| The latest sailing news from New Zealand and the world. |
11 Jan 2017 |
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  Southern Ocean dramas...A Cup Settlement of sorts...A partnership ends
 | | Hugo Boss (Alex Thomson) at pace showing her DSS foils and sails by Doyle Sails NZ © Alex Thomson / Hugo Boss / Vendée Globe |
Welcome to Sail-World.com's New Zealand e-magazine for January 11, 2017.
Trusting you have enjoyed the Christmas/New Year break - and if you are really fortunate, you'll still be enjoying it.
After the frenetic Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, most sailing media were hoping for a breather - but it was not to be the case.
The attrition in the Vendee Globe Race has continued apace as the fleet tears through the Southern Ocean.
 | | Gerry Roufs - last heard from on 7th January 1997, not far from Point Nemo, the most remote spot in the South Pacific. Vendee Globe © |
But perhaps we should not be surprised, as a sombre report on the Vendee Globe website noted:
This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the disappearance of the Canadian skipper Gerry Roufs. The last messages were received on 7th January 1997, not far from Point Nemo, the most remote spot in the South Pacific.
Violent winds in excess of 80 knots had hit the race leaders, including Roufs aboard Groupe LG 2, who was then in second place in the third Vendée Globe, behind Christophe Auguin. “The waves are not mere waves, they are the Alps,” Roufs had previously told the Race Directors. Isabelle Autissier was a hundred or so miles from the Canadian and had been in regular contact with him. When there was no news, she informed the Directors of her worries.
Fifteen boats took part in the third Vendée Globe.
This edition was marred by a lot of damage with boats capsizing. The fleet encountered hellish conditions on Christmas Day when Dinelli capsized in the Indian Ocean and lost his mast. He remained on the upturned hull of his boat for 36 hours until Pete Goss sailed upwind in nasty conditions to pick him up. On 5th January, Thierry Dubois and Tony Bullimore capsized and would only be rescued four days later by the Adelaide frigate...
Isabelle Autissier on PRB was not far from Gerry Roufs, 43, and had been in contact with him. PRB capsized three times. In his final message, Roufs talked about the hellish sea state. But then, there were no more messages. On 7th January, his beacon stopped emitting. The upturned hull Groupe LG 2 was spotted on 16th July 1997 and formally identified on 29th August 1998 off Chile. Parts of the boat washed up on Atalaya Island off the south of Chile.
 | | Conrad Colman points out the missing jibs, which have slowed him, but he is still in the race - Vendee Globe © Conrad Colman / Foresight Energy / Vendée Globe |
We have all the daily reports from the latest edition of the race in this issue of Sail-World's e-magazine, including New Zealand's Conrad Colman's struggles with his forestays. Here's an extract from the report by Vendee Globe:
When the forestay broke free his headsail quickly unfurled and the 34-year-old Kiwi-American's boat was held on its side for several hours in huge seas and violent gusts of over 60kts. “He currently has the sail shredding itself in the wind like a flag from the top of the mast, but the risk of dismasting has reduced. He managed to get out to put a length of 12mm Dyneema as a supplementary stay from mast head to bowsprit and has two other lower forestays in place, and a triple reefed main,” his shore team reported earlier today.
The exhausted skipper told Race Direction that there came a point where he had just closed himself inside the boat and left it to take care of him. He has been recovering since.
At the front of the fleet, Armel Le Cleac'h in Banque Populaire V leads Alex Thomson in Hugo Boss by under 100nm as the pair exit the Doldrums with 2600nm left before the finish at Les Sables-d'Olonne on the western French coast.
 | | Day 66 – Vendée Globe leader Armel Le Cléac'h - Banque Populaire V © Armel Le Cléac'h /Banque Populaire/ Vendée Globe |
For those who have not followed the race, Thomson took the lead in the first week after leaving the western coast of France and set two-speed marks and one record including the 24hrs mark for a singlehanded sailor. He broke his starboard DSS (Dynamic Stability System) foil after colliding with an unidentified floating object. Alex was able to hold onto his lead for several days. But eventually, Le Cleac'h got foiling conditions and eroded the margin - stretching away to a 900nm lead assisted by a different weather system. Thomson was able to turn the tables after rounding Cape Horn and before they entered the Doldrums, chopping the Frenchman's lead back to just 34nm.
Now the boats are about to exit the Doldrums, and this is possibly Thomson's last roll of the dice for the 2016/17 edition of the race - which has just 18 sailors left from the 29 who started.
Thomson does have a blistering turn of speed at times - a factor that is put down to his Doyle Sails. If the Brit can get onto starboard tack and use his remaining good DSS foil then with his inherent speed advantage, the race could turn into a thriller, again.
Normally Le Cleac'h would be home and hosed with a 100nm lead and 2600nm left to sail, but with a faster boat in second place (on starboard tack at least) this race will go down to the wire.
 | | Emirates Team NZ break base to ship to Bermuda. Hamish Hooper/Emirates Team NZ |
The America's Cup never seems to lack for lightning bolt moments - often coming out of the blue.
The latest deal for the teams to willingly undertake a 28-day Blackout - raised more than a few questions.
Officially there has been no announcement of what is a very significant change to the Protocol and team plans for launch of the new AC50's - which could have happened a couple of days after Christmas, but now probably won't be until February 9, 2017 - at the earliest - for the Bermuda based teams. Emirates Team NZ now looks set to be the first in the world to launch their AC50, in Auckland.
In the America's Cup, you can always bank on self-interest being a major player.
The backdrop to the latest change is that the Arbitration Panel appointment and Hearing process over the withdrawal of the Qualifiers from Auckland has dragged out for too long. The AC50's were due to be launched on December 27, 2016. There was a real possibility that the Arbitration Panel would make a ruling sometime in February or March 2017 on a sailing Blackout for the teams in Bermuda to allow Team NZ to be compensated for the time they have lost.
 | | Skipper Glenn Ashby holds court during the America's Cup World Series - Emirates Team New Zealand Hamish Hooper/Emirates Team NZ |
Bear in mind that an America's Cup campaign is largely a time management exercise, and invalid retrospective rule changes can have severe impact on a team's strategy, budgets and competitive performance. What is happening now is like a World Cup Rugby game - after the match is played the teams then meet in secret and decide how many points are going to be awarded for a try, and then re-score the game accordingly.
Clearly the 'voluntary' Blackout decision was an attempt to: (a) get a no-sail period set, which would appear to be substantial - and would be accepted by the Arb Panel; (b) get the timing under the control of the teams - so they could take it when it best suited their schedule, i.e., starting January 9, 2017; and (c) not to have any prohibition on sailing their AC45-S test platforms (which are near AC50's anyway).
In other words, the deal apparently gives away a lot but in reality is not even nuisance value for the Bermuda-based teams. It will be a leg-up for teams who are behind schedule or have urgent component construction underway. As it was known well before Christmas the delay could have been factored into holiday break plans - with most having a long trip home from Bermuda.
 | | Land Rover BAR's AC50 arrives in Bermuda Alex Palmer |
From the Arb Panel's perspective, it saves a lot of time in the Remedy phase of the Hearing to just accept a position that had been agreed between the teams, rather than listen to a swag of conflicting evidence and then having to make a Decision. Given that two of the three members have no sailing experience and the third has no America's Cup experience, the chances of the Arb Panel getting it wrong was high.
The sorting out of financial compensation is much more straightforward and within the Panel members' backgrounds and comfort zone.
Team New Zealand haven't got everything they are due. There should have been a total sailing blackout.
 | | The launch of T4 completed Land Rover BAR's series of four AC45-S test boats and training commenced on the Solent © Harry KH / Land Rover BAR |
In the 28 day Blackout period (assuming they all opt for the same window, and launch on February 9, 2017) the teams are free to race one another in Bermuda and also test their AC50 wingsails, daggerboards, and associated systems. Team NZ meanwhile lead the lonely life in Auckland and don't have a boat to sail once the AC50 is pulled from the water to be broken down for shipping. They have only just been able to begin building their base on newly reclaimed land - all other teams have bases on the 'mainland' in Bermuda. Oracle Team USA has been sailing from their Bermuda base since early May 2015.
The Arbitration Panel could have picked up all these points and could have prescribed a deal that was much more favourable to Emirates Team NZ's cause. The 'voluntary' Protocol Change, driven by self-interest, heads off all other options and gives the other four teams something they can easily work within. Groupama Team France is largely in the same position as Emirates Team NZ, but this deal actually works a little in favour of the French as it gives them a little more leeway in a tight schedule.
Yet to come from the Arbitration Panel, is the financial settlement, which should be substantial and in favour of the Kiwis. But all it will do is ameliorate debt - the competitive damage has been done.
 | | Where it all began - Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie - World Womens 420 Champions for 2007 © Richard Gladwell |
A nine-year partnership came to an end in the first week of January, with Polly Powrie announcing her split with Jo Aleh. The crew first came together in the 2007 420 Worlds at Takapuna topping the Women's leaderboard in the Open event.
They split while Aleh pursued her Olympic aspirations in the Womens Singlehander (Laser Radial) at the Qingdao Olympic Regatta in 2008. They re-joined soon after that event in the Olympic Women's doublehander (470) and never really looked back.
They won a Gold medal in their first Olympics, in Weymouth, and should have won a second in Rio in 2016, but for a keenly contested disqualification in one race, and an interesting premature start call in another. The fact that they were able to come back from those two results to win the Silver medal was a remarkable achievement and said more about the qualities of Aleh and Powrie than any of their many accomplishments in the previous eight years.
 | | Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie after being presented with their Silver Medals Womens 470 class - 2016 Olympic Regatta © Richard Gladwell |
Putting their Olympic achievements in a general sporting context - if they had won the second Gold medal in Rio, they would have equaled the achievements of Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell in Rowing, who are New Zealand's best performed Olympic womens team.
The two began their sailing careers sailing in Optimists and P class at Kohimaramara Yacht Club. Powrie came from a strong sailing family; Aleh was new to the sport in that respect.
The two qualities that stand out with this crew are determination and balance. They are renowned for having their 'Muppet' moments during a regatta, sometimes two. But always they have had the ability to recover and pull something extra out to rise to the demands of the moment. That requires determination to shine again and again.
 | | Olivia Powrie is all smiles as she, and Jo Aleh cross the finish line to win the Gold Medal in the Womens 470 class © Richard Gladwell |
Both are outwardly quite different people, with Aleh coming across as the harder driving and more aggressive of the two. Powrie appears to have the softer more measured look at a situation, while still being able to perform under the pressure of the moment. Their temperament in many respects is similar to the 1964 Olympic Gold medallists, Helmer Pedersen and Earle Wells, who again had the hard driving skipper in the back of the boat, offset by a more taciturn forward hand.
The chemistry between the pair is obviously excellent and has stood them in good stead over the past eight years. Their combination can't be replicated - maybe Jo Aleh will be able to team up with another crew for a third Olympic campaign. However, it will be a different dynamic.
 | | - Harcourts Paremata - 2017 Tauranga Cup - Plimmerton Boating Club. Double winner Blake McGlashan (171) has started well in mid-line Todd Olson |
Early in the New Year, the P Class always hold the historic Tanner and Tauranga Cups - with the former being held for inter-port or provincial competition, and the latter for individual or club competition. It is not often that one sailor wins both Trophies. However, it is becoming more common.
This year Blake McGlashan (Murray's Bay SC) won both in the Harcourts Paremata sponsored regattas hosted at the Plimmerton Boating Club.
We have reports and images from both contests in this edition as the sailors hammered it out in Cook Strait.
 | | Polly Powrie and Jo Aleh - 2013 Rolex ISAF World Sailor of the Year, Oman © Rolex/ Kurt Arrigo |
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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 | | Conrad Colman on board Foresight Natural Energy now a day out from Cape Horn - Vendee Globe © Conrad Colman / Foresight Energy / Vendée Globe |
 | | Day 2 start on Corio Bay - Viper Worlds 2017 © Tiff Rietman |
 | | - Bay of Islands Sailing Week celebrates 15 years anniversary Bay of Islands Sailing Week |
 | | Rhys Tucker's Morning Star div 2 winner - 2017 Gant Portsea Cup © Bob Fowler |
 | | Australian Moth Nationals - Day 4 - Gough, Italian and Salter Pete Harmsen |
 | | 13ft and 16ft Skiff Australian Nationals, Illawarra Sailing Club, NSW Michael Chittenden |
 | | Blake McGlashan (MBSC) - won the Tanner and Tauranga Cup Double - Image: P Class Nation |
 | | Alison Chapman and Andrew Stephenson sailing their Cherub "Action" won seven of the nine races at the Australian Cherub Nationals. - Thurlow Fisher Lawyers 54th Cherub Australian Championships 2016-17 Carol Stephenson |
<:img Alt_The fleet enjoyed the fresh conditions. Photo Michael Chittenden1.jpg :>
2017 Top of the Gulf Regatta. Open for entries.
TOG Event Media, 
The 13th edition of the Top of the Gulf Regatta, presented by Ocean Marina, Jomtien Beach, Thailand, is open for entries. The event will run 4-8 May. TOG regularly attracts more than 250 boats, with classes for Optimists, 420, Lasers and beach cats, ocean multihulls, IRC rated monohulls, cruisers and Platu One Design. Organisers already report strong interest and early sign-ups.... [more]
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Vendee Globe - Alex Thomson fields questions in the South Atlantic
Sail-World.com, 
Hugo Boss skipper, trimmer, mainsheet hand, helmsman, navigator, cook and bowman, Alex Thomson fields some questions from fans on Day 57 of the Vendee Globe, solo round the world race. He talks about power generation, engine use, how he copes with going through a wave, working on the bow, weather analysis, tactics, and best point of sailing for Hugo Boss - or as he puts it 'holiday time'!... [more]
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