Sailing Highlights World on Water April 05 24 Big AC Boats Arrive in Barcelona, Trofeo Princes Sofia

A lovely 10 to 12 knots north easterly breeze made for an exciting start to the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club's Rolex China Sea Race 2024.) All 21 boats got off to a clean start at 11.20 hours in the stunning Hong Kong Victoria Harbour. The fleet gathered before the start at Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club's Kellet Island Clubhouse for a lion dance to wish the competitors a safe journey across the ever-challenging South China Sea.

This is your weekly global sailing highlights show, the World on Water, April 5th 2024.

The popular sailing podcast, Sailing Illustrated, is always covering the latest in sailing and this week had the mail on the New York Yacht Club's Big Americas Cup Yacht and its delivery from the US to Barcelona via the big Ukrainian heavy-lift Antonov cargo plane. The boats are assembling in Barcelona as Ineos Britannia's AB3 boat is also in transit down the A35 from Carrington Boats, not quite the entry as made by the Americans.
Tom Ehrman of Sailing Illustrated reports.

It may have been April Fool's Day, but the weather in Palma de Mallorca was no joke. Sailors faced steep, mountainous waves and 20 to 30 knot winds, for the opening day of the Trofeo Princesa Sofia, keeping the IQ Foil Men and Women, 49er, 49er FX, and NACRA 17 fleets from racing.
The Women's Kite, 470, and Ilka 6 and 7 fleets, were able to get racers off despite a challenging day.

The North Pacific Ocean. Big One.
The ultimate test of physical and mental fortitude, our intrepid race crew, are set to face. On previous editions, teams have encountered mountainous waves as tall as 14 metres, in sea states classed as phenomenal. Hurricane-force winds, freezing temperatures, and a true sense of remoteness, are all a possibility, but that is what the teams train for.

Here's a look into the Italian Luna Rossa Prado Pirelli Americas Cup team. What I really like is the compttion, comparing yourself with others and trying to bring out your best.
Ruggero Tida is channeling precision, decisiveness, and a quest for the extreme, into conquering the 2024 Americas Cup. The Royal Ocean Racing Club has big plans to promote youth sailing in 2024.

Over the years, through the generosity of RORC members, the Griffin Fund has assisted in providing race boats and experienced sailors, to improve young sailors' understanding of offshore racing.
An exciting evolution has started with quite a bang for 2024. Nearly 300 sailors, 18-30 years of age, contacted the RORC with 200 attending a Griffin Zoom webinar held by the Griffin project team.

Few yachts are more iconic than Pen Duick 6, with its long and colourful history with the Whitbread Round-the-World Race.
(3:09) Designed specifically for the 1973 Whitbread, and sailed by the legendary Eric Tabarly, Pen Duick 6 had to be built in record time to make it to the starting line. She was an unofficial entrant in the 1977-78 Whitbread, and in 1981-82 as Euromuck. Marie Tabarly is now owner and skipper of the 73ft, 33m Pen Duick 6, the flagship of the Ellermann Terra project, raising public awareness of major environmental and social issues.