Brunel arrives, preparing for in-port race

by Team Brunel on 27 Apr 2006 Operation Baltimore, Day one.

It is well after midnight and everyone is still working non-stop to gear up the boat in time for the In Port race on Saturday. But at least they can look back at a very successful first day of ‘Operation Baltimore’. Luckily the boat arrived slightly ahead of schedule and thanks to the cooperation of the American authorities the boat was cleared before noon.

A sign for team Brunel to rally the troops and get going. Just 12 hours later the situation looks promising. The boat is already on its own cradle with the keel attached and the work on the mast progresses smoothly.

Watch captain and coordinater of 'Operation Baltimore' Matt Humphries is satisfied with the steady progress and pleased with the team being on schedule. Humphries is convinced the mast can be raised on Tuesday morning so the official measurers of the Volvo Ocean Race can do their job. ‘I know we will make it on time but we will not get much sleep’ laughs Matt in the light of the fading sun.

As you can tell from the pictures everyone who is part of team Brunel is working very hard to finish the job in time. See skipper Grant Wharington tighten the keel bolts himself and crewman Eduard van Lierde is working his socks off on the mast. All is going well but there are still some very busy days ahead. We will keep you posted.


Brunel arrives in Village.

Volvo Open 70 'Brunel' was the first VO70 to arrive into the Volvo Ocean Race Baltimore Race Village last night, where she jumped through her some more of her measurement hoops this morning, performing the necessary flotation test at 07.00. In a fine display of 'Brunel Teamwork' the Brunel Team has been working around the clock to complete their new measurement process since the yacht arrived on Monday 24, a mere 36 hours ago. 'The process is nearly complete, and has been going well so far,' said Matt Humphries, one of Team Brunel’s Watch Captains, and a four time Volvo Ocean Racer (this is his fifth). 'We are aiming to go out sailing tomorrow.'

The yacht, which was withdrawn from the race after finishing Leg Two in Melbourne, has been given quite a make-over. The most significant changes being the introduction of twin daggerboards to replace the canard, a narrowing of the shroud base to facilitate optimum sail trim, and the syndicate has made a hefty investment in some new North’s sails.

As Skipper Grant Wharington explained, 'After we retired from the race, the yacht was taken to Mornington, Victoria to the Premier Challenge’s HQ for a major re-fit. Hart Marine was commissioned to make the boat building improvements and Don Jones, in his role as Chief Designer oversaw all modifications. We had less than 3 weeks available for works in the shed prior to the boat being loaded onto the ship, so even though we got quite a lot achieved, we couldn’t do too much.'

The most drastic change is the move from a single canard with a trim tab, to twin boards the design of which was completed in consultation with Owen Clarke Designers and Marine Architects from the UK. Whilst all initial research showed that the canard would be the best solution for the yacht, it became obvious during the later testing that it was a less than satisfactory option.

Continued Wharington, 'The original intention was to install twin boards and test them against a single board, but with things the way they were that just wasn’t possible prior to the race start in November. Of course after Melbourne and Brunel’s Title Sponsor commitment it became clear that such a dramatic change was possible. We are looking forward to getting out there to have a look at them and see what they can do.'

Other changes have included moving the shroud base in to the minimum to enable the overlapping reaching jibs to be sheeted further inboard. The rudders have been re-profiled and of course the bulb has been changed - another job which Wharington’s team tried to do before the start in Spain but were unable to do.

Matt Humphries and Graeme Taylor, Brunel’s Boat Captain, have been in Baltimore leading the project to get everything ready for the yacht’s participation in the in-port race on Saturday.

Commented Humphries, 'We have done some serious work on the boat, with a view to making it more competitive, and feel sure that the changes will effect a marked improvement in our performance. The group of professionals we have here are all 100% focused – we are all very excited to be back in the race.'