Wow, that’s sailing. A bit more sporty than I’m used to 
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Jeez - the Brit in the Hugo Boss boat at the end of the clip!
Balls of steel
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I know! In an era when you can be declared “an absolute legend” for sipping someone’s beer during the run in Bolton, or running a muddy 10k…
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And this is the calmer ocean sailing. The southern ocean still to come. They’re all bonkers.
That film was taken during the last VG, 4 years ago, really takes the breath away.
Alex Thomson is out in front again this time too - last time he lost one of the hydrofoils in the south Atlantic and still only finished about 12 hrs behind the winner (he mentions it in the clip).
Turns out that you can have assistance in repairing you boat if you return to the start within the first week just no assistance en route.
Much as I like following the race, it’s the voices from MOP and BOP who bring the event to life. There’s a British woman (Pip Hare) who’s rented a boat from her own savings, aiming to beat Ellen’s female record of 94 days (which is not to be confused with her solo RTW trip on a catamaran) and a Japanese guy who’s spent the last few days sat on the deck repairing his mainsail.
Tremendous 
Ah right, that clip popped-up on my YT feed, so I assumed it was current; forgot to check the date under the clip!
I see the first abandon is from the newest boat due to a lost mast. So many questions around the building of that.
Having worked for yacht builders and knowing chandlers in the past it was a bit slap dash when you think about the safety implications. I was always perplexed by it.
Those hydrofoils are still amazing engineering.
Has anyone managed to make it all the way around the world without losing a hydrofoil? They look very vunerable!
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It’s mainly hitting things (like submerged containers) and dis-masting that cause retirements from recollection
Yeah, obviously they’re not essential. I just can’t imagine a thin (cantilevered) piece of carbon being battered by heavy seas, lasting the distance.
It’s still relatively new technology. Thomson’s is the only one I recall breaking (on the last Vendee Globe) and he obviously still did very well.
I reckon he has a spare this time
This is a world I know absolutely nothing about.
My god, that looks friggin mental. Actual mental.
There is something exhilarating, and really quite terrifying about a fast boat being sailed right on the edge…you are permanently aware that you are barely in control, and if it goes wrong, its going to be spectacular, and very very messy, and its a fine balance between euphoria and terror.
I once raced across the North sea, and we were so overpowered when we got to just off the outer harbour at the far side, that we were too out of control and frightened to take any sails down (for those that understand these things, we had the number 2 kite up in 30kts over the deck and 2 slabs in the main), and ended up sailing through the narrow entrance at a stupid speed, and basically dumping everything in the slightly lower wind speed inside before we hit dry land…
I laid my offshore racer on its side on quite a few occasions (again, for those in the know, a full on rip roaring broach), which is ‘fun’ with 6 tonnes of fibreglass and metal … trying to get to the winches to dump things with everything at 90° to normal, while hanging off a safety line…
Its a serious adrenaline sport!
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Yeah. You see, I’m too much of a catastrophist to cope with actually being the sailor. Design and build the things without a problem, sail them, nope.
Agreed … but then again, many things look mental when you’re not involved.
I used to rock climb to a high standard and probably expended more energy keeping safe than moving upwards. I suspect these sailors are much the same, pushing hard but managing risk to acceptable levels.
Put another way, safety standards advanced dramatically after several deaths & near deaths in this event in the 90s (remember Tony Bullimore?)
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oh absolutely agree. Some of the stuff i have done in the past would look similarly crazy to a lot of people.
Despite living by the sea my whole life i’ve never been sailign in any capacity. I#ve just never known anybody into it to give me access. Probably do now, but i have enough hobbies and not enough time as it is!!
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I always thought it sounded amazing when I was younger … but then I realised you’re in a confined space, wet all the time and with just water to look at. After that I never gave sailing another thought
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One of my mates rowed across the Atlantic when he was in his early 20s. It sounds like an utterly miserable experience!!!
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Yeah, I rowed competitively for 14 years and the idea of rowing the Atlantic always sounded like a stupid, miserable idea. Rowing for a couple of hours is hard work. Rowing all day, every day for weeks on end can’t be fun at all.
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