In This Issue
• America's Cup: New York ramp up pressure on entry to New Zealand for fair competition
• Seahorse Sailor Of The Month
• By Wednesday? - KZ Racefurlers
• SailGP and Oracle partner for seven-part Winning Calls content series
• The 39 Copa del Rey MAPFRE will be held in 2021
• The Most Beautiful Yacht Ever Built in Ireland?
• Congressional Cup rescheduled to October 13-18 2020
• Around The World Sailor Gaetan Thomas aims for The Race Around!
• Back on the water!
• Nic Johansen - The passing of a unique sailmaker
• Featured Auction: 1926 Herreshoff sloop - MARILEE
• Featured Brokerage:
• • GC32 GUNVOR
• • Comar Comet 45s
• • Bavaria C57
• The Last Word: Andrena Sawyer

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

America's Cup: New York ramp up pressure on entry to New Zealand for fair competition
American Magic claim they need 25 weeks of racing preparation in New Zealand to make a fair contest for the America's Cup.

Skipper Terry Hutchinson's assertion comes as the syndicate backed by the powerful New York Yacht Club continue to push their case for entry into New Zealand under lockdown restrictions enforced by the coronavirus pandemic.

Hutchinson told a Yacht Racing Life podcast about the anxiousness within the team as they transport their first boat to Auckland with its future out of their hands.

Hutchinson said the banter from Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton, who pointed out the Kiwis only arrived in Bermuda five weeks before their successful America's Cup match in 2017, could be translated in another way.

With Auckland having five potential race courses compared to Bermuda's one, there was a need for extra time to familiarise local conditions which would be crucial.

Hutchinson, a veteran of the America's Cup and big boat racing, maintained these were "the world's most complicated monohulls" but they were pleased with their progress.

"It's a whole new world of development. We have had some wipeouts but we haven't tipped the thing over thankfully."

American Magic were now getting close to completing their second AC75 which would be flown to New Zealand in early September.

Covid-19 restrictions in Rhode Island where that boat was being built, meant Hutchinson had not seen it yet because a 14-day quarantine period was in force there until the end of this month.

www.stuff.co.nz

Seahorse Sailor Of The Month
This month's nominees:

Philippe Guigne (FRA)
A man who has done a lot to keep thousands of sailors sane during the lockdown months, Guigné released the first edition of Virtual Regatta in 2006 and has since been continuously developing it with a growing 10-man team based in Paris (PS he's hiring). The numbers are staggering - two million registered players with 500,000 currently active and a total of over 4.5billion miles raced. Club racing, America's Cup, round the world. Go and race where you want when you want

Gary Jobson (USA)
Long overdue (sorry, Gary). This is less about being a great sailor (an America’s Cup win gives you that right), and a great promoter of the sport, than about his tireless work with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s hugely successful Leukemia Cup programme which to date has raised some $54million. He has been event chair since 1993, 10 years before his own lymphoma diagnosis. An ironic twist. Fortunately Gary is now cancer free and hard back at it. So pay up…

Last Month's winner:
Matias Capizzano (ARG)
'Massive vote!!! 'It is an honour and I am thankful for having been nominated for my work, but I don't have any chance with a person who did 3 Volvo races. Father of two Optimist girls, I vote for you, Abby!' Oops! 'His fantastic shots, especially of junior events, have inspired and encouraged many young sailors to persist with our sport. He makes even Optimist sailing look super!' - Evert Meyer; 'He supports sailing so much... we all love him!!!' - Janet Coburn.

View past winners of Sailor of the Month

Seahorse Sailor of the Month is sponsored by Musto, Harken McLube & Dubarry. Who needs silverware, our prizes are usable!

Cast your vote, submit comments, even suggest a candidate for next month at seahorsemagazine.com/sailor-of-the-month/vote-for-sailor-of-the-month

By Wednesday? - KZ Racefurlers
An America's Cup team needs a new custom furler in a hurry, not a problem when you have a pedigree as good as this...

The KZ Racefurlers product line coming from KZ Marine has evolved and diversified over the past quarter of a century but the New Zealand company has remained rock solid on the founding principle that if a stock item does not meet the requirement, it will devote every effort in customising a solution that does.

From small beginnings, KZ Racefurlers has grown into a major player in the production of furling systems for grand prix race boats and superyachts, all the way through to club racers and cruisers. With the rise of Code Zero type sails and multiple staysail set-ups on large race yachts, efficient furling systems play an increasing role in highperformance sailing.

Full article in the June Issue of Seahorse

SailGP and Oracle partner for seven-part Winning Calls content series
SailGP today launched Winning Calls with Oracle, a new seven-part series of virtual race-viewing events featuring the global league's world-class athletes providing unique insight into how the national teams make strategic decisions at the highest speeds ever recorded in the sport.

SailGP's Winning Calls with Oracle will launch on May 28 at 3 p.m. BST with the world's most decorated Olympic sailor and Great Britain SailGP Team helm - Sir Ben Ainslie - along with data analyst Emily Nagel, Great Britain SailGP Team CEO Chris Draper and SailGP Director of Technology Warren Jones. The premiere event will explore how the Great Britain SailGP Team presented by INEOS convincingly won Sydney SailGP 2020.

The series will comprise of monthly episodes from May through November, and will feature athletes, coaches and data analysts rewatching SailGP's best action to-date. SailGP presenter Ed Leigh, known for his coverage of action and adventure sports including the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, will serve as the main series host, drawing insights out of the athletes and analysts, and conducting fan Q&As.

SailGP CMO Tim Godfrey said: "During these unprecedented times, we are looking for ways to bring our athletes and fans closer together, while offering fresh and innovative content. With the help of our global partner Oracle, we are able to provide never-before-shared insight into the data-driven, split-second decisions that are made during the world's fastest sail racing."

SailGP is unique in the sporting world as all of the data is delivered in real-time from the Oracle Cloud and is open-source. After each on-water session, the teams pour through terabytes of data - both their own and that of their competitors - to see how to continually improve and gain a competitive edge while racing in boats that all feature the same design and technology.

Registration for SailGP's Winning Calls with Oracle is available here.

Schedule
May 28 - Great Britain
June 18 - United States
July 23 - Denmark
August 27 - France
September 17 - Spain
October 15 - Japan
November 19 - Australia

The 39 Copa del Rey MAPFRE will be held in 2021
After 38 consecutive years holding one of the largest sailing competitions in the world, the postponement of the 39th edition of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE due to "health and safe well being responsibility" in 2020 will go down in history.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic forced strong social and sports restrictive measures, "health and safe well being responsibility" has remained the main focus of the Organizing Committee, chaired by Emerico Fuster.

An event like the Copa del Rey MAPFRE, with participation figures exceeding 2,000 sailors from more than 30 countries, and more than 3,000 people a day attending the competition, both at sea and on shore, must ensure that health and safe well being responsibility prevails above any sports or social interest.

Emerico Fuster, president both of the Real Club Náutico de Palma and the Organizing Committee of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE, has explained; "for us, both as a club and as an organization and after 38 uninterrupted years of celebration, this has been a very hard decision to take but in our mind, above all, it has always been to guarantee the health of our club members, our employees, the sailors and all the guests of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE."

Emerico, already with the vision set for next year, has highlighted that "the postponement of the 39th edition to 2021 makes us think already about next year, so that together can celebrate this edition with more desire than ever. Without a doubt, 2021 will be a special moment that will remind us the responsibility as a society facing a global health problem that, together, I hope, we will have managed to overcome. "

www.regatacopadelrey.com/index/

The Most Beautiful Yacht Ever Built in Ireland?
The 77ft Maritana – designed and built in Waterford - makes her debut in the river off the city at Reginald’s Tower in the summer of 1882. Two years later, she was awarded the Concours d’Elegance at Cowes. Click on image to enlarge.

When we think of timelessly beautiful yachts, we'll naturally think of sailing vessels, where beauty is created by a sweet harmony of the hull lines with an elegantly restrained sheer, combined with a rig which is all of a piece both with itself, and with the hull it drives through the water with as little fuss and effort as possible.

Over the years, over the centuries indeed, a small but significant number of such beauties have been built in Ireland to a design standard which matches the international benchmark. That benchmark was set in times past by the designs of Wanhill of Poole and Richardson of Liverpool, of G L Watson, William Fife and Alfred Mylne of Scotland, and Charles E Nicholson of England, together with Nat Herreshoff and John Alden of America.

More recently the baton was taken up by England's Robert Clark and Arthur Robb and several Scandinavian designers, while in America Phil Rhodes, Olin Stephens, Jim McCurdy and German Frers of Argentina were recognized as the masters.

These are designers whose work still referenced the yacht most often though of as the most beautiful of all, the creation of 1893 which embodied what designer, critic and nautical writer Dixon Kemp described as the "Britannia Ideal" to which he expected all proper yachts to aspire.

afloat.ie/sail/

Congressional Cup rescheduled to October 13-18 2020
Long Beach Yacht Club has announced the 2020 Congressional Cup regatta has been rescheduled to October 13 to 18, 2020. Originally to be held April 28 to May 3 to kick off the 2020 World Match Racing Tour, the 56th edition was postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis.

But taking into consideration budget and travel concerns of the international field of top-ranked match racing competitors, the Congressional Cup will be shifting from the Catalina 37s normally used to Solings and be held within the turning basin of Alamitos Bay in Long Beach, CA.

"We are looking forward toward the horizon, and setting a course to get back to the things we love," announced Congressional Cup 2020 Chair Cheri Busch. "Some things will look a little different, but we can guarantee the same thrilling level of competition to both racers and onlookers alike."

The original roster of competitors remains on the lineup and includes: reigning Congressional Cup champion and six-time match racing world champion Ian Williams (GBR); 2009 winner Johnie Berntsson (SWE); last year's runner-up, Scott Dickson (USA); Eric Monnin (SUI); Harry Price (AUS); Nicklas Dackhammar (SWE); Torvar Mirsky (AUS); and Jordan Stevenson (NZL). The final two contestants will be determined at the Ficker Cup regatta the prior weekend, October 8 to 11, 2020.

It is the first time in roughly three decades the Congressional Cup will not be raced in the conventional fleet of identical Catalina 37s. Before Catalina Yachts President Frank Butler donated the customized Catalina 37s to the Long Beach Sailing Foundation, the event had been competed in Columbia 50s, Erickson 39s, Cal 40s and Catalina 38s.

However, the Soling - a 27-foot one-design keelboat established as an Olympic class - can be sailed with three or four crew (578.7 lb. limit) which eases travel challenges for international sailors. Familiar, and versatile in a broad array of wind conditions, the Soling's strict class rules assure competition on a level playing field: a hallmark of Congressional Cup racing.

Another first is the Alamitos Bay race course. Home of Long Beach Yacht Club, Alamitos Bay is separated by the mile-long Alamitos Peninsula from San Pedro Bay: the traditional arena for the Congressional Cup. Lined with sandy beaches and promenades, the course will offer plenty of vantage points for fans to take in the excitement.

"The new venue inside Alamitos Bay will provide a fabulous amphitheater for spectators, and certainly a new challenge for the competitors," noted World Match Racing Tour CEO James Pleasance.

Founded in 1965, the Congressional Cup is revered as the 'grandfather of match racing.' It was here that organizers from LBYC pioneered and perfected the concept of on-the-water umpiring that is the standard today.

thecongressionalcup.com

Around The World Sailor Gaetan Thomas aims for The Race Around!
London, Wednesday 27th May: 5 Oceans Sports Marketing can today confirm the second competitor campaigning to be on the start line of The Race Around.

He's a guy for whom adventure is the ultimate calling. Gaetan Thomas, aged 32, wants to beat the solo, non-stop, around the world speed record for a Class40. The previous record was set by the late Guo Chuan, currently standing at 137 days. Gaetan's goal is to set a new record at closer to 100 days, a benchmark set by the larger IMOCA60 in the earlier editions of the Vendée Globe.

After his around the world record attempt scheduled for late 2020, Gaetan wants to rub shoulders with many of the sports most talented competitors by taking part in The Race Around. When asked why, he answered "because the level of competition will be high and I'm looking to further myself against the best!"

Whilst in Lorient, putting the finishing touches on his Class40 #55 'Be The Drop' Gaetan took time to speak with The Race Around about his journey and the challenges that await.

Gaetan, you've recently announced your intentions to break the current Class40, solo around the world speed record! Can you tell us more about your journey to date?

"I'm Belgian by birth, 32 years of age and I've been sailing since I was a child but I became a 'professional' in 2009. My first adventure in a boat was on a small Corsair and then a 35ft cruiser. From sailing with my family I went on to compete in the Optimist and 420, even representing the Belgian national team! I did this until the age of 15 when I took a break from the water due to family and financial reasons. To be honest I went a little crazy, I finished school the day before my 16th birthday but the call to return to the ocean was strong and by the age of 18 I knew I had to return and that sailing professionally was my dream."

Full interview at TheRaceAround.com

Back on the water!
In the wake of the two-month lockdown from which it emerged on May 11th, France has reopened the coast and allowed all types of marine activities along the Atlantic. This is of course good news for Tom Dolan. The skipper of Smurfit Kappa, who kept busy during the two-month lockdown period, will launch his boat this week to get back training on the water.

"It's going to feel good to be back at sea after two long months, even if I feel a bit like it was non-stop. In mid-March, I made a long list of everything I wanted to achieve and I still haven't reached the end yet!" says the Irish sailor, who managed to keep up a certain rhythm in his overall organisation.

"I tried just to keep to a normal schedule, getting up, getting dressed, working, and then switching off at the weekend and evening, except all that within 1km of the flat. People suggested that it must have been like being isolated at sea but I don't see the connection much because we are doing what we love and by our own choice, I think I'll pinch the quote of the great single handed sailor Eric Tabarly who once said "Sailing means accepting the restrictions that you have chosen. It is a privilege. Most people are subjected to the obligations that life has imposed on them." The only real comparison that I see between the two is our mindset as we come out of lockdown. The difficulty and the time it has taken to readapt to being around people reminds me a lot of coming back to land after weeks alone at sea.

"We will know on 15th June whether the Figaro is to take place or not, and whether it will be on the scheduled dates (from 30th August to 20th September) or slightly later in September," explains the skipper of Smurfit Kappa, who keeps a plan B in the corner of his head in case the current pandemic turns the programme upside down once again.. "I have a great Plan B in mind, but it is top secret for now! So while waiting to find out more, I'm going to continue to prepare my boat in Concarneau. At the same time we hope to organise sailing days with the teams from Smurfit Kappa as well as the different companies around Concarneau who had signed up to support us for the Transat AG2R La Mondiale and some of whom continue to accompany us. We will also take out the local council workers who kept working and supported the local community during the lockdown, such as the bin men, bus drivers and people from the town hall. We hope it will be a way we can thank them." concludes Dolan.

www.tomdolanracing.com

Nic Johansen - The passing of a unique sailmaker
It is with great sorrow that we have to say goodbye to a truly unique veteran of the sail making industry. Nic Johansen, son of Erik Johansen who founded Elvstrom Dingy Sails together with Paul Elvstrom in 1954, has suddenly passed away.

Nic was unexpectedly hospitalised on Friday May 22 and died shortly thereafter the same day. Nic was an authority of the sail making industry, having worked most of his life within the industry, in one capacity or another. He was also a loving father and husband, leaving behind his beloved wife, Isabelle, and 3 adult children.

Nic was a great inspiration to me and I have learned a lot from him. His many years in the industry, his long history in sail making dating all the way back to his father and Paul Elvstrom, has been an irreplaceable resource for me. His work ethic and relentlessness has also been a great motivation for me.

Nic also oversaw the transaction that led to the reunification of the Elvstrom brand after several decades of separation. The journey that we started almost 3 years ago, was far from the end and will not be the same now that he is no longer with us.

It has been an enormous privilege to have worked along side Nic and it is extremely saddening that he had to leave us. He will be dearly missed.

May he rest in peace. -- Niels Bjerregaard, CEO Elvstrom Sails A/S

elvstromsails.com

Featured Auction
59' Herreshoff NY40 1926 - Marilee. Originally Listed: $1,850,000 | No Reserve, Selling to the Highest Bidder.

Bidding Opens: June 19, 2020 4:00 PM EDT USA
Bidding Closes: June 25, 2020 4:00 PM EDT USA

The Herreshoff NY40 is one of the most admired designs of all time. This classic design represents the genius and artistry of Captain Nathaniel G. Herreshoff - a name that truly exemplifies and frames American yacht design, building, and innovation. As one of the MIT’s earliest students, N. G. Herreshoff (MIT Class of 1870) set new standards in design and manufacturing, realizing remarkable influence and success over a 75-year career. His legendary design genius, engineering innovations and manufacturing efficiency led to the production of six America’s Cup winners and hundreds of other highly regarded vessels. Nathaniel, and his older brother John B, founded the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company in 1878. Among the many accomplishments to their credit was the design and build of every Americas Cup winning yacht from 1893-1934. Those yachts that defended the Auld Mug truly defined the limits of engineering, materials, and technology, much like the NY40’s.

See auction details at Boathouse Auctions

Contact
1-203-530-3870

Featured Brokerage
GC32 Gunvor. 200,000 ex VAT EUR. Located in Barcelona

Boat build number 20 is in excellent conditions and sailed only four events in the GC32 Racing Tour season of 2016. Equipment is almost brand new and everything is race ready.

The boat comes with a 40ft HQ container that was also purchased new in 2016. The container comes with benches, tools and all gear needed to mount and maintain the boat (incl. rotating cradles for ease foil fitting).

Current location is in storage in Barcelona.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Christian Scherrer
email:
gc32.org/market-place/

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2007 Comar Comet 45s. 115000 EUR. Located in Scarlino, Italy.

Lightly used and well-presented sleek Vallicelli design roomy interior Comet 45S. Great location for immediate sail away and enjoymen

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Broker: Michele Antonini
Tel: +39 333 7489281
Email:
grabauinternational.com/brokerage/comar-comet-45s-1916727/

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The BAVARIA C57. New Boat. POA EUR.

Pioneering design meets exceptional performance. A new dimension of sailing pleasure.

The BAVARIA C57 is a pure expression of class, elegance and the finest craftsmanship. With the design and style of a mega yacht, it sets new trends and boasts a long waterline which guarantees high basic speeds.

The BAVARIA C57 isn’t just impressively large, it sails perfectly too. Standing at either helm stand you can enjoy an exceptional view of the sails and the whole yacht. All of the important navigating instruments are available at both steering pedestals, as is the electrical motor control system. All of the sheets and halyards are fed directly to the 2 x 2 winches right in front of the steering pedestals. A self-tacking jib, larger overlapping genoa, gennaker and Code 0 are all there to help make the sailing great, whatever the conditions.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Bavaria Yachts for a dealer near you

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

The Last Word
I can't bring myself to watch yet another video, not because I don't care, but because we're all just a few videos away from becoming completely desensitized. The public execution of Black folks will never be normal. -- Andrena Sawyer

Editorial and letter submissions to

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