Seahorse Magazine

The Sydney to Auckland ocean race is not to be undertaken lightly. But what a great feeling when you step ashore after the finish... The trans-Tasman rivalry is set to reignite when the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club’s (RPAYC) inaugural Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race, which starts on Saturday, 7 October 2023 at 1pm, from Sydney Harbour and finishes in Auckland, New Zealand. A Category 1 race, competitors will feel the thrill of starting a stunning harbour with the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House as its backdrop. The finish line will be in Auckland home of the America’s Cup.

By introducing ceramic bearing technology into its latest line of Zircon blocks, Harken has significantly improved the accuracy with which sail trimmers will immediately match sail shape to changes in conditions. An undeniable leader in the field of premium deck gear, Harken is renowned for being at the front of running rigging technology, both in its design and production. The company ethos and the demands of the world class sailors with which it collaborates, requires its technical team to constantly improve its products for racing and cruising alike, and line handling gear has always been one of its specialties.

Indicative of how close and competitive the 52 Super Series fleet will be in 2023, the first week of April saw the majority of the fleet already in Valencia for testing, tuning and training, all underpinned by a major dose of FOMO (fear of missing out). The search for fractions of a knot here and there continues for some, while others, like the 2022 World and circuit champions Quantum Racing, have an exciting new posse of young blood to bring up to speed before the curtain rises less than three weeks later in Saint Tropez.

Two major events in Kiel this summer will vault the city forward into being once again a centre stage for high-level international sailing: the more than 140 years young and unique Kiel Week from 17-25 June and the 2023 edition of the ORC World Championship being held over 4-12 August. The first will focus on competition among a huge variety of classes, from dinghies and Olympic aspirants to big boats, and the latter will bring together on the Kiel Fjord the best of the best in big boat inshore and offshore racing in search of World Champion titles.

Bigger isn’t always faster. In the 2013 America’s Cup in San Francisco the speed and spectacle of 72ft wingmasted cats on foils turned heads like never before. But in the next Cup cycle in Bermuda the smaller AC50s were more nimble and in some cases faster. And they were already more consistent performers. Back then, part of the focus was on the solid wing sails. The current Cup boats have what appears to be a more conventional sailplan yet for the Southern Spars-built masts on the AC40s, this return is anything but straightforward.

There has been a lot of promotion of filmless and composite sail fabrics in recent years. With efficient mixtures and orientations of fibres, these materials can be used to create sails of great strength and durability. Dimension-Polyant’s new Tyra PLY now enables all sailmakers to offer their customers this significant uptick in performance. The customisation of sailcloth is not new for Dimension-Polyant, with Tyra PLY the latest in this trend to fulfill the demand for high-strength, lightweight and durable materials applicable across the huge variety of boat types, from winged kites and windsurfers to offshore yachts.

Superyacht regattas are immense fun but for many owners the perception of increased stress in exchange for a few days’ racing keeps them on the sidelines. The SuperYacht Racing Association is working to change that... A recent online meeting of the SuperYacht Racing Association (SYRA) saw a selection of global superyacht event organisers focus their collective minds on one particular issue. On the agenda was the apparent hesitancy of some superyacht owners, along with their captains, to experience the delights of regatta racing.

Fifty years ago in Finland five young men shared a controversial idea and an ambitious plan. They quit their jobs at Nautor and set out to create a new style of offshore cruiserracer – lighter, stiffer and faster than almost anything else on the market. ‘We just got together one day and the idea came up,’ says Per-Göran “PG” Johansson, one of the five founding fathers of Baltic Yachts back then and still one of its directors today. ‘We were not alone thinking “light is better” but most boatyards and naval architects favoured heavier designs.

Shipping raceboats between events makes a lot of sense, whatever the size of the yacht. In particular, wear and tear is eliminated so you can expect the boat, sails and equipment to arrive in the same condition in which it left. It’s also possible to ship the yacht’s container or a trailer with equipment and spares, either at the same time or ahead of the boat. Dutch company Sevenstar is arguably the biggest name in the field globally and has more than 120 of its own ships used for both scheduled and one-off sailings.

When Pauger Carbon decided to push both performance and elegance to the max with their latest composite standing rigging product they ensured that it was just as easy to retrofit as to install on a new launching. The evolution of fibre standing rigging technology moves fast. Ongoing development in materials and design is starting to produce solutions which, compared with conventional stainless steel rod, are smaller in profile for low windage and lighter in weight for greater stability and less pitch gyradius. The end result is higher performance potential in any new project or retrofit rig scenario.