With one thousand boats and approaching 200,000 visitors, the Genoa Boat Show is now among the most important in the world…

Towards the end of the European boating season, the ancient sailing city of Genoa hosts one of the Mediterranean’s key in-water boat shows. Held every September, the Genoa International Boat Show, organised by Ucina, the Italian marine industry association, celebrates Italy’s love affair with the water.

Set in eastern end of Genoa’s well protected and busy commercial harbour, this six-day show is all about maximising the value of the “in water” concept. With the Mediterranean lapping on the other side of the harbour wall, the two marinas are filled with boats ready for sea trials. This, plus two floors of a large exhibition hall with a semi-covered external area allows Italy’s most prestigious marine exhibition to showcase the very best of the industry. The boats are grouped into types, accessed by wide walkways. Yachts, RIBs and runabouts cluster near the main hall, while catamarans (now a major growth area) are in the west part of the marina. Beyond them, motor yachts dominate the western end of the show.

During the show, the city of Genoa was announced as the finish port for the next Ocean Race in 2022 and two Open 60s were in town for the announcement, providing the star turn of sailing experiences.

With around 1,000 boats on show, just about every aspect of waterbased leisure was displayed for the 188,000 visitors last September, from which it is clear that that Italian yachting industry is in good shape.

The six-day Genoa International Boat Show is a rising star in the world of boat shows, hosting around 1,000 boats and attracting 188,000 visitors in 2019. Held in late September in the busy commercial harbour of this ancient and iconic maritime city, it showcases the very latest and best yachting innovations from Italy and beyond

The main air-conditioned hall featured two floors with a mezzanine level between for corporate events. This year, there were 45 new ventures at the show and a total of 610 business meetings arranged. Around 150 trade delegates were invited by the Italian marine industry association UCINA, and many new launches took place for the international press. English – the language of business and the sea – was widely spoken by exhibitors, so finding the information you needed was never a challenge.

The equipment hall itself was cavernous, with boats and engines on the ground floor, and marine equipment and associated businesses above. Better still, both upper floors opened out onto vast balconies offering panoramic views to the horizon and a bird’s eye view of the floating exhibits below. Anyone who remembers the Earl’s Court boat show would feel slightly at home here.

Back outside, walking around the pontoons in bright sunshine and temperatures in the high 20s, the range of boats and gear was all encompassing. As you would expect, most major brands were represented: a virtual who’s who of leading names in boats, masts, sails, rigging, yachts and ancillaries. If you wanted to step aboard any of the boats, access was granted with a smile and a suggestion to remove your shoes.

Access to this show is made easy by the close proximity of the international airport just a 20-minute taxi ride away. For train-goers, the station is within walking distance, and for those who combined visiting the show with a European holiday, and were not afraid to challenge Genoa’s chaotic and scooter-rich traffic, there was plenty of parking nearby.

Visitor levels were up this year, increasing by eight per cent, with over 43,000 visitors attending on the first day. According to organisers, stand space sold out well in advance.

‘Genoa, the capital of yachting, has shown how attractive, welcoming and hospitable it can be,’ said Saverio Cecchi, president of Ucina. ‘We remain ambitious to do even better in the future.’ From what we have seen in 2019, the bar has been set pretty high.

Date for your diary:
The 60th Genoa International Boat Show will take place from 17 to 22 September 2020.

Click here for more information on the Genoa International Boat Show »

One of next season’s most enticing IRC/ORC events has to be this brand new, non-stop grand tour of the Aegean Sea...

Ocean racing has a small number of famous 600-mile races: the Sydney- Hobart, the Fastnet, the Newport- Bermuda, the Caribbean 600 and the Middle Sea Race. Now there is a new member in this exclusive group of special races, presented by the Hellenic Offshore Race Club (HORC), to be sailed from 14 to 20 June 2020: the Aegean 600.

This new offshore racing event presents a significant sailing challenge as well as a unique opportunity to sail non-stop in one of the most windy, versatile and beautiful sailing venues of the world. This will be a demanding route where boats will sail 200nm downwind, 200 upwind zig-zaging through the Dodecanese and a last, rewarding reaching leg to the finish line off Cape Sounion. Technical highlights of the race include among others sailing through the Santorini Caldera, 70nm in the Sea of Karpathos and Rhodes, passing through Kos strait as well as the five nautical mile Delos-Mykonos channel, where tough upwind work is expected.

It’s due to these deep roots of life on the sea that Greece has a rich maritime heritage in general and a robust sailboat racing culture in particular. As part of this, HORC has been organising races and regattas for nearly 60 years, including important offshore events such as the annual Aegean Rally and top-level international regattas such as the ¼, ½ and ¾-Ton World Championships in the 1980s, the 2006 TP52 MedCup Athens Trophy and the 2008 ORCi World Championship.

Registration and festivities for the Aegean 600 begin a week in advance on 7 June, with the opening of free berthing and a race village at Olympic Marine, a full-service marina facility in Lavrio that is only a 30-minute drive from the international airport in Athens. During this pre-race period tours of famous sites such as the Acropolis Museum, the Parthenon and the Temple of Poseidon are available as well as parties and receptions affiliated with the event.

‘Xenios Zeus, the ancient Greek god of hospitality, promises to provide all crews with exceptional hospitality and an exciting race,’ says HORC commodore and veteran ocean sailor Ioannis Maragkoudakis.

This is a race designed by sailors for sailors, and those who will take part in it will have the opportunity to compete on a famous and very interesting course starting on 14 June from Homer’s sanctuary, in front of the columns of Poseidon’s temple at Cape Sounion. With the wishes of this mythical god of the sea the fleet will encounter a wide variety of sailing conditions, starting first with their sail for Milos, the home of the Venus de Milo and the prize of the Louvre de Paris. Surrounded by Cycladic white, they will then reach the scenic Caldera of Santorini, where the white of the houses blends with the volcanic rock creating unique contrasts and images.

Above: the course of the Aegean 600 will give competitors spectacular views of many of the Aegean islands. This is Astypalaia in the Dodecanese. Note: the 2020 race will be the first edition so these pictures are from this yearʼs Aegean Rally which includes stopovers in many of the same islands. And crossing tacks around Antimilos Island (below)

Sailing on to the southernmost island of the Aegean Sea, Kassos, the fleet will leave Karpathos – the isle of Athena’s birth and the residence of Prometheus – to port before turning north towards the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights in Rhodes. The course then continues north to the scenic island of Kos, home to the father of medicine Hippocrates, and Kalymnos, the island of sponge divers, while on the way they will see many beautiful small islands, each with its own history.

The fleet will next sail to the colourful islands of Pharmakonisi and Agathonisi, and will continue to Patmos, the island of St John and the Cave of the Apocalypse. Then sailors will cross the Icarian Sea, where legend says Icarus fell from the sky, and head to cosmopolitan Mykonos and Delos, the birthplace of Apollo and holy sanctuary for the ancient Greeks. The last islands of the route will be Giaros and Kea, and in the final leg the fleet will see the Temple of Poseidon which marks the end of this race and their sailing adventure.

The Aegean 600 Trophy will be awarded to the Overall IRC winner, the Poseidon Trophy will be awarded to the Overall ORC winner and the Aegean Blue Trophy will be awarded to the first monohull to finish the race and set the course time record for this first edition of the race. More prizes will be awarded as stated in the NoR. Online tracking will allow those not participating to monitor the progress of the fleet as they make this inaugural journey through the Aegean’s clear blue seas on a tour of ancient Greece.

Official charter yachts are available to race the Aegean 600 from two local suppliers: the X-Yachting Sailing Centre and fastsailing.gr, both based in Lavrio, near Athens. Registration is open and already there are 46 entries from 13 countries ready to take the challenge.

Click here for more information on the Aegean 600 »

11th Hour Racing’s pro-sailing ambassadors are partnering with a variety of marine conservation groups… and already with impressive results

‘Think global, act local’ is the simple philosophy that underpins many effective campaigns. And it’s at the heart of one of 11th Hour Racing’s recent initiatives, which funds collaborative projects between its own high-profile ambassadors – top-level marine industry professionals who care deeply about ocean health – and grassroots marine conservation groups.

Last year, 11th Hour Racing’s ambassadors were all tasked with finding a grassroots organisation that deserved a $10,000 grant and working with them on a worthwhile project. ‘They encouraged us – in a good way – to go out and find new grantees to work with,’ says Tom Burnham, pro sailor and coach. ‘We weren’t allowed to just go back to the same old well.’

11th Hour Racing’s grant programme director, Michelle Carnevale, put Burnham in touch with the Youth Sailing Foundation (YSF) of Indian River County in Florida. ‘It was a perfect fit,’ he says. ‘One of their founders is George Hinman, the America’s Cup sailor, past commodore of the New York Yacht Club and an old family friend of mine. If he was involved, I knew they had to be doing great things.’

Indeed they were. The Indian River Lagoon, a 150-mile long waterway that runs alongside the Atlantic coast of Florida, is one of the most biodiverse estuaries in the northern hemisphere with more than 4,300 species of plants and animals. By not only teaching local children the importance of looking after it, but also giving them regular opportunities to enjoy it, YSF is creating a new generation of local environmental stewards.

‘It’s so much more than a sailing centre,’ Burnham explains. ‘As well as giving under-served children free sailing lessons and teaching them about ecology and sustainability, they’re restoring the mangroves of the Indian River, using shells to build barrier reefs to protect them from erosion caused by powerboat wakes.’

Further down the Florida coast, another 11th Hour Racing ambassador has also been helping to restore mangroves. ‘I’m involved with a local group called Debris Free Oceans here in Miami,’ says US Olympic 49er helm Stephanie Roble. ‘People think of mangroves as this beautiful pristine environment but once you get in them, you realise there is just so much trash there: bits of styrofoam, straws, bottle caps… we need to raise awareness that there is a problem.’

A growing awareness of plastic pollution led Roble to become an 11th Hour Racing ambassador. ‘About five years ago I was doing a lot of professional sailing in small keelboats and I noticed that almost everywhere we raced there was plastic pollution and I began to realise what a big problem this is,’ she explains. ‘I grew up sailing on a beautiful small lake in Wisconsin, which doesn’t have any pollution; I wish all places could be like that. As I spent more time sailing on the ocean, it became obvious to me that the problem is huge and I need to do my part.’

Meanwhile, on the Gulf Coast of Texas, 11th Hour Racing ambassador Elizabeth Kratzig is focused on a specific type of plastic pollution: nurdles. These tiny pellets are the raw materials used to make nearly all plastic products. Billions of them escape due to sloppy methods at manufacturing sites and during transportation, and they end up in our waterways and on our shores. In fact so many get lost in transit that nurdles are the second-largest direct source of marine microplastic pollution in the world, after the dust from car tyres. About 250,000 tons of them get into our oceans every year – and many of these are entering the food chain. Sea turtles, whooping cranes and fish have been found starved to death with their bellies full of nurdles. The pellets become porous over time and can absorb high levels of contaminants, E.coli bacteria and toxins, which scientists are concerned could pass up the food chain to humans.

‘I’m focusing on nurdles because they’re the most easily controllable form of plastic pollution,’ Kratzig says. ‘Nearly all the billions of nurdles that end up in our coastal waters escape during transfer. And in the US, there is no strong legislation.’

Nurdles are easy to distinguish from other microplastics, Kratzig says, and her grant is funding Nurdle Patrol, run by the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve, which tracks and maps the distribution of nurdles around the Gulf of Mexico. It’s a citizen science project that relies on members of the public spending 10 minutes counting nurdles when they go to the beach and then emailing or uploading the count to the Nurdlepatrol.org website. Thus far, the record is a shocking 30,846 nurdles collected by one person in just 10 minutes in Galveston Bay. By comparing nurdle counts sent in by thousands of people, from hundreds of locations, marine biologists at Mission-Aransas can gauge the severity of pollution and map the data to create a picture of the overall problem.

Above: pro sailor Anthony Kotoun is working with volunteers from Mystic Aquarium to engage with fishermen to prevent or reduce debris from entering water systems.
Below: plastic pellets are a major pollution concern. Match racer and coach Elizabeth Kratzig is working with Nurdle Patrol on developing a mapping website to help identify the sources of plastic pellet pollution.

Nurdle pollution is almost everywhere, unfortunately, but for Kratzig it is particularly close to home: one of the biggest producers, Formosa Plastics, has a huge factory right next to her family’s ranch and an estimated 75 billion nurdles have found their way into the adjoining creek. A recent lawsuit against the company brought by Texas residents used Nurdle Patrol data as evidence of Clean Water Act violations and successfully proved the company had polluted Texas waterways with its nurdles. Formosa Plastics agreed to pay a $50 million settlement and change its practices to help prevent future spills.

Huge concentrations of nurdles are often found near factories that produce or use them. By mapping their distribution and highlighting the places with the highest concentrations, Nurdle Patrol is gathering evidence that can help identify the sources of the pollution – and hold manufacturers accountable.

Anthony Kotoun, a multi-class world champion and 11th Hour Racing ambassador based in Newport, Rhode Island, has also found a cause close to home. ‘It started when I got into fishing from the shore,’ he says. ‘We have a wonderful shoreline around Newport, but it’s depressing to see the amount of litter that’s being left behind including fishing gear packaging and line, along with single-use food wrappers and coffee cups – unfortunately it’s pretty obvious that shore-based fishermen are responsible for most of it.’

Kotoun’s solution is a partnership with Mystic Aquarium, funding a programme that helps volunteers patrol the coast and gives them the resources and knowledge they need to communicate effectively with the fishermen. A grant from 11th Hour Racing will train and support the volunteers, who cover a long stretch of coast from Connecticut to Massachusetts. ‘It’s better to prevent than to react, so that’s what this programme is about,’ Kotoun says.

A new recruit to 11th Hour Racing’s group of ambassadors is the French Ultime skipper François Gabart, a Vendée Globe winner and current singlehanded round-the-world record holder. ‘Like a lot of sailors I care deeply about the state of the ocean and the future of the planet,’ he says. ‘The ocean’s health has a huge impact on the environment. It affects all people, even those who live in the mountains.’

Gabart’s 40-strong team is already serious about sustainability: moving into a building powered by solar energy, using life cycle assessment on new Ultime and Imoca builds, and reducing single-use plastics to an absolute minimum. Beyond winning races, he sees the technical innovation of ocean racing teams as a means of acquiring knowledge that can one day be used for freight and even passenger transport. ‘Like everyone else, we need to be more sustainable,’ he says. ‘But as sailors we should be proud of what we achieve with renewable energy.’ He reckons a good way to make yacht racing more sustainable is to introduce an environmental handicap rating system that rewards sustainable practices and encourages teams to use materials such as biocomposites instead of carbon fibre.

‘I’ve become an ambassador for 11th Hour Racing because their message is important,’ Gabart says. ‘I saw what they did in the last Volvo Ocean Race; they have a good set of tools and a great platform to spread the message. I support other environmental causes too, but I am focusing on this one. We don’t have much time left, we’ve got to act now.’

Click here for more information on 11th Hour Racing »

No wonder the Oyster Palma Regatta is so often oversubscribed. A great learning experience, a brilliant party, a stepping stone to far horizons, an essential networking event and a whole lot more…

Among the boats lined up along the dock outside the Real Club Náutico de Palma, not one had been designed purely for racing. Yet as the 30-strong fleet turned the weather marks during the four days of racing to head downwind, the number and speed of spinnaker sets said it all when it came to judging just how competitively owners and crews were taking the Oyster Palma Regatta.

But while Palma may stand out in the Oyster world, there are other group activities that bring these yachts and their crews closer into line with regular racing circuits. This year’s Oyster event in Antigua followed the culmination of the 2017-19 Oyster World Rally, a fully supported Oyster rally around the world.

Taken in isolation these events don’t look like they have much in common with the performance world, yet collectively they form an important part of Oyster’s offering. Among the key messages that emerge, Oyster Yachts’ reputation for outstanding global support is way up the list and is a big part of the reason that many invest in their Oyster.

So too is the knowledge that prospective owners will be buying into the “Oyster family”, a community of likeminded people. If you’re going to take on the world, or even just part of the odd ocean, it’s comforting to know that you do so in good company. And herein lies one of the key reasons for Oyster’s persistence with its regattas.

Racing blue water cruising yachts around the cans isn’t an obvious fit for boats that have been designed to stretch their legs across thousands of miles. Nor is it a natural move for many of their owners. Yet the Palma Regatta has not only been going for more than 20 years which proves its popularity, but with an entry limit of 30, the week-long event is frequently over-subscribed.

In contrast to other leading brands that hold either one-off regattas or a season of events, Oyster Yachts hosts just one annual regatta. Yet this is still sufficient to draw owners with no previous experience.

‘This is our third year, our third season with this boat. I don’t come from a racing background at all and so would class myself as a real novice,’ says Mike Kearney, owner and skipper of the Oyster 56 Sionna. ‘I've got my brothers and their wives here on board, so we're not a professional crew. We have one local guy here helping us who knows the area, but otherwise it's a family boat and we race it as a family.’

Kearney is also happy to admit that he has only ever competed in three regattas in total, all of them the Oyster Palma event. Yet throughout the week the high standard of their sailing was clear to see. By the end of the event they had tied for first place in Class 4 against a crew that included Dragon sailors that were more familiar with the cut and thrust of the racecourse. Indeed, the tie-break went all the way back to just one race during the week to separate them from the winners.

But why has an owner who spends his time cruising chosen the stress of racing once year?

‘I learn a huge amount when we're doing this. I learned so much about my boat and how to sail her and how to optimise the sailing and that's readily transferable to my cruising,’ Kearney says. ‘The other side is the way that Oyster organises the event. The regatta itself is 50 per cent racing and 50 per cent social, which is amazing. It's family friendly and makes this event a must-do for us.’

But it’s not just the owners that gain from seeing what happens when they line up against other boats of a similar size. While it is not the primary reason for running the regatta, this event provides a means to assess and demonstrate the innovation and evolution of the next generation of Oyster Yachts. One such example this year was the new Oyster 565.

As the latest new launch and the first under the company’s new ownership, there has been plenty riding on the smallest model in the current fleet. Racing in Class 3, Oyster 565 Panthalassa was in a class that comprised entirely of 575s.

Racing under a handicap that was tougher than the 575s’ that made up the rest of the fleet, she beat all of them on the water on all but one occasion. If nothing else, three out of four line honour wins clearly demonstrated the improvement in straight line speed on a variety of points of sail over her predecessors.

In the cruising world, where handicaps don’t matter, a faster boat is clearly an advantage with high average daily runs which allow you to extend your cruising range.

Another example was the Oyster 675. Born out of the same new generation of designs, she too was quicker through the water than many of her older sisterships and even put some considerably bigger boats under pressure.

‘Events like these are a great way of confirming what we have been working towards in the design office during the planning and development of the new models,’ says designer Rob Humphreys. ‘It’s great to see theory played out in practice on the water, but it also makes it easier to discuss these attributes with owners and crews as they have often seen the differences for real.’

But Oyster’s leaders are also aware of how important it is to strike the right balance. Too much emphasis on racing in a world dominated by blue water cruising could be counter productive.

‘It’s about our Oyster family and the Palma event marks a style of racing that has become less popular elsewhere,’ says Oyster Yachts owner and CEO Richard Hadida. ‘Across the 30 boats that take part in Palma there are around 350 people, all of whom stay on their boats during the event. This is not the case at many other regattas but we believe it is one of the aspects that helps to create the strong brand loyalty that we have, as well as creating a fantastic atmosphere aboard boats that are designed be lived on.’

Oyster’s chief commercial officer and former professional skipper, Paul Adamson agrees and takes the view a step further. ‘One of things you will notice at our regattas is that you can’t tell the owners from the crew, meaning we are all one happy family having a superb time on and off the water! We also love the “spirit” of the Oyster family and you see this in abundance at our events.

‘Our real sense of community starts right in the beginning of ownership when someone invests in their Oyster and creates their dream yacht with us. Naturally we form close bonds of genuine friendship during this time. And this is just the start.’

Above: The Real Club Náutico rolls out the red carpet in the heart of Palma and delivers a world class programme of après-sail events – and for many of the attendees this event has grown into the social highlight of the year. Many of the friendships first forged in Palma are then later cemented in far-flung tropical (below) anchorages. For many owners, the Oyster Palma Regatta is the first stepping stone on the way to joining the Oyster World Rally and achieving their ultimate ambition of cruising around the world

For some owners the route to long distance bluewater cruising is clear, yet to many of them the idea of a circumnavigation is fantasy, at least to start with.

The introduction to the Oyster family during the early stages of ownership soon develops into a network of contacts that helps to build confidence, which can lead to the centrepiece of Oyster’s group activities, the Oyster World Rally.

Simply based on the comments of those that completed the 2017-19 rally that finished in Antigua, many set out on the two-year trip with only modest expectations of being able to go the distance. But as the rally unfolded leg by leg, owners and crews grew into the voyage and developed more confidence with each stage.

Little surprise then that the 2022- 23 Oyster World Rally has gained a strong reputation and now lies at the heart of the company’s cruising activities over the next two years.

In order to further help those looking to work their way towards what will be for many a lifetime goal, Oyster has announced a Western Mediterranean Rally for 2021. Starting and finishing in Palma, this two-month tour of the Mediterranean takes in Sicily, the Italian mainland, Sardinia, Corsica and the French mainland before returning to Palma. It’s a trip that is designed to not only tour the Mediterranean, but also to provide a shake-down ahead of the World Rally along with a snapshot of the level of support and entertainment that will be available.

The bottom line is that be it the rally or regatta format, the Oyster community is one that works on various levels. Here Mike Kearney is typical of many.

‘I get the adrenaline rush once a year. And once a year is more than more than adequate. For me it's the fun, the family and the learning. So once a year is fine for me.’ After that he’s back to cruising the world!

Click here for more information on Oyster »