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Editorial Andrew Hurst Winter feast
There may be just four boats racing America’s Cup 36 but on paper at least all four should be competitive. All well resourced, all started at a similar time and all have plenty of Cup experience in their generous ranks. This is the first Cup in the modern era where every team looks strong enough to put up a fight.
So maybe a little early intrigue. Quality before quantity; as Russell
Coutts says, of the 12 teams in Valencia in 2007 only four or five were any good (OK, maybe Russell didn’t phrase it quite that way). To an outsider the AC75 looks like this fascinating giant spider skitting across the water; so with a little decent media coverage there may even be enough public interest to give the sport a small boost. Meanwhile, 30 solo skippers start the Vendée Globe, half with
some foils to help them on their way and with a lot of time lying on the floor or pressed hard into a bean bag on the menu– moving around not being something you risk more than you have to. Get bashed up early on and 70 days on painkillers is not a fast look. Again, spiders, or rather giant flies, bouncing and skimming their
way around the world this time – rather than round the Hauraki Gulf. And sharing the Southern Ocean with the Vendée Globe fleet, and
hopefully flying past them, will be Gitana Team and their incredible Ultim trimaran, Edmond de Rothschild, designed by the outstanding designer of his generation, Guillaume Verdier, and skippered by two Volvo winners in Charles Caudrelier and Franck Cammas. The ‘flying Verdier’ is a much more interesting boat than an AC75.
The AC75s are a fascinating exercise in physics, challenging equilibrium with every metre covered. But they are towed to and from the racecourse each day and, like their crews, get to sleep ashore in a warm bed (OK, shed) while being loved, maintained, lubricated and refurbished between each day’s racing (here the crew analogy ranges into dubious territory). The contrast with Verdier’s Ultim could not be greater. Also built
apparent wind speeds onboard little different from the AC75, but unlike an elevated AC75 with constant spray and sometimes green ocean. Flying Imocas, flying AC75s, the first flying Ultim, three amazing
boat types testing the absolute limits of technology. All sorts of drama awaits. What a time to be sailing. What a winter feast.
It’s not over (Rover) In the wake of the virus the IOC is getting cold feet about introducing its new offshore discipline. Sailing is tough to control at Olympic level, but while people rightly talk up the inappropriateness of $500,000+ campaigns for an offshore medal, be under no illusions that greater sums have not been spent on previous medal campaigns. I pushed hard for an offshore medal from the moment the idea
was flagged up to me 10 years ago by America’s Cup skipper turned ‘MC’ Bruno Troublé. It is as worthy an Olympic sailing medal as any. But the challenges are exacerbated by the turmoil of 2020 (the end of which is in sight – optimistic, always). It will be more of a rush to get offshore racing ready in time and, while it was once reasonable to expect to secure a ‘loaner’ fleet for the Games, who fancies making the call to Bénéteau while they are mothballing factories? I want offshore medals in 2024 but if it’s a mess, then, like Women’s
to the edge of the latest technologies, with weight and windage rationed just as sparingly as on an AC75, Edmond de Rothschild must deal with the complete range of sailing conditions, including a passage through the Southern Ocean (on an AC75... we think not). The Vendée skippers will rarely be sailing close to 100 per cent, but this crewed Ultim will need to take big risks to break the 40-day Jules Verne mark of Francis Joyon – set on a more robust boat by the finest ‘competitive master mariner’ since the late Sir Peter Blake. Set in context, Edmond de Rothschild is as complex as an AC75,
dripping with sensors and computers, the platform flexing over every wave, foils that need tweaking at all hours of the day and night. The
Screw you Covid!
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Match Racing, it will have been a fleeting Olympic appearance. Mean- while, the equally deserving Finn lobby waits at the IOC gates.
must stay behind – instruction to students at Manchester Metropolitan University
WHILE OVER THERE We’d love to say that we’re eagerly anticipating meeting you this fall but
BUT THE UK TAKES IT BY A NOSE Our civil servants working from home are demonstrating
OVER HERE If there is a fire in the halls of residence students with Covid
Blimey! – That’s how impressed writer-turned-master boat builder Adrian Morgan is with François Chevalier’s Imoca drawings in the last issue
PRAISE INDEED
we’re scared – US Ivy League lecturers email their new intake
on computer code… – Ineos Team UK crew Freddie Carr
AMERICA’S CUP 36 You are always very aware that you are sailing on a boat that wholly relies
But I guess it’s no different from being on
the spirit of the Blitz – public sector union chief Dave Penman
What a tw*t – 91-year-old Blitz survivor
rescue if required – Nick Moloney’s Imoca starts to come apart after multiple capsizes in a Force 12 storm
NO ORDINARY RACE There was a heart breaking moment when I was told over the satphone that there was no chance of
that’s how sure I was – Moloney
I actually called my father to say goodbye,
TROUBLE! My new employers, now I am an official employee, they’re pretty good to me… I am not required to
the last 55 years – Harken
an aeroplane at 40,000ft – Carr
q
come to work on time – Peter Harken Just as I haven’t for
ANY OTHER GOOD TIPS? Certainly the drive-in restaurant is conve- nient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt
they will ever catch on – Mayor of Nebraska, 1957
THERE ARE LIMITS Q: Does the Vendée appeal to either of you? Pete Burling: not overly
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
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