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Sailing News for November 12, 2025

Offshore legends Franck Cammas and Tom Laperche finally claim victory in the Transat Café L’Or, wrapping up a spectacular race across the Atlantic with record pace and champagne in Martinique. Back home, the RS800 fleet lights up Hayling Island with high-octane fun, while Diego Botín’s Spanish SailGP squad embraces chaos on their road to Abu Dhabi. Olympic-class action in Melbourne nears entry deadlines, but in Auckland, big wind shuts down Day 2 of the Predictwind A-Class Worlds. Cornell and Harvard sailors shine at the U.S. Singlehanded Nationals, and one clever DIYer frees a seized prop with nothing but candle wax and ingenuity.

Inshore & Offshore Racing

Atlantic Heroes Arrive: Transat Café L’Or Finishes in Martinique (6 min read)
The Transat Café L’Or wrapped up in style as Franck Cammas and Tom Laperche finally snagged victory aboard SVR Lazartigue after two near misses, blasting across the Atlantic at over 21 knots on average. Jérémie Beyou’s Charal took the IMOCA win, while Francesca Clapcich made history as the top female finisher since Ellen MacArthur. In the Ocean 50s, Viabilis Oceans stormed from behind for a dramatic upset. A stacked fleet, a few heartbreaks, and a whole lot of champagne in Fort-de-France.

RS800 Fleet Lights Up the Soak Insure Tide Ride at Hayling Island (5 min read)
Fifteen RS800s brought high-speed chaos to Hayling Island for the Soak Insure Tide Ride, a regatta built for thrills over trophies. After two days of slalom-style sprints, capsizes, and black flags, the final came down to a winner-takes-all showdown. Tom Morris and Guy Fillmore stormed from mid-fleet heartbreak to snatch victory with trademark precision, edging out Louis Johnson and Lucy Hewitson. Perfect breeze, tight racing, and maximum grins proved once again that the RS800 delivers pure dinghy fun at full throttle.

Olympic Class/Dinghy Sailing

Spain’s Star Skipper: “The Crazier It Gets, The Better Our Chances” (7 min read)
Diego Botín and Los Gallos are chasing a shot at back-to-back SailGP glory in Abu Dhabi after a wild 18 months that included an Olympic gold and a home-crowd win in Cádiz. Sitting just outside the Final cutoff, the Spanish team is betting on chaos and light winds to shake up the standings. Botín’s secret weapon? A cool head, a tested 27.5-meter wing, and a taste for mayhem. “The crazier it gets,” he grins, “the better for us.”

Early Entry Fees Closing Soon for Sail Melbourne 2025 (3 min read)
Sail Melbourne 2025 is almost here, and the clock’s ticking on early entries before fees jump after November 21. The regatta returns to Port Phillip from November 27–30, hosted by Royal Brighton Yacht Club, with four days of top-tier racing and the 2.4m Para Sailing Nationals folded in. Hansa classes will run their own championship out west in Perth the same weekend. It’s shaping up to be a massive week for Aussie sailing, so get your entry in before your wallet pays the price.

Predictwind A-Cat Worlds: Racing Abandoned for Day 2 (3 min read)
Wild easterlies shut down Day 2 of the Predictwind A-Class Catamaran Worlds off Milford Beach, with gusts topping 25 knots sending mark boats scurrying for cover. The foilers are grounded for now, but fans can still tune in through Predictwind’s live race cams and trackers once the breeze backs off. With big names like Carolijn Brouwer and Steve Ashley in the mix, all eyes are on when the fleet can get flying again—weather permitting, maybe not until midweek.

Youth Sailing/Development

Cornell and Harvard Sailors Claim Singlehanded National Titles (5 min read)
Cornell’s Gilda Dondona and Harvard’s Robby Meek mastered Norfolk’s fickle breeze to take home the women’s and open College Sailing Singlehanded National Championships. Dondona gave Cornell its first-ever singlehanded title, while Meek dominated with five wins and never finishing worse than third. With light winds, sunset races, and serious patience required, both sailors showed textbook control and calm under pressure. Not bad for a weekend that barely had enough breeze to ruffle a burgee.

Tech & Gear

How I built a DIY propeller puller to free a calcified prop and shaft (6 min read)
Zoran inherits a motor cruiser with a prop and shaft fused by a decade of seawater and sun, then cooks up a homebuilt puller from two thick aluminum plates, three M10 threaded rods, and a 36 mm shaft slot. When the pinned prop nut refuses to budge, he slices it off, heats the hub, feeds in candle wax to wick into the joint, and starts the tighten-whack routine. On round three, the prop pings free. It’s cheap, clever, and totally replicable for your next seized-solid nightmare.

Sailing Highlight of the Day

Taíba, Brazil, delivered pure kitesurfing chaos to close out the 2025 GKA Kite Surf World Tour. Local hero Cassian Rodriguez shocked reigning world champ Capsine Delanoi for her first event win, while Pedro Maros sealed the men’s world title before hometown favorite Arthur Maras lit up the beach with a 16.67 score to take gold. Sun, surf, and redemption stories all around, proving that when the wind kicks up in Taíba, legends are made.