News Around the World
Trouble ahead – former O’pen Bic World Champion Matthias Coutts put together a tidy series to finish third in the New Zealand Moth Nationals which scraped under the wire before the curtain fell. At the ripe age of 14, Coutts the younger took down some good Moth sailors in a super-consistent regatta dropping a 5th and 6th. ‘Keep in touch and no real bad ones’, as a famous Cup sailor liked to say
He came to film for three days. I showed him what he had to see
in Lorient. Despite twice coming to Lorient with the Volvo, he confided to me before leaving: ‘I actually didn’t understand how embedded you (France in general and Brittany especially) were in this, the depth of your involvement and how ocean sailing is a national sport.’ Lorient is a unique offshore racing base. We are very lucky. We
can never repeat it enough. The people we took on the Figaro 3 were not ‘old guys’ from the
Volvo, because the rule now requires three crew who are under 30 and three under 26 in the overall squad, plus three women. That is more young people and more women than last time. SH: The hard core on Dongfeng were made up of Figaristes. It will be the same on your boat? YR: There may be some with me. We’ll see how many… The crew is 10 people onboard with a total of 15 sailors. So we need replace- ments, especially with so many young people. This year I plan to recruit between five and seven people in
addition to me, the watch leader and the navigator. From there we will build a hard core of six who will sail the race in its entirety. I am excited! It’s a chance for me to skipper a boat when I’ve never raced around the world before. SH: Two categories in one race… Is it embarrassing? YR: Let’s say it’s a transition phase for the round-the-world race. After several years of one-design the 60ft Imoca is coming. The basic idea is good in wanting to bring the two solo/crewed fleets closer together. The reality is of course a little more delicate. It is my understanding that an Imoca from the Vendée Globe must be modified considerably to accommodate a crew in The Ocean Race. In addition, the timing between the arrival of the Vendée Globe
and the start of The Ocean Race is quite tight. Finally, the lower- cost Volvo 65 – they are for sale for €650,000 with a sail container and a support RIB – has proved its worth around the world and it generates very good, close racing. As far as the Imoca is concerned, it is a new crewing exercise
on a new course and therefore a lot of unknowns. For the moment we do not really know what will become of the Imoca category in The Ocean Race and with the coronavirus crisis it will not get better, especially since The Ocean Race is a race with many stages and so quite expensive. As I speak, there are two teams listed on the organisation’s website, two serious entries: an Imoca and a Volvo 65, our own. But we are still a long way from the event – we will see how it evolves.
20 SEAHORSE
SH: Has a Volvo 65 any chance of finishing in front of an Imoca? YR: Well, it depends which leg you’re talking about. On a Europe- South Africa stage it is clear that an Imoca will be several days faster, especially since a waypoint prevents us from cutting the inside of the Atlantic corner. I see two conditions where a Volvo 65 supports the comparison:
upwind, and running in the very strong winds you can find in the Southern Ocean. An Imoca no longer accelerates above 30kt of wind due to the sea state – when you can no longer control the flight mode. A Volvo 65 is heavy (13 tonnes versus 8 tonnes for an Imoca) and still accelerates in up to 40kt of wind. Team Brunel set a 24-hour record in the last Volvo Race with
550nm on the log, 11nm better than Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss. The question is how much faster would the Imoca have been with a crew onboard? I think quite a bit. But the Volvo 65 is still a strong, heavy but reliable and all-round fast production-built one-design. SH: And finally, the consequence of the actual pandemic for the future of oceanic sailing? YR: It’s difficult to be positive… If we are experiencing an economic crisis after the health crisis the return on investment in the event will be an even bigger priority for the sponsors. I think only the great- est events can survive… and then only if the costs are reduced. Patrice Carpentier
NEW ZEALAND In the days immediately preceding New Zealand’s unprecedented total lockdown against the Covid-19 pandemic, Kiwi sailors were competing in possibly the last world and national championships before life returns to normal again. Against a backdrop of inter - national sport of all codes, up to and including the Olympic Games, shutting down, New Zealanders David McDiarmid, Matt Steven and Brad Collins ventured across the Tasman to compete in the JJ Giltinan Trophy, which serves as the world championship of 18ft skiff racing. In the Sydney stronghold, where Australian sailors for so long made this trophy their own, the Kiwi trio sailed impressively all week in trying circumstances to take the title by four points. Even more impressive, their win secured a rare hat-trick of three world titles in succession. But throughout the regatta the world situation was changing
virtually by the hour. There was great uncertainty over whether the event would be completed and whether borders would close before the international competitors could get home. Describing the Sydney
IVOR WILKINS
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
