American entry for Vendee Globe 2004/2005

by Courtesy of www.sailingscuttlebutt.com on 26 Aug 2003 Bruce Schwab, the only American sailor in the ‘Open 60’ ocean racing circuit, has officially announced his entry in the 2004/2005 Vendee Globe Race. ‘No American has ever officially finished this event. Not only do I want to be the first American to finish it, the goal is to be on the podium.’

The Vendee Globe is a non-stop round the world race that starts on November 7th 2004 from Les Sables d'Olonne on the southwest coast of France. The sailors head into the waters of the Atlantic on a southerly course leading past South Africa's Cape of Good Hope before entering the perilous Southern Ocean. They then circumnavigate the Antarctic continent, rounding infamous Cape Horn before heading north for the finish back where it started, in Les Sable d'Olonne.

Bruce's boat, ‘Ocean Planet,’ is the only American Open 60 and a departure from the other Open 60 designs in several ways. One example of his design team's innovations is the boat's rotating unstayed mast. Bruce points out, ‘Ocean Planet is already the first racing sailboat, single-handed or crewed, to complete an around the world race with an unstayed mast. Frankly, many thought it wouldn't survive the race. But we proved them wrong. Our unstayed mast is nearly as light as a conventional one, and has a significantly lower center of gravity. It may seem radical, but it's just one of the reasons she's extremely reliable, durable and easy to handle which, as you can imagine, is a very big deal in a solo around the world race.’

Ocean Planet will be in Portland, Maine, over the winter to finish the upgrades for next fall's race. ‘Some of our developments will be hidden, but for the most part the project will be open for public viewing. We'll be indoors at our new base at Portland Yacht Service all winter and will be launching our education program there.’

- http://www.everyocean.com/oceanplanet/