Since the start of the grueling round the world yacht race, the Volvo Ocean Race in November 2005 many commentators expressed concerns over race and boat safety. The race had hardly begun when two boats pulled out of the first leg due to structural damage and after 24 hours of the second leg two boats had again withdrawn. Many have speculated on the rules around the design of the boats and on the new canting keel that was not present in the previous V60 design.
In a frank log from ABN AMRO ONE late last night, Skipper Mike Sanderson addressed these concerns over the safety of the boats competing in the race. Speaking from ABN AMRO ONE just after passing the scoring gate and extending their lead at the top of the leaderboard by picking up an additional 3.5 points Mike said, “I heard through the grapevine that there is a growing concern that these boats are dangerous and that we are being reckless out here. I just want to take this opportunity to say that I will happily sit down with anyone and explain to them the thousands of hours that have gone into making TEAM ABN AMRO’s keel systems as safe as possible. We need the keels to stay where we want them during the race for two reasons, and the good news is that they both go hand in hand. Firstly, it is a safety issue and secondly you have to have a keel that’s working properly to keep racing. In a race like this where all the legs count, as a team you have to finish all the legs without a break down. But the safety of everyone is at the top of the list no matter how you look at it.”
“Every Volvo 70 that has had a problem so far, since the first boat was launched in January last year has got back into port without assistance,” continued Sanderson. “In the Open 60 solo race that I did last year, three boats had to receive aid from rescue boats, one guy was picked up by a container ship as his carbon keel had snapped and two with broken masts had to be rescued from the mid Atlantic by chartered support craft. Now, we are not allowed carbon keels in the Volvo and the rig weight is adequate that unless you break something - the rig should stay up. With the Open 60’s there is a massive rating advantage in having a high modulus mast, in fact their rigs are more Grand Prix then an America’s Cup boat. But still like the Volvo 70, the Open 60 is just an amazing high tech race yacht and is the fastest growing offshore class out there at the moment.
Everyone called for a more exciting boat, both the public and the sailors and guess what..... we got it ! To think that these boats have gone out at just 70 feet long and have on three occasions broken the 24 hr record that was set by Mari Cha IV (a boat very dear to my heart since I was involved with it from conception), which was built for the purpose of beating records, just blows me away. Volvo has supplied us with a rule that makes fantastic boats. The fact that they we are having a not such a high attrition rate is only the fault of the teams and designers. The breakages are all from weight reduction decisions that have been made by either the design team or the racing team and we all knew the whole time that we needed a big bulb on the keel to win the race. We also knew that we needed to finish the legs to win the race and it will be he who has walked that fine line correctly at the end of the day that will come out on top - and we wont know who that is for another seven months yet...”
This morning’s position report showed ABN AMRO ONE had extended its lead to 380 nautical mile and the ABN AMRO TWO had produced a superb overnight sail to take second place from Pirates of the Caribbean who are now in third place.
11th Hour Racing Team has won The Ocean Race 2022-23, the world’s longest and toughest team sporting event - the first time a US team has won in the 50-year history of the Race.
The next edition of The Ocean Race, scheduled to start from Alicante, Spain in October 2021, will visit 10 international cities, including the start port and the Grand Finale finish in Genoa, Italy in the summer of 2022.
The latest edition of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain in October 2017 and finished in The Hague in the Netherlands in June 2018, will be remembered as the closest in race history, as well as a record-breaking event on many levels.
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Skipper Charles Caudrelier led his team to victory on the final leg of the race, a 970-mile sprint from Gothenburg, Sweden to The Hague.
Incredibly, it marked the first leg win for the team — it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Charlie Enright’s Vestas 11th Hour Racing showed great patience and sailed a clean race for a victory in the Gothenburg In-Port Race on Sunday.
But it was Xabi Fernández’s MAPFRE team who rode a third place finish on Sunday to win the overall In-Port Race Series, sailing 11 points clear of their closest pursuers, Dongfeng Race Team.
With (…)
The scientific research, using data collected by Race team ‘Turn the Tide on Plastic’, identified over three million micro plastic particles per square kilometre of ocean.
The sub-surface data on micro plastic pollution levels was collected using a state-of-the-art instrument on board their Volvo Ocean 65 racing yacht.
Franck à Saint Malo avant le départ du rhum 1998. Photo : Ch.Guigueno
Le skipper du trimaran Groupama est parmi les favoris de la prochaine Route du Rhum. Vainqueur de la Transat Jacques Vabre en double, son trimaran de 1998 devra lutter face à une nouvelle génération de machines transocéaniques.
Pour sa première épreuve de la saison, l’équipage francilien emmené par Jimmy Pahun et Laurent Pagès a terminé à la 7e place (sur 79 inscrits) du Championnat du Monde de Melges 24 couru à Key West (USA).
With a score line that included five bullets Italian Flavio Favini won the 2001 Melges 24 World Championship in true style after the final day of racing eventually had to be cancelled due to lack of wind. Although disappointed that no more racing was possible the fleet were in full agreement with the Race Committee’s decision that sailing in (…)
Arrivée de Bilou aux Sables d’Olonne. Photo : Ch.Guigueno
L’IMOCA, classe grandissante, a décerné jeudi 24 janvier le titre de champion du monde 60 pieds Open à Roland Jourdain. Thierry Dubois prend la suite de Christophe Auguin à la présidence de l’association.
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If you’ve ever wanted to watch a master class in Melges 24 sailing today was the day to be out on the water. Italian Flavio Favini and his Swiss team, headed by owner Franco Rossini, led the fleet from start to finish in all three races taking him into a comfortable lead.
Les skippers réunis devant le YC de France. Photo : Ch.Guigueno
Voici la nouvelle course océanique réservée aux seuls monocoques IMOCA : La Regata de Rubicon. L’épreuve est organisée par Gérard Petitpas, déjà organisateur de la Transat Jacques Vabre, et reprend le principe du Challenge Mondial Assistance des multicoques en 2001.
"Nous allons réduire la voilure dans nos partenariats avec les équipes de Saint Étienne et de Limoge". Daniel Sicard, directeur général des hypermarchés Géant, avoue ne rien connaître à la voile, mais il en a bien compris les termes. Au détriment des footballeurs et basketteurs, éloignés de la philosophie du groupe.
La décoration du nouveau Géant est signée Jean-Baptiste Epron.
Michel Desjoyeaux a présenté lors d’une conférence de presse tenue ce jour à Paris, son nouveau voilier. Le successeur du monocoque PRB avec lequel le Finistérien a remporté le Vendée Globe est un trimaran dessiné par le tandem Marc Van Peteghem et Vincent Lauriot-Prévost. Un voilier dans la lignée des multicoques de la nouvelle génération.