," is held under the aegis of Italian Sailing Federation and UVAI and is a valid race for the Italian Offshore Championship with coefficient 3.

You can follow the progress of the RAN 630 on tracking through the following link yb.tl/ran630-2024 or with the Yellow Brick App (YB Races).

ran630.it

International Etchells Spring Regatta
Click on image to enlarge.

Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th April saw the return of the Cowes Etchells Series. It was an exciting mix of senior boats, many of whom had been racing hard in Miami and Australia, mixed in with the Youth Boats who had been robustly training all winter with the Etchells Youth Academy.

For many competitors the first day was a learning curve with new teams put together. The first day saw experience pay off with David Mclean's team joint on points with (the welcome return of) Tom Abrey's Jolly Roger. The other win went to Ted Blower's Audrey. The races were characterised by a softening breeze, so banging the corners was the way to go.

Many of the youth boats improved race on race, especially on the second day. Palaver, with the youngest crew, choosing the right side upwind so moved up to 7th place overall with a 3rd and 4th place.

Notable performances also came from Pulse- with a change in tactician Maisie Harkess' team secured 3 top ten finishes. David's Bromilow's Ziggy also gained a 2nd and 3rd place on Day 2, finishing just behind Simon Patterson's Standfast.

1st Jolly Roger, 2nd Alison, 3rd Man's Best Friend

Full results on YachtScoring.com

etchellsukfleet.co.uk

etchells.org

Racing on the Edge
The latest episode of SailGP's Racing on the Edge docuseries, in partnership with Rolex, unfolds all of the drama and action from the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix in March, which saw various incidents, crashes and teams docked points - blowing the Season 4 leaderboard wide open.

It would unfold that New Zealand didn't need to worry about the threat of Slingsby and the Australia team after they crashed out of the event after the first fleet race. The Racing on the Edge cameras captured the incident and the fallout which saw the Aussie boat collide with a course marker which caused significant damage to the boat.

Speaking on the incident, Slingsby said: "There was a lot of damage to the boat, but I think if I carried on straight, I would have really injured someone. So I was glad I did what I did."

What does all the drama of the ITM New Zealand Grand Prix mean for the remainder of Season 4? With only five points separating Australia, Spain and France can the Aussies bounce back in Bermuda?

Tune into the Apex Group Bermuda Sail Grand Prix on May 4-5 to find out. For details on where to watch visit SailGP.com/Watch

Nations' Cup 2024
The Nations' Cup, the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club's most fun and colourful event, took place on 28 April at Victoria Harbour. Not even the heavy rain could dampen the spirits of the sailors who donned all kinds of costumes to represent their nation and many decorated their boats in colourful flags.

71 boats spanning 17 nations and regions turned up at the start line. In keeping with this special annual occasion, sailors separated from their usual sailing partners to form a team with all crews being from the same nation or region.

36 boats represented Hong Kong, with the second largest participating nation being England with 8 entries. Also sailing were boats representing Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. On this day even the race management team joined in the fun, dressing up in blue to represent the United Nations.

All Pandora crews impressively dressed up in matching costumes, each vying for the title of Mr. Pandora and Ms. Pandora. A group of Belgian J/80 sailors dressed up as characters from the comic Tin Tin; even renaming their boat Tin Tin in Hong Kong for the day. A flock of flamingos were also spotted out racing; likely representing the colourful birds that Hong Kong's Zoological and Botanical Gardens are known for. Sweden came dressed in yellow and blue and must have had the youngest average crew with skipper Peter Backe taking out his daughter and a group of young Sharks sailors.

In the end, it was Gideon Mowser's Gambit representing England that came in first. Gambit's win handed England their third Nations' Cup victory in the event's history and snagging England the most important bragging rights of having their flag displayed at the Main Bar until next year's event. In second place was the Philippines followed in third by Hong Kong. Johnson Yuen's Zoe representing Hong Kong won the first place in the PHS division. The best dressed crew award went to TinTin in Hong Kong.

rhkyc.org.hk

Featured Charter
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Mindfulness is a blistering performance cruiser built from exceptionally high quality materials and equipped with an oversize rig. With her crew, Mindfulness can effortless tackle long and challenging passages in absolute safety as testified by her sister ship Apsaras's round the world tour.

See listing details in Seahorse Charters

Contact
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+39 3311096796, and/or +447984179713

See the the Seahorse charter collection

Featured Brokerage
Mousetrap. 19,500,000 EUR. Located in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The largest carbon sailing catamaran in the world, MOUSETRAP 34M/110', is now for sale with Fraser

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact

+1 305 491 2211
fraseryachts.com/en/yacht-for-sale/mousetrap/

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JND 39 - Xanaboo. 370000 GBP.

"Xanaboo" (ex-Lann Ael 2) is an exciting and competitive yacht penned at the drawing board of Bernard Nivelt. This JND design claimed possibly the top prize in Offshore yacht racing, winning the 2017 Fastnet race overall and she has not stood still since!

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

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+447759 424900

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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.

Fully ORC/IRC/ORR offshore optimized. Turn key platform ready to win at any level with a superb inventory.

1st 2024 RORC Transatlantic Race
1st 2021 Transpacific
1st 2022 C600
1st 2022 Newport-Bermuda
4th 2022 Sydney/Hobart
3rd 2023 Fastnet

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

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Collin Leon
+1.516.361.9156

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Fujin - 2015 Custom Bieker 53’ Catamaran. POA USD.

Professionally maintained and in excellent sail-away condition, FUJIN is a custom 53’ all-carbon catamaran designed for the thrill-seeking adventurer or regatta winning owner.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

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SOMA Sailing LLC
+1 619-430-8935

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Reichel/Pugh 86 - Way of Life. 700,000 EUR.

WAY OF LIFE is quite simply an iconic Super Maxi 86, with an enviable racing history across the globe.

Reichel/Pugh have designed some of the world’s most distinctive, most enduring and consistently victorious racing sailing yachts. Built originally as MORNING GLORY, alongside sistership PYEWACKET. Her immediate successes in the top offshore events at the time made the world turn their heads to canting keel technology.

Way of Life has set distance records for both the Newport to Bermuda Race and Transpac (Los Angeles to Honolulu), as well as won the RMSR overall in 2006 and line honours in 2013. More recently Way of Life podiumed at the Rolex Maxi Yacht Cup in 2019 and won the 50th Anniversary of the Barcolana regatta overall in 2018.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
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Call: +44 (0) 20 3920 6261
Email:

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

The Last Word
Never confuse movement with action. -- Ernest Hemingway

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