News Around the World
As well as skippering an all-woman crew in the Extreme Sailing Series in 2016 Kiwi Olympian and round-the-world veteran Sharon Ferris joined Italian Star sailor Flavio Marazzi on the GC32 Racing Tour, seen here competing at the Sotogrande round that year. It is all too easy to take for granted the vertical escalation in sailing performance in the not so many years since Rohan Veal became the first person to win a world championship on foils in 2005 in the Moth class. Jason Carroll’s Argo team won the 2018 GC32 Speed Challenge in Toulon at an average speed of 28.97kt. And today’s Moth sailors know that in flat water they can crack 30kt with one hand tied behind their backs – a 10-second burst at an average of 35.9kt was recorded by a standard Mach 2 Moth as far back as 2016
forward nicely and were close to getting a signature… as usual! But first we had to abandon the idea of taking part in the Route du Rhum and then when we still had not secured the money we needed we accepted that we should put the boat up for sale.’ Three candidates seriously expressed their interest in buying the
former Safran and in the end it was Yannick Bestaven who secured her. While the VPLP-Verdier designed boat is no longer the property of Kaïros the company remains heavily involved in managing the project. Actually at the time of writing Kaïros is very busy with three VG challengers, including refitting or preparing boats and coaching their skippers. Japanese skipper Kojiro Shiraishi, who is currently having a new
VPLP-designed boat built at Multiplast, using the moulds of Jérémie Beyou’s Charal, had already signed up for a two-month training programme with Kaïros. Yannick Bestaven, the new owner of the ex-Safran, now named Maître Coq (Beyou’s sponsor in the previous VG), will also be training for two months in Portugal under the watch- ful eye of Roland Jourdain and boat captain Stan Delbarre. Recently a third skipper knocked at the door of Kaïros. He is
Maxime Sorel, who after three years’ racing a Mach40 wants to enter the sailors’ Everest. Thanks to the commitment of his Class40 sponsor V&B, the 33-year-old Maxime purchased the boat on which Thomas Ruyant took part in the last Vendée Globe (a VPLP-Verdier design from 2007). Jourdain said: ‘We are currently carrying out a big refit, giving the whole boat a thorough going-over before she is relaunched next month. ‘Maxime is due to stay with us in April to sail her for the first
time. I’m pleased to be able to look after him. He’s a great guy, intelligent and investing heavily in his project… in every way!’
A year to celebrate Halvard Mabire, president of the Class40 (also skipper of Campagne de France), is very positive about the past 12 months but is also keen that the class keeps on evolving. Writing in the class yearbook, he says, ‘Apart from the 53 skippers
on Class40s at the start of the Route du Rhum, making Class40 by far the largest fleet, the race provided the perfect opportunity
20 SEAHORSE
to showcase the class to people who weren’t yet acquainted with it, demonstrating both the high level of competition and our diverse international membership. ‘Also on show was the rich spread of designers involved in
Class40 [17 designers – 25 designs], as well as the performance of the latest boats which put them right up there with some of the Imocas! The Rhum gave us a worthy winner, Yoann Richomme, and (re)confirmed Phil Sharp’s talent finishing third in quite an old boat.’ Phil was also crowned overall Class40 champion for the second
year running. Aymeric Chappellier took second in both the Rhum and the championship. Luke Berry completed the very Franco-British championship podium. Another nice international performance was Michael Hennessy’s victory in the Class40 ‘vintage’ category and a magnificent 12th-place finish in the Route du Rhum. By the way the first woman to cross the finishing line of the whole Route du Rhum, Miranda Merron, was also racing a Class40! But Halvard is looking beyond 2019: ‘Class40 is established
now as a good step to the biggest events; it is accessible enough to attract talented sailors who can start to develop longterm programmes up to the next Route du Rhum in 2022. ‘But should we be satisfied with so many Class40s in the Rhum?
It suggests we might be getting too dependent on one major event that takes place only every four years. ‘We do have a very active annual programme but Class40 now
deserves its own major round-the-world event, capable of interesting the press, public and therefore sponsors, so more of our skippers can stay in Class40 instead of changing classes because they are attracted by events that Class40 does not yet have.’ Patrice Carpentier
NEW ZEALAND Busy Growing up in the Bay of Islands, north of Auckland, provided Sharon Ferris with a stunning semi-tropical environment in which to nurture a passion for sailing. An excellent sailing programme at the local Kerikeri high school further boosted her skills – and built confidence to cope with
JESUS RENEDO
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