Author Archive
It doesn’t get much more complicated, but its cool!May15
- By Mark Turner in Sailing stuff,
Venice as a venue for opening iShares Cup match…Gilles and the team have done a great job to make this one happen. Shipping everything in by barge (don’t forget no cars in Venice), having the main harbour entry closed down for 3 hours a day to all traffic so that we can race, and a little bit of Italian spice thrown in…great work guys. The level of competition is as high as we could hope for - from BMW Oracle, to the legend of Peyron, to plenty of Olympic medals around the racecourse. This event has come a long way since Starnberg in 2006 (which wasn’t bad!).
Sailing fast in small places…May08
- By Mark Turner in Sailing stuff,
Well Gilles did a great job of organising that one - the iShares Cup launch on the River Seine in Paris - crazy small bit of water for high speed Extreme 40s - but it was fab! And what a line up we have for 2009, not sure how we could have a higher calibre and mix across the fleet. Venice is next week, kick off time - so lets see how they go! http://www.isharescup.com
Oman Sail write the their own new chapter in maritime historyApr12
- By Mark Turner in Sailing stuff,
Well done to Mohsin, and the crew of Musandam, who have sailed an excellent 76 days around the world, Muscat to Muscat - the end of a first great chapter in the story of Oman Sail. Mohsin, as the first Arab to ever circumnavigate the planet under sail non-stop, is now a hero and role model in Oman and across the GCC region. In turn, this is already inspiring young Omanis to consider taking up sailing, taking up new challenges of any kind - the very heart of what Oman Sail exists for, alongside promoting this truly awesome country (try it for yourself…1700 miles of unspoilt coastline, wide open and untouched deserts, extremely friendly people). We’ve been involved in this one since the beginning, and its one of the most rewarding projects we’ve done in a decade, touching a good part of the 3 million population of Oman in a powerful way. The arrival of Musandam in Muscat was a scaled version of Falmouth, 2005… More at Oman Sail.
Great job Brit newcomers to the VendeeMar02
- By Mark Turner in Sailing stuff,
Chapeau as the french would say, to Sam (top of the pile, great performance and great communications), Dee (awesome, another dream fulfilled and with style, well done), Brian (great going Brian, the power mastered!), and Steve - just awesome - a true ‘corinthian’ effort, and reminds us all of our early days of struggling to the start line (actually not sure it got any easier!).
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!
World Yacht Racing ForumDec12
- By Mark Turner in Sailing stuff,
Good couple of days at the inaugural edition…was it worth doing? We invested a lot to be there, with a stand, an extreme 40 and a big team…and yes I think it was. To have the calibre and quantity of real key people was good. In a time of lesser economic instability i’m sure brands would get a lot from attending as well - so that one is for the future maybe. Paul’s comments on it are good ones
Some good debates, unfortunately a few sales pitches as well, and good exchanges. Need some serious actions to come from it though…
Sailing in the Middle East?Dec03
- By Mark Turner in Uncategorized,
Fantastic event last night at the launch of the Oman Sail project, something that OC Group has been consulting on for most of this year now. Check it out, in particular the great video about Omani maritime heritage - sailing didn’t start in Europe…www.omansail.com
iShares Cup changing the way we watch sailingSep01
- By Mark Turner in Sailing stuff,
If you haven’t checked it out, go to to see just how we can move the sport of sailing on…according to Kiel city more spectators than when the America’s Cup visited town, and according to Alinghi’s skipper Ed Baird, more spectators than he has ever sailed in front of in his career…and the spectators gasps could be heard on the TV microphones! Great stuff…
2 down 3 to go…iShares Cup hots upJul01
- By Mark Turner in Sailing stuff,
Well Hyeres was amazing sailing and images…2 capsizes and 1 so close to a capsize it looks like the images were photoshopped to stop Tommy Hilfiger going over (check out www.isharescup.com video section). On the final day the crowds were there and loving it…shame that in the next stop in Cowes we have to sail the other side of the Solent away from the public. Thats the compromise we accepted with Cowes though - the balancing element is that Russell and Oracle are coming - so Oracle v Alinghi, in Cowes, the origin of the America’s Cup…nice, eh…
Back on the ocean racing front, its great to see our ex-BQ record breaking tri back sailing again, and with such a great project in Oman Sail - a genuine attempt to develop sailing in the Middle-East and use it to create role models for the population at large in Oman. More on that project soon, but its a truly inspirational one that we’re happy to helping in a small way with. www.omansail.com for more info…
Other than that, its crazy busy again for all the team in Cowes and Lorient (BT Team Ellen Open 60 base), and some of us are off doing our other passion - the Etape du Tour - a leg of the Tour de France for amateurs, on our bikes…looks like a wet and cold one though this Sunday in the Pyrenees…Albert from our tech team, Andrew Preece from APP TV and Henry Chappell of Pitch PR - just a few of the oddballs doing it!! Wish us luck…