Approximately 18 seconds away from the top gate the breeze
increased from 14 to 18kt and shifted left, boosting Patriot up to 45kt of boatspeed at 60° true wind angle. Dean made a clear call for a ‘tack bearaway’, Goodie confirmed but added that this would be a tricky manoeuvre. Dean tacked the boat, settled on an angle for the speed build, then committed to the turn down. At the same time Mother Nature delivered a solid 24kt of TWS down on top of Patriot during this moment, when the yacht was most vulnerable from a stability standpoint. From there it was ‘all over rover!’ I heard Dean say, ‘I’ve lost the rudder’. From that moment forward it was all about the exit strategy out of the port-side cockpit… What unfolded over the next six hours was humbling, miraculous,
and put the America’s Cup, sailing and sportsmanship in a global spotlight. If that day has taught us nothing else it is that, beyond the push and pull of fierce competition, helping competitors when needed, even at the risk of your own disadvantage, is paramount. Emirates Team New Zealand, Ineos Team UK and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli all assisted in Patriot’s rescue. After we saved the yacht ETNZ and their boatbuilding facility stepped in to produce the panel for the hole in Patriot’s hull. There are things that still stick with me as if I am still on the
boat. ETNZ’s Pete Burling flaking our mainsail into the TNZ chase boat. ETNZ’s Richard Meacham taking his shirt off and jumping underneath Patriot to help place the jib around the bow and cover the hole (pretty sure he could have kept his shirt on, let the record show). Our own Casey Smith inside Patriot getting the foil arms down as the hydraulics had shut down and the boat was literally sinking around him. AM’s Luke Payne pulling out the massive lithium-ion battery and getting quite a shock. The local police author- ities deploying an aeroplane-style raft under Patriot’s bow, covering the hole, and probably saving the boat. The two-hour tow, in reverse, back to our base pulling Patriot safely back to the shed. She was wounded, but she would live to fight another day. Finally,
I will always remember the words that night of team principal Doug DeVos to our team. He is an inspiration, and in that moment was able to capture the emotions we were all feeling; shock, disap- pointment, gratitude to the other teams and, most importantly, that we were all safe and together with our families.
So what happens going forward? Well, a lot of licking of our
wounds will occur, along with properly debriefing the whole campaign to understand our strengths and weaknesses. We also need to understand what the 37th America’s Cup may or may not look like as a competition. We have built a great infrastructure at American Magic and, while we can all see the missed opportunity, there is also a lot to build on inside this team! Standing by, Auckland, New Zealand – beaten but already looking forward to fighting another day!
CHANGING OF LE GUARD – Patrice Carpentier Famous naval architects Mark Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot Prévost are reorganising the future management of the VPLP design office, created in February 1983. Simon Watin, Mathias Maurios, Quentin Lucet and Xavier Guisnel make up the new executive committee. Simon Watin, project leader since 2008 – interrupted by a six-year spell with Artemis Racing – will chair the executive committee, comprising naval architects Mathias Maurios, Quentin Lucet and engineer Xavier Guisnel. Mark Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot Prévost built VPLP into
a worldwide leader in naval architecture based on three main activ- ities: racing monohulls and multihulls designed for the most pres- tigious French and foreign skippers; design for production manu- facturers, including designing the Lagoon/Excess range of cruising catamarans for the past 35 years and now new ranges of multihulls for Outremer and Gunboat; finally there have been superyachts, including the two largest sailing catamarans in the world. VPLP are now also very active in the development of decarbonised
shipping – especially the Canopy Project, which is building a solid wing-powered cargo ship to transport the elements of the Ariane 6 rocket across the Atlantic from France to Guyana for launch.
FOUR SOLUTIONS TO CREW WORK AND TACTICS – Jack Griffin The shore crew of New York Yacht Club American Magic made a heroic effort to get Patriot back on the water after her capsize and near-sinking in the last race of the round-robin. Unfortunately for
SEAHORSE 15
CHRISTOPHE FAVREAU
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
