Yachts & Yachting magazine November 2019

Have you bought a really great piece of kit this season? Have you sailed an incredible boat? Have you found the achievements of one sailor or crew particularly impressive? Welcome to the British Yachting Awards, where you can show your appreciation with a vote. The category shortlists you’ll find between pages 21 and 30 have been put together guided by your nominations and the lengthy consideration of our editorial teams. After you have cast your votes, the winners will be announced in a ceremony at the Royal Thames Yacht Club on 2 December and published in our January issue. Whoever gets the most votes, all those shortlisted are deserving winners. To my mind, the list also shows that it’s a great time to be a sailor. The breadth of boat types…

All but two of the GB Olympic sailing team were announced by the British Olympic Association on 1 October, writes Andy Rice. The 12 sailors were the first Team GB athletes selected for Tokyo 2020. The RYA selectors finalised their pick for eight of the 10 events that will be contested on the waters of Enoshima next summer, but trials for the Laser Men and the Nacra 17 mixed catamaran are yet to be concluded. There were some obvious choices, not least reigning Olympic champions Giles Scott, in the Finn, and Hannah Mills, now campaigning the Women’s 470 with Olympic first-timer Eilidh McIntyre. Standing for their photo call at Haven Holiday Park, Rockley Park in Poole, all 12 athletes were smiling with pride and relief at being selected with the best part of…

The global SailGP league’s inaugural season culminated with a 10-minute match race between Australia and Japan in Marseille on 22 September, in which Australia secured the trophy and US$1 million prize in dramatic fashion. The stakes for the final were unprecedented – US$1 million is the largest monetary prize in the sport of sailing. Race analysis determined that the final duel came down to a mere 78 centimeters at a crucial moment on the racecourse; if the Australians had been five-hundredths of a second slower, Japan could have forced them to incur a penalty. It was a risky play by Japan in an attempt to force Australia off course that backfired and allowed Australia’s helm Tom Slingsby to move into the lead and ultimately take the win. Japan led for the majority of…

100000 man hours went into the design and build of Emirates Team New Zealand’s first AC75 yacht Te Aihi 2050 The year by which it has been claimed the oceans could contain more plastic than fish… and why Olympic champion Hannah Mills has launched the #BigPlasticPledge to remove single use plastic from sport 1500 young sailors were expected to compete in British Youth Sailing’s regional junior championships in September 160 Dragons will converge on San Remo in October to help celebrate the 90th anniversary of the class…

“We made one error and that’s what happens. You can’t win everything and for every winner there is a loser. We knew someone was going to walk away unhappy. It’s a shame it’s us. But that’s sport and we will just get ready for next season.” Nathan Outteridge plays down the disappointment of missing out on the $1m prize pot after his Japan SailGP team were beaten to the top spot by Tom Slingsby’s Australia SailGP “Anyone can have a crack at the title next year. Anyone who’s raced against me on the water will testify that you don’t need to be a great real life sailor to be good at eSailing. The game is essentially free to play, and I have managed to be quite successful while not actually spending a…

Defender Emirates Team New Zealand christened the first new America’s Cup AC75 Te Aihi (Dolphin) in Auckland on 6 September. The New Zealand launch was followed swiftly by the American Magic team, whose 75ft monohull Defender became the first of the new class of boats to foil, taking flight across the waters of Narragansett Bay on Rhode Island (pictured to the right). It wasn’t long before Te Aihi got foiling too, later in the month (opposite). Meanwhile in Portsmouth, Team INEOS UK was set to launch its first new AC75 as we went to press. The challenger of record, Luna Rossa, also announced its boat would be ready imminently. The second US-based team, Stars + Stripes, has not yet completed its first boat, but a launch is hoped for before the year…