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Editorial Andrew Hurst They made it...
The organisers of The Ocean Race, that is. When the handful of Imocas that started the race all eventually made it to the finish in Genoa, in good order or otherwise (mostly otherwise), a brave experiment had succeeded. The Imocas performed exactly as expected when pushed hard by a full crew, and mighty-good
crews at that; they broke in places, mostly rig troubles which was always the most likely area. Foil damage, from impact or otherwise, is typical of this class in shorthanded guise so there was no reason it should be any different fully crewed. And one entrant – Guyot (ex-Hugo Boss 2016) suffered severe structural damage with large areas of core failure in the most critical bit of the boat. This particular failure also brought the spotlight onto a previously
taboo subject, that older Imocas built with now prohibited honeycomb core are particularly vulnerable to catastrophic issues. As Charlie Dalin says in this issue, this is a timebomb we must not ignore. Then there is the fact that replacing the honeycomb in these yachts
– of which there are many – may cost more than the value of the boat, leaving the obvious, painful conclusion. At least the rigs, sails and those very expensive electronics can be salvaged before chainsaws are fuelled up. An awkward one to face. But, away from the detail of future improvements to the boats for
crewed racing, the fact is The Ocean Race organisers were pushed into a corner with only two options: talk the Imoca class into having a go or revert to a handicap event under IRC. The latter fox has already been shot by Don MacIntyre, leaving Imocas the only choice – in fact, they were the only choice for a genuine grand prix event. It must have been stressful at Ocean Race HQ, trying to talk up
the Imoca numbers while so few Imoca campaigns were considering the race seriously. So very well done for toughing it out. How easy would it have been to have canned or postponed the event blaming Covid, the situation in the Ukraine or a dozen other excuses. But having got through a challenging first edition, using the Imocas,
the race is actually in a very strong position going forwards. Subject of course to certain key provisos. We know the structural and reliability situation with the Imocas
and what changes are needed for next time. We know the crews can take it, indeed they spent a lot of time grinning at the onboard cameras with the thrill of pushing these amazing boats as hard as possible for once. Having fewer stopovers was a success, with a direct favourable impact on costs. The host-ports waved the yachts farewell as contented hosts. And that single long Leg 3 was an absolute epic, to race and to follow. Well worthy of the original Whitbread Races. The Imocas also delivered some close racing – which few who
know the class expected. Again full crews push the boats harder and so the human contribution is likely to vary much less than with a solo skipper – a small group of whom are simply a class apart. So the foundations are laid for a far stronger second edition, the
next step being to bring the two ‘bodies’ closer together as early as possible. The Ocean Race organisation must find a way to properly
partner the Imoca class going forwards, so as to play an active role in the class programme, co-ordinated far in advance, rather than being stuck as junior partner in one-off endeavours. Imoca may be booming but the class is aware that with escalating
budgets it would be foolish to sit back smugly and disregard the possibility of introducing another pinnacle event within the Vendée Globe/Route du Rhum cycle. Far more Imoca skippers had been seriously interested in The
Ocean Race than implied by the eventual five-boat entry. But it was a hard pitch to sponsors already signed up to a confirmed four-year programme. Possible new Imoca skippers should be particularly keen on the crewed format. There are way more really good ocean-racing skippers in the world than there are really good ocean-racing skippers who would ever consider racing solo. Suddenly there is now a reason to take a serious look at the Imoca class – after all, what other blue water discipline offers such an opportunity to demonstrate your skills? So, brave call this, there are no reasons I can think of why a second
edition of The Ocean Race in Imocas will not be a big success. Well, almost no reasons… First, The Ocean Race needs to be able
to share the pitch above convincingly with a large enough international company to have reason to write a fat cheque as title sponsor. It feels impossible this event can go any further on the back of hosting port fees, race entry fees and suppliers and sub-sponsors. Finding a title sponsor will surely be make or break? Then there is the issue of joining forces with a brilliantly successful
and super-professional class that can be notoriously difficult to negotiate with… largely because it is so strong Imoca has little reason to share prizes. And the class is as healthy as it is, like the Class40, because it has only ever dealt in the world of reality, rather than fanciful notions of forcing ideas onto a customer base with other interests. They deserve their success and this must be recognised. So two tricky points to address, but The Ocean Race 2022-2023
convinced me that the right package delivered at the right price would be something very special in the sport. One last thing… time to remove the VO65s from the picture. A
‘ BEAT THAT
Dennis Conner and Ted Turner on the 12 Metre Mariner in 1974 in Newport, RI; they have yet to find out what a turkey they’ve got. Conner was later poached to join Ted Hood on Courageous and his first Cup win. Turner had to wait three years for his big day…
great success in rescuing an event that would otherwise have collapsed; but now leave them to enjoy their retirement. The VO65 sprints were not a good look. But The Ocean Race had to try everything and now they have earned that second bite.
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Kiss me, Hardy – Lord Nelson to Sir Jim Hardy’s forebear at Trafalgar
HELLO, ANYONE? Hello, land, we have two
days of war ahead of us – Julia Virat and Melodie Schaffer, Normandy Channel Race
SELF-BELIEF Alcaraz combines the best elements of myself, Federer
and Nadal – Novak Djokovic
Djokovic is crazy! – Carlos Alcaraz, Wimbledon Men’s Singles Champion
But probably he’s right – Alcaraz
ELECTIONS ARE COMING OK, I admit in 2016 I wasn’t driven mad by Donald Trump, like
millions of other people – PJ O’Rourke
But I did vote for Hilary Clinton on the basis that she’s wrong about
normal parameters – O’Rourke
absolutely everything… – O’Rourke But she’s wrong within
KEEP THEM SAILING The only question a parent should be allowed to ask when their kids come
ashore… – John Christman
unimportant – Christman
Did you have fun? – Christman How they did is
Z’ERS HAVE NO IDEA! Within 60 minutes of Led Zeppelin announcing their 2007 reunion concert 20 million people had
applied for tickets… – Just sayin’ – Ed
SEAHORSE 11
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