Contents February 2024 FEATURES
4 Gold everywhere MARTINA ORSINI
36 Sensible targets We all want ‘sustainability’ but aim too high and your feet get stuck in the mud. ROB WEILAND
39 Driven by data How the French Orient Express Cup challengers got up to speed in the AC40s in no time at all… BRUNO DUBOIS
Wrong career? When Russell Coutts and André Justin sat down back in 2007 to create an inshore one-design suitable for the highest level of pro-am competition, they can never have imagined that more than 15 years later the boats would still be doing regular service at both the RC44 Cup events and more recently as seen here at the SSL Gold Cup Final in Gran Canaria. To be entirely accurate the yachts in the SSL final had been stretched to 47ft but the boat itself remains the same, but now stripped of electronics and other aids that might detract from the test of pure sailing ability that the SSL aims to deliver. Series creator Michel Niklaus has really done something amazing for the sport, assembling a worldwide series of regattas that have involved many thousands of sailors, leading up to a Grand Final which was won by the impressive Hungarian team ‘Shamans’. The series began in 2012 after the loss of Olympic status for the Star, when a dozen or so sailors got together to think about how to continue Star sailing at the highest level and on a stable circuit. In due course the Stars were switched to the SSL47s in search of more visibility at venues, also allowing larger crews to enter. Thirty-two 11-man crews raced the grand finals, populated by countless big names either onboard or in the coach boats… Santi Lange, Rod Davis, Robert Scheidt, Vasco Vascotto, Ian Williams, Paul Cayard, Luis Doreste… even Loïck Peyron was in Gran Canaria where he captained France’s Les Bleus. The extraordinarily generous Michel Niklaus now deserves a round of thanks from the sport. A World Sailing special award perhaps… Just a suggestion
COVER: Martina Orsini 40 Dropping little white
plastic balls – Part II From the Vanguard Glue Pots to the slickest racing hardware to iceboats and on to the America’s Cup. CAROL CRONIN and PETER HARKEN
46 The greatest race But the epic conclusion to the 1980 Finn Gold Cup was really just the start of it all. PETER MONTGOMERY, ROBERT DEAVES, JOHN BERTRAND, LARRY LEMIEUX, GUS MILLER
52 Man of the hour ANTOINE KOCH talks with PATRICE CARPENTIER about his long and instructive journey from ocean racer, to ocean race designer, and now to handling both roles at the same time!
58 A man at ease GRIFF RHYS JONES is of course a funny man, but he still has ‘his moments’ especially if it’s not going to plan on the helm of his lovely S&S classic Argyll… as he confesses to DAN HOUSTON
REGULARS
6 Commodore’s letter JAMES NEVILLE
11 Editorial ANDREW HURST
14 Update The new-new bright young things, unravelling what you are seeing, the rescue of USA-55 and RICHOMME crushes it on the journey home. JACK GRIFFIN, TERRY HUTCHINSON, PATRICE CARPENTIER, SAM GOODCHILD
22 World news MARCO and RUGERRO make quite the ‘splash’ in Jeddah, XABI FERNANDEZ would like to see more time on the water, four years late but the solo Ultims are about to take off, a great British yachtsman, Kiwis put it out there and another sale at SailGP. IVOR WILKINS, CARLOS PICH, PATRICE CARPENTIER, PETE BURLING, DOBBS DAVIS, MAGNUS WHEATLEY, BLUE ROBINSON, FRANÇOIS GABART
34 Rod Davis – Worry less sail more … and don’t get hung up in pursuit of perfection
61 TechStreet
64 RORC – All change JEREMY WILTON
68 Seahorsebuild table – We like it! And good design comes in all shapes and sizes 74 Seahorse Regatta calendar 106 Seen on the dock
107 Sailor of the Month A lot of wisdom… plus a fair dose of experience
Elsewhere in this issue we talk about the frailty of the current Ocean Fifty tris… Luke Berry and Xavier Joubert are seen carefully nursing their way home after losing their rig and port float simultaneously a few hours after the beginning of the TJV. ‘At 70° TWA these boats go very very fast, and as soon as you bear away even a little the speed shoots up further. We were going quite fast and it was already proving difficult to slow down. Then she just leapt off a wave and when we landed it all just fell down around us…’
VINCENT OLIVAUD/LE RIRE MEDECIN-LAMOTTE
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