All posts for December, 2007
Surprised, no? Disappointed, of course! But the match race goes on…Dec21
- By Mark Turner in Sailing stuff,
Well it was always going to be a tough one - no-one ever raced these IMOCA 60’s so far , so long, so hard. The longest leg ever for non-solo racing, before the Barcelona World Race was a TJV at 4000 miles. The pace had been furious on these boats, at full power for 12,000 miles - no radical weather, but fully loaded, fully pressed, 24 hours a day in two-up/crewed mode. I was just saying how amazed I was that we still had all the fleet in the race still going in to the Southern Ocean - my pre-race forecast was to lose at least a couple before then (I think I told James Boyd, at best half the fleet will finish!). Then of course, and the superstitious ones out there will laugh, it all went a bit downhill for a week. First PRB, the Delta Dore, then in a cruel twist of fate, Veolia on her way back up the leaderboard after an engine problem pitstop in the most remote pit lane of the world in the beautiful but wild Kerguelen Islands. PRB the best prepared boat in the fleet - who would have guessed. Of course, in France at least (not much anywhere else though), the discussion is now of catastrophe…’IMOCA fleet loses its head’ is Le Figaro title - although to be fair to Martin C the article is quite well balanced. In reality, everyone knows that where the IMOCA boats are in the cycle of evolution and development, pushed on by extraordinary levels of competition, it was clear the new boats are close to their limits. Finding the balance between performance and reliability is the age old game of ocean racing - the seas, the winds, the distance around the planet has not changed - but the margin for error is smaller than ever for those that want to win. The timing for the inaugural Barcelona World Race of course meant the risks of early retirements was even bigger, and with a good, but relatively small (once you lose 4) fleet, we were going to feel the pain a bit more if we lost some. Each boat though has its own technical failure, easy to say ‘oh the Lorima masts’ - but of course that isn’t the full story at all, and its ignorant to make sweeping statements on these points. But, no doubting it, this is a tough game now to build a boat to win, you have to go close to that performance limit. No amount of qualification could have prepared these boats for what 12,000 (to the Southern Ocean alone), or 25,000 miles non-stop would produce. Its going to be a very worthy winner of the Barcelona World Race for sure…and right now, with a great match race going on between Hugo Boss and Paprec Virbac 2, who knows what will happen as we approach the start of the second half of the race…
What has been refreshing has been how positive the skippers, and their sponsors, have been about the race even when retiring early. It seems the format works well. After 5 years of planning to get this first edition on the road, that is of course very welcome news… Bilou for example - <<<What do you think about the format of the Barcelona World Race? <It’s great, I love racing double-handed, I’ve always have. This race is really good, we’re able to really enjoy the boats, but there are some areas we could work on to improve life on board. There are tough moments and very pleasant ones. We have made the most of the boat’s potential, more than it’s possible to do singlehanded: double handed, it’s really a treat!>>>>
So, on we go - another 12,000 miles to go - and I’m sure not short of more drama…
Finally something great on STUFFDec21
- By Mark Turner in Sustainability,
Check this out, well worth watching, very well done…
If we could deal with the problem first, maybe climate change would be a secondary issue…
In to the south…Dec06
- By Mark Turner in Sailing stuff,
Amazing how suddenly its all different. Cold, low visibility, thundering surfing speeds, tension, fear, isolation - its not just the sailor’s that feel it. Knowing what its like in the Southern Ocean, as the Barcelona World Race fleet head in to the Roaring Forties, adds to the tension on a personal front as well. As a race organiser its a bit like sharing 10% of all the emotion of each boat, but multiplied by the number of boat - end result with 9 boats just about the same as the 100% intensity of managing one boat project/skipper as they battle around the planet. Its hard to imagine that this traverse of the Southern Ocean won’t be without any drama, its not a part of the planet that allows you past without paying some dues. It remains a truly awesome place, untouched by humans, pure, nature, rough, unpredictable, its why every sailor says ‘never again’ at some point, and then usually does go back once more. I remember Hari Hakimo(spelling??), skipper of the Finish entrant in the Whitbread in 1989 saying “Never again, you should not come here, there is no reason to be here, its a crazy place” or something similar! And at the time, I was in agreement. But actually I think I’d like to go back there again one day…