Peter Duncan’s Relative Obscurity has prevailed over 60 other teams and challenging wind conditions to capture the 2021 J/70 World Championship title at California Yacht Club, today…
European WASZP Games overall
After five days of intense competition, WASZP UK Sailor Matt Beck in on top of the world! In a return to international competition that has been two years in the making, we could not have asked for a better event to return us to semi-normalcy…
cancel culture, part 63
The New Zealand government has effectively canceled the round of SailGP scheduled for the city of Christchurch in late January next year. They have declined to provide the SailGP teams and support staff with places in their Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) system.
Without a reserved place to spend the required number of days in quarantine on arrival in New Zealand, no international visitor can fly into the country. The Australian round of SailGP is scheduled for mid-December in Sydney.
For the moment, the event management are saying on Instagram that it “is definitely going ahead”, but with more than 450 new cases of COVID confirmed in the state of New South Wales today, that confidence could be misplaced.
Strict public health orders are currently in place in NSW that would make running a regatta such as SailGP impossible…
Circumnavigation Record Attempt kicks off
Today at 11:10 am the entire Innovation Yachts team, fans, colleagues and sailing aficionados saw innovator and skipper Norbert Sedlacek set sail on his lifetime mission to set a world record, unassisted, single-handed and nonstop around the world…
Aleph wins 44Cup Cowes
Cowes, UK (August 15, 2021) – The final day of the 44Cup Cowes had overnight leader Hugues Lepic’ Aleph with a seven point gap over second placed Ceeref, and while the margin closed over three races, it was enough for Aleph to take the third event of the season. – Full report
PHOTOS: J/70 World Championship 2021
The 2021 J/70 World Championship was held August 11-15 in Marina del Rey, CA. Photos by Sharon Green/Ultimate Sailing.
Transpac 2021: Insights into Pac52’s overall win
Chris Sheehan’s Pac 52 Warrior Won, was the third yacht to cross the finish line (second fastest overall elapsed time). Stu Bannatyne was aboard Warrior Won which was top boat in Transpac 2021 with first place overall, and first place in Division 3…
Airlie Beach Race Week day 3
They say it takes all kinds when it comes to sailing and that something a little bit different on Jono and Gemma Winterbottom’s Seawind 1000, About Time, has them all talking at the 33rd edition of Airlie Beach Race Week…
Three winners at ORC World Championship 2021
Tallinn, Estonia (August 14, 2021) – The Alexela ORC World Championship 2021 concluded with one final day of inshore race in 15-20 knots of wind, with the overall results awarding world titles to Michael Berghorn’s Mills 45 HALBTROCKEN 4.5 team from Germany (Class A), Catalin Trandafir’s Grand Soleil 44 P ESSENTIA44 from Romania (Class B), and Juss Ojala’s J-112E MATILDA team from Estonia (Class C). – Full report
Wood wins Youth Match Racing Worlds
Newport Beach, CA (August 14, 2021) – David Wood (USA) peaked at just the right time to win the 2021 Youth Match Racing World Championship, beating local rival Jeffrey Petersen (USA) 3-1 in the Finals. Wood’s crew was Max Mayol, Daniel Pegg, and Marbella Marlo. – Full report
How long do 3Di sails last?
Most sailors shopping for a new 3Di sail ask, “how long will it last?” Based on years of record-keeping, I can honestly say that the competitive life of a 3Di sail is far superior to any other technology on the market…
PlanetSail: Rolex Fastnet Race – The Big Guns
Despite brutal conditions for the start of the 49th Rolex Fastnet Race the big guns completed the new course from Cowes to Cherbourg via the Fastnet Rock at a staggering pace. Here’s a quick review of who got home first and how…
Airlie Beach Race Week day 2
Another day of ideal sailing at Airlie Beach Race Week with a race course weaving through the beautiful Whitsunday Islands and an ideal 15-20 knot wind, but fun seems to be the focal point for most competitors…
GWA Wingfoil Race Europeans day 1
It’s August 2021 and we are back at it with the first-ever GWA Wingfoil Race European Championship, taking place at the beautiful lake of St. Moritz in the Swiss Alps, as part of the Engadinwind…
Breeze on at US Open San Francisco
San Francisco, CA (August 13, 2021) – The Kiteboarders and Windsurfers were rigged and ready to go this morning for signature San Francisco conditions featuring big breeze and strong currents on Day 1 of 2021 West Marine US Open Sailing – San Francisco.
The Men’s and Women’s iQFoil and Open Formula Kite events were challenged with wind speeds reaching over 20 knots and temperatures in the 60s for most of the day but all three events completed five races. San Francisco, CA (August 13, 2021) – The Kiteboarders and Windsurfers were rigged and ready to go this morning for signature San Francisco conditions featuring big breeze and strong currents on Day 1 of 2021 West Marine US Open Sailing – San Francisco…
Wind Over Cancer
Based in The Great Lakes, MKOS (More Kids on Sailboats) has a mission to get more kids on keelboats and allow them the opportunity to be part of a team and learn valuable life and leadership skills. In this video, they share their experience as they compete in an offshore sailboat race to raise awareness and money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. To donate to the cause, click here.
Video uploaded August 13, 2021.
forrest gump
The members of the Australian Etchells Association have rejected a resolution pressed heavily by the Association that Mould 11 boats, which do not presently hold measurement certificates, be allowed to race in Australia if not overseas in the coming year.
So, the fighting between Mould 9 owners whose boats have measurement certificates and the Association looks set to continue. But many of the earlier arguments of the Association are starting to fail, with now talk of rectification of Mould 11 hulls or speed bumps on the hulls to equalize performance.
However, in my line of work, when the way forward is difficult or murky, thankfully someone usually asks the “Forrest Gump” question. That is the simple question that ignores all that has gone before and cuts through to the very basis of the controversy…
Matt Beck of Britain leads European WASZP Games
Matt Beck of Britain leads the 2021 European WASZP Games after four races completed on Lake Garda…
Boom and Bust On Lake Mead
A detour off the racecourse on Lake Mead leads the team to the north side of the Hoover Dam. (Michael Hanson/)
“Anyone got the time?” says Jim Rosaschi as we maneuver his Capri 30, Blue By You, toward the northern side of the Hoover Damn on Lake Mead. It’s only 9:56 a.m., but Jim’s boat partner, Glenn Frank, doesn’t hesitate with a reply.
“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” he says.
Out on the main lake, a grand total of three boats bob around waiting for wind on day two of Nevada YC’s season championship. The previous day saw no races completed due to lack of wind, and with an equally dismal forecast for today, we decided to forgo racing and take a tour of the Hoover Dam instead. As we sail down the channel toward the damn, a strange canyon-effect generates the only wind on the lake. We cruise along in 6 knots of breeze and marvel at the 1.7-billion-year-old rockfaces towering above our mainsail. About 120 feet up, the high-water mark for Lake Mead has washed the rockfaces clean of their sediments. The reservoir hasn’t been at full capacity since 1983, and like the lake itself, the racing scene here also has its highs and lows…
Persico Reveals its Fly40 One Design Concept
The concept of a miniature version of AC75 is coming to fruition in Italy with the Persico Fly 40. (Courtesy Persico /)
While the AC75s of the 36th America’s Cup remain shrink-wrapped and idle while the Challenger of Record and Defender draft their protocol, the engineers and designers at Italy’s Persico Marine have been advancing their own Cup afterparty in the form of a 40-foot version of the flying beasts of Auckland, and in late July announced plans to push ahead with a production run of what will be called the Persico Fly40 One Design.
“Persico Marine has thus opened a new market segment targeted at owners, for whom the ‘new normal’ will be a foiler with canting arms – a high-performance, one-design-class monohull conceived for an upwind start, tacking duels and every aspect of the traditional regatta, but at three times the windspeed,” the builder states in its announcement in early August…
2021 Best Boat Nominees
Turns out it takes more than a pandemic to keep sailors, naval architects and boatbuilders down. It wasn’t fair, but there’s no denying some parts of the global economy fared better than others this past year, and among the lucky ones was the marine industry. Not that it was all smooth sailing. Supply and workplace issues certainly put a crimp in productivity, as was evident in the fewer number of entries in last year’s Best Boats contest. However, the industry has since come roaring back, and the result is a Best Boats class of 2022 that’s as healthy as we have seen in years: replete with everything from borderline production megayachts to a fun new batch of daysailers and pocket cruisers and even a pair of high-tech scows for the foiling crowd. Boat shows are also back, which means not only being able to renew old acquaintances but also being able to (hopefully) get aboard as many boats as you want without all that social distancing. If you’ve never been to a boat show before, now’s the time to check one out. Same thing if you’ve been dreaming all these years of buying a new boat. If there’s nothing else we’ve learned over the course of the pandemic, it’s that there’s no time like the present. As always, SAIL’s Best Boats panel will be fanning out throughout the upcoming boat-show season in search of its favorite new designs. Look for its selection of winners in our January issue…
Should Finn Class turn back the clock?
For a one design class, inclusion in the Olympic Games is guaranteed to heighten the level of competition. While many decades ago that may not have impacted how people follow rules, that ship has long sailed.
Getting an edge today means pushing, and if no one is looking, crossing the line, and nowhere is this clearer than with prohibited actions of propulsion. While the Racing Rules of Sailing outline what is permitted, the inability for competitors to limit themselves, and for umpires to regulate the fleet, has led to these rules getting loosened.
For the Finn Class, their rules permit the Race Committee to allow unlimited pumping, rocking, and ooching after the starting signal (except when the boat’s proper course is close-hauled or above) in winds of 10 knots and above…
11th Hour Racing Launches New IMOCA 60
When The Ocean Race announced it would have an IMOCA 60 fleet in its 2022-23 edition, it shook up the offshore racing world. Suddenly sailors who’d made a career all alone for months while sailing the Vendée Globe were talking about refitting to make space for crews. Likewise, sailors who’d made names for themselves in the VO70 and 65 started drawing up plans to transition their teams to IMOCA 60s. One such team is the sustainability-focused 11th Hour Race Team.
IMOCA 60 class is governed by a box rule, meaning that yachts can vary widely within the class as long as they follow certain parameters like LOA and safety guidelines. Notably, the IMOCA 60 has historically been designed for the Vendée Globe, a race with a primarily downwind course (the fastest possible circuit of the globe). This means they’re optimal downwind boats, but not as strong on a beat…
Youth Match Racing Worlds 2021 day 2
Perhaps change is inevitable, but on the second day of the Youth Match Racing World Championship hosted by Balboa Yacht Club, there was little change as the two favorites continued to dominate the double round robin stage of the event…
unforced error
As Rambler 88 rounded the Fastnet Rock they took a hard left and left the Fastnet Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) to Starboard.
Unfortunately not only was the TSS an obstruction, it was also a mark of the course. This is allowed – see Racing Rules of Sailing Rule 19.
From the tracker replay, Rambler 88 very clearly avoids the TSS as an obstruction so no cause for alarm or protest there. However, the TSS was ALSO a mark of the course as per the Rolex Fastnet Race 2021 Sailing Instructions Appendices. It had to be left to port.
From the tracker is it clear that Rambler virtually gybed at the mark (The Fastnet Rock) and left the next mark (the TSS) to Starboard and therefore DID NOT SAIL THE COURSE…
Youth Foiling Gold Cup Act 2 all set for Limone
The cold grey waters that greeted the youth sailors in Act 1 of the Youth Foiling Gold Cup feel like they were from another world as the world’s top foiling youth sailors take the wraps off their Persico 69F boats form Act 2 in Limone sul Garda this week…
winner, winner, jpk dinner
Sunrise, a JPK 1180 owned by Thomas Kneen has just won the Fastnet Race IRC Overall. Impressive!
make your own rules
The philosophy and delivery of the DSS Infiniti 52 was always going to ask a lot of the builders and engineers involved in this dramatic new build. And some of the solutions which they identified are genuinely fascinating
When setting out with the Infiniti 52 to redefine a marketplace that has been dominated for so long by one class, albeit with a very different design brief (windward-leeward in defined wind strengths versus offshore rocket to take on all conditions, all over the world at all angles and strengths of wind, day and night under three rating systems) it is important to not only have design DNA but also the highest level of technical strength, not just in composites, but in systems and fit-out…
the good and the bad
As we arrive at the 3-day mark of this year’s Rolex Fastnet Race the handicap leaderboard is completely changed.
Gone from the top handful are the two Polish boats (now 12th & 22nd ) as many of the smaller and slower boats round The Rock and start heading downwind, or as they transit the Western Approaches, on a reach-in decent breeze their VMG naturally climbs as they head towards the final turning point of the Bishop’s Rock – that part of the course being unaltered from the traditional one.
Skorpios has also disappeared and doubly so. She rockets down from 1st overall earlier in the race to (currently) 29th oops – grabbed a bite to eat – now 32nd – (a few hours ago she was 18th). And is currently mid-Channel heading back towards the Solent. (Perhaps they dropped the owner off for the prizegiving?)
High water, Cherbourg is about now and, according to the tracker, the Channel ebb tide is showing as really flowing westward which will slow the approach towards the French Coast of many of the boats over the next few hours…
New CEO at West Marine
Marine retailer West Marine released a statement naming Eric Kufel to succeed Ken Seipel as Chief Executive Officer. Kufel has over two decades of executive leadership experience with a proven track record of delivering category-leading growth across a wide range of brands, business models, and industries. As part of the transition, Seipel, who took the helm as CEO in late 2018, will become Lead Independent Director of the West Marine Board of Directors, effective August 23. – Details
Lightning North Americans get underway
Cleveland, OH (August 10, 2021) – Qualifying began today for the 60 teams competing in the 2021 Lightning North American Championship. Dominating the day was David Starck with crew Tom Starck and Jenna Probst, posting a 1-2 to sit in first ahead of Jimmy Barnash in second and John Newell in third. Qualifying continues tomorrow before the top teams advance to vie for the North American title. Racing concludes August 14. – Details
Apivia’s stand-out IMOCA performance
An exceptional example of an extraordinary boat paired up with a hugely talented crew has been the combination of Apivia with doublehanders Charlie Dalin and Paul Meilhat competing in this 49th Rolex Fastnet Race…
Global Solo Challenge welcomes 29th entry
Frenchman Philippe Delamare from Le Mans considers sailing as a discipline which has taught him that at sea there is no procrastination, there are no lies…
It depends how you say it . . .
Interesting take on the BBC viewing figures for Tokyo 2020 – Many and varied media viewing figures are thrown around for sport, with careful choice of facts and figures achieving the result required…
SP80 starts building its boat to reach 80 knots
The Swiss company has entrusted the Italian shipyard Persico Marine, who will apply a different approach to what is usually done in the maritime industry: building a boat with TPT® carbon kits…
the greek freak
Dmitry Rybolovlev’s ClubSwan 125 Skorpios took line honors in the Rolex Fastnet Race this evening, after crossing the finish line in Cherbourg at 2015 BST. Their total elapsed time for completing the 695 nautical mile course from Cowes to Cherbourg was 2 days, 8 hours, 35 minutes and 5 seconds…
What would purchase with a $100 Amazon Gift Card?
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To be entered in the drawing you need to include links to the actual products you would choose. Give us your shopping list!
On August 20th we will do a random drawing to select the winner. The winner will…
Rolex Fastnet Race: Skorpios takes line honours
Dmitry Rybolovlev’s ClubSwan 125 Skorpios took line honours in the Rolex Fastnet Race this evening, after crossing the finish line in Cherbourg at 2015 BST…
Slow boats past the Scillies in Rolex Fastnet Race
Ironic after Sunday’s brutal start, less than 48 hours in and across the Rolex Fastnet Race fleet competitors have been struggling in light winds, especially around the Traffic Separation Scheme between Land’s End and the Scilly Isles…
not F’n around
This is one confusing story, but if the boat captain did run it aground to keep it from sinking, that’s a good thing, right?
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