Editorial Andrew Hurst Thank you
There’s little to add. That Seahorse is publishing its 500th issue is down to having an amazing readership and a brilliant writing and production team who work far harder than they should far longer than they should. You, the readers, guide us, inform us, support us, praise us (embarrass- ing) and complain to us (essential). You push us
into new territories – like our growing Superyacht coverage – and give us confidence to press on should we start to have doubts. And you help us to quickly knock bad ideas on the head. If you want to list the greatest sailors, engineers, designers,
shore crew, mast and sailmakers, equipment innovators and every- one else who does such amazing work in this industry, you’ll find most of them in there among our readership around the world. I cannot tell you how proud and grateful I am for the part you play,
the Seahorse team, spread around the world as you are, and some marvellous people closer to home. You do all the work. But each month I get the privilege of helping to package it up. Thank you.
Onwards (and how) We know of 25 new Class40s on order (quite the queue, in fact). We list eight new Imoca 60s in our Build Table (page 83) and we know of several other Imoca skippers who believe that prospects for raising backing for a new boat recently moved from hope to expectation. On good authority we hear of two new Ultims in advanced discussion. A magnificent new 125-footer took monohull line honours in a tough Fastnet Race, despite having had minimal time afloat to iron out bugs and check equipment. The first appearance of a viable Mini 6.50 scow will prompt a
similar rush for new boats following this year’s Mini Transat, just as happened in the Class40 after the scows proved themselves to be a class ‘above’ a class in terms of performance. All these boat types are oriented for racing offshore. In fact, everywhere you look the growth in big boat racing (Mini 6.50 skippers, you were just promoted) is taking place offshore. ORC recently enjoyed another good champion ship, also now with
a greater offshore element, and around the world IRC-scored offshore races are growing like topsy… This is particularly so at our end of Europe, where a new generation of owners have cut straight to the offshore events, a trend amplified by the incredible growth of Corinthian short- handed fleets.
And then Moving further afield, the plethora of round-the-world races planned for the next few years shows no sign of fading away. We were particularly amused to watch the flood of entries for Don McIntyre’s IRC fully crewed round-the-world race for yachts of a ‘certain age’ and type. Proper yachts, not ponderous, overweight 4kt ‘SBs’ as our friends at Sailing Anarchy christened the breed so immaculately. When Seahorse was launched in 1969, by the late Anthony Churchill, navigator on Ted Heath’s successful Morn- ing Cloud ocean racers, there was growing talk of a crewed
race around the world, to follow up the original Sunday Times Golden Globe for singlehanders. That talk evolved into the first Whitbread Round the World Race, an event that went on to have a glorious and magnetic effect on all who came into contact with it. It too began with a fleet of ‘proper’ yachts, racing on handicap; the range of yachts with which you could take part was also very broad. The Whitbread Race provided meat and drink for Seahorse and
our readers for many years, as does today’s premier grand prix round-the-world race, the Vendée Globe. Seahorse, always a fan of run-what-you-brung to kickstart and revive events (Admiral’s Cup fans, take note) has lobbied for years for a competitive, but less intense, crewed round-the-world race for private entrants, the same people who are powering today’s offshore racing explosion. So how cool is it that Seahorse started out alongside a new race
around the world, and as we celebrate the 500th issue there is another promising round-the-world race in the pipeline. Cause or effect? We are just grateful – and pleased – to celebrate
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Apivia is already a country mile ahead of her Imoca rivals little more than an hour after the start of the Fastnet. ‘I have never seen any boat so obviously perfectly in balance sailing at that sort of speed. No wonder Charlie [Dalin] just couldn’t stop grinning’ – ed. Issue 500: and the state of the art
the 500th edition of an international sailing magazine that was created to record, report on and represent offshore racing and offshore racers in every corner of the world at a time when offshore racing itself is in such extraordinarily rude health.
q
HOW IT HAPPENED The chairman of the US Republican county committee is typically a retired aluminium siding salesman in polyester plaid pants and clashing tartan shirt who neglected
to take up golf – PJ O’Rourke
While the chairman of the Democratic county committee is a bitter
divorcee with 20 cats O’Rourke That’s how politics is
run in the US – O’Rourke
CRIPES We had a support boat issue here last weekend…
They wanted some meat with
their potatoes! – Davis
Fortunately for us,
little has changed – ed
IT’S THE HARD YARDS I don’t really believe in talent
– Olympic gold medallist Marit Bouwmeester
WORDS Don’t think of this as a retreat, but as an advance in a different direction
– General August von Mackensen encourages his troops during WW1
– Scott Tan, Connecticut Wow!! The kids got themselves in without a
coach boat to tow them – Tan
How did this happen?!? – Tan
THEIR LOSS, BABY Talks with the New York YC have proved more
difficult than expected – Terry Hutchinson, American Magic
THANKS FOR EVERYTHING
They wanted more than pretty pictures
JUST TOAST, TODAY Get the staff together this morning because something unpleasant may happen
provocation, ring me – Timoshenko WHY WE DO IT
– Soviet Defence Commissar Semyon Timoshenko, 22 June 1941
If there is any specific
There was something missing when I would just sail around the buoys, and then go
and generic stories – Dobbs Davis, on the first Seahorse readers
night and just go?’ – Gabart
Seahorse magazine and our associate raceboatsonly brokerage site are both at:
seahorsemagazine.com The editor is contactable by email at:
andrew@seahorse.co.uk
SEAHORSE 11
back to shore at night – François Gabart I was thinking, ‘Why can’t we just try to go further, sail into the
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