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21 Jan 2017 |
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  Doyle power two world records...America's Cup fan Bermuda trip guide
 | | Armel Le Cleac'h (FRA), skipper Banque Populaire VIII, winner of the sailing circumnavigation solo race Vendee Globe Vincent Curutchet / DPPI / Vendée Globe © |
Welcome to Sail-World.com's New Zealand e-magazine for January 21, 2017.
Like a five-day cricket test that suddenly comes to life in the final session, the Vendee Globe Race has had much of the sailing world on the edge of their seats for the final week as British sailor Alex Thomson, in Hugo Boss, has chased Armel Le Cleac'h in Banque Populaire VIII.
For both winning the premier solo round the world race represented a significant personal achievement. For Le Cleac'h this was his third attempt to win the Vendee Globe, having finished second in the two previous editions.
For Thomson, a win would be the first for a British sailor, in fact the first time the race had been won by someone who was not from France.
To add to the drama of the race, Mother Nature threw her own curved ball in the shape of a big anti-cyclone right in the path of the sailors, and between them and the finish line at Les Sables D'Olonne on the west coast of France.
 | | Banque Populaire VIII (Armel Le Cleac'h) was first to finish in the 2016/17 Vendee Globe Race © Team Banque Populaire |
The parked anti-cyclone and its attendant windless centre forced the sailors to go around the outside, through an area of strong winds and optimum speed conditions.
While Le Cleac'h can now relax knowing that he has won the Vendee Globe, defended French sailing honour, and had achieved both a race win and set a new race record - all in front of hundred of thousands of French sailing fans and covered live on French television. It also erased the bogey of the last Vendee Globe - which was also a close finish - with Le Cleac'h finishing second by just three hours behind François Gabart.
This race was a more comfortable win - with a sixteen-hour margin - but it was a very close run affair as Thomson closed down the margin from 900nm to 30nm, before opting to take the tactical gamble - spending some of his 800nm margin over the third placed Jeremie Beyou (FRA) in Maitre Coq.
For Thomson finishing second bought with it two new world sailing marks - the single-handed monohull 24-hour speed record, and the Vendee Globe course record to the Equator. The British sailor added 2nm to the 24hr record taking it to 536.81nm, and loping over 24hrs off the time taken to reach the Equator.
 | | Thomson claims second in historic Vendée Globe race Vincent Curutchet / DPPI / Vendée Globe © |
In short, while Le Cleac'h won the race, Thomson had the faster boat. For sure Hugo Boss was slowed after her starboard side DSS foil broke off Cape Town when he looked to have the race under control - if ever that word can be used the context of the Vendee Globe. In the final stages of the race it transpired that he had issues with his anemometer, which in turn affected his ability to run his auto-pilot and self-steering.
Doyle Sails NZ provided the power for Alex Thomson and Hugo Boss, with the sails being designed an built in the Rosebank Road loft. Thomson was the only competitor in the fleet with Doyle Sails and had placed third in the previous Vendee Globe, using Doyle Sails. Maybe those two results are not surprising given the level of round the world sailing expertise in the Doyle Sails NZ team including Volvo Ocean Race winning skipper Mike Sanderson.
What will be interesting from this Vendee Globe will be the trickle down into the cruising market, which by definition is almost always undertaken shorthanded, and where gains in efficiency and ease of handling are vital.
 | | The Vendee Globe 2016 - 2017 British yachtsman Alex Thomson skipper of the ‘Hugo Boss” IMOCA Open60. He finished 2nd in the Vendee Globe solo non stop around the world yacht race. Shown here in the Sables d Olonne port celebrating. He completed the solo non stop around the world race in 74days. 19hours and 35 minutes © Lloyd Images |
Also being carefully watched is the progress of New Zealand's Conrad Colman, attempting to be the first to finish the Vendee Globe without using any fossil fuels, in other words, Colman is using only natural energy. While elements of his energy producing kit have been around for a while, this is really the first time they have been put to the test in this way to finish a very competitive race, over a 26,000nm non-stop course.
If he can complete this feat and do so with a reasonable placing, it will be a big step forward in the use of natural energy in sailing, and without the use of fossil fuel powered backup systems. Will electric motors replace diesels aboard yachts? Can natural sources produce enough energy to power a full on cruising yacht or even a superyacht?
 | | Le Cléac'h and Thomson revel in the Vendée Globe glory Jean-Marie Liot / DPPI / Vendée Globe © |
During our coverage of the final week of the Vendee Globe Race, when it became evident that the race was going to have an unusual end, Predictwind really came into its own. We've used the application for around eight years after it was developed by Jon Bilger off the back of his experience with the forecasting team with Alinghi for their two America's Cup wins.
The final week of the Vendee Globe was the most severe test we have yet given Predictwind's routing function, and it performed brilliantly. Always with routing systems and analysis, it is nervously intriguing to see how the predictions play out - both in terms of what the weather actually does, and what the teams/on board navigators decide to do.
The other point is that the course routing produced very early by Predictwind showed that the boats would have to make a huge deviation to get around the blocking anticyclone. Also, the four tracks developed by Predictwind were all in close agreement from a very early stage.
 | | Solbian Super Rugged(SR) - flexible panels can be fitted to most flat or curved surfaces for power generation - see Kiwi Yachting Kiwi Yachting |
We were able to use the standard polar for an IMOCA60 and then adjust that to get to the expected performance of the latest generation DSS foiling version of the class. In this case, we upped the standard by 20%. Again by checking prediction against actual sailing times taken through the various waypoints and skeds we could have a high degree of confidence in the output from Predictwind.
So again looking at the trickle-down, regular sailors should be genning up on this form of handheld navigation and routing - using your PC at home for a spot of cockpit drill - and then using the mobile version when afloat when you need to have some information that you can rely on and make inspired decisions.
No longer is weather routing the exclusive domain of the sailing professional.
Of course, while our focus is on the racing functions of Predictwind routing, for Cruisers it also has the same functionality to give you the most comfortable route, depending on some basic parameters you set including maximum swell heights and wind strengths, plus you let Predictwind know if you are going to motor below a certain wind strength.
One of the great things about the New Zealand marine industry is how the racers have always been able to come ashore and use their experience to develop new products and ideas which often become world leaders in their markets. The other great aspect is that while all compete against each other, the various companies all have the good sense to work together and get along to win business for New Zealand if possible.
That way everyone wins.
 | Thomas Saunders, NZL, Men's One Person Dinghy (Laser) on day two of the ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth & Portland, now competing in the NZ nationals at Taupo.
onEdition © |
Follow all the racing and developments in major and local events on www.sail-world.com, scroll to the bottom of the site, select New Zealand, and get all the latest news and updates from the sailing world.
Good sailing!
Richard Gladwell
NZ Editor
sailworldnzl@gmail.com
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 | | Armel Le Cléac'h wins the Vendée Globe 2016-17 in record time Jean-Marie Liot / DPPI / Vendée Globe © |
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