ISAF gap at the top, 18 footers, AC, Volvo and more
by Rob Kothe and Jedda Murphy on 27 Oct 2014
October 23, 2014. Leg 1 onboard Mapfre: Nice Sailing conditions close to the Equator. Andre Fonseca, aka Bochecha at the helm under a wave. Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 Francisco Vignale/Mapfre/Volvo Ocean Race
Getting great feedback about Richard Gladwell’s Volvo Ocean Race routing analysis and also Henry Bomby's contributions.
Today Henry writes 'so the fleet are around the little island archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, the last waypoint before arriving. Looking through the options ahead for all the teams, some potential short cuts, the traditional options and what to look out for on the tracker, as well as where the next potential passing lanes might be’. If you are trying to make sense of the VOR this is another must read.
2014-2015 Australian 18 Footers League Club Championship – Race 1, Alf Beashel Memorial Trophy, Sydney Harbour - The brilliant conditions which have prevailed for the opening races of the 2014-2015 Australian 18 Footers League season continued today for Race one of the Club Championship on Sydney Harbour. A south-east breeze, which gusted to more than 20-knots. Great pix too-
The 2014 ISAF Annual Conference starts next weekend in Mallorca, Spain and it’s interesting to note that the ISAF CEO of the last six years, Jerome Pels, will not be present. He is resigning from ISAF.
It’s rumoured that the call of America's Cup, either as the Event Director or perhaps some role with his brother in law, Sir Ben Ainslie's British challenge might have proved too much.
Running ISAF must be like herding cats, not the job for the faint hearted.
A quick survey of likely replacements, across the Americas, Europe and the Asia Pacific throws up only a few names. One of those is British expat, Phil Jones, who has had a very successful career as Yachting Australia CEO and who cut thru the ISAF mire with his Olympic Commission after the Tornado debacle. Highly respected at every level Jones focuses on the main game. He could be the breath of fresh air that ISAF needs at the moment.
Another name mentioned in dispatches is Alistair Fox, ISAF's Head of competition for the Rio Olympics, we believe he is destined for bigger things within ISAF but right now, with 2016 coming up fast, Fox will need to be left to focus on the Brazilian challenges.
There are some other well-credentialed players that Sail-World is currently asking will they put their hats in the ring and awaiting their answers.
The Sail-World team will be in Mallorca and we anticipate eyeballing the likely players. Interesting times ahead indeed.
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