[Mabinogion]

Not sure what it is about this particular RTW race that seems to be failing to capture the interest of many sailors let alone the non-sailing public in general?

Just watched the start of the leg from Auckland to Brazil, to say it was a bit of a procession and akin to watching paint dry would be reasonable. As a spectacle, 6 boats bimbling along in light airs is not going to excite those brought up on a diet of reality TV, BASE jumping or NASCAR etc.

The inport racing doesn't come close to the likes of watching extremely fast foiling cats charging about close to the watching crowds.

It may be unfair to compare the VOR to The Route De Rhum, Sydney Hobart, The Fastnet even, but something appears to be sadly lacking. The racing of one-design yachts is turning out to be a series of legs where nobody takes a flier and the fleet appears to be held together by a large bungee cord.

I suspect some of the problems may lay with the marketing of the event and the choice of venues/route taking the race so far from its origins that it now appears like a floating series of expensive advertising hoardings accompanied by corporate razzmatazz.

Or is it me, and I am simply too critical? I ask the question in general terms as I don't know the answer, if in fact there is one.

 

[PaulinVictoria]

I've found myself completely forgetting it was even happening. That is unusual since I've been interested since the Whitbread days. Too few boats, too few interesting characters, a horrible website, poor coverage and they seem to have managed to pick light wind for all the live parts which probably doesn't help.

 

[overbored]

the variables in racing, the wind, the waves, the weather do not play a part because they did not design some boats for light winds and some others for heavy. all the boats are the same and the only people that can see the differences in rig tune and sail handling are the sailors themselves. one design racing is very boring unless you are in the boat.

 

[kjango]

I have been beyond fascinated by the VOR & follow it every day......but that's just me

 

[Minnewaska]

.....akin to watching paint dry.....

Paint dries much faster than a 40,000 mile race, even at 20 kts.

I find it fascinating human endurance, but not a spectator sport at all.

 

[capecodda]

Sounds like I'm an outlier, but I'm digging it.

Great youtube HD videos of in port races and starts. Interesting drama like hitting a island at 18kts at night. One design takes out the rather boring aspect of watching the computer predictable results of engineer vs. engineer on the drawing table. Delayed start for a cat 5 typhoon. Tin can-like carbon hulls banging off big seas while you're belted in to the pivoting carbon fiber head. All womens crew holding their own offshore, and winning the in port races.

More adventure than flying around SF Bay with helmets on IMHO, then headed for drinks at the SF yacht club.

To each their own.

In the southern ocean now, for 20+ days. In our neighborhood in May.

 

[Mabinogion]

Pretty even split, but only 5 responses since OP?

Still, the racers are somewhere I would not wish to be in conditions that I would not wish to be, I raise my hat to them for their efforts!

 

[capecodda]

Mabinogion,

At least on this site, I think you win, looks like apathy is widespread, and I am the outlier!

 

[MedSailor]

I blame poor coverage. Good coverage has completely transformed professional poker, which is a sport that's been on TV for a long time. I even found myself following sumo wrestling with interest due to some awesome commentating on the european channel that was covering it.

MedSailor

 

[weinie]

Some of the interweb videos are very good...at least the ones about actual sailing. Couldn't care less about their personal lives. If you have a "smart" tv, you can play the videos on your tv too which is great. My 6yo daughter is a big fan of Team SCA and their pink boat. heheheh

 

[Mabinogion]

Its a pity in a way as I and a few others have followed RTW sailing from the early days when 17 yachts started and only 14 finished (Wiki...) and can certainly recall the Swan 65's and a few other tough designs. The whole ethos was a lot more laid back, not surprising with a brewery sponsor!

It may yet change especially as the crew of SCA are getting their act together and sailing better.

Perhaps the 'bean counters' and 'return on investment' mentality does not help.

 

[capecodda]

Youtube is your friend if you want to watch this race. Nice HD videos, good camera angles, and commentary that may even be marginally better than the NFL guys (not much of a complement). And it's free and on demand. IMHO one of the best segments to watch is departing Cape Town, if you've only got time to watch one...the wind was up a bit. Yea, and get one of the cheap (by boat bucks standards) web interfaces to your big flat panel for maximum effect.

SCA has done really well in the in-port races, but have been consistently behind offshore.

This note, from the outlier who's still digging it

 

[capecodda]

yep, booring

 

[Minnewaska]

yep, booring

Well, it still is. Vids of getting knocked down are a dime a dozen.

It's a 40,000 mile race and that would be a vid of maybe 1/10th of a mile of it? I'm not picking on it, the vid is clearly exciting and the crew is pretty cool. But to engage in such a long race for those brief moments, just isn't all that riveting.

That said, the fleet is due in Newport in early May. No doubt I will want to go see them, but it will be the beginning and end of the race for me.

 

[capecodda]

Yea, it's like this every afternoon in Vineyard Sound

(hey Mini, I'll buy you a beer in Newport, we'll be there)

 

[Minnewaska]

(hey Mini, I'll buy you a beer in Newport, we'll be there)

We'll have to see when they arrive. Looks to be over Mother's Day weekend, which also happens to be my wife's birthday weekend. I'm hoping to sneak over for a few hours.

 

[sailwatcher]

It annoys me that this race is one design, and the in port races are fairly bland. That said, I do love the closeup shots, and just love the fact this OTR races even exist.

As I write this, I remember another annoyance: unless I misunderstood, the roster is larger than the seats on the boat. That is, there are several sailors on each team that aren't on the boat on any given leg. To me, being together the whole year or so is a big part of the challenge. Or should be.

As well, the whole situation with the boat that crashed is kind of weird. Sounds as if they will be allowed to rejoin (if they haven't already). And the boat that assisted in the rescue was required to do so, and compensated what seems like a fairly arbitrary amount. The whole issue of rescuing needs to be reworked, I think.

 

[zz4gta]

VOR 2014-15 Leg 5 Auckland-Itajai - Ocean Racing Anarchy - Sailing Anarchy Forums

63,000 views and soon to be over 2,000 replies.
Did you ever think that sailnet may not be the hub of the online offshore racing universe? People are watching.

The reason they went OD is b/c it's cheaper. A LOT cheaper.
In professional sailing winning or losing comes down to mitigating risk. No one wants to split and give leverage to another boat. AIS is a big part of that, and is shaping this race. In the future they'll probably limit AIS on the race boats so they can't constantly watch each other. This will be good and encourage splits.
If you've never been on a carbon sled in breeze w/ a kite up, you can't really appreciate how "on the edge" they race these boats.
As for the Vesta's wind grounding, it has been discussed, reviewed, and analyzed to death and is now a leading example of what can go wrong in the Safety at Sea seminars around the US.

 

[Minnewaska]

I'm sure those 2000 replies were from far fewer posters, who have multiple responses. There are 8,000 sailboat owners in our Bay alone. Wonder how many worldwide?