In This Issue
• Transat Jacques Vabre start
• Ready For The Big Leap
• When great ideas become reality - ACC Wing
• 18ft Skiffs Spring Championship, Race 4
• J/70 World Championship
• IMOCA Hazard Button
• Solo Round Ireland record
• Rolex Sydney Hobart - Entries close with 120 teams
• San Diego Yacht Club Wins 2023 Lipton Cup
• Letters to the Editor
• Featured Brokerage:
• • X-Yachts X-55
• • Italia Yachts 11.98 (2019)
• • 2012 Riptide 41
• The Last Word: Jack Kerouac

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

Three classes enjoy great start to Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre, IMOCAs remain in port
Strong, gusty winds and choppy seas made for a spectacular start to the 16th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre for three of the four race fleets today. While the ULTIM, Ocean Fifty and Class 40 races set off on time, in 20-25kts the 40 boat IMOCA fleet remain in Le Havre after their start was postponed due to forecasted storm force winds.

But only the five giant, foiling ULTIM trimarans will sail a course to Martinique heading out of the Channel this afternoon before turning to their first marks at the San Paulo and San Pedro islands off Brazil before heading to Ascension Island. Capable of sustained speeds of over 40kts they should outrun the deep depression which is forecast to bring gusts of up to 80kts and 10-12 metre seas Finisterre on Tuesday.

After starting in sequence from 1307hrs this afternoon the ULTIM, six Ocean Fifty and 44 Class 40s revelled on the tough, gusty conditions on the Bay of Le Havre but they will just race a 320 miles passage to Lorient on the French Atlantic coast where they will re-start when the weather outlook improves. Their race to Martinique is likely to be on a shorter course distance. But it is unclear when their re-start will be.

The IMOCA 60 fleet remain on standby for a start but it is not likely to be for several days at least.

British skipper Pip Hare (Medallia) commented, "For us it was not looking so bad, we would have seen six hours of heavy breeze and then a further three to six hours of heavy sea state but then. We were looking at risk profile and it was OK, but I am speaking to Szabi (Hungarian IMOCA skipper Szabolcs Weöres) and he was going to be 150 miles or so behind on a slower boat. I think the decision of the race officers reflects the fact we have a diverse IMOCA fleet and that is one the great things about the IMOCA class and something we should not lose. And that is someone who is lucky enough to have a high performance foiler now but came up in the second oldest boat in the fleet in the Vendee Globe I value and respect that decision."

At the mark there were two collisions. One between Curium and Bertrand Guillonneau and Kito de Pavant's Movember which saw the boom damaged.

The other was between Figaro ace, local Le Havre favourite Guillaume Pirouelle and Cedric Chateau's recently launched Seafrigo-Sogestran and Cafe Joyeux. Three boats Cafe Joyeux, Seafrigo-Sogestran, and Movember had to make a U turn and return to Le Havre to try and effect repairs.

transatjacquesvabre.org

Ready For The Big Leap
Saturday, October 28th at 2:00 PM (Paris time), the 87 remaining competitors in the 24th edition of La Boulangère Mini Transat will set off on the second leg of the race. They will depart from Santa Cruz de La Palma to reach Saint-François, Guadeloupe, covering a total of 2,700 nautical miles. Everyone is preparing for the actual Atlantic crossing, with the only instructions being to leave the island of El Hierro and a waypoint located at 25° North and 27° West to starboard in order to avoid taking a route too far north. This route still carries a high risk of the formation of small tropical depressions. The overall plan? The first miles are expected to be tricky due to light and unstable winds, as well as the wind shadow of the Canary Islands. The strategic aspect is wide open.

If the first leg from Les Sables d'Olonne to Santa Cruz de La Palma (1,350 miles) gave them a taste of the challenge, the second leg from the Canary Islands to Saint-François (2,700 miles) will truly immerse them in the vast open sea. Once they leave the Spanish archipelago behind, the next coastline they will see will be Guadeloupe.

"The weather situation is a bit peculiar. We expected to hoist the spinnaker when leaving La Palma and drop it when reaching Guadeloupe, but it may be more complex than that," says Victoire Martinet (1031 - Chilowe). Indeed, light winds are forecasted for the end of the week in the area, and they will also have to contend with significant wind shadows, especially those generated by Tenerife and its famous Teide, towering at 3,715 meters above sea level, capable of extending over more than 60 nautical miles.

Race Tracker

minitransat.fr

When great ideas become reality - ACC Wing
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.

What makes it stand out among other simple wing sails is the ability to easily induce camber to create a super-efficient shape that differs on each side of the wing, in a similar manner to an aircraft wing. This creates a huge amount of additional lift compared to wingsails that are symmetrical each side.

Full article in the November issue of Seahorse

18ft Skiffs Spring Championship, Race 4
Blue mark rounding for The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines team. Photo by SailMedia. Click on image for photo gallery.

The current world 18 footer champion Andoo team of John Winning Jr, Seve Jarvin and Sam Newton demonstrated their skill and experience to win Race 4 of the Australian 18 Footers League's 2023-24 Spring Championship in a close and exciting finish on Sydney Harbour today.

Andoo was always in or around the lead throughout the entire course and with the team's usual high standard crew work were too good for the young Balmain and The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines teams.

In a three-boat spinnaker race between Shark Island and Clark Island to the finish line off Double Bay, Andoo gained the upper hand to cross the line and score a 10s victory over Balmain (Henry Larkings, Fynn Sprott and Flynn Twomey), with The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines (Jacob Marks, Alex Marinelli and Matt Doyle) a further 14s back in third place.

John Winning's Yandoo came from well back on the first lap of the course to finish in fourth place, ahead of the brand new 'Put Your Name Here' (Kirk Mitchell and Fisher & Paykel (Jordan Girdis).

After the first four races in the Spring Championship and Season Point Score, The Oak Double Bay-4 Pines leads with a total of 19 points, just ahead of Yandoo on 20, Balmain on 21, Fisher & Paykel 24, Shaw and Partners Financial Services (Emma Rankin) 29 and Smeg (Nathan McNamara) on 30.

There are two more races still to be sailed in the Spring Championship. Race 5 of the Spring Championship will be sailed next Sunday, November 5. Race 5 of the Season Point Score will be held in conjunction with the Spring Championship race.

18footers.com

J/70 World Championship
St. Petersburg, Florida, USA: Eighty-eight world-class J/70 teams from all over the world are descending upon the sleepy little retirement city of St. Petersburg, Florida for the 2023 J/70 World Championship. Rolling out the red carpet and hosting the event will be the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, an award-winning sailing club notable for hosting many national, North American, and World Championships over the past few decades.

The fleet includes multiple past J/70 World Champions, with sixteen nations represented, including the USA, Canada, Argentina, Mexico, Australia, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Turkey, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Sweden, Norway, Monaco, Germany, and Spain. The shocker? Not a single team from Italy, a dominant J/70 fleet in Europe, and sporting multiple past World Champions.

For more J/70 World Championship sailing information see YachtScoring.com

IMOCA Hazard Button
Hazard Button technology on Transat Jacques Vabre IMOCAs will help build our knowledge of mammals at sea and how to avoid them

This month's Transat Jacques Vabre marks an important watershed in the IMOCA Class's commitment to try to mitigate the impact on marine mammals and on its boats, of collisions at sea.

Over the past 10 years, as boats of all kinds have got faster, the number and severity of collisions at sea with marine mammals - especially whales - and with debris in the water has steadily increased.

In the case of whales, these collisions, especially with boats travelling at over 10 knots (and up to 35 knots), often result in serious injury or death. They can also result in extensive damage to a boat which may be forced to retire from a race as a result.

The IMOCA Class has been leading the effort to mitigate these events in a collaborative effort led by Claire Vayer, Sustainability and Partnerships Manager for the Class, working alongside Damian Foxall, Sustainability Program Manager with the US-based 11th Hour Racing Team which is helping to fund the project.

There are a number of other stakeholders involved, including The Ocean Race and World Sailing, and together they make up the Marine Mammal Advisory Group (MMAG).

The Hazard Button is not the only avenue being pursued by the MMAG. Alongside it, the effort to use technology to detect objects in the sea ahead of fast moving boats is also continuing. Right now around 25 IMOCAs carry an infra-red camera at the top of the mast which detects floating objects in the water, but it is difficult for it to "see" a whale, especially in rough weather.

imoca.org

Solo Round Ireland record
On stand-by in Greystones (to the south of Dublin) for his attempt at the solo Round Ireland record since early October, Tom Dolan has given the green light. After some final weather discussions with Marcel Van Triest, the famous router, the skipper of the Figaro Beneteau 3 in the colours of Smurfit Kappa and Kingspan has confirmed that he will set off on Sunday between 1500 and 1600 hrs UTC with the aim of improving on the reference time for the course that was set in 2005 by Belgian sailor, Michel Kleinjans on his Class40: 4 days, 1 hour and 53 minutes and 29 seconds.

"If the weather forecast is right, I would hope to cover the 698 miles in three and a half days," said Tom, who respecting Irish shipping rules, must keep a permanent watch and remain alert. He will be accompanied by Andrew Smith, a media man who of course will not be involved in the performance of the boat. "It all seems to be falling into place, which means I am optimistic. In any case, I must not hang around as a nasty weather system (gales) is due to sweep across Ireland on Wednesday," the sailor concluded.

Race Tracker

tomdolanracing.com

Rolex Sydney Hobart - Entries close with 120 teams
Entries for the 78th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race closed on Friday and the lineup of 120 boats is one of the most open and diverse fleets in years.

The 628nm classic which starts on Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day, 26 December, has attracted entries from around the globe and features ten international teams - representing New Zealand (3), Hong Kong (2), New Caledonia, USA, France, Germany and Ireland.

There are 110 Australian boats hailing from six states - NSW (64), QLD (20), VIC (16), TAS (7), SA (1) and WA (2).

Boats range in size from the smallest - two diminutive 30-foot two-handed entries, Kathy Veel and Bridget Canham's Currawong 30 Currawong and Marc Michel and Logan Fraser's Dehler 30 Niksen from New Zealand - all the way up to the four maxi 100-footers: Andoo Comanche, Law Connect, SHK Scallywag and Wild Thing 100 (formerly the Botin 80 Stefan Racing). The John H Illingworth Challenge Cup for Line Honours victory will be hotly contested by these larger boats who have all featured in recent years.

The oldest boat in the fleet is Ena Ladd's Colin Archer-designed double-ender Christina, built in 1932.

sail-world.com

rolexsydneyhobart.com

San Diego Yacht Club Wins 2023 Lipton Cup
San Diego Yacht Club has won the 108th Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup! The defending champs were determined to hold tight to the cup and they did just that in final moments of the regatta. Marking the sixth win for skipper Tyler Sinks and his crew including Adam Roberts, Jake La Dow, Brad Rodi, Lucy Wallace, Max Hutcheson, and Nick Kaschak.

Heading into the final day of racing Newport Harbor Yacht Club led by a narrow three point lead. Both SDYC and NHYC knew that all eyes were on them and they had moments of the day that felt like they were matchracing each other, not the rest of the fleet. And rightly so, after all, over the past nine years the Lipton Cup has traded hands between these two clubs four times. Their competitive rivalry at this event is unrivaled.

Ultimately, the defending champions, San Diego Yacht Club, finished first overall with just forty two points. Earning the home team their third consecutive win. Newport Harbor Yacht Club finished second with fifty two points, followed by New York Yacht Club with sixty four points.

sdyc.org/liptoncup/

Letters To The Editor -
Letters are limited to 350 words. No personal attacks are permitted. We do require your name but your email address will not be published without your permission.

* From Willii Gohl: Very good idea to follow Mr. Benussi´s perfect marketing idea to promote his young daughter and gave her the helm of Arca at the last Barcolana for the last few minutes to cross the finishing line.

She did a perfect job in keeping the course for a few minutes.

Bravo

Featured Brokerage
2006 X-Yachts X-55. 445000 EUR. Located in Sardinia.

Launched 2007. Huge spec, completely refitted, and very well presented X-55 with carbon rig and Park Avenue boom. Almost every possible option ticked including generator, watermaker, air-con, heating, bowthruster, electric winches and so on.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
Michele Antonini - Grabau International (Italia)
Tel: +39 333 74 89 281
Email:

-----------------------------------------

Italia Yachts 11.98. 285,900 (Ex. VAT) EUR.

The Italia 11.98 project is aimed to create a boat that is really adaptable to different uses both cruising and racing. The result is a boat that will inspire the most ambitious pro sailor and, it will give pleasing cruises to its owner. Fun, highly performing and easy at the helm, Italia 11.98 has an essential and clean design, perfect for racing, without giving up space and maintaining adequate interior volumes and layout for long cruises. Italia 11.98 reintroduces the concept of an all-round boat, that is really able to support the efforts of the best sailing teams and as well as to meet the comfort needs of a more leisure oriented purpose.

See listing details in Seahorse's RaceboatsOnly

Contact
YM Yachts & Brokerage

yacht-match.com/italiayachts

-----------------------------------------

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

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

The Last Word
Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion. -- Jack Kerouac

Editorial and letter submissions to

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