All posts for January, 2009
Vendee Globe - disaster???Jan11
- By Mark Turner in Sailing stuff,
‘I told you so’ would be inappropriate…but my prediction for the number of boats finishing the Vendee Globe this time was 12…now we’re down to that! Brutal race, but that is the nature of the beast. To win you must push to the limits - to enter just to finish is a different matter (but still very hard thing to achieve). Unfortunately our Offshore Challenges entry ‘BT’ is now one of the statistics…in Auckland, being shipped home. But we gave it all we could, we have never been more ready to win that goddam race! JoJo was doing a great job, the boat was living up to our expectations, his strategy of preserve man and machine until the Horn was working perfectly…but lady luck and a mega rogue wave took our dream away.
Oh well, only 3.5 years to the next one! At least there is a Barcelona World Race in between…
And to those that say its a disaster for only 12 boats to finish - rubbish - this is the challenge of the Vendee Globe - its part of it. Sure it makes it tough for sponsors sometimes (the early departures), but all these IMOCA campaigns now run over a few years and a number of events, the return doesn’t just come during the Vendee. Part of the package.
And there are few events in sport which can engage people like a 3 month ocean race…
A new country starts sailing…OmanJan11
- By Mark Turner in Sailing stuff,
Ex-B&Q set off a few days ago on a new round the world adventure, reborn as Musandam (a stunning part of Oman), and with an Omani onboard (with a french/english compliment) - who, if they manage to complete this toughest of courses around the world, would be the first Omani, and if non-stop, the first Arab around the world - how cool is that! From the country of Sindbad legend, which today is an undiscovered and certainly not yet ruined, tourist gem, Oman is reigniting its maritime heritage through modern sailing - fantastic! Check out their website for more…
And a happy new year from everyone at OC Group!