Contents August 2018 FEATURES
4 It was that close But it was PHIL SHARP who did it once again
30 It hardly ever rains Keeping all of the people happy for all of the time does not happen by accident… ROB WEILAND
If you’re only going to win one leg... Over time the Dongfeng story will be retold in all sorts of occasionally surprising environments from business schools to sports teams. Bruno Dubois was in charge of the Chinese-backed programme and he quickly hired his friend Charles Caudrelier – already a Volvo winner on Groupama –who knew full well that part of the deal was training up a group of young Chinese sailors some of whom must be in his final crew. As skipper Caudrelier was an inspired choice – and boy did he deliver. Imagine all the skippers who would have said, ‘it’s not possible’, or point-blank refused to sail without all their personal favourites. There were other inspired choices too, starting with Caudrelier’s old friend Pascal Bidégorry as navigator – the man who was brutally replaced as skipper of the giant Jules Verne-winning Banque Pop trimaran got his own back, with, if not the most brilliant tactical call of the race then certainly the bravest, very deliberately splitting with his rivals on the last night of the race... rightly as it turned out, but that must have been an unbelievably stressful 24 hours knowing that the entire race hung on a decision that will definitely not be found in any of the playbooks on regatta-winning strategy. Also in Dongfeng’s brainstrust was Marcel Van Trieste, taking care of the navigation and met work during the stopovers just as he did for Ian Walker’s winning Abu Dhabi campaign three years ago; Van Trieste has of course done countless round the world races onboard or from the shore and broken numerous records... even so, winning the first two round the world races to be held in one designs for a strategist is a special achievement
COVER: Ainhoa Sanchez
36 An extraordinary vintage The Yale Class of 76 was exactly that and STEVE BENJAMIN was far from being the only sailor that summer to go on to much bigger things. DOBBS DAVIS
40 Delivery – Part II Preparing for the Bermuda Race… albeit in 1926. CLARE MCCOMB
44 Oxymoron Even a double Olympic medallist, Volvo Ocean Race winner and the current RYA Director of Racing is struggling a little with the ongoing Olympic classes selection process. IAN WALKER
46 Re-entry is a bitch Often the finish of a round-the-world race can ‘simply’ see one set of all-consuming challenges replaced by another. BRIAN HANCOCK
48Mid-size melting pot The market for IRC-racers in the 30-35ft range has become a lot more interesting driven by the new demand for shorthanded platforms. FRED AUGENDRE, JEAN-PIERRE KELBERT, ERIC LEVET, YANN DUBE and MICHELE MOLINO
52 In good hands? Probably none better in fact… ROB KOTHE talks to the new owners of the Volvo Ocean Race RICHARD BRISIUS and JOHAN SALEN
REGULARS
6 Commodore’s letter STEVEN ANDERSON
9 Editorial ANDREW HURST
10 Update Quite the new (TP52) toys, Cup ‘foundations’ and is there (finally) some light at the end of the USA Olympic tunnel. JACK GRIFFIN, TERRY HUTCHINSON, BERNARDO SANCHEZ
16World news That six-second victory, on a very complicated racetrack, foils lose out again in Nice, ALEX THOMSON goes public (at last), 50 years ahead of the game... from one America’s Cup to ‘40’ and Class40 holds its ground over there... IAN BURNS, PATRICE CARPENTIER, BLUE ROBINSON, IVOR WILKINS, DOBBS DAVIS
28 Rod Davis – Freshen it up Get up forward to Marlboro Country, you worthless bunch of backstay hangers…
32 ORC – Life is compromise A unique opportunity to learn. MATTEO POLLI
34 IMA – Rewarding but complex A humble employee writes… ROB WEILAND
55Seahorsebuild table
– Coming on very nicely (thank you) First it was 20 boats, then suddenly it became 40 boats… And now even that number is looking as if it may be an under-estimate. DOBB DAVIS
58Seahorse regatta calendar
60 RORC news – The steamroller Français EDDIE WARDEN-OWEN
61 TechStreet
97 Sailor of the Month Helluva tough choice this month (for us too)
Chen Jinhao takes no prisoners during the Gothenburg In-Port race just a few days before he would become the first Chinese sailor to win the Volvo Ocean Race... No mean feat, especially as six years ago when he was recruited by Dongfeng’s exceptional team manager Bruno Dubois ‘Horace’ Jinhao was still effectively a sailing novice
MARTIN KERUZORE
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