News Around the World
Douguet onboard his new Lift V2 Lombard design. With very light airs prevailing at the end of the race, Corentin, veteran of a 10-year apprenticeship on the Figaro circuit, was closely followed at the finish in Les Sables d’Olonne by Ian Lipinski (Crédit Mutuel) and Axel Tréhin (Project Rescue Ocean), after just over five days at sea. Corentin is sailing the two-handed NCR with Yoann Richomme… and they are the strong favourites! Meanwhile, the dramatic-looking VPLP Clak40 underwent a
weight-loss programme this winter, having been found to be over the minimum weight (4,580kg) when launched last year. ‘The new Class40s are really small Imocas, rather than big Minis,’ says Yann Penfornis, manager at Multiplast where the Claks are built. ‘The
return to this re-energised love of sailing has involved a long and difficult climb from exhaustion, illness… and disillusion. Following a creditable 12th place in her international 49erFX
debut at Hyères in May, she knows full well there is still a long road ahead, but she is up for the challenge. ‘At the moment I am enjoying the sailing so much that I just want to sail all the time,’ she says. ‘After such a long break you very quickly remember just how lucky you are. Every day on the water is a pretty decent day.’ For eight years Aleh and partner Polly Powrie dominated Women’s
470 sailing. Dubbed Team Jolly, the pair won Olympic gold and silver medals at the 2012 and 2016 Games, two world titles, and in 2013 were recognised as Female World Sailors of the Year. But after the 2016 Games Aleh crashed and burned. Years of
starving herself to keep her weight down had severely impacted her health and sapped her energy. Describing how she was often curled up on her bed enduring severe stomach pains, the 35-year-old now admits, ‘It was all basically malnutrition.’ So Aleh stepped away from Olympic sailing and took a job in the corporate world, but she soon learned that the office nine-to-five was not for her. There is a famous photograph of Aleh as an 11-year-old sitting
on the bow of NZL-60 during the lead-up to the 2000 Cup defence in Auckland. The Kiwi crew had broken off a training session because of light winds and nosed in among an Optimist fleet, enabling the kids to swarm aboard and meet their idols. Aleh later said the expe- rience sparked an ambition to take her career to that same level. Aleh was a precocious talent from an early age. Like most Kiwi
sailing kids, she progressed from Optimists into the P-Class. Endemic to New Zealand, the technically demanding singlehander features prominently in the story of most of the country’s sailing luminaries. In 2002, aged 15, Aleh won the prestigious Tanner Cup, the first girl to do so since the event’s establishment in 1945. At 22 years old she was ranked #1 in the world in the Women’s
Laser Radial class, followed by her stellar partnership with Polly Powrie in the 470. Having scaled the pinnacles of the 470 class, however, she came to the painful realisation that Olympic medals and world titles counted for little for a young woman seeking to expand her horizons. Yet the ambition sparked by that NZL-60 experience proved a
An 11-year-old Jo Aleh completes another day’s Optimist sailing, the same year she first achieved fame after being photographed on the bow of Team New Zealand’s NZL-60 during preparations for their successful 2000 Cup Defence. Just five years later she would take gold at the 420 Worlds followed by a string of seven Olympic and world championship medals in the Women’s 470
hull shell engineering is critical, the hull shapes are now very flat, sail at high speeds and the structure must therefore be very robust… which is not easy. Building a strong boat at minimum displacement is a challenge.’ In addition, this slimming treatment was also an opportunity to
modify the sheer line approaching the bow. ‘For the V2 version we have identified a significant gain in terms of weight and CoG,’ explains Quentin Lucet, naval architect at VPLP. ‘In part it comes from optimising the sampling of some structural
materials to save each precious kilo, while keeping the boat strong. This gain is also helped by some more refined equipment choices by the sailors – which translate directly to the total weight of the boat.’ Among the biggest weight improvements is the use of an
interesting new Kubota engine which is a full 15kg lighter than the previously popular Yanmar… with exactly the same power output! Patrice Carpentier
NEW ZEALAND After five years away from competitive sailing New Zealand’s double Olympic 470 medallist Jo Aleh is back on the Olympic campaign trail and revelling in the challenge of learning a new class. But her
28 SEAHORSE
step too far. In a powerful address to a World Sailing Forum in 2017 Aleh described months of travelling the world at her own expense, and working 12-hour days for no pay in the hope of breaking into a Sydney Hobart or Volvo Race campaign. While male sailors with similar or lesser pedigrees were swept up, she found rejection after rejection. Her slight physique and gender seemed to count against her, while her sailing intelligence was disregarded. It was clearly a demoralising experience. Slowly, however, she was drawn back to the sport and secured
a Yachting New Zealand role as coach for Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson for their Olympic debut in the Nacra 17 class at the Tokyo Games. Hours in a coach boat steadily rekindled Aleh’s desire to participate. Coaching also brought new perspectives on sailing and health, issues she promotes in her position on World Sailing’s Athlete Commission. She is particularly concerned that the focus on weight begins at
the junior classes. In the Optimist class, for example, the target weights are set very low at about 35kg. ‘When I was a young girl of 11 or 12 I would have been too tall. I probably would not have made it through the junior classes at all today. And this is not just about girls. It affects guys as well. ‘Today, when it comes to my weight, I am less strict. By the time
you factor in the boat, the rig and the crew, 2kg does not matter that much. It is far more important to get off the startline clean…’ Starting her sailing comeback, she raced the 2021 470 Nationals
in Auckland with Andre Van Dam, finishing second by a single point. Then, later last year, she won the New Zealand stand-up paddleboard championships in a close-fought battle with World Junior SUP Champion Brianna Orams... a first national title outside sailing. Then at Lake Garda she finished second woman behind Great Britain’s Josie Gliddon in the Moth World Championships after only
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120
