Leg 10, from Cardiff to Gothenburg, Day 4 on board Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag. The wind has arrived and so has the water. - photo © Konrad Frost / Volvo Ocean Race
Dear Recipient Name
Penny for your thoughts, or what? As the Volvo Ocean Race gets ever closer to its end for this edition, some have chosen to stretch it out on some giant A-Frame and take to it like it was a free-for-all at the Hellfire club or something.
So the question they ask is, has the VOR indeed lost its way? Perhaps in some senses, but then it is clearly not as far gone as say the AC. Nor has it had to have the paddles applied to it anywhere near as much as what the World Cup has required over its life.
Now as a result of the new 24-hour run at a tad over 600nm, which is more than the venerable VO70, the VO65 can no longer be called slow. Furthermore, the crews are flogging them like a 100:1 bolter that perhaps looks more like a Fine Cotton ring-in about to come in at Flemington, or Randwick. Up shot of it all - they are made tough.
Volvo Cars and Volvo Events move to sponsor, not owner, for the next edition. This opens the way for some changes that caused a serious falter at the last fence in the steeplechase not that long ago, if we are to continue with the Gee Gees simile. This all means that the future is bright.
Magnus Wheatley was happy to talk about drunken uncles, tourist on the beaches at Corfu, brand names that perhaps don't resonate with all and sundry around the globe, and of course, no reference to the fact that the race's original name, Whitbread, was a beer only available in the UK. Oh yeah. See point above about VO65s being labelled as Jurassic by Wheatley.
That the stopovers are often held in locales not as famous as others is true, but perhaps the point missed by Magnus is that the interest is up, and if any of the kids that granny takes there to lick ice creams get inspired to sail, then have we not won the biggest race of all? 400,000 came to Itajal for instance, and as for being boring, then what about Cardiff, which provided huge tides of like 8m, and is also part of the ESS circuit?
Yes, an IMOCA 60 with foils blasting away on a solo voyage might be labelled sexy, but several VOR veterans have indicated that a present IMOCA could not stand the extended battering served up to a VO class boat. Anyone who reads these pages knows I am besotted by IMOCAs and Ultime Trimarans, but it by no means stands for the end of the fully-crewed mono.
One Design certainly made for close racing, all the way, and instantaneous tracking, as ell as the stellar work from the OBRs, actually made us more involved than ever. Word is that it will be IMOCAs next time, BTW. And if there are multiple classes, then that could make it no just like the Mt Panorama of old (see The Black Knight), but certainly remove one of the biggest bugbears of this edition – too few boats overall. Time to stop knocking, and start looking forward to making it all bigger and better, which has to be every sailor's mantra.
Gybe Oh! Was almost going to entitle this editorial as, 100%. It referred to the success rate of seeing whales off the beach during every trip there this week, and that got me to thinking about boat watching season. Watching the news as the South East froze reminded me that there will be a lot of sailors keen to get to the sun, and enjoy a sail in the tropics.
One person taking his new enough to still be called new, and reigning Hobart champ up North, is Matt Allen. Ichi Ban will be doing the Gold Coast race, then Airlie and lastly, Hamilton Island Race Weeks. "We'll be back in time for Flinders Islet", commented Allen. No doubt they will be looking to capitalise on all the success to date, but as Allen himself points out, "It will be interesting with Marcus' (Blackmore's new Hooligan) new one there too!"
"Yes. We do know a lot about packing up the team and heading North", said Allen of the well worn path. "It is a standard operating procedure like that, and it sounds like it will be a good season from all I have seen to date. From a corporate point of view it has been a busy time to get all things finished before late July, when it kind of shuts down for a bit."
"The World Sailing meeting made it even busier of late, and it too was somewhat time consuming, with a lot happening behind the scenes. We lost by just two votes on the offshore event, but personally I have not given up on it, however." At that point, Allen and I enjoyed likening the whole event/class process to the complexities involved in the selection of a new Pope, and then the white smoke from the chimney when it is all done.
Of course the main aim is to get Sailing from Group D to B or C, "...and the one sure-fire way was the offshore race, with its 24-hour viewing across two days. We still think it could have doubled our numbers or possibly even more! Naturally, this is the critical factor, and if it takes us from 257m to 500m or more seeing yachting, then everyone benefits."
The main attribute that will achieve this is that it runs overnight in the Eurozone when there is nothing else on offer, and naturally helps the other side of the world in real time. "For sure it is a hard road now, but maybe we'll see it as a showcase event, rather than offering up a medal." Yes. Here's hoping.
Right oh - here today there are some gems for you to review. We have information about IRC European's, J/70s, the Volvo at Gothenburg, America's Cup, Extreme Sailing Series, Newport to Bermuda with a 169 boat fleet, Optis, Schools Teams event, the amazing Golden Globe Race, the Clipper, MySail Team offer more chances to go for a yacht, Giraglia with North Sails' Alby Pratt part of it all, OKs, debris on the NSW coast, Kiel Week, AST and the World Cup, Aussie youth sailors, Foiling Week, and certainly there is much, much more.
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John Curnow, Editor, Sail-World AUS
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