Volvo fires up...North Sails Young 88's Owners...Ups and downs in Nice
by . on 6 Oct 2014
Team Vestas Wind 2014-2015 Volvo Ocean Race- In-Port Race Leighton O'Connor
Welcome to Sail-World.com’s New Zealand e-magazine for October 6, 2014
The
Volvo Ocean Race got underway on Saturday night, with the first In Port race being sailed in Alicante, Spain.
This was the first time that fans have seen the VO65's racing in anger, and it proved to be interesting racing.
Seven one designs, with canting keels and A-sails, turned on a sparkling performance, with frequent lead changes probably stemming from the fact that the boats were short-crewed as much as wind shifts and tactics.
Probably not a lot can be read into the results. As we saw in the last edition of the Volvo Ocean Race, a boat can be a rooster in one In Port Race and a feather-duster in the next.
We have saturation coverage of the race and build up on our website www.sail-world.com, and have featured a selection in this edition of sail-World's e-magazine.
Without a New Zealand boat in the race, it does lack some edge and interest, but the racing is excellent and the video coverage is very good.
Catch the full replay. The video is only about an hour long, and with the dearth of America's Cup action, its like a thirsty man getting that first cold drink in the desert.
And for another perspective on the action catch, the on-board video from Team Alvimedica. For sure the distances between the boats look a lot closer than from a helicopter shot. When you factor in that the VO65 is short-crewed for this type of racing, with just eight sailors, including a navigator, the chances of a catastrophic error are fairly high.
There's two Kiwi sailors aboard In Port race winner Team Alvimedica - Dave Swete and Ryan Houston. The others in the race are Daryl Wislang on Abu Dhabi and Tony Rae and Rob Salthouse on Team Vestas Wind.
Staying in the Mediterranean, Emirates Team NZ stayed in the money right to the last day of the Extreme Sailing Series. In the light conditions, but with a threatening thunderstorm bringing more breeze for the final two races.
This was another day of swinging places. Alinghi climbed back onto the top of the leaderboard after the second day and stayed there for the rest of the series. Behind the Swiss, places changed daily, and while the Kiwis will be disappointed to have finished fifth in the regatta, they still hold third place overall. There was a better performance from the Australian team, finishing just one place behind the Kiwis.
Getting beaten by the Springboks in the Rugby, and by the Australians in the sailing would have been too much.
Back in New Zealand the North Sails Young 88 Owners Championship, was wiped out on Saturday in the bi breeze. However five races were staged on Sunday in good sailing conditions.
Sail-World was on the water and we've put together an image gallery of the racing along with the official results.
With the talk and consternation about the dropping of the sailing classification system, as a means of controlling the mix of amateurs and so-called professionals in the sport. The classification system is largely ignored in NZ. Instead class owners associations like the Young 88's enforce their own rules about who can helm a boat - and in this regatta it had to be an owner.
Another interesting aspect of the regatta was the sailing of a Restricted fleet with a separate start. Although it only attracted four entries, the racers could only use a main and a jib. Various crews competed from a two-handed crew to a group of older guys who clearly couldn't be bothered with all the coloured sail stuff on the front end of the boat.
Despite the inclement weather, the regatta attracted a fleet of 15 boats in the Open division, with all the boats in excellent condition - considering most of them are 25 years old, or more. And they still look hot - a tribute to the design artistry of Jim Young.
And finally if you haven't got your design in for the ECsix T-Shirt, then you have until the Wednesday October 15 to finish your masterpiece and get it into Southern Spars. If you are judged to be the best entry, you'll win an expenses paid trip for two to a Volvo Ocean Race Stopover of your choice.
It's a great prize - just get your creative thinking flowing.
Stay tuned to our website www.sail-world.com for the latest news and developments in the sailing world.
Good sailing!
Richard Gladwell
NZ Editor
sailworldnzl@gmail.com
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