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Nothing on this website or in direct communications received from us, or in our articles in the media, should be construed to mean or imply that offshore voyaging is anything other than potentially hazardous. Dangers such as, but not limited to, extreme weather, cold, ice, lack of help or assistance, gear failure, grounding, and falling overboard could injure or kill you and wreck your boat. Decisions such as, but not limited to, heading offshore, where you go, and how you equip your boat, are yours and yours alone. The information on this web site is based on what has worked for the authors in the past, but that does not mean it will work for you, or that it is the best, or even a good way for you to do things.
Amazing people, all of them. Watching some of the daily videos, I cannot even imagine how tough and resourceful they have to be.
Of special note:
Oldest Jean LeCam, 65 and youngest Violette Dorange, 23
Damien Seguin, with only 1 hand (how does he tie knots?)
Clarisse Crémer and Tanguy Le Turquais, a married couple competing against each other
Truly amazing people, all of them. Pip Hare, self rescuing from 700 miles south of Australia with her excellent jury rig (what a great example of seamanship), Violette Dorange at her age, what a future she has in competitive offshore sailing, currently 4 of the top 20 are women, an almost unheard of percentage in top level mixed sports and all of them there because of dedication, hard work and sheer determination. I’m with John betting for a top three position next time around. By contrast, only one woman helming a SailGP foiling catamaran surrounded by misogynistic b……t from Tom Slingsby and others, amazingly stupid condescending comments even from the pro commentators – Don’t worry, Martine Grael will soon get the better of Slingsby on the water where it counts and will act graciously when she has to be congratulated by the boys. Should we mention all the AC40 female crews who raced so hard together in the recent Americas Cup events, more evidence of top level, highly skilled and super competitive ladies fighting their way to the top despite continued efforts from the old boys to shut them out ….. Me I’m loving it – keep pushing ladies !
John, in reference to cruising in a scow bow. See this site:
SV Rosie G
They are cruising in the South Pacific
Hi Tim,
Interesting boat, I spent an interested half hour on the site.
That said, I have reservations because I fear the combination of that very bluff bow, junk rig, and electric propulsion could make it difficult, or probably impossible, to get out of a lee shore situation. For example, being anchored in an open bay when the wind comes around and starts blowing in the entrance.
My thinking being that if one is going to have electric propulsion, and so don’t have a practical or powerful engine for very long, then to be safe we need a boat that will sail really well up wind in a blow.
John,
Looks like the owner is thinking some of the same things, see his comments here: LINK
so what’s the point of electric for a cruising boat, if I need a generator anyways?
Hi George,
Good point. For most usage profiles, none:https://www.morganscloud.com/2021/03/22/when-electric-drive-works-for-a-cruising-sailboat/
John, Boris was a 505 sailor, and a pretty good one at that. A real gentleman and great ambassador for the sport. It’s been fun following him.
Hi Jesse,
I didn’t know that, thanks for the fill.
I was really rooting for Pip Hare to put up a good fight this time. She was doing reasonably well, right up to the point where the mast snapped in half and she had to jury-rig an emergency sail out of what was left to work her way back to Melbourne.
Charlie Dalin really put in an impressive run. Smart tactics and good weather routing calls all the way, making efficient use of every bit of wind.
It was interesting to see that Yoann Richomme actually posted a higher average speed over ground than Charlie (17.9 knots versus 17.8). Charlie’s win came from better routing and not straying as far from the great circle when seeking wind, thus finishing the race a day ahead of Yoann and with 658 fewer miles on the log.
Now on to the naval architecture front. The IMOCA 60 bows are far from the most extreme scow-bow found in ocean racing (go look at a Mini Transat). Coastal cruising designs of the last 15 years have already adopted the broad, form-stability-boosting sterns of earlier racers, generally with considerable success. We are already starting to see similar trends in the bow, with some recent designs from the major builders showing greatly increased above-the-waterline volume while keeping the below-water shape slender and efficient.
The compromise – there is always a compromise – is that, at displacement speeds, the seakeeping characteristics of such a shape get really uncomfortable once the waves start getting higher than the gunwales. Anyone who’s spent time aboard a 30+ knot planing powerboat knows that you can be perfectly fine while skipping from wave to wave at speed, but then get seasick when you slow down to idle and lose the dynamic forces that were keeping everything stable. IMOCA 60s are meant to be on plane or on foil pretty much 100% of the time; they make no concessions to motion comfort when you’re down at 5-6 knots and being supported by buoyancy.
Someone who does not intend to cruise in waves taller than the boat, and who wants the boat to be fun to sail in light to moderate conditions, may well find a broad-sterned, high-volume-bow design to be quite appropriate. It’s not for everyone but it can be right for some.
I think the bigger lesson that Vendee IMOCAs have for cruising boat designers is in the deck setup and sail handling. They’ve come up with ways for *one person* to manage an 1800 square foot mainsail and multiple headsails in Southern Ocean conditions. There are definitely lessons there that will make it easier and safer for us non-athletes to handle a more modest rig.
not to forget driving from the inside, protected from the elements most of the time
Hi Matt,
I sometimes wonder about the wide sterns and the wide bows; why don’t they just cut away the fat in the middle? With only the edges it’s a catamaran, which would easily be twice as fast. Well, I admit to being an fanatic, but still… 🙂
Most of the Vendee podium each edition will be from the Solitaire du Figaro winners, with a sprinkling of mini transat and transat en double etc. French, naval architect or engineer, podium in Figaro and bilingual, eg Charlie, Yoann, Seb etc.
Hi Joshua,
Yup, seems to be a winning pattern.
I hate to be the prick that popped the prophylactic here but I can’t for the life of me see how it is safe on several levels. How are they keeping any sort of watch? Especially when they are sailing at close to or over 20 knots. There are plenty of days at sea when visibility is barely 5 miles which means 10 minute cat naps. As if sailing fast isn’t exhausting enough without doing it with almost no sleep. And there’s nothing more dangerous at sea than an exhausted skipper or navigator. I’m glad I’m not sharing the ocean with them. What sort of catastrophe will it take before we all go WHAT! WHY? And WHO thought this was a good idea?
Surely a double handed race would be way more prudent and just as prestigous.
They have for instance forward looking cameras which detect objects in your way and sound an alarm. However, despite these devices Boris Herrmann, then on third place, collided with a fishing boat in the last 90nm of the previous Vendée. Nothing much happened in terms of damage – other then he lost his place on the podium….
Hi Paul,
Although I’m a big fan, I wrestle with that too, even though I have single handed some. One of those subjects in life that it’s hard to be consistent about!
That said, there is a lot of single handed racing going on, some of it in high traffic areas (Figaro) and there seem to be few accidents
Hi Paul,
It certainly isn’t “safe” in the normal mening of the word. No serious competition at speed etc will ever be. That’s what the spectators pay the participants for: The all in power and risk taking, the enthusiasm, the triumphs and the total defeats.
The single athlete, completely on her/his own will always trigger our enthusiasm more than a double hand version. The latter would definitely not be anywhere near as prestigious.
Modern athletes are much like the Roman gladiators who went out on the arena with near certainty they would die, except for that last part. Today deaths or serious injury is reasonably infrequent, depending on the sport, but certainly not rare. So we can consider it “safe”.
Most athletes, however, destroy their lives by putting everything into their sport, no life, and their health, by pushing their bodies far beyond what is long term healthy. We the public give them the motivation to sacrifice themselves for our excitement. The more risk, the more interest. They’re still gladiators.
My point is, if anyone needs a critical eye, it’s us, the public, pushing for entertainment, and the media, serving us the fix, the drug.
I think the above are absolutely real and fair statements, but on the other hand, if we compare the very extreme Vendee Globe to other big sports magnets: Formula One, Alpine skiing, downhill biking or the motorbike race on Isle of Man. Even soccer or American “football” have significant personal injuries pretty much every match. Even this extreme sailing looks totally safe in comparison.
As for 10 minute naps, that’s indeed the typical thing to do, when needed. On risks, we should also remember that the probability of a mishap during such a solo race is quite high, but it’s close to always a technical problem, not a danger to life. The consequences are usually relatively mild, = acceptable risk, compared to the attraction…
I read Ellen MacArthur’s autobiography a few years ago in which she describes how she engaged with experts in sleep deprivation studies to help manage that risk.
If we define “safe” as meaning “free of all risk” then theoretically, nothing is safe. It’s then about managing all those risks to within an appetite.