Update
in the air. Then splashed and drifted. Game set and match to Japan. Outteridge: ‘I saw them wipe out at the bottom mark – as you
can imagine with three people onboard you do not have much time to look at the competition, but when they wiped out it was an easy decision to tack straight away… and that is what effectively won us the race. It was not really a perfect race for us, but sometimes you get lucky and you take it! We will thank Jimmy Spithill for that one. ‘We know we are good in the light. We are about 30kg under the
weight limit, and we work hard to keep the boat moving and the number of manoeuvres down. The three-up racing was great for us. Hopefully we will get some good heavy-weather practice in Plymouth – it’s a challenging place with the tide and usually serious wind!’ Jimmy Spithill: ‘We had a great final race start. We were leading
comfortably when we hit something with only a leg and a bit to go. It is one of those things. SailGP checked the area and are sure it was not a shark or big fish… so I guess it must have been debris. There was a Formula 1 race over the weekend, and Max Verstappen, the Red Bull driver, was leading with just a couple of laps to go and his tyre blew out. That is racing. I know what it feels like. ‘But the F50 is awesome. We’ve shown that with the right equip-
ment you can still have great foiling in really light conditions. That’s very important for what Russell [Coutts] is trying to deliver.’ For the disappointed Brits it is important to cut Ainslie-substitute
Paul Goodison some slack. He went into the first race in Italy with no more than eight hours on the helm of a highly complex and reactive F50. Coming straight out of the bigger, heavier AC75s it was a major transition to make in mindset as much as technique and with virtually no time to play himself in. Expect better things in Plymouth. Meanwhile, for the young Spanish team led by Kiwi Phil Robertson
the season is already going better than they expected among such tough, more experienced competition. ‘The curve continues upwards for us,’ said Robertson after Taranto. ‘We had some technical issues in Bermuda, which cost us a place in the final, but we moved up another step here. The Spanish guys are young; they learn fast and adapt to changing circumstances easily. To be honest, I did not expect they would be on the pace so early in the season. ‘We enjoyed foiling three-up in light air. The reduced crew works
well for us. The more experienced crews have set up with each person doing something specific – the helms are mainly driving and doing tactics; so when we switch from five to three at short notice they struggle. In contrast, for Japan and Spain it hardly changes as we are often driving and doing flight control at the same time. ‘But, still, we are leading overall after two rounds as the new boys
(laughs)… but this is going to get a lot tougher as the season pro- gresses. Our flight controller Florian Trittel and Diego Botín, our wing trimmer, are heading for Tokyo, with Xabi Fernández [49er Olympic gold medallist and Volvo racer] coming in. That is cool, but it is a long time between drinks for him –he will be green but I am expecting him to pick it up fast. They say he’s pretty good… And we have Taylor Canfield in too. But I still hope it’s not too windy in Plymouth!’ While several of the big names were clearly disappointed with
patchy performances in Italy, the most surprising result was the eighth place from season one winner Australia. They had dominated in Bermuda but fell apart in Taranto. Slingsby explained: ‘Before the first race we had breakdowns in
hydraulics with a pump failure. We repaired it just before the start, and then another pump failed which put us out of the race. That finally got fixed just two minutes before the start of race 2. We were out of position. We did not know the course, where the marks were. Then right after the start the alarms started going off onboard which obviously distracted us as we are told not to break these things. ‘It’s true, the three-up racing favours the developing nations,
teams like Japan where much more of the boat’s control is in the hands of the skipper, plus one or two others. However, in our team the grinders do time-to-boundaries and boat speed compared to other boats etc, so the transition back to three-up is a big reset. ‘It was a regatta we want to forget. Between now and Plymouth
we will work hard to identify all our mistakes and figure how not to make them again and get back to our Bermuda form. I’ve been here before, as you’ll remember from Beijing (in 2008)!’
20 SEAHORSE q SNAPSHOTS Brought to you in association with
l Relief… the brilliant François Gabart has signed French cosmetics group Kresk to sponsor his almost-complete new Ultim l How many companies were pitched… to replace Macif? l More than… a thousand l Of which… six offered to ‘throw in’ a couple of mill each year… l Finding someone… to take on the whole bill, however, was harder l ‘A lot harder!’… says Gabart, still the master of understatement l Sacked… Arkea Paprec did not renew the contracts of Sébastien Simon and VG winner Vincent Riou for their Imoca programme l In their place… comes the super-talented and immensely tough (see VG 2008) Yann Eliès l Three Figaro wins… for Yann and one for his father, Patrick l Mixed message… we all look forward to the launch of the first ‘crewed Imoca’, designed by Guillaume Verdier and built by CDK l But… turns out it’s equally configured for a solo campaign... l Which is not a promising advert… for The Ocean Race l More promising… a ninth F50 for SailGP is underway at Core Builders Composites l Brutal brutal… brutal... l Shades of… Scott vs Ainslie in 2012 as the 2021 Finn Gold Cup winner (pg119) Andy Maloney is passed over for the Kiwi Tokyo slot in favour of his mate Josh Junior who won the same trophy in 2019 l No place for… wimps Corinthians… l Top non-pro… at the Quarter Ton Cup was Ed White’s Joker l In 10th place… in a 17-boat fleet l Lorient… Port La-Forêt, La Grande Motte, La Turballe, La Trinité, Concarneau, Douarnenez, Brest, Roscoff, Granville, Cherbourg, Ouistreham, St Gilles Croix, Les Sables, La Rochelle, Les Minimes… l And… now the pub quiz question: commonality? l All… boast offshore training centres for Minis, Figaros, Class40s and in Lorient and Port La-Forêt for Imocas as well l So… for all you two-handed Olympic wannabes from outside France claiming ‘we wuz robbed’, maybe reflect on that for a while? l Mind you… Le Havre’s former offshore base is now dinghies only l So… is it all falling apart for France, they ask wistfully? l Haha… as if l Open goal… it was always unlikely the grand old Finn could get to Paris 2024, but had they come to the table with a package of supplied boats we reckon they would have stood a chance l OK, it is tough… on us 85kg sailors (maybe not ‘us’ nowadays – ed) l But it’s no less tough… trying to be an 85kg Olympic sprinter l Olympic sailing… cost of boats... ultimately it’s a killer l Ignoring… four-year budgets which now surpass $1million l And you wonder why… there are now only six sailing medals (sic) l Mind you… there are still medals that put sailing in the ‘$hade’ l Glimmer… 2028 in the light air of LA feels unlikely for an offshore l But… Sydney 2032… worth thinking about? l Weight of evidence… membership of the Offshore Double Association has passed 1,700 l Although a few… of those ‘we’re not interested in the Olympics’ programmes were canned within hours of the decision l They’re just not… shouting it from the rooftops l (Too) long list… America’s Cup challenger and philanthropist Peter Harrison; journalist of integrity David Pelly; solo Transat racer Mike Butterfield; designer Rodger Martin, World Offshore Powerboat Champion Dag Pike; and Bruno Bich (Jnr). All passed away recently l A fascinating bunch… and with some excellent stories l Pelly… wrote so frankly about one Half Ton Cup sailor that he got thrown in for his trouble l And not… in a friendly way l Pike… was rescued at sea 12 times during a very colourful life l While regularly turning out… excellent books and papers on safety at sea and seamanship... l A nice man… and with a nice sense of irony l Yes, they’re still banging on… even with 90 boats entering the Fastnet two-handed division there are still plenty of people arguing for the discipline to be banned due to breaching ColRegs on lookouts l Jeez, guys… that’s not even the last war l So now for some porn… RaceboatsOnly l And an evening catch-up… at
EurosailNews.com
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