Volvo Ocean Race wreck-rescue and its Bermuda for next AmericasCup
by Rob Kothe and Richard Gladwell on 3 Dec 2014
Bermuda will be the venue for the 35th America’s Cup Americas Cup Media
www.americascup.com
Staggering news from the Volvo Ocean Race that Team Vestas Wind had hit a reef off the Cargados Carajos Shoals, Mauritius, in the southern Indian Ocean.
As has been widely reported on Sail-world and elsewhere, Chris Nicholson and his crew spent a harrowing few hours in their boat on the reef, with waves crashing over them, and their $12 million, three month old boat starting to break up.
We have one video story in this edition which takes us through the sequence - filmed from aboard Team Alvimedica who stood by Team Vestas Wind and acted as a rescue relay with the local coastguard and the rest of the world. The video is shot primarily from the nav station which became the communications centre and is a text book example of how to run such an operation. Its a familiar accent on the American boat with Townsville based Will Oxley on camera.
With the crew safe, the attention shifts to retrieval of the yacht from the coral reef. Hopefully the team will be able to continue in some way, as Nico has suggested in an interview today, but this is a real test of the shore crew, and maybe the situation is too far gone for even their expertise, enthusiasm, self-belief and experience.
The cycle for the 35th America's Cup began yesterday with the announcement of the Venue and Date for the 35th Match.
Bermuda's confirmation as the venue was not unexpected after the news was broken by Associated Press correspondent, Bernie Wilson, a week or so ago.
Quite why the venue was chosen over the waters of the home club of the Defender, in San Francisco, is still not entirely clear. While TV times are widely quoted as a reason, that market is still uncharted territory for the America's Cup - which of late, follows a rights-based model to raise revenue for the organisers. Back in the day - when the Challengers owned and controlled their own series - audience size and maximising the exposure for team sponsors was the driver. Sure some money was paid for Rights, but that was not the driving force.
There are plenty of logistical issues for teams sailing from a small island, 600nm out into the Atlantic, which lacks a high tech marine industry.
The commercial strategies to attract sponsors and provide hospitality, as is done on mainland based regattas, also need some new and original thinking. Whether the sponsors are willing to invest in a Bermuda style of event remains to be seen.
Hot news for Down Unders sailors for was the comment from America's Cup Commissioner, Harvey Schiller that New Zealand had made an approach to stage a major event. Most took that to mean the America's Cup Qualifiers, which for the past 30 years has been known as the Round Robin phase of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
The Protocol that governs the Cup does not specifically say that the Qualifiers have to be held away from the Match Venue. Nor do they say when they have to be held (but do say when they can't).
Logically teams would sail the Qualifiers in the Southern Hemisphere summer and then the final four, plus the Defender would move to Bermuda.
The Protocol does prohibit teams sailing against each other except in the venue for the Qualifiers. All that points to teams getting to the Qualifier venue, either assembling their boats at that venue or having done some test sailing in their home waters. But they are limited by a 150day constraint before the start of the Qualifiers when they can launch an AC62, and it makes little sense to burn up some of that valuable time travelling to the Qualifier Venue.
With only one boat permitted per Challenger, the risk of serious damage arising from a face plant is very real. It makes sense to go through that work up phase in a country that has a very good and readily available marine manufacturing base, than an island 600nm out in the Atlantic Ocean.
The decision on the Qualifiers is expected to be made by Christmas, and must be done in consultation with the Challenger Committee.
In Bermuda, the Venue announcement was like the discovery of gold in Klondike.
Clearly many expect the America's Cup to be a bonanza for the Island, and its ailing economy. That will probably be the case, but surviving after the departure of the Cup, and building on the Cup legacy is something few venues have mastered. Time will tell whether delivery matches the promises, and certainly the 35th America's Cup will be a Challenge in more ways than one.
Quite how the situation could have occurred is not clear, and it is neither fair nor helpful to speculate. Except it must always be remembered that it is not just one mistake which creates a disaster, but the combined effect of several errors.
Hopefully, the Volvo Ocean Race organisers will be as open with the findings of any inquiry as they have with the rescue, and all can learn from this unfortunate incident.
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