Hang the expense

by John Curnow, Editor, Sail-World AUS on 17 Jul 2017 I once tweeted that @LeTour should just hang the expense, and re-use once more Kraftwerk’s awesome theme for the promotion of the event. I mean, what’s a few royalties at that level of global marketing power? Might is right, after all. Now in case you’re wondering, you can get a taste of it once more, right below…



The distinct parallels for our sport are certainly there. Principally, heart pounding times, and of course, grand journeys. Stop for a moment and think about all the people you know who watch Le Tour just to see the amazing countryside. Some may know what the yellow jersey means, but the green and the polka dots? Not so much, let alone how they are calculated as such, and that’s before trying to explain why a team is so important and that they are all working to get their principal rider to the Champs-Élysées in first place.

And you know what? All of that is just fine, for the scenery does command that sort of adoration and attention. The Tour de France à la Voile pretty much also enjoys great scenery, and a hectic, long racing schedule. In a true French statement, they moved over to multihulls a while back, and in what may yet be the longest segue into anything, I can say we have arrived.

Of all the things that happened during the week in the world of sailing, it was Francis Joyon taking a further 49 minutes off his own solo trans-Atlantic record that stuck with me. The Ultime trimarans had taken part in The Bridge. Yes, the Queen Mary 2 won the stoush, and it was Macif that was the first of the sailing boats into New York. François Gabart last year took Macif to the eye-watering solo 24-hour record of 784nm (32.67 knots). Certainly one hell of an achievement…

Yet out of it all, Joyon’s recent effort, apart from re-affirming France’s utter dominance in this sector, just shows that you don’t have to wait for the weather window. He beat the QM2 back across the Pond, but started at exactly the same time, not waiting for the perfect routing to prevail. For that reason alone, I am delighted he has a new record to use as an exclamation mark in an already illustrious career. Vive la France, and actually, given he did it just before Bastille Day, Vive la revolution!

News too this week that Blair Tuke has joined MAPFRE, alongside fellow 49er sailor, Xabi Fernandez. Should Tuke win this, after Gold at Rio and the Auld Mug in Bermuda all inside the same cycle, then it will be a totally new class that he creates. John Kostecki got close, with a Silver, but the really interesting thing to note here is one Pete Burling. Burling is reportedly linked to another campaign, so perhaps the crewmates will have a very personal tussle to see just which one will get this most incredible of triple crowns.

Naturally, Dongfeng could well be considered favourites in the VOR, having been formulated and out the on the water the longest, so the VOR may have just got a whole lot more interesting. Whilst we await news of just who is the eighth team, it is interesting to note, especially after a recent editorial, that Volvo seem to be sending the last boat to Fastnet, ready for the mystery new crew to step on go racing. That will add even more interest to that particular classic, which virtually sold out in nano seconds, just like some pop band!

Now having raised the 49er card, thus far we have not learned about Outteridge and Jensen for Tokyo. It may not be off the cards just yet, so we look forward to seeing a comment from the AST soon enough. Perhaps the Phillips boys will get a red-hot crack at it, or maybe David Gilmour? We’ll see…

Gilmour has had as crew Joel Turner, and they won in Kiel, as well as Rhys Mara, who is part of the SuperFoiler development crew. Yet the outstanding result at Kiel for Gimour and Turner, where they took a 20 point lead into the medal round, was more than both decisive and emphatic. They took their 'pleasant surprise' in their stride and instead focussed on the training that got them there and the work yet to do on the road forward.

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