It’s A Shame (Really)…

Well, I’m not such a dick that I’d wish a collision with a UFO at sea, and a sheared off rudder, on anyone. So I feel badly (sort of) about the fate that befell Lionel Lemonchois and his crew aboard Gitana 13 [link: http://www.gitana-team.com/en/gitana10/homepage.asp] after they turned the corner at the Canaries in their bid to break the east-west transatlantic record. But I WAS hoping they would run into some light winds, maybe even a nice dead calm, to put the record out of reach. Because I am selfish enough to want to keep the one and only world record I have (my name is on the WSSRC certificate, I swear), and most likely ever will have.

That record came courtesy of a February 2003 ride aboard PlayStation from Cadiz to San Salvador, when the current record was set. And I had to work pretty darn hard to stay out of the way, as well as scrub a lot of dishes, to earn that record. Steve Fossett was kind enough to send me my own world record certificate, and, amazingly, it has held up all these years against numerous attempts (even as the rest of PlayStation’s records have fallen one after the other). So whenever a new attempt gears up, I try to work up a little wind juju in a desperate attempt to cling to my one and only piece of sailing glory.

“Merde, Lionel! I can’t believe Zimmermann nailed us all the way from Sao Paulo…”

Gitana 13 was the old Innovation Explorer, the same G-Class generation as PlayStation, so I wasn’t that worried about her. The boat I am really keeping my eye on, the boat that will be in my nightmares as I clutch my certificate under my pillow each night, is Francl Cammas’ new mega-tri, Groupama 3. She’s set to go on stand-by for an east-west attempt in the coming week. And that boat is as modern as it gets, and will crush poor old PlayStation with half decent wind. You can check her out here and here. But it’s a long way across, and lots of stuff can happen to a new boat, and my wind juju seems to work pretty well. So you never know. The Wetass world record may yet stand. I don’t want anyone to get hurt, or major carbon failure. But…

Bonus video: I’m in Brazil this week, so check out the awesome Amazon tidal bore known as the Pororoca, and the surfing fun that can be had. Click here…

Have A Wetass Weekend,

Tim Zimmermann