We talked a bit about this point at Fleet 1's last November meeting with some thinking the pirates wouldn't be an issue:)
Cool video about how they actually loaded the VOR70's onto a freighter to move them through pirate waters instead of letting them get hijacked. Although, i'm not sure a Pirate would know how to operate a VOR70:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gA1LbWi ... r_embedded
Later
C
VOR's and Pirates! ARRRRRR!
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SJ21 1974 MKI #897, Mizu
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SJ21 1974 MKI #897, Mizu
Re: VOR's and Pirates! ARRRRRR!
What a strange race.
Six boats show up to the line. Only half those make the first (easy) leg to Cape Town under their own power.
The boats and programs have become so outlandishly expensive, only a few sponsors can be found -- and the mobile billboards must visit obscure ports of call and have harbor races (in specialist downwind sleds), to appease said sponsors. So they will end up sailing (maybe! maybe riding cargo) 44,000 miles when all is said and done, an unpleasant percentage of that against wind and tide, to satisfy sponsorship demands. If the boats don't fall apart first.
The staged nature of the VOR -- in both meanings of that word -- has, for me anyhow, greatly devalued the race as a test of sailing adventure. Build your boat dangerously light! If it breaks, you can flop it on a freighter and run ahead to the next stopover port. Write off the points, win the harbor race, you are back in the game. Too shiny-polished AND too herky-jerky, at the same time. Strange race.
Dunno. I miss the old Whitbread. These days, the Vendee Globe seems the better format. Or the Mini Transat. Solo, non-stop, more competitors ... and no mulligans.
Six boats show up to the line. Only half those make the first (easy) leg to Cape Town under their own power.
The boats and programs have become so outlandishly expensive, only a few sponsors can be found -- and the mobile billboards must visit obscure ports of call and have harbor races (in specialist downwind sleds), to appease said sponsors. So they will end up sailing (maybe! maybe riding cargo) 44,000 miles when all is said and done, an unpleasant percentage of that against wind and tide, to satisfy sponsorship demands. If the boats don't fall apart first.
The staged nature of the VOR -- in both meanings of that word -- has, for me anyhow, greatly devalued the race as a test of sailing adventure. Build your boat dangerously light! If it breaks, you can flop it on a freighter and run ahead to the next stopover port. Write off the points, win the harbor race, you are back in the game. Too shiny-polished AND too herky-jerky, at the same time. Strange race.
Dunno. I miss the old Whitbread. These days, the Vendee Globe seems the better format. Or the Mini Transat. Solo, non-stop, more competitors ... and no mulligans.