News Around the World
very late, while also qualifying our country, as happened for Tokyo. This time things have gone more smoothly for us, we have more experience and now we only have to think about Marseille. SH: Most of your training will be in Lanzarote? DB: We have been there before and the training is excellent. The temperature and conditions are perfect, and other good foreign teams also attend. The success of the venue was the reason it has been chosen for the 2024 World Cup. That will be especially impor- tant for us because it is in our country – always extra motivation. SH:Does it help that your 49er crew Florián Trittel also sails in SailGP? DB:Very much! Being together in two such different projects teaches us a lot. The 49er is just the two of us, while in SailGP the team is much larger with more people. That means there are more brains thinking, different approaches and more ideas emerge. SH: Did you take your 49er coach to SailGP? DB: No. In our day-to-day life we work with Álvaro del Arco, who is the coach assigned to us by the Spanish Federation, but we also work remotely with New Zealander Hamish Willcox. He has con- tributed throughout this campaign, and he also collaborates with our SailGP team. He really helps us combine both campaigns. SH: A medal in Marseille? DB: Let’s see. Our goal is the gold and we think that is realistic. But there are still 10 months left and many things can happen. Let’s not forget that this is sport, exact predictions cannot be made.
Dave Moore’s very turboed Santa Cruz 52 Westerly did what he set out to do, winning the 2023 Transpac overall on handicap. And the changes… Moore later admitted that buying a second SC52 and running a two-boat campaign may have been cheaper
SH: Your preference in terms of conditions… DB: We are actually pretty comfortable across all the likely condi- tions, but we are most solid with strong, almost extreme winds. Under these conditions the number of strong opponents is reduced. Before you ask, the conditions we have to work in most are light and medium winds, up to just before we are fully on the trapeze. SH: What do you think of the Marseille waters? DB: Fun and varied. It can offer many wind conditions, although the most typical are the thermal winds from the south. But at the same time northwesterlies that blow from the land – when the geography has a big effect. It is an interesting venue for racing! SH: Scenario A, you win a medal in Marseille and scenario B you don’t… Los Angeles 2028? DB: I don’t think the decision depends on having won a medal or not next summer, it will depend more on motivation. If you asked me right now I would say yes, but you never know. We have to let the Games pass first. I’m looking forward to it – I think Olympic sailing is unique and it forces you to be at the highest level. It is the only circuit where everyone trains so much. On the other hand, it only makes sense to try to win, the sacrifice is very great and you must have a partner who is also willing to do all of this. I would not continue if I did not believe we seriously aspired to the gold medal. SH: Is SailGP a big distraction? DB: SailGP events are only three days. We have thought about it a lot, because we don’t want it to undermine our Olympic preparation. We have to see how we adapt to travel, schedule changes and
28 SEAHORSE
focusing on SailGP. We plan to do all the SailGP events we can. SH: How was your role change from F50 flight controller to helm? DB: Very intense. The flight controller job made my path easier because keeping the boat flying is everything. At first it took a lot of energy and time to get used to it. It was hard. Starting out as a helmsman in a fleet like this is very difficult. The others are quite good, you know!! But now things are falling into place. SailGP is continuous learning –whoever learns the fastest goes the furthest. SH: Jordi Xammar and Florián Trittel were the original driving forces of the team, did you have to play that role when Jordi left? DB: When Russell Coutts made the decision he told Flo and me to take over the team because the CEO also left. That made it a particularly complicated time for me and we experienced situations that I never imagined. There were four or five events until the incor- poration of Toni (Alquézar) as the new CEO, but from that moment we could be totally focused on the sporting part. He seems like the right person for the job and has already taken the reins very firmly. SH: What are your big areas for improvement? DB: (Laughs) Obviously starts are one of them! But during the season we have been one of the teams with the greatest ability to come back when we have started wrong. Which is fortunate! We have been positioning the boat well on the racecourse, but technically we have many aspects that we can clearly improve, including our boathandling. Regarding the starts, I think we have closed the gap with our rivals. In Cadiz, for example, on day 1 we were the ones who made the best starts in easy flying conditions. On day 2 the conditions changed and we did not know how to adapt… SH:Speaking humbly, it seems to me that the boats are best when there is just enough wind to fly but… DB: Correct. The teams with the most experience on this circuit sail best in the most extreme conditions, whether with very little wind or when it blows strongly. The first day in Taranto (Italy) was the windiest time I have sailed on these catamarans. For Joel (Rodríguez, flight controller) it was also his windiest day in SailGP. While other teams are comfortable, we paid the price of not having experience in those conditions. It affected us not only in the per- formance of the boat but also in avoiding close situations with other boats, as we were not always certain of being able to control the boat – and tactically this made us quite conservative. SH: Millions of hours analysing data… DB: It is essential to learn and improve. Our coach Simone Salvà is a ‘machine’ analysing data. By having the information of all the ships in the fleet and comparing it you learn a lot. His contribution is fundamental. He comes from sailing Moths and he also works at Luna Rossa. What we really learn from Simone is what to look for when we connect to the data platform. SH: Is it possible for the Spanish team to be in this season’s super- final in San Francisco? DB:We have a few options, it is not impossible. But there are many strong teams. There are three places, one is surely for Australia, and seeing the first half of the season New Zealand and Great Britain will accompany the Aussies. But there are three other teams we are close to and as we evolve in the final stretch any of us could reach the million-dollar final. To achieve that first we would have to beat those three or four middle-ranked teams and then improve past the big three favourites. We have little chance, but the fact that there is any chance at all is already something big for the team. The important thing is that we improve beyond the final result. Carlos Pich
USA
Chasing the dream Optimising ratings for boat performance is as old as the sport itself, as anyone knows who is even half serious about their offshore racing. This becomes even more serious when you do the maths for long races such as Transpac where elapsed times are recorded in days, not just hours and minutes: a TCF rating difference of .0010 equates to half an hour over an eight-day course. Greg Stewart at Nelson/Marek Yacht Design in San Diego has positioned himself
STEVE JOST
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