Contributors EDITOR
Andrew Hurst DESIGNER
Stephen Stafford
SUB-EDITOR Sue Platt
EUROPE
Øyvind Bordal pre-dated today’s ‘wfh’ fashion… roaming the oceans for many years in search of new tales and experiences
Patrice Carpentier Carlos Pich Tim Jeffery Joe Lacey Andy Rice
Giuliano Luzzatto Jocelyn Blériot
Frederic Augendre
USA & CARIBBEAN Dobbs Davis
Peter Holmberg Cam Lewis
Chris Museler Carol Cronin
JAPAN Yoichi Yabe
Luca Rizzotti has now moved on from Persico to concentrate full time on advancing his outstanding Foiling Week initiative
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE Ivor Wilkins
Blue Robinson Rob Brown Rob Kothe
Julian Bethwaite
COLUMNISTS Paul Cayard Rod Davis
Rob Weiland Ken Read
AMERICA’S CUP Steve Killing
Andy Claughton Jack Griffin
Kimball Livingston must surely be as intrinsic to St Francis YC and its world famous youth programmes as the club house itself…
Terry Hutchinson James Boyd
DESIGN & HERITAGE Clare McComb Julian Everitt Nic Compton Iain McAllister
TECHNICAL BRIEFINGS Kieren Flatt & Lizzie Ward
ACCOUNTS & CIRCULATION Kirstie Jenkins & Liz Beeson
ADVERTISING MANAGER Graeme Beeson
Yann Penfornis continues to honour founder Gilles Ollier’s legacy by leading Multiplast to new heights of innovation and success
Email:
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John Bertrand changed it all with his Laser and Finn world titles, replacing bulk by taking the sport to new levels of kinetics and agility
6 SEAHORSE
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After the wild era of ever-bigger designs by 1988 the oceanic multihull community was coalescing around a length of 60ft. Pete Goss never got the memo – seen here in his bonkers attempt to race that year’s singlehanded transatlantic Ostar on a super-light Firebird 26-footer. On deck for most of the race, Goss learnt to lean over a winch handle so he got poked in the chest if he nodded off. Ridiculously, the former Marine finished 2nd in class, 35th overall. A good man in a firefight
Craigie and RORC Flag Officer Deb Fish won the Doublehanded division on their Sunfast 3600 Bellino, a fine achievement. I was also lucky to meet former RORC commodore John
Bourke who took me to Wicklow and shared much of the history of the race, inevitably also reminiscing about his time at the RORC. In particular, we discussed the 1979 Fastnet review and the lessons that were learnt. As we know, one of the key ele- ments of the disaster was that the storm developed in a horrific way and with very little warning, something that we hope is now unimaginable with modern forecasting technology. John also emphasised how the review highlighted the impor-
tance of preparation and experience in such a situation, espe- cially when sailors are in a severe state of exhaustion. This led directly to developments in the Special Regulations and Experience requirements for our longer offshore races. We have more recently introduced the need for
formal Sea Survival and liferaft training. John explained that many of those who got into a liferaft in 1979 were lost, while the vessel they abandoned very often survived. This is a sobering thought and adds weight to the mantra ‘only ever step up into a liferaft’.
James Neville Commodore
q
Commodore’s letter
of Ireland taking us into the Atlantic and finally a frustrating, light-wind section from the northern point of the island in strong tides. Our navigator described it as ‘going around a circle as the wind does the same’. We knew this would be a tough race but we never foresaw an early retirement with minor damage on the beat, off the west coast. We limped into Crosshaven where we were very well looked after with some classic Irish hospitality. The race now goes on my mercifully short other list… unfinished business. I travelled back to Ireland for the prizegiving which was a
T
good opportunity to spend time with Commodore Kieran O’Grady and his dedicated volunteers. There was a great atmosphere as we squeezed into the tent for the inevitable rainstorm that came through during the ceremony. Congrat- ulations to Laurent Charmy, who won overall on his French- based J/111 Fastwave beating local favourites the Evans brothers on their J/99 Snapshot by a mere 10 minutes. Rob
he Round Ireland Race is a 704-mile scurry organised by Wicklow Sailing Club and has long been on the Ino to-do list. The forecast indicated that there would be three distinct phases to the 2022 race; a light and shifty downwind section to the Fastnet Rock, a tough beat up the west coast
AJAX NEWS
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