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VORLOVE A counterpoint to yesterday's VOR Reader Rant. Got a POV? Send it to The Ed. I think it is one of the last, great romantic (in the classic, "what's over the horizon?"sense of the word) adventures left in the world, along with the Vendee and the other round the world races. It has all the things I love about sailing; crews working together to conquer a sea that can overwhelm them, plus the technical challenges of designing, developing and sailing boats that are at the cutting edge of what is possible. Plus, we get to follow it on line thought web sites and the blessings of modern technology like Virtual Spectator. How could anyone not love it? I think a lot of people who criticize the boats and the event are missing the point, and that too much of that sentiment comes from that part of modern culture that insists on protecting intelligent, professional people from taking risks in the name of sport -- or anything else for that matter. Like any endeavor, improvements need to be made, and assuming the event goes forward for future cycles, the boats will undoubtedly evolve, both through intelligent rule changes, and independent of rule changes as designers and crews learn from this event. None of that takes away from what the Volvo Ocean Race organizers, boat designers, builders and crews have accomplished in getting seven teams on the line in the time afforded, and against the funding and crew competition of the America's Cup. Further, I would argue that the trickle down from the VOR will more directly influence and improve the lot of most keelboat sailors than will the America's Cup, much as I love that event as well. Much more in the way of design, gear and sails that will impact the average sailor's racing/cruising boat will emerge from the VOR than the AC. There are legitimate concerns. Sooner or later we will have to find out what happens when one of these carbon rockets tags a growler at 30 knots. The water tight bulkheads and safety systems will either work or not, and hopefully the boat will get to port. If not, its likely that the boat and the crew sill simply disappear into the southern ocean. BUT THESE CREWS AND THEIR SPONSORS KNEW THAT GOING IN. This is an issue that faces all the round the world events. The boats may or may not have reached the limits of the humans that sail them. Nevertheless, we race 60 footers around the world with one guy, we should be able to set up comparable 70 footers to race with ten. In most of human history, finding the limits of endurance simply mean we get smarter about the equipment and procedures we use to deal with the conditions. I expect we will do the same here. I understand the concerns of the anonymous woman who wrote on December 20 about the dismissal of Ardienne Cahalan from Brazil 1. I suspect, however that the brute physicality issue of sailing the boat in the southern ocean that led to her dismissal (however poorly it was handled) is an objective fact. The old Volvo 60's were extremely hard on the larger all female crews that sailed them. The organizers and market/customers for this event need to decide if changes need to be made to make it possible for women of normal stature to sail these boats, or to acknowledge that women also don't play in the NFL for similar reasons. At this point, I'm ambivalent. As a 55 year old enthusiastic sailor/racer in reasonably good shape, I could not qualify to sail a VOR 70 at this point as well, without a year of serious training -- if then. I don't necessarily want to compromise the level of the event to accommodate my limitations as well. On the other hand, Ellen McArthur has shown of us all to be wimps, so who knows? My guess and hope is that we will get though this event with little more than injuries. The next cycle will see a significant generational advance in the VOR 70 designs that will look like developments of the ABN boars and movistar. I wouldn't be surprised if they have some on-deck crew sheltering cuddy/coamings similar to that on Orange and the other big cats, that could also serve as a sail stacking shelf. I don't think anyone anticipated the abuse that masses of high speed water on deck is causing. Remember, the single handed boats steer themselves while the skipper sits cozily below for much of the time. The keel canting equipment will be simpler and more developed than seen here, while sails will continue their march in technology and durability/versatility. I fervently hope all that comes to pass. Even in the face of the potential tragedies that are part of any deep ocean racing, I believe the VOR will go forward and prosper -- it's too special not to. And, please, those of you who feel the need for whatever reason, quit trying to protect us from the adventure of finding out what is possible. We all have a choice in these things. The paycheck and exhilaration of sailing VOR 70's is clearly more than sufficient for the crews involved. Dave
Beck 12/21/05 |