Sailing World on Water Sept 22.23 AC 40s, Medical Heli Rescue, J24 Worlds, Big Boats, more

Highlights of what happened globally in the sport of sailing in the last 7 days.
Crew member, Stephane Raguenes, , onboard the 53ft French yacht Triana, which is racing around the world in the McIntyre Ocean Globe Race, was successfully rescued after a dramatic long-range helicopter mission was organised. A Portuguese rescue chopper was despatched, and the yachts' crew put the patient into a liferaft, before being winched onboard the helicopter, and flown to Madeira for medical attention.

This is your weekly Global Sailing Highlights show, The World on Water, September 22, 2023.

Continuing our coverage of the New York Yacht Club's Invitational Cup, Day 3 saw the wind shifts as much as 40 degrees with lanes of pressure next to little-to-no wind, the San Diego Yacht Club, led by helmsman Tyler Sinks, moved into the overall lead on the penultimate day of the eighth Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, with the low score of 42 points.

During the 45th anniversary of the J 24 Class, 10 nations were on hand to open the 2023 World Championship. This year’s edition is hosted by the Nautical Club of Thessaloniki in Greece with 35 boats representing Argentina, Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, and the United States. After three races under blue skies and breeze of 8-10 knots, American Keith Whittemore’s Furio leads the pack with scores of 2, 2, and 1, for just 5 points.

The San Diego Yacht Club dominated the windy final race of the New York Yacht Club's Invitational Cup, to stamp their authority on the eighth edition of the world’s premiere Corinthian regatta.
Led by 34-year-old helmsman, Tyler Sinks, the San Diego’s victory in the final race was their only top-four finish of the regatta, and gave them the low score of 43 points, good for an 11-point win over first-time entrant, Corinthian Yacht Club of Marblehead, Mass. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron was placed third with 55 points.

The first Preliminary Regatta on the road to the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona was a non-starter on day one as torrential weather plagued the venue. As the teams slipped their moorings, monsoon-like rain dumped down along with lightning. Therefore Racing was cancelled.
On Day 2 Team New Zealand crashed over the finish line after passing the Swiss Alinghi boat to win a dramatic second race as light winds caused havoc at the opening America’s Cup preliminary regatta. It was the first day any official racing could take place in Vilanova i la Geltrú and the French Orient Express team were the surprise leaders heading into the regatta’s final races on Monday when the New York Yacht Club's Tom Slingsby put his massive stamp on the geratta and gave to regatta win to the ex cup holders.

Five of the scheduled 10 races were on the books at the J/24 World Championship, hosted by the Nautical Club of Thessaloniki in Greece. Thirty-five boats reveled in another gorgeous day of bright skies, warm temperatures and breeze of 8 to 12 knots. Two races were completed Wednesday, and now taking into account the discard. American Keith Whittemore’s Furio kept hold of the top position with 9 net points.

Hosted by the Club Maritimo de Mahon, at a brand-new venue for ClubSwan Racing on the east coast of the island of Menorca, provided a typically competitive series that saw six different winners from the seven races held.
With varied wind conditions, including a day with a sea breeze of 18 knots, Stella Maris was able to hold on to their overnight lead heading into the final day. However, it was whittled away by the hard-charging German duo of Marcus Brennecke's Hatari, who finished second in part thanks to two race wins, and Hendrik Brandis' Earlybird who took the final place on the podium,

Race 1 of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race has finished with Perseverance taking the win of the first race of the circumnavigation. After the epic Race Start from Portsmouth, UK on 3 September and the fleet bound for Puerto Sherry, the conditions have made for an interesting competition with plenty of tactical racing required from the eleven teams during this race to Spain.

Patience paid off for both the Race Committee and competitors on Day 3 of the J/24 World Championship hosted by the Nautical Club of Thessaloniki in Greece. Scheduled for a 1500 start, and then postponed ashore, the 35 teams may have started making their evening plans. But the breeze picked up, and the boats headed out for two more races (bringing the total to seven) in winds of 6-10 knots.