News Around the World


round- the-world crewed boat: how will the Volvo crews accept such a small crew number? How and when will they deal with an autopilot? Will the boats be strong enough? What rule changes do we need to adapt the Imoca for high-performance crewed racing? How can we avoid typeforming boats for one type of racing? It won’t be easy. For me – someone who has done both races – it is pretty exciting


to imagine that maybe I could take my existing boat and race the ‘Volvo’ after the Vendée… Although in terms of budget we are talking way more for a VOR than for a VG! However, right now I am putting all my energy into Vendée Globe


preparation. If I do a good Vendée and know everything about sailing these foiling Imocas fast around the world then maybe some doors could open for the next VOR… It’s a nice incentive. Patrice Carpentier


SPAIN The 2018 sailing world championship in Aarhus left a bittersweet taste for the Spanish Olympic squad. On the one hand, the country qualified for Tokyo 2020 in the Men’s and Women’s 470s and in both RSX categories. On the other, there was the Iker Martínez ‘affair’ that may end with a big penalty following a measurement infringement in the Nacra 17 class. Spain has been on a bad streak at the Olympic Games since Sydney 2000, where for the first time in years it did not win a medal.


Rio 2016 in the Nacra there was a strange controversy when he complained of an injury ‘slowing him down’ in the qualifying races. But Aarhus may cause the most serious damage to the standing


of the two-time Olympic medallist. He won gold in Athens 2004 and silver in Beijing 2008, both with his crew Xabi Fernández in the 49er class (interestingly in 2008 he lost gold due to a disqualification). In Spain the controversy in Aarhus was barely mentioned, either


by the Spanish sailing federation or by its Movistar team… until the federation was eventually forced to issue a statement acknowl- edging the infraction (while giving Iker their full backing). Meanwhile, on a more happy note, a few days before the events


in Denmark, in Barcelona the O’pen Bic class convened for their 2018 World Championship. After the last edition in Lake Garda there was much expectation among another huge fleet of close to 400 young skippers. Unfortunately this time the wind offered very different numbers because a strong anticyclone blocked the usual thermal breeze and only a few races were completed – a great pity, but it did not discourage the young sailors who clearly knew how to entertain themselves and have fun on a Catalan beach! The atmosphere in this class is more friendly and relaxed than


a typical Optimist event, the direct competitor of this much newer mini-skiff that also offers very enjoyable freestyle stages within its regattas. The philosophy of these two fleets is very different – and at the moment it is clear the powerful lobby that is the Optimist is the only thing preventing much faster growth of the O’pen Bic. The federal structure of the Optimist class and its strong base in sailing clubs, together with the commercial interests of the manufacturers of boats, sails, rigging and equipment, weigh like a slab holding back its newer and more exciting rival. But more and more young people will soon be able to make


their own choices and the super atmosphere at a large Bic regatta suggests that the Optimist will only have to fight harder every year to protect its monopoly on young racers. It is also not by chance that one of the places you will find the


Prompted by his choice of an O’Pen Bic for son Mattias’s racing debut Manly SC commodore Russell Coutts now spends a lot of time helping local youngsters – plus he has a major role hosting the 2019 worlds at Manly in February. It’s worked out pretty well for young Mattias Coutts too, the winner of the under-13 world title at Lake Garda in 2017 confirming ‘Dad knows a bit about racing, he’s useful to have around’. Glad we’ve cleared that up


Our good run in Olympic sailing began in Montreal 1976, after which the ‘Armada’ was on the podium at every Games until the drought in Sydney. Then the Spanish team bounced back with two medals at Athens, Beijing and London 2012, but in Rio their scorecard again read zero. The team has not been refreshed much in this new cycle – there are new faces but they are certainly not smiling. In Aarhus Spain only shone in the 470, with the girls Silvia Mas/


Patricia Cantero second and Bàrbara Cornudella/Sara Lopez fifth, while Jordi Xammar and Nicolás Rodríguez finished third among the boys. Our regular favourites in the RSX, Marina Alabau and Blanca Manchón, did not even get close to the Medal Race… after being the most powerful team in this class for nearly a decade. Meanwhile, Iker Martínez and Nacra crew Olga Maslivets were


not allowed to race in Denmark after their boat failed measurement; the measurers noted that the mountings of the centreboard boxes were incorrectly positioned, which led to the International Jury declaring a potentially major breach of the regulations. This was not the first time the determined Iker has tested the


edges of the rules; during the 2011-12 Volvo Race he had a conflict with measurers when skippering Telefónica for which his team received a 2pt penalty. Then in the Spanish Olympic selections for


18 SEAHORSE


greatest enthusiasm for Bic racing along with many of the class’s best sailors is New Zealand. For several years Russell Coutts has taken a personal interest in the class, which he chose for his son Mattias to start him off in the sport. This megastar of sailing was in Arenys and we took the opportunity to have a few words… Seahorse: When did you get involved with the O’pen Bics? Russell Coutts: About three years ago. We started using the boat in a local New Zealand youth programme. I really like it. It’s simple, but it teaches the kids really good technique from a very young age. Many of our best coaches now believe it is easier to teach the kids to sail well in a Bic than in a more stable boat. It teaches them feel and how to manoeuvre faster; in the first weeks it is more challenging but then the children’s rate of improvement becomes much faster. I also like the boat because of the lower cost. In addition to your


simple fully-battened sail, which lasts much longer than a soft sail, you do not need to spend a lot of money and there is no difference between an old and a new boat. In fact, my son has the oldest boat in New Zealand; there are more than 200 boats there now and his is the oldest and there is no difference. Unlike the modern Optimist class, to be competitive you do not have to keep upgrading… It’s simple. That’s critical to how we make sailing more popular generally. SH: In Bermuda you ran a programme for children during the America’s Cup. RC: Yes, and I think we did a good programme, again using these boats. We had 3,000 children take part and that is fantastic. I would like to do the same thing elsewhere in the world too. Why not? SH: What different skills are needed for the two boats? RC: Both are good for juniors. But I think there is an immediate difference in planning campaigns. If you want to compete in the Optimist you have to continually buy a new centreboard, or a rudder, a mast, new sails; with the O’pen Bic I think you can compete in different events without buying equipment, maybe one sail a year if you sail a lot, or something that you have broken that needs to be replaced. You should not need to buy new material for reasons of performance. That is not the case in the Optimist!


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