A small, but perfectly formed, fleet of ten Phantoms turned up at a warm and sunny Bartley on Sunday 12th May for the second of six events in the Phantom Class Midland Series, which was held alongside the Lightning 368 Open.
A month ago, when I wrote 'AC75 launching season', just three of the AC75s set to contest the 37th America's Cup in Barcelona had been revealed. Now it's five, with just the French Orient Express Racing Team left to show their hand.
The gods looked like they were heralding in a good weekend as the Friday arrivals for their four class open were treated to the Northern Lights. Numbers swelled to a healthy 16 boats by the time we were finally choosing not to wear full winter gear.
Regular readers will hopefully have enjoyed the recent 'Fine Lines' series of photos, times to coincide with the centenary of one of the greats behind the golden era of the UK's domestic dinghy scene, Jack Chippendale.
The Taylor Swift Eras Tour gave Paris a tease of mania on May 9-12, but the main course for the French capital will be the 2024 Olympic Games which anticipates 10,500 athletes and 15 million visitors, with two million from abroad.
For rating rules to most accurately assess the performance of dissimilar boats, it is necessary to consider the weather conditions when they compete. However,
Enjoy this video demonstration of the mainsail furling boom from the Danish brand FURLERBOOM on a J/45 from the J/Composites shipyard based in Les Sables d'Olonne, France.
So, what went wrong?! What turned out to be the nicest day of the year, but only five boats racing!
The last 24 hours has seen another exceptional shift put in by AJ wanderlust who topped the charts for miles travelled with 152NM, second was Odyssey with 149 and back in the running was Alchemy with 135.
Rock WSC delivered big time, once again, on the Bank Holiday weekend of 4-6 May for the Craftinsure-sponsored Lark Open. Sun, glistening blue seas, breeze and a perfect race track out in Daymar Bay made for three days of champagne sailing.
The fourth instalment in the SYC Sailing Club Series proceeded under the watchful eye of Race Officer Graham Cranford-Smith. The sun was shining and a steady force 3 had set in, so all that was left now was to set the course, and what a course it was!
Competitors and invited guests honoured the IMOCA and Class40 podiums of the 15th edition of The Transat CIC at the prizegiving Sunday in New York.
Isaac McHardie and Will McKenzie won the Medal race of the 49er European championships at La Grande Motte International Regatta. The Kiwi Olympic Nacra17 crew finished 11 at the same regatta, which was also the 2024 world championships for the class.
The Pwllheli leg of the Merlin Craftinsure Silver Tiller was held over the bank holiday weekend of 4-6 May. Twelve boats made the trip through torrential rain but were rewarded with far better weather once they made it to the venue.
This past weekend the Finnish J/70 National Championships were held just west of Helsinki in the seaside town of Helsingfors.
The 20th edition of PalmaVela took place this past week at the Real Club NĂ¡utico de Palma at Palma Mallorca, Spain.
It's Peter Karrie's Nefeli who takes the honor of winning the traditional Marina Portoroz Melges 24 Regatta, 2nd event of the 2024 Melges 24 European Sailing Series organized by YC Marina Portoroz in collaboration with Int'l Melges 24 Class Association
Yacht racing at the highest level requires consistency over a series and this only comes when every box is ticked - a competitive boat; a talented crew; practice; perseverance; constant assessment to improve performance and many others.
Weybiza was at its best, sunny with around 10kts of breeze. 23 sailors were signed up to race in the 4th South West traveller of the year, hosted at Castle Cove Sailing club, there was a good fleet of 16x 5.3 sailors and 7x 4.2 sailors.
A forecast of up to 50mm of rain was nowhere near enough to deter the loyal Beneteau enthusiasts for the annual Beneteau Pittwater Regatta by Flagstaff Marine.
The weekend after a Bank Holiday, a Club Meeting's weekend and Walk the Wight on Sunday meant low numbers were out racing, despite early afternoon tides, and for the Redwings, the weekend trophy of Lt Col Sloane Stanley's Inkwell.
The Nacra 17 World Championships, 49er, FX, and Mixed 470 European Champions concluded overnight in France, where sailors encountered two extremes of wind conditions in their final test before the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Following their success two months ago where they claimed the 470 Mixed World title, Jordi Xammar and Nora Brugman (above) from Spain won the European Championship on May 7-12 in Cannes, France.
Sean Herbert is now also the latest name on the trophy for the overall National Wingfoil champion after he won the event in emphatic fashion at the weekend.
Hosted annually by Sloop Tavern Yacht Club in Seattle, WA, the Race to the Straits featured two days of racing 30.3 nm from Shilshole to Port Townsend and return over last weekend.
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