MICHEL DESJOYEAUX/FONCIA/DPPI
Update
relatively young group – someone with a wise head, great high-per- formance skills and an incredible track record. He has been a really solid guy from day one – understanding how these programmes work and the philosophy involved. SH: Where else would you see the team being reinforced? BA: As a new team that hasn’t been through a Cup cycle before, it’s about helping people understand the challenges we will face in Bermuda, of the Cup races and what they bring. These World Series events are good for that as it puts people under pressure so they can learn how to increase their focus for the big events. SH: Who would you like to face in the Louis Vuitton finals? BA: I think Artemis really, as we have close ties there, a lot of friend- ships and a lot of respect – which we have for all teams but Artemis in particular. If for any reason we weren’t to do well, we would like to see them succeed. SH: What further development needs to happen post-2017 to make the Cup viable? BA: I think it is viable now, but there has been a lot of change in this cycle which has unfortunately made it more expensive. We all took a short-term hit if you like as we were all designing for an AC62, with some teams further down the track than others. So it was a financial and potentially competitive hit to switch to a 50-footer, but we saw the potential to reduce future costs, to stick to one class for the whole thing – the World Series and the Cup. That is where we need to get to as an event… that continuity. SH: The word biannual came up at the press conference here in Portsmouth. You would be happy with that? BA: Absolutely. We have been pushing hard as a team for this framework agreement, as it’s been called. When you have people like Martin Whitmarsh, who has huge experience in Formula 1, you realise it is very clear this is what the Cup is lacking. There is big potential, but it’s lacking that continuity. I know not every team is behind this, but it’s important if we want to grow the support base outside the sailing world. Otherwise, while we’ll always have fans inside sailing it will continue to stay a niche sport. Ben was talking to Blue Robinson
MOMENTUM
– Terry Hutchinson An intense 17 days in Palma! Two events back to back; third event of the TP52 Super Series and the Copa del Rey on Bella Mente. Both events hold significance for the bigger picture. Onboard Quantum Racingit is the midway point of the season and for Bella it is our final check-in versus the fleet before the worlds. Not sure why but prior to both of these there was a fair amount of appre- hension. Mostly because you can see the amount of effort being put in ashore and I know the sailors do not want to let down the entire team. It is also in those ‘apprehensive’ times that you rely most on racing the boat consistently.
The Super Series event was sailed out of Puerto Portals with the
racecourse itself smack dab in the middle of Palma Bay. The sea breeze on the bay starts right and trends left. So how do you get to the left is the trick, from the pin or from the middle of the line? On Quantumwe had a lot of work to do from the previous event. While successful in Porto Cervo our biggest gains were/are still in front of us. Primarily our boat handling and afterguard are always work in progress. Doug [DeVos] drove this event and so at the back of the bus we needed to continue to raise our game. Improving our decision-making and communication so that we were getting more right than wrong. We are really lucky to have somebody as accom- plished as Ed Baird as our strategist in this configuration. As you can imagine, I have strong opinions of how to do things and at our first event together Ed had to manoeuvre through the ‘voices’ to help; knowing how we (me and the voices) operate, that is not easy. We knew our success in this event was going to come from improving this dynamic, as with Doug driving I am more head in the boat. I can look at four scenarios on the course through the 11 races that Ed suggested race-winning decisions. The best part about our helmsman-tactician relationship is there is no question of trust. If Ed says ‘We are doing X’ I don’t butt in or question it. In the strategist/tactician relationship it is harder as Ed does not feel the boat as much and the information is fluid. On the racecourse the goal was simple: race to win and continue to work on the averages. Over the 10 races we averaged 2.4 per race for a 12pt victory over a hard-charging Bronesec. All in all another solid result but we are not yet there with our decision- making or our boat handling.
From Puerto Portals it was a bag pack and into the chase boat (way easier than a plane) and motor over to Palma to join Hap Fauth and Bella Mentefor eight more days in the bay. The Copa del Rey is the premiere event of the Palma season and hosts everything from Maxi72s down to a highly competitive J80 fleet. Quality racing in a great venue. For Bella Mentethis is our final check-in prior to the worlds and every team has made big jumps since the North Americans. Of note was George Sakellaris’s Proteus. Sistership to Momo, the difference above the waterline is Proteusnow carries an in-line rig like Bella Mente’s while Momohas swept-back spreaders like the TP52. The cool thing about the 72 racing is the closeness – after 35nm of coastal racing Bella Mente finished 13 seconds in front of Proteus, approximately three boat lengths. Onboard Bella Menteit was a matter of keeping our eye on the big picture. Eleven races over six days meant pace ourselves and get to the end with an opportunity to win. Pace is what we did. Working on the averages and smoothing off the highs and lows was paramount to our success. Much like the philosophy of the 52 the week before and yet here it seemed that much more important to be flat-liners and stay mentally tough. We had a couple of mistakes in tactics and boat handling yet I’d argue that the final day of the event was the best I have had yet on Bella Mente. In race 8 we got control early and pounded Proteusback to last, gaining a valuable point. In race 9 we had them completely fetched up at the committee boat and in the last 14 seconds let them off the hook – miscommunication on my part. Yet three cool boat handling moves later we were back controlling our destiny. It was awesome to be a part of the crew that day. Next up… two weeks of recharging and getting the kids to school. Grounded.
Standing by in a wet, thundery MD
THE (OPENING) SEQUEL – Carlos Huerta
Only a few weeks to go now before the start of the 2016-2017 Vendée Globe, when the racing focus will move for three months from the technically superb but occasionally a bit sanitised world of the grand prix sprint onto the toughest ocean race of them all
12 SEAHORSE
The ‘excitement’ surrounding the outcome of the ORC Europeans that we touched upon last month continues, though some are lobbying hard to make it go away. During the series in Porto Carras overall winner Scugnizzawas subject to a measurement protest after winning the early races by unusually big margins. She duly remeasured as per her certificate – though observers did share some safety concerns since during remeasurement she appeared to have sprung a leak and be sinking perilously by the stern. Luckily
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