Update
set a new 24-hour speed record for the Class40. Nevertheless, the best southerners hung in there until the fleet
all came together again approaching France. Sunday 14 July the first 10 boats, after 15 days at sea and just 200nm miles from the finish, all sat in a bubble less than 20nm across. In fact, the first 18 would all arrive the next day together, with the top five racing to the line boat-for-boat, led home by overall race winner Achille Nebout on Amarris.
Collision, speed records and structural failures The crew of Acrobatica, Alberto Riva’s Class40 (#201 designed by Guelfi and built by Sangiorgio Marine in 2023), including the Italian Tommaso Stella and Frenchman Jean Marre, was involved in a big collision with the Liberian tanker Silver Ray on 9 July about 300nm from the Azores. The weather and marine conditions at the time were quite difficult; the three sailors were rescued by the Silver Ray which deployed a rescue ladder. ‘It’s not easy for me to come back to it emotionally,’ said Alberto Riva, stepping ashore in the Azores. ‘We were reaching towards France. The weather conditions were
quite severe, gusts of over 35kt but with breaking waves sweeping the deck. The boat was going very fast and the conditions onboard were hard because of the constant shaking. Suddenly there was a big impact and in less than two minutes Acrobaticawas completely filled with water. We were very lucky, no one was seriously injured, but we were no longer safe onboard. After activating the EPIRB we launched a Mayday and were rescued by the Silver Ray crew. After this we were put ashore in Flores, in the Azores. At time of writing Alberto was in Horta trying to organise an
operation to recover his boat. Note that a Class40 is an unsinkable boat with huge foam-filled flotation tanks. In the same period that Acrobatica crashed the Normandy crew
of Sogestran-Seafrigo (Mach40.5 launched last year), skippered by Guillaume Pirouelle, sailed 440.2nm in 24 hours at an average speed of 18.34kt. The previous 24-hour record belonged to Alberto Riva who sailed 433.53nm on Acrobatica at an average speed of 18.06kt last April during the Transat Niji 40. Also in the same period Alla Grande Pirelli, still the Class40 to
beat, suffered a major structural failure. Italian skipper Ambrogio Beccaria explained: ‘We were about to come out of the little storm and we realised there was water inside. We could easily see the crack which was opening and closing in the waves with water spraying into the boat. Impossible for us to continue. ‘For now we are focused only on saving the boat. We made a
quick temporary repair to slow down the flow of water… we will work out what has happened when the situation is calmer. We are currently heading to the port of Horta to assess the damage.’ Meanwhile, Alternative Sailing, skippered by Mathieu Jones, was
also forced to divert to the Azores with a structural failure. Sylvie Viant, race director, stated: ‘The rather strong low they
passed through has certainly caused damage. But the Scows are too fragile, with their round bow which seems to weaken the bottom at the front, and then the bulkheads also break… In this race the boats are also being sailed by three or four people, perhaps the boats are loaded more heavily than when solo or double-handed – should we strengthen the structures? The architects may say so! ‘I remember that on the Niji Transat the Class40s also went very
fast but without these structural problems. What happened during the Québec-Saint-Malo made me think about the TJV 2017. The first foiling Imocas all suffered breakage… Afterwards they had to strengthen the structures before the Vendée Globe! Thank you, TJV.’ We should remember that the failed Alla Grande Pirelli had
previously suffered a big collision with a ‘UFO’ during the outbound race to New York. Repairs were made locally but Ambrogio Beccaria was not happy with the result. For Acrobatica the collision with the tanker was so violent that skipper Alberto Riva says the front of the boat was destroyed to aft of the main watertight bulkhead. Even if the wreck is salvaged repair seems unlikely. There is another question for me… how can a skilled crew collide
with a large tanker with so much mandatory safety equipment onboard including radar and AIS? I also ask the same questions about the crew of the tanker…
22 SEAHORSE q SNAPSHOTS Brought to you in association with
l OK, they work… Paul Bieker’s new F50 T-foils appear to be up to the task… l The test mule… broke 55kt in testing in San Francisco l Remember, kids… just say no… l Because… apparently-sane human bean Greg Were is off around the world in a 20ft sailboat l Cape Horn… to port l Dee Caffari… new chair of the British Keelboat Academy… l Dee… who has circumnavigated the planet six times… l Three times non-stop… and solo in both directions… l Honestly… is that a good or a bad recommendation? l Where’s Torben… Mubadala Capital is funding a new SailGP team to represent Brazil in Season 5 l (We hope so)… CEO Julien Di Biase expects SailGP to break even next year… l One of two ways… one year’s ‘Larry Subsidy’ equates to less than a tick on Oracle’s share price so why not carry on? l Or… I have given you guys every possible chance and carried on way past my original three years’ seed money… l The money he has poured in… Larry Ellison deserves to be Seahorse Sailor of the Decade... l We did nominate him… but not one member of the Oracle Team he’d enriched so handsomely voted for him… l Team New Zealand’s… Women’s Cup squad has had to switch on the nav lights a few times during training… l So have ‘coaches’… Burling, Outteridge and Josh Junior… l What did the big man say… ‘No excuse to lose’ l Eek… Swiss skipper Olivier Heer was happy to grab the final Vendée Globe slot… l But he had a wobble… when he finished the Transat CIC and found he was being investigated for accessing prohibited data in the first 48 hours of the race... l Pleased to say… Olivier tested clean l Happy 40th birthday… Lymington Wednesday Junior Sailing’ for local children otherwise unlikely to get a look in… l Since 1984… more than 10,000 children have passed through a scheme that puts a smile on everyone’s face… l Here’s to you… local GPs Tom McEwen and the late Jonathan Rogers (plus of course those first 15 nippers) l Bravo also… designer Tony Castro and his team… l It’s give-back time… with the launch of the Tony Castro Academy for budding yacht designers… l Cracking news, Tony… you are a good man l Wtf… on top of all the recent MOB incidents, how do you drop a rig on a bullet-proof STP65 in the Mackinac Race?? l On a lake… !!! l Err, boss… apparently it’s quite a big lake l As you do… the supermaxi Rio100 has been donated to the Cal Maritime Academy l Time for reflection… the Class40 is having a discussion following the recent spate of structural problems particularly in the latest scows... l Check the video… of the ‘crack’ that Alla Grande Pirelli suffered mid-Atlantic… l You could… fish through it l Perfect… in 1949 the Royal Dragon Bluebottle sailed from the Solent to Deauville for a regatta… l It went well… Bluebottle winning the French title… l This summer… appallingly enthusiastic Dragon sailor Graham Bailey raced the now well-restored yacht of the same name at the same regatta… (albeit it travelled via road!) l And wins again… Classy, Graham, just very classy l Another good one… we mark the passing of Australian Bob Ross, vastly talented sailor, reporter, photographer, author… anything he could do to benefit the sport he loved l Sentimental pick… this month’s bag-a-bargain is the Howlett 12 Metre Crusader… l Now in IRC trim… sticker price ⇔300,000… l ‘Sticker price’… you can lead a horse to water, etc etc… l Other brands are available…
RaceboatsOnly.com l Provenance…
EurosailNews.com
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