Read more on Sailing Anarchy

Yesterday, the 470 European Championships started with 3 races by class in winds of 8 knots, later increasing to 16 knots. —– In the 470 men, Jordi Xammar/Nicolas Rodriguez ESP took the lead, followed by Paul Snow-Hanson/Daniel Willcox NZL and Anton Dahlberg/Frederik Bergström SWE. —– Stuart McNay/David Hughes USA (Trevor Moore Foundation) follow on rank 12, Jacob Saunders/Oliver Bone CAN (RNSYS/CYC/Trevor Moore Foundation) are 21st, and Shawn Harvey/Augie Dale USA (Oyster Bay 470 Team) 25th among the 29 teams. —– In the 470 women, Camille Lecointre/Aloise Retornaz FRA took the lead with 2 wins. Hanna Mills/Eilidh McIntyre GBR and Silvia Mas-Depares/Patricia Cantero ESP follow behind. —– Nikole Barnes/Lara Dallman-Weiss USA (St. Francis YC, St. Thomas YC) are 10th, Carmen + Emma Cowles USA (Larchmont YC) 14th among the 18 participants.. —– In the 470 Mixed, Nitai Hasson/Saar Hamir ISR and Therese Dahnke/Matti Cipra GER share the lead with equal points. —– Louisa Nordstrom/Trevor Bornath USA (Oyster Bay 470 Team) follow in 10th among the 34 teams. —– All rankings, the report and the video

Read more on Sailing Anarchy

Finally wind on the 3rd day of the Mondial du Vent competition in Leucate FRA yesterday! On a rainy day, the offshore Tramontana blew with around 30kn. Both, the Wing Foilers in their World Cup and the Kite Foilers in their national circuit, were able to sail a race each. —– Axel Mazella/Poela Newland FRA won the Kite-Foiler mixed race – the ranking. —– The Wing Foils started their freestyle contest with qualifications for the Quarter Finals, with among others the newcomer and multiple Windsurfing World Champion Antoine Albeau FRA getting thru. —– The event website with all results and the video of the day.

Read more on Sailing Anarchy

Corgis Bailey and Taz are at home on the boat. (Bruce Gladner/)

Irv and Bonni Alperts’ sail from Maine to George Town, Bahamas, on Bonni Jean II, a Lagoon 440 cruising catamaran, included a special family member: their dog, Stewie, a 10-year-old corgi that has sailed with the Alperts since he was four. “We wouldn’t consider going without Stewie. It wouldn’t be as much fun,” Irv says. “Seeing your pet react to the sights we take for granted on the water and on land has given us an even bigger appreciation of the beauty and scenery we see on our trips, and of the people we meet along the way.”

Read more on Cruising World

Where do you stand on this  touchy R/C issue?

So the grand poohbah of our little Dogpatch Wednesday night sailing club sent this out to his master email list. Note the last sentence. This is the entirety of the message, the ellipsis replace any personal identifying information. I am not participating in the current series. Nor was I involved with the RC last evening. I’m really just curious how others might react to receiving something like this:

I’ve had a number of complaints on last nights RC. Horns going off late, horns going off out of sequence with the flags, late start, etc.

I’d like to reiterate the RC responsibilities for everyone.

1. The first page in the RC book that is at the stand tells you what you need to do. READ IT.

2. No more than 3 people on the RC stand. Three is all you need. One to check boats in, one to manage the flags, and one to watch the time to ensure the races and the prestart start on time. Anymore than 3 and you have people standing around with nothing to do but interfere with the Race Committee. This is not a get together or a party. The RC has a job to do, an important one. If you want to have a get together do it AFTER the race…

Read more on Sailing Anarchy

The RS:X windsurfing world championships came to an end yesterday in Cadiz with the Medal Races. —– 4th places were good enough for Lilian De Geus NED and Kiran Badloe NED to secure the World Championship titles. Behind Badloe NED Mattia Camboni ITA and Byron Kokkalanis GRE won the other medals in the mens event. —– Pedro Pascual Suitt USA follows in 23rd, Ignacio Berenguer MEX is 25th among 42 participants. —– In the womens race, Katy Spychakov ISR and Charline Picon FRA, tied on points, complete the podium. —– Farrah Hall USA is 17th, Demita Vega de Lille MEX 21st among 28 participants. —– All rankings and the video of the final day.

Read more on Sailing Anarchy

The Mini class has long been a proving ground for up and coming offshore sailors with an ambition to graduate to larger offshore classes. And despite COVID restrictions, organisers have compiled a full calendar for the Mini 6.50 season which kicked off last month with the Italian Archipelago 650’s race. Following several Mediterranean-based competitions, the action has switched to the Atlantic coast for a series of summer events including two new ones, the Mini Gascony and the Calvados Cup double-header.

After first and second place finishes in the Gran Premio d’Italia, Anne-Claire Le Berre and Amélie Grassi lead the rankings in the production class. Hugo Dhallenne and Thibaut Vauchel-Camus came out on top in the recent Plastimo Lorient Mini production class and Pierre Le Roy and Cédric Faron in prototypes. Italy’s Matteo Sericano currently heads up the prototype ranking…

More on the class here

Read more on Sailing Anarchy

The first long-term test of a rotor sail fitted on a passenger ferry is coming to an end after three years aboard Viking Line’s Viking Grace. According to both the line and the technology company, the tests provided important data demonstrating the benefits of the rotor sail concept and helping to advance the technology. The test was also the first aboard an LNG-fueled ship creating the first LNG-wind electric propulsion hybrid ship.

During the test, the Viking Grace was able to reduce its emissions, fuel burn, and fuel costs according to data released by Norsepower, developer of the rotor sail. They estimated the annual reduction in carbon emissions at approximately 900 tons, which they said was equivalent to reducing LNG fuel consumption by 300 tons per year…

Read more on Sailing Anarchy

Four years ago, my husband, Paul, and I sold our five-bedroom Victorian home in Baltimore, Maryland, with the intention of buying a sailboat to live aboard in the future. From there we moved into a rental apartment in Washington, D.C., across the street from Paul’s office. Shortly after we’d unpacked the last box, the hunt began for a sailboat, and after looking at several in the Chesapeake area, we found the perfect one—a 2002 Beneteau Oceanis 473. When she was officially ours we renamed her Bumpy Night, after the famous line by Bette Davis from All About Eve…

Read more on Sail Magazine

Like last year, the Semaine Olympique in Hyères had to be cancelled due to the Corona restrictions. This year, there will be a virtual sailing week, which already started yesterday with training opportunities. At the weekend, 49er or Nacra17 can be sailed, the Bay of Hyères has been animated as a sailing area. The details.

Read more on Sailing Anarchy

While the panjandrums of World Sailing and the IOC still wrestle with the fate of their troubled two-handed mixed offshore race for the Paris 2024 Olympics, authorities elsewhere have to deal with more immediate concerns. SA readers will be aware of the awkward kerfuffle late last year during the run-up to the (COVID-cancelled) Sydney-Hobart race. At first, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia welcomed two-handed entrants without restrictions. Then, after pressure from some influential skippers of conventionally crewed yachts, the two-handers were excluded from eligibility for the overall and existing divisional prizes and confined to separately created divisions of their own.

Severe disgruntlement followed, including multiple protests and murmurs of legal action. This disquiet is apparently unabated. Owners who shelled out $250,000 or more for the latest 30-footer or adapted an existing rocket-ship for short-handed offshore racing have not given up their fight to have the CYCA policy overturned…

Read more on Sailing Anarchy