We came through leg 7 without rig or hull damage, and one side of that equation asks did we push hard enough? Looking back I don’t think we could have pushed harder without being reckless. SH: The breeze is from the west, southwest or northwest – how good is the weather info you are getting, particularly on gusts? CN: Not great concerning gusts, and so it is down to the drivers to be confident with what they have. The nights are pretty much pitch black, hiding the style of the front coming at you, meaning you are going to be hit by 45kt with the fractional code zero and a J2 and three or two reefs in the main, and so you make the call when to furl. I can remember one night it was blowing 40kt, I was helming and hanging in there for an hour or so in 40kt+ and what you do is you hang on as much as you can then furl the fractional zero. Afterwards we realised that was a shed-load of breeze to have with this much gear up as it built through 46-50kt… It is a lot to have going on, but we were sailing the boat deep and doing really good numbers and in control. But you know you are completely on the edge of it being ‘practical’. SH: Your navigator Jules Salter is a fantastic bloke who avoids the limelight. What can you say of his contribution? CN: It is such a tough one for the navigators, in an area of the world where they probably don’t get enough information and they want to help more. It is quite often a difficult time for them as just a slight miscalculation can result in significant breeze changes, meaning we find ourselves in all kind of situations on deck. You would think from a tactical point of view it is a relatively straightforward leg, but you can see the frustration come out in the navigators when they are trying to make life for us on deck better. But generally there is probably not enough emphasis put on weather routeing down there and generating better GRIB files. SH: How did the crew hear of the loss of John Fisher? CN: I was asleep at the time and as soon as I woke up they told me and I was completely rocked by the news – you know right away that for everyone onboard it will never be the same again. You know that part of the world you are in, you are very much aware of the risks you are all in, but that doesn’t lessen the impact on us all. SH: Did you change the way you managed the boat? CN: The tempo of how we sailed remained much the same but, yes, there was a focus on when and where you were clipping on. SH: This was an incredibly tough leg on the boats. For those speculating on a boat for future races any new design has to withstand a brutal leg 7 like that one. CN: Absolutely. One thing I can guarantee is that right now there is no fleet of boats anywhere in the world that could have withstood even close to how these boats were sailed in the conditions we were in. If you are going to take any lesser boat, then you have to avoid the weather; you have to sit much, much further north, and then you are not going to have the same level of racing. I know there are a lot of conversations out there at the moment about going to new and faster designs and I am all for that, but the fact is some people need a reality check on what that is going to cost, and what it is going to deliver in terms of close racing and safety. Looking at a current Imoca boat, if you put four or five of us onboard, all pushing hard, then don’t even remotely think it would make it across that stretch of water we just experienced. SH: You speak with experience also in the VO70. CN: Yes, plus I have more foiling boats at home than you could poke a stick at. And I enjoy every moment of that, but I just don’t know how you would raise the money for a much more technical project like that in the current environment. SH: The drone footage coming off the boats is finally showing everyone ashore how hard the boats are being pushed… CN: Yep, I think it is a game changer for ocean racing to get this footage off the boats. But we still really struggle to get the drones up exactly when we want and there is better footage to come. It may look easy but, believe me, it is a mission to get the drones in the air and keep the OBR safely attached to the boat while they are trying to fly them! I give the OBR about 30 seconds where I ease the boat just a bit for them to launch, otherwise they couldn’t do it in big breeze.
But to be able to get the shot of a little carbon fibre shell hurtling through the middle of nowhere… mate, it’s pretty amazing.
SEAHORSE 23
Jules Verne Trophy, Vendée Globe, Mini Transat...
Profurl raises the performance!
profurl.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96
