He’s back

by John Curnow, Editor, Sail-World AUS on 28 Aug 2017 At 78 years of age, the living legend that is Jon Sanders has returned once more to the Australian mainland. Leaving Noumea, he headed for Bundaberg, and it is highly likely Sanders will now actually go all the way around the bottom and then head backup the other side for Carnarvon, so as to really be able to call it a full, solo, lap of the planet. He should know his way around too, for this is his tenth, a record in and of itself.

Naturally, when you were the first to nail the double, and still the only to secure the triple (both non-stop), you are possibly more like one Nadia Elena Com?neci than just about anything else. That makes you entirely deserving of the word ‘perfect’ being used in your presence. Of course his journey has been hilarious, and informative, and in a lot of ways you kind of thought you were there on board Perie Banou II as well. You can watch the video of Jon in Bundaberg here.

Sort of at the other end of the spectrum is the 49er Worlds, which kicks off today. Many of the known names have got other duties on at present, but the form Men’s crew is David Gilmour and Joel Turner who won Gold at Kieler Woche and Silver back at the same venue for the more recent European Championship. Once upon a time they were Outteridge and Jensen’s training partners, as well.

Then at Aarhus, the last hit out before the World’s at Porto, the Gold was won by their Austrian mates, Benjamin Bildstein and David Hussl, and the Silver by the brothers from Sorrento, Will and Sam Phillips. Bildstein and Hussl commented on Facebook how delighted they were to be sharing the podium with their Aussie mates, so clearly it is all saved for the time out on the track.

There are plenty of names in that fleet, with Sime Fantela, Dylan Fletcher-Scott, and a certain Robert Scheidt. Other Aussies are Lachy Gilmour and Kurt Hansen. In the FX, the incredible Tess Lloyd, Caitlin Elks, Haylee Outteridge, Natasha Bryant, and Amelia Stabback will be flying the green and gold, which of course are the same colours (different shades) as worn by one Martine Graele (BRA), with Maloney and Meech (NZL) also there.

Left turn, as it were, and continuing on from Red Circle Boutique a few editorial’s back now (as well as then Tahzjay and Never a dull moment), we come to this week’s subject. In Million Dollar Initiative Sailing Raceboats launched their subsidy for RS Feva and Quests. Remember, this is about a million dollars.

It is this type of bold initiative that is showing the way for the future, with a real eye on expansion of the offering, and thereby develop participation. It is also great to see this level of genuine support of grass roots sailing and clubs, and it deserves serious consideration by anyone in charge of a fleet or training programme. Perhaps this is why we received so much feedback about the release on Sail-World and sister publication, Yachts and Yachting online.

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So from the littlun’s to the big’uns… The marvel that has been the inaugural J Class World Championship, as part of the Kohler Cup, is literally something else. Not since a very much bygone era has there been something quite like this. Yes there are superyacht cups and all, Porto Cervo, St Barths, and many other events/locales to point at, but back at the ‘home’ if you like (Newport), the behemoths have been utterly spectacular.

If you can remember any Beken of Cowes calendar or book, then massive crews manhandling stupid amounts of sail is pretty much laser etched into your synapses. So it is now a new era to remember, with white canvas displaced by black 3Di Raw from North Sails. From Volvos to record smashing giant tris, this ultra-durable and shape holding technology first seen in the AC has been slaying them.

Replacing their ‘string’ forebears, 3Di is lighter, by virtue of having all of its mass in the fibres themselves, and none in the delivery mechanism. So it is little wonder that North Sails themselves say, ‘…we think of the J's as a Grand Prix class, because the teams are sailing as aggressively as if they were on a TP52.’

Now with thanks to our good friend of Sail-World, Andrea Francolini, we have this wonderful picture of Wild Oats XI displaying her new North Sails 3Di gems at Hammo. This was hot on the heals of near sistership, Black Jack, collecting her new working wardrobe from North Sails when she returned to the water after her birthday. Yet it is not all about the biggest boats out there, with 3Di Race making it affordable for club racers to have the best and very recently, 3Di Nordac now making it possible for the cruising market to have sails that perform for ages. By the way, Francolini has been busy up North as usual, and his Facebook page has quite a few gems on it.

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