Editorial- Accolades for ABN Amro One

by nzeditor@sail-world.com on 21 Jun 2006 The 2005/06 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race finished last night with the prizegiving in Gothenberg, Sweden. Star of the show was the ABN Amro One crew led by New Zealand skipper Mike Sanderson and with five other New Zealand sailors on board.

One of the nice touches about the evening was a special presentation to Mark Christiansen, who has achieved the unique position of winning three Round the World Races – aboard EF Language, Illbruck and now ABN Amro One.

One of the things that has set the ABN Amro One crew apart from others in this race, is that they have won the race by sheer hard graft and good seamanship; finished every leg; won most of them; and, vital for any winning campaign - made the least mistakes.

That is not to detract from the other campaigns in a very gruelling, and demanding race – however you have to look at Sanderson and his crews’ performance in a different light than the others. In this vein, Paul Cayard looks back at Pirates of the Caribbean, and what could have been – but at the same time being very pleased with the way the race turned out for them.

In the Bermuda Race, the unthinkable has happened, with supermaxi Maximus finishing fourth over the line. She was holed out in an area of the course that was plagued with light airs - while the smaller race winner was doing eight knots through the water and 12 knots over the ground. But that’s the Gulf Stream for you, and underlines the importance of boat placement in offshore racing.

On the America’s Cup front, the action is about to start again with Louis Vuitton Act 12 starting Thursday night (NZT). We have a couple of stories looking at what will be Alinghi’s penultimate fling against the Challengers. (Her last is in a fleet race before the start of the Challenger Selection Series or the Louis Vuitton Cup.)

If you are around the Auckland waterfront on Friday lunchtime and early afternoon, keep an eye out for Gipsy Moth IV as she bids her farewell to Auckland. There is a water and air display planned for the early afternoon, which should be quite spectacular. This will follow a Cocktail Party and Auction at the Royal NZ Yacht Squadron on Thursday night.

Gipsy Moth IV will be moored outside RNZYS on Thursday afternoon. She is a very special part of world sailing history, and will probably never be down this way again.

Congratulations to her building team who have made such a tremendous effort to get Gipsy Moth repaired, in a very short space of time. We’ve enjoyed following her rebuilding progress and hope that you have acquired a better understanding of the art of wooden boatbuilding.

See you Friday!

Good Sailing!


Richard Gladwell NZ Editor.