Perfect conditions for sailing this October in Trieste on the Italian sail feast, the Barcolana, with many thousands of sailors. Well, maybe too much sailors for the ones that like less stressed racing but the Italians sail as they drive and nothing seems to bother them, confusion is part of their lifestyle and they seem to like it; they make a lot of noise but in the end they come always with a smile. Can be quite confusing for an outsider LOL.
The classification is not the more important on this race but the 1700 sailing boats and the many thousands of sailors, anyway the first was old Alfa Romeu, a RP 72 that beat a K80, proving that it is still a fast boat. I guess that Trieste has the biggest sailing party on this time of the year, sailors everywhere, the local beer and wine are excellent, the city beautiful. Difficult to find a better ambiance on the sea or at the coffees, breweries and restaurants, after the race.
That was never been seen on the Vendee or in any sail race I know about, a recovering of 800 miles in 6 days!!! That is a difference of speed of 5,6K every hour during 6 days. Pretty much unbelievable, so much that some, even on a sail boat magazine (Italian one) wonder if Hugo Boss has really a broken foil. Pretty stupid since the images show that is the case. But the truth is also that Hugo Boss does not seem to be greatly affected in his competitiveness by the lack of that foil.
That recovery was only possible because Alex had much more favorable wind conditions over 6 continuous days, something never saw with this magnitude on the Vendee Globe, but there is no luck than stays forever and now they are on the same weather system, having similar conditions. The race started again, for the leadership, with Armel having only an advantage of 27nm over Alex (Hugo Boss). The sailing they have ahead and for 2 days, is a minefield, with lots of holes without wind and I believe it will be decisive for the race, or maybe not, since after that they still have the doldrums to cross, another very tricky region in what regards sailing and wind.
The next two days will be of very intense sailing, avoiding holes without wind and also two days were routing will be decisive to make a diference. After that they will get the trade wind speedway till the doldrums and a speedway were Hugo Boss will be at full potential, sailing on the side where its foil is intact. Fantastic Vendee Globe and a great race by the two that fight for the lead.
Well, even Oysters and Swan are production boats but what I mean are big yachts from mass production brands, something that did not existed 15 years ago. Then mass production brands, the ones that produced less expensive yachts, didn't have boats over 54ft, but look now, only this year almost all brands presented big yachts over that size. And of course, it is not a coincidence but a market demand. Kind of a sad world where the rich are richer, the poor poorer and the middle class is disappearing for one side or another, well, more to one side than another 😏
Anyway it is a good thing that the richest have come to yachting and cruising in such a big number that created the demand that all these boats are trying to supply. Not fair, these boats are not truly for the richest since they cost half the price of similar prestige yacht from some exclusive brands. These ones are for the ones that have the money to have them but not properly boats for billionaires, they are boats for the poorer among the rich.😈
They are beautiful boats with great interiors, with a size that allows for a very comfortable living but that due to highly developed sail systems mechanization can be sailed by a couple, or even better by a couple with kids. The Grand Soleil GS 58 is the only one that points to a different clientele that joins the pleasure of living in luxury to the one of sailing and racing. Anyway they make all the sense if someone decided to sell the house and live on a boat and cost about the same price of a Catamaran between 47 and 52ft, providing about the same space.
The boats did not yet arrive, but almost and of course, Perpetual Loyal is winning and having a new record because Wild Oats had problems on the keel and had to retire. The big sensation on the race is Giacomo a VOR 70, old Groupama, that is in 2th beating several 100ft and also the newer Botin 80 Beau Geste. The 3rd is Scallywang, old Ragamuffin 100, now a Chinese boat owned by Seng Huang Lee. A great welcome to the Chinese. Sailing is becoming more and more popular in China and that is just great regarding world sailing.☺
To my Australian fiends: Do you want to make the Sydney Hobart a more competitive race in real time (the only one that really matters)? Follow the international sail racing rules, retiring that unfair advantage to Wild Oates in what regards using the engine for propelling sail systems, limit the size of crews to 6 and open a significant challenge for boats duo crewed. That will allow for a bigger competitiveness of smaller yachts regarding maxi yachts (that would have to be adapted for a smaller crew and would lose competitiveness). That would also contribute to increase the number of top professional racers in Australia
And before saying that it is not possible, that those big maxi need a crew of 25, let me say that is an anachronism that should be ended in what regards modern sail racing. There is a French crew on a big trimaran right now trying to beat the world's absolute circumnavigation record, this one:
Don't you find odd that you need a crew like that to win a sail race between Sydney and Hobart?
After last year edition pointing to an internationalization of this race with several American and European boats racing, among them Rambler and Comanche (that won the race), this year and very disappointingly, Sydney Hobart become a regional race again.
Sure, a great one but one that if does not search internationalization will became, on a global world, a side line event. I don't know what Australians can do for making it an international major sail event, or even if they are interested, but besides that several things are wrong on this race: Wild Oates using engines to power sail systems (not allowed in sail races, except on this one) and the exclusion of multihulls.
The big new on this race was CQS, a completed revamped Nicorette that proved to be a failure and almost capsized under sails on the departure, inside Sydney harbor. I had already posted about that yacht and I was very suspicious about its potencial performance and it seems with reason:
Without Comanche or Rambler, as usual, Wild Oates is leading and also as usual Perpetual Loyal is 2nd after a great start on the Sydney port, leading for some time the race. Regarding smaller boats no news also, the old local carbon racers and a complete absence of new production cruiser- racers.
The start, inside Sydney harbor, as always, was spectacular and you can see it on the video below:
Traditionally the Sydney Hobart is preceded by a race only for big yachts on the Sydney harbor, the Solas big boat challenge, that was won without surprise by Wild Oates with Perpetual Loyal in 2nd but that provided some spectacular images and near collisions:
Great images but incredible security conditions on that race!!!!
You can follow the Sydney Hobart race on a tracker, unfortunately one of the worse I have ever saw: http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/tracker/
Thomas Coville arrived just in time to have a Christmas dinner with the family, passing the finish line today at 17h 57m CET. The new record is 49 days 3 hours 7 minutes and 38 seconds (average speed 24 K), about 8 days and 10 hours faster than Francis Joyon in 2008.
This record is slower than the absolute circumnavigation record by only about 3 days and a half. That record belongs to Loick Peyron on the maxi trimaran Banque Populaire, with the help of a 13 men crew. Banque Populaire is a 40m sailboat while Sodebo, Coville's boat is a considerable smaller trimaran with "only" 31m. Amazing feat for Coville!!!....and a great new sail record.
Amazing and crazy, at the middle of nowhere, on the big austral desert, these two sailors decided to pass Christmas together and they offer us a very unusual Christmas song. And both, showing a big solidarity, decided to wait for the Irish Enda O'Coineen that, with big computer problems, is sailing blind without cartography or wind information. There is a Storm ahead so Bellion and Roura decided that Enda needed a bit of help to sail safely trough it. They sail all together now. Never saw on the Vendee globe 3 boats together on the Austral seas, much less three passing Christmas together. That's almost a party. Cheers to them 😊 !!!
Meanwhile, alone, 5600nm ahead, at the lead of the race, Armel opens a champagne bottle for celebrating the passage of the Cape Horn but contrary to other sailors, he does not throw away a bit of champagne on the ocean, a bit on the boat, he keeps it all for himself. Well done, what a waste to do otherwise LOL.
