International Sailing

The new leaders at the Melges 32 'King of the Lake' regatta on the Lake Garda after the three races of yesterday are Martin Reintjes ITA (with Gabriele Benussi ITA and Alberto Bolzan ITA) and Christian Schwoerer GER (with Nic Asher GBR) at equal points. Only one point behind follows Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio MON as 3rd. ----- The ranking list and the event facebook page.

On her circumnavigation, the Solar Catamaran 'Race for Water' is now cruising on the Pacific Ocean. The ideal wind conditions allowed to hoist the Kite accelerating the multihull to an average speed of 6kn with tops of up to 10kn. ----- The video.

Three races were held yesterday in classic Lake Garda Ora conditions at the Melges 32 'King of the Lake' Regatta, and Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio MON and Christian Schwoerer GER share the lead at equal points. ----- The results and the event facebook page with photos and videos.

As always in Olympic years, World Sailing publishes the updated Racing Rules, to be downloaded here as pdf. We shall come back on the major changes on this website.

Three more races were held yesterday at the Lake Garda opening event of the Melges 20 without changes of top of the ranking. Marco Giannini ITA and his team finished first. ----- The ranking list and the event facebook page with photos and videos.

Two more races were held on Lake Thoune in light and variable winds for the Finns and the Starboats, making it a total of five over the weekend. ----- Winner of the Finn Trophy was Christoph Burger TYC defending his lead of Saturday, followed by Gerhard Weinreich AUT and Christoph Christen SUI. 56 participants from 4 nations were finally ranked. ----- In the Starboats, Bernhard Seger/Walter Oess SVB remained on top as well. Uwe Barth/Steffen Rutz GER and Urs Hunkeler/Oliver Fuchs YTL - best of the day - completed the podium. ----- The event website, and the Club website.

The post-Corona activity on Lake Garda was kicked-off on Friday with the Melges 20. Five races have been completed so far with Marco Giannini ITA and his team in the lead. ----- The ranking list and the event website.

Good conditions prevailed on Lake Thoune yesterday and both classes completed three races each. ----- In the big Finn fleet (56 participants), Christoph Burger TYC and Gerhard Weinreich AUT share the lead at equal points. 3 points back follows Jürgen Eiermann GER on rank 3. ---- In the Starboats (16 teams), Bernhard Seger/Walter Oess SVB are on top ahead of Uwe Barth/Steffen Rutz GER and Jürg Ryffel/Beat Heinz YCR . ----- The event website.

As we reported a month ago, fully-crewed sail racing in Switzerland was restarted with manageable safety measures specified in individual Covid-19 annexes to the Sailing Instructions under the self-responsibility of the organizing authority. One of many events held so far was the first Act of the 2020 J/70 Lake Constance Battle raced over the past weekend with 37 boats on the starting line. ----- Have a look at the very detailed report (PDF) published in the J/Newsletter- July 1st, 2020.

Yesterday, seilmagasinet.no published an article, commenting on the interview of Scott Perry, World Sailing Vice-President, of Tuesday (hit Google translator button for English or your language). ----- President Kim Anderson DEN confirms that the PR firm TSE was involved in his presidential campaign in coordination with the Danish Sailing Federation and the Danish Olympic Committee, which is considered legal by the Danes. ----- Regarding the signature of a service contract with TSE by Andersen shortly after his election without approval by the Executive Board may be considered a conflict of interest infringement. Comes in addition, that the previous TSE relation has not been mentioned when this outsourcing business was on the table. Efforts are being made today to bring a formal complaint against Kim Andersen to the World Sailing Ethics Commission, the second complaint of Andersen in a short time. The first, where there is talk of forgery of signatures, is currently under consideration.

Over the past weekend, 40 Flying Dutchman team from 4 nations sailed the International Trapeze Regatta on the Steinhude Meer GER, and Dirk Bogumil/Sven Hermenau GER were the winners after 5 races just one point ahead of Kilian König/Johannes Brack GER and Alexander Antrecht/Christian Kujan GER. Stephan Fels/Ulf Hügel SUI folloewd on rank 8. ----- The ranking list.

'Defiant', the first AC75 racing yacht built for the New York Yacht Club 'American Magic', Challenger for the 36th America’s Cup, has arrived in New Zealand, as the first syndicate to have one boat on site in Auckland. After long negotiations, the entry for team personnel and their families was made possible after the team received Corona border exemptions from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. The early transfer was planned to leave Pensacola, Gulf of Mexico, before the start of the hurricane season. ----- The official report.

An excellent final day with the ranks 2/3/1 as well as two downers of the long-time leaders Pierre-Marie Santoni/Robin Mori FRA, ranks 15 and 20, made Yoann Senften/Yoann Stettler CNV 29er Class Champions 2020 on their home waters. The bronze medal went to Pablo Rüegge/Linus Abicht SVKr. Sophie Studer/Sterre Wiersma RCO as 4th missed the podium by 10 points. ----- The results and a report.

As all 2020 regattas scheduled for the first months of this year, the GC32-Extreme-Sailing-Events this year have been cancelled. Christian Zürrer SUI with his Black Star Team, newcomer of last year, used the available idle time for trainings with his foiling GC32 cat on Lake Uri. The first GC32 regatta will take place end of August in Lagos POR. ----- A video with an interview.

Pierre-Marie Santoni/Robin Mory FRA defended their first place, but with two race wins, Yoann Senften/Yoann Stettler CNV reduced the backlog non the leaders to 3 points. On rank 3 follow Giuliano Zennaro/Mateo Haro CNV. ----- Good sailing conditions prevailed again on the second day of the 29er Swiss Championship on Lake Geneva allowing to complete six races. ----- The results.

37 teams from all three Lake Constance neighbor countries started yesterday off Kreuzlingen to the first J/70-Battle of the year. In light winds, three races could be held on the first day, and Nick Zeltner RCO with his team are the clear leaders with three race wins. Stefan Seger RCO and Lorenz Kausche BT follow on the ranks 2 and 3. ----- The ranking list and the report (germ).

On June 24th, beleaguered World Sailing has held its Mid-Year Meeting with a restricted audience and using video technology for the first time due to the Corona restrictions. Before the meeting, Markus Schwendtner GER, Council member as Chairman of the Classes Committee circulated a letter calling for the meeting to be open to observers, i.e. the Classes, which was denied, as confidential financial information would be discussed. ----- We informed earlier, that World Sailing is in deep financial troubles caused by the mismanagement of the responsible President Kim Andersen DEN and the Executive Board. In a very detailed article in SailWorld published two days ago, Richard Gladwell NZL presents the letter exchange concerning admission to the meeting as mentioned above, and gives above all an overview on facts causing the financial disaster. ----- Federations, international and also national, have been created to serve its members, be it for World Sailing, the Member National Authorities, or on a national basis, the Clubs. Unfortunately, there is always a danger, that officials in charge, lost in self-promoter interests, depart from the principal raison d'être, spending human and financial resources on items of no real value for its member. There is hope, that this will be corrected with a new Executive Board to be elected in November 2020.

With the ranks 1/2/5, Pierre-Marie Santoni/Robin Mory FRA have clearly taken the lead at the 29er Swiss Championship in Versoix/Lake Geneva ahead of Brent and Robbe Verhoest CNV on the 2nd place with a 10 point backlog. Giuliano Zennaro/Mateo Haro CNV follow on rank 3. ----- Good sailing conditions prevailed yesterday for the 24 teams during the first three races of the 2020 Championship. ----- The results and the video report of the Léman bleu TV station.

During the Corona Lockdown, the 470 team Kilian Wagen/Grégoire Siegwart SUI, still fighting for an Olympic selection, continued their training on Lake Geneva, partly in very windy Northeasterly conditions. ----- A video report of the French sailing magazine Voiles & Voiliers.

The top favorite for the Finn Gold Medal at the 2020/1 Olympic Games in Tokyo is Giles Scott GBR, the 2016 Rio Olympic Champion. ----- A portrait of the successful English athlete.

The Episode 4 of the English Sailing Video Magazine 'On course' contains among other items an extensive interview with Ernesto Bertarelli SUI of 'Alinghi' (start at 19th min.), as well as reports on the easing of the lockdown and single-handed sailing. ----- The video.