|
Hang the expense
| Kraftwerk © | 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 go here to get a taste of it!new once more...
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.
| Francis Joyon at the helm of his maxi-trimaran IDEC Sport IDEC Sport |
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. 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!
| New Zealand's Blair Tuke joining MAPFRE - Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 © María Muiña / MAPFRE |
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. We'll see...
| 2017 J/80 World Championship - Day 4 © Paul Wyeth / RSrnYC |
Well then, and just as Tim Shaw said, “But wait! There's more.” Now you will have to go to the website for other news, for it has been a bumper week. Check out the links below as a sample of the articles, which includes the Transpac, Farr 40 Worlds, the AST and 470s Worlds in Greece, Melges 20, the Sunshine Coast Ocean Regatta, Dragons, J80 Worlds that our own Publisher, Mark Jardine, was competing in, M32, things hotting up ahead of the Sydney International Boat Show with plenty of new boats, the Extreme Sailing Series, quippy from Profurl, Kiting, the Clipper, Hong Kong to Vietnam, Foiling Week, the Pittwater to Paradise, and much, much more.
Also, well done to all the associations and events for all the news you have been supplying. Keep it up. Readers await you! Please ensure you have your club or class do the same via the submit function, just up in the top right of the Sail-World home page. In the meantime, go for a wander to review the proverbial plethora of material for you to explore on the site, from all over the globe. Also, do keep a weather eye on Sail-World. We are here to bring you the whole story...
John Curnow, Editor, Sail-World AUS
|
|
|