INVITATIONS SENT OUT

The Women’s & Youth America’s Cup Regattas are two of the major highlights of AC37 in Barcelona, shining a spotlight on the next generation of America’s Cup sailors.

Expressions of interest have been strong with yacht clubs from 13 countries enquiring, some with established pools of Women’s and Youth talent, others with start-up teams looking to step up to the big time in one or both of the events.

With the six confirmed teams competing in the America’s Cup sealing the first six places in the Women’s & Youth events, the organisers have six remaining places in each event.

16:57 Page 1

Initial invitations are being sent to three teams that have registered interest for both regattas with strong and experienced challenges. Those entries are the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club of Canada with AC40 Team Canada as their team; a joint entry from the Royal Netherlands Yacht Club and the Royal Maas Yacht Club of the Netherlands with their team DutchSail and the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona of Spain, the host country of AC37, with Sail Team BCN.

That will leave three slots in the Youth America’s Cup and three in the Women’s America’s Cup and further invitations will be issued once an analysis of the remaining Expressions of Interest is complete.

Specialisingininflatable,fibreglassand aluminiumhullyachttendersandaccessories.

Yamahaoutboard,partsandservice–Jeanneau powerboats–Linderaluminiumboats–Rigiflex safetyboats–AB&ZodiacRIBs–Brokerage

Marine photography businesses

BoatPhotos.co.uk is to be offered for sale. With no reserve and a starting price of just 99p, eBay bidders will get a chance to become the new owner with bidding starting on 23 March. Owner Tony Toller said: “I started it as a weekend hobby in 2005, but the business proved incredibly popular and sales boomed. In spite of selling my boat in 2018 and uploading very few new images since, orders are still coming in from the extensive catalogue of images providing an easy income of a few thousand pounds in the last financial year.”

AkzoNobel Yacht Coatings is marking the 50th anniversary of its Awlgrip brand with celebrations and activities spanning over a year. In the five decades since its inception, the Awlgrip range has expanded to encompass finishes, primers, fillers and varnishes; a webpage on Awlgrip.com charts the history of the brand and unearths the fascinating hidden stories behind its evolution.