News Around the World
Six foilers started the 2014 Route du Rhum but only one made it to the finish – Banque Populaire which (heavily reinforced) went on to win the Vendée Globe as one of two foilers to dominate the race (the other being Hugo Boss). And the Banque Pop that arrived in Guadeloupe that year was ʻhalfʼ the boat that had left St Malo with almost all her fragile experimental internal ribs cracked or broken. That said, there werenʼt many clucking ʻI told you soʼ, glimpses of the potential of the first-generation foilers having been at the very least ʻinstructiveʼ. Similarly, Charal and the 2018 Rhum – win, lose or draw, you donʼt want your pension in an Archimedean Imoca 60
The ETNZ cyclor-powered hydraulics were widely accepted to be the most efficient in the Bermuda fleet. According to one of the Core engineers, ETNZ could do a maximum of 19 manoeuvres in a race, considerably more than its rivals. However, the military-spec lightweight battery packs at the heart of the new set-up would be good for more than twice the ETNZ output. ‘You won’t quite have power to burn,’ he said, ‘but there should be plenty of power on tap to encourage aggressive racing with lots of tacks and gybes.’ The entire SailGP operation will pack into 58 customised shipping containers. A shore team of more than 30 will arrive at each venue and take six days to assemble the boats and maintenance village. Once launched, the boats will be moored with their wings left in place for the duration of the event.
With costs initially targeted at $5 million a season, three event sponsors have been identified – Louis Vuitton, Land Rover and Oracle – but teams will currently not be allowed individual branding (Land Rover were of course unwillingly dumped from the former Land Rover BAR team). Instead, each boat will carry national colours. Ivor Wilkins
SPAIN Rude health
After 14 seasons, seven as the MedCup and another seven as 52 Super Series, the TP52 class is in very good health. The combination of the closest possible racing and excellent management is the envy of other fleets, and it continues to attract good owner-driver skippers who are not afraid of facing established professional teams. The remarkable premiere of nine new boats in 2018 did not dis- appoint, with designers Vrolijk and Botín offering another new twist to a box rule within which the design space gets smaller and smaller. The level is so high across the fleet that everyone, or practically everyone, can win. At the final event in Valencia the challenge was very tricky light conditions. On the other hand, light winds and flat seas seem to make it easier for the owner-driver boats, because with hard winds and waves the pros rarely yield a race. The never- ending change of winner from one race to the next still amazes me, but whatever the reason, logical or esoteric, it means the races are fun to watch. Although they must be very stressful to compete in!
20 SEAHORSE The pioneers
The famous navigator and ocean racer Nacho Postigo has competed for 12 seasons in the TP52, being the creator with Ignasi Triay of the circuit in 2004 when seeking an alternative to the IMS. A year later the MedCup began. ‘In 2004 we aimed to convince five boats,’ says Postigo, ‘because in IMS there used to be five or six boats of this length. But we did not want them to sail only in the Copa del Rey, so we created a circuit and the challenge became to get all the boats to all the races. In fact, we soon attracted seven boats which for us was a big success!’
He has also watched the picture change from those IMS days of sponsored entries to the privately owned modern TP52 fleet. ‘Actually, I see it as a missed opportunity. When companies spon- sored the circuit it was a powerful marketing tool with good TV and a nice VIP programme, offering sponsors some valuable media returns. We thought we were making the professional sailing teams viable. Then when the financial crisis came the companies quickly stopped seeing it as interesting. Also in Spain private owners came under pressure as sailing began to suffer from a negative association with the monarchy; people who had money suddenly did not want to look ostentatious. At the time Vasco Vascotto and I were planning our own professional team but that disappeared very quickly! ‘Vasco and I are lucky in that today we both sail on boats with professional helmsmen. However, that’s not such a big thing any more, and the owners who buy a TP52 to steer themselves are normally quite experienced. They are already usually used to sailing with the best coaches and crews. And although they are very successful in their professional lives they can usually accept some- one else telling them what they should do!
‘It’s not as frustrating as it may seem and now it happens in many other classes too. The worst thing is that the decisions can still depend on the whim of a person who is there for fun, who can simply have a bad day and then thinks it is the programme that is letting him down. That can make us feel quite insecure!’ For 2018 Vasco Vascotto switched from Azzurra to Luna Rossa to join the Italian America’s Cup campaign. Vasco has never spoken favourably of racing America’s Cup multihulls and foilers, preferring traditional monohull competitions. Now he has a problem…
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YVAN ZEDDA
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