Contents
December 2024 FEATURES
4 Boring, not PHIL UHL 42 Pondering
Keeping everyone happy, outspending and why the Vendée Globe works. ROB WEILAND
44 Impenetrable
This time? Charal skipper Jérémie Beyou has an extraordinary ocean racing CV. One of a tiny handful of three-time winners of the Solitaire du Figaro, overall winner of the Volvo Ocean Race with Charles Caudrelier on Dongfeng, two-time French offshore champion. This month sees the start of Beyou’s fifth Vendée Globe, an event that has so far eluded him whether he has started as race favourite or as promising newcomer. He retired from his first two attempts, in 2008 and 2012, and finished third in 2016. In 2020 Beyou ended up a long way back… having started among the leading favourites, he suffered a runner failure and then electrical issues soon after the start, forcing a return to port and a restart days later. Although the first afloat with a new (Manuard) design for the latest race, for a big programme results to date have been mixed. The latest super-narrow Charal is fast in certain conditions, in particular sailing upwind when only Charlie Dalin’s Macif can live with her, but when the favourites to win the 2024-2025 event are discussed Beyou is now a little further from the top of the list. He has the boat, he has the experience and he can often be fast as hell. But it may better suit this quiet native of Lorient (of course) to not be quite so starkly in the spotlight this time around; when Beyou hit trouble early on last time the armchair critics were quick out of the traps. Loyalty to members of the Seahorse ‘team’, particularly Sam Goodchild, Charlie Dalin and Sam Davies, dictates where our main hopes must lie… but we also very much wish the brilliant but so far poorly rewarded Beyou a great 2024/25 Vendée Globe
COVER/INSET: Gilles Martin-Raget
What will it take if Team New Zealand is ever going to be beaten? DAN BERNASCONI, IVOR WILKINS, GRANT DALTON, DYLAN FLETCHER, BEN AINSLIE
52 One plus one makes three CAROL CRONIN is more than a little impressed by the humanity and generosity of PAUL CALLAHAN
56 Quite the anniversary For the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe the organisers introduced a high entry limit of 40 boats. Yet there will still be well-prepared Imoca skippers left on the dock. YOANN RICHOMME PATRICE CARPENTIER, CHARLIE DALIN
REGULARS
6 Commodore’s letter RAY REDNISS
11 Editorial ANDREW HURST 14 Update
A deeper dive into some of the idiosyncracies of AC37 plus a look at just what CHARLIE DALIN meant when he called his latest Imoca ‘different’. TERRY HUTCHINSON AND JACK GRIFFIN
22 World news CDK at 40, a bit of a British surprise (to be honest),
a special (Cup) talent from Wales… a famous (Kiwi) dynasty stays with the times, why a great Australian skipper never has crew trouble, big boat fest in Newport. PATRICE CARPENTIER, DOBBS DAVIS, BLEDDYN MON, MARCUS BLACKMORE, JON BILGER, IVOR WILKINS, BLUE ROBINSON, MAGNUS WHEATLEY
34 Rod Davis – Now for Google A certain former Huntington Beach sailmaker looks at the implications of last month’s big news
36 IRC – and the ‘competitive lifetime’
JASON SMITHWICK
38 IMA – In rude health An unlikely sector of yacht racing to be shrugging off all the cares of the world. ANDREW MCIRVINE
40 TP52 Super Series
And it all comes down to 1pt across no fewer than 41 races. ANDI ROBERTSON
65 TechStreet
68 STORM TRYSAIL CLUB Members succeed at the ORC Worlds in Newport KATE SOMERS
72 Seahorsebuild table – Counterpoint
No foiling, no cavitation… but every bit as much attention to perfection… ADRIAN MORGAN
76 Seahorse Regatta Calendar 102 It happened
They dominated the Cup the first time as well…
103 Sailor of the Month Winners, winners, winners!
Ready for more? Team NZ cyclors recover after another race win during the 37th America’s Cup Match. It’ll be an interesting debate about how to tweak the AC75 rule for the 38th Cup. The word ‘silly’ does come to mind, not in a facetious way, when horsepower comes from four amazing athletes sweating away where no one can appreciate their efforts. But then replace them with batteries as well and what will you be left with…?
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