Editorial Andrew Hurst Nice
Among the islands hardest hit by the winter hurricanes was St Maarten, which although it has – had – more substantial infrastructure than many of the smaller islands was devastated. Among the worst hit areas were the vibrant water- side towns familiar to competitors at the annual St Maarten Heineken Regatta.
However. The latest news from some extremely ambitious regatta
organisers is that not only is this year’s Heineken Regatta 100 per cent happening, but over 60 entries have already signed up from 14 different countries. And that’s before the large charter operators (no wildebeest jokes this month) who are frantically replacing and repairing their fleets of boats. Good to see the sailors doing their bit.
Don’t try this at home Just before going to press we got a call from a reader about the January 2018 cover shot of Mapfre… Sure enough, when we looked again at Thierry Martinez’s photo of the Spanish VO65 reaching at 25kt in about the same amount of wind eight crew are visible on deck without a tether in sight. I am not implying a single iota of criticism of such an experienced
crew – had most of us been lucky enough to be on that boat the position would be exactly the same (admit it). Broad daylight, wet but relatively steady high-speed sailing, settling into a new leg of the race with lots of moving stuff around the boat. But there is a point to be made here in terms of the message
that is being sent. Not quite sure what that point is but it’s worth a mention!
The right guys won The nominees in our ‘Cold War’ edition of Sailor of the Month were Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Middle Sea Race winner Igor Rytov. Ellison, in spite of the criticisms that can be made (more than
a few fair) about his tenure of the America’s Cup, changed the face of the competition, dragging it into the 21st century while keeping large numbers of sailors, designers, engineers, shore managers etc employed and very well paid. In fact, a criticism of the US software mogul is that he drove salaries up so much that the dis- tortion is having knock-on effects for other projects, as well as for those former Oracle personnel who now have to adjust their expec- tations. (More sympathy for the former than the latter, by the way). In a nutshell, a lot of people made a lot of money from Ellison. At the same time, while vigorously sucking at the teat the endless
proclamations about how ‘Oracle is a real team’ got a little old. Well, it seems it wasn’t such a ‘real team’ after all. Across the
sport you will find those everywhere who are very happy to recognise Larry Ellison’s enormous contribution, including some who voted for eventual winner Igor Rytov; active racers, especially younger racers who appreciate what Ellison did for sailing and for the America’s Cup; ‘brilliant’ is a word you often hear from lovers of really fast boats. He certainly helped bring foiling cats into the mainstream (a story in itself). But notable by their absence from the Ellison vote were all bar
a few members of that same ‘real team’ Oracle USA. Fortunate people and their families, many of whom Larry Ellison made rich beyond their wildest dreams (fair’s fair, the Oracle guys have always been generous in their support for other nominees). But as far as that ‘team’ thing goes. It was complete bo**ocks.
PS Highlight a Kiwi success story (and others) and the servers go into meltdown. As well as the worldwide fan club, everyone at Team New Zealand always votes for everyone else. It’s bloody great!
Last… word Just before the infidels celebrated Christmas the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood tweeted (sorry, I know): ‘I wish I could join the jihad for Jerusalem and a bullet hits me and kills me. To be honoured with martyrdom for Allah!’ It prompted an unexpected response: ‘We normally don’t take
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by a lot – Gabart
Not quite Macif… Alain Colas sailing the trimaran Pen Duick IV on which he won the solo OSTAR in 1972. Colas and his boat – now renamed Manureva – disappeared during the 1978 Route du Rhum when the all-welded aluminium multihull is believed to have broken up due to the effects of severe longterm corrosion
requests, but how’s Friday at noon for you?’ – Mossad
DUDE It is sometimes a challenge sleeping at
more than 40kt – François Gabart HOW HE DID IT Thomas pushed me
FULL FLIGHT
like hell –Gabart does good virtual rival
We are nearly there – Gabart And the first one will break the record
SHHH Guys, don’t tell anyone but here on the lake I own a really well designed boat… a [Reichel/Pugh]
Melges 24 – Yacht designer Javier Soto Acebal
COMPLEX? Small teams don’t have the resources to come up with a new 102-piece (sic) front
that 200 grand – Fernley
somebody at the first corner and loses his front wing that’s more
THE WAY HE TELLS ’EM A wooden Dragon is like a beautiful woman, the sex appeal of a fibreglass Dragon is the same as the sex appeal
of a refrigerator – Don Street
during weekends – Adrian Morgan’s sign-off
BALANCE No emails will be read
that feeling – Ayrton Senna congratulates Nigel Mansell on his Formula One world title
WINNER It’s a great feeling, isn’t it, now you know why I’m such a bastard because I never want anyone else to have
wing for every race – Bob Fernley, Force India F1 – Every time some clown cannons into
HE’S RIGHT Mark Zuckerberg helps you share baby photos, Elon Musk is changing
the world – Biographer Ashlee Vance
Seahorse magazine and our associate raceboatsonly brokerage site are both at:
seahorsemagazine.com The editor is contactable by email at:
andrew@seahorse.co.uk
SEAHORSE 11 q
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BATEAUX/DPPI
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