Volvo re-start at Male

So the Volvo Ocean Race's secret is out - the mystery rendezvous destination was Male in the Maldives. And that's not too far from the position calculated using their (lat, longs) and DTLs as in the figure above from back on the 18th of December.

Might have a re-start of my own and starting following the fleet's progress.

Send Buff to Miami!

G'day all! Buff Staysail here! Buff by name and Buff by nature!

Well no doubt that Puma deal was a bit of a surprise but it got yours truly thinking about the Volvo Ocean Race schedule and one question in particular: is Abu Dhabi really the most Buff-worthy of the destination ports? 

After a bit of honest soul-searching the answer was no. For an Ozzie from the Gold Coast one city above all called out to me - Miami!! (*)

I can just see ol' Buff returning to his old haunts from the days of the Celebrity Yacht Race, enjoying life like that Will Smith song!!

So how about it, any super-sponsors out there? 

This is Buff Staysail, bag packed and ready!!

(*) or Sanya, Aukland, Itajai & Lisbon

Buff supports Puma!

G'day all! Buff Staysail here! Buff by name and Buff by nature!

Thanks to Tillerman for pointing out that the previous post could be misinterpreted. Yours truly is a huge fan of all things Puma-ic and has spotted one amazing opportunity for Puma - or indeed any other forward looking media aware sailing organisation.

Look at my track record - word craftsman extraordinaire. But of course today's multi-media facebooked flickred twitpic needs more - yes a picture tells a thousand words, or of course in my case maybe a bit less, say a hundred or so.

So how about this: blogger, journo legend Buff Staysail together with a photographer - but who? This is where a light went off in ol' Buff's head - how about O'Docker? He's the guru on lunar photography, photoshopping, you name it

What a team - Buff Staysail and O'Docker, let loose in the bars and taverns of Abu Dhabi!!!

Bring it on!!

This is Buff Staysail, back on the bounce, waiting for that call!!

Volvo activates cloaking device

The first Volvo Ocean Race boat has entered stealth mode which is a fancy way of saying they're not telling us where the boats are. So you might as well stop going to their web site and instead read boating blogs like this one while eating a mince pie or two.

This was the locations this morning when the fleet could be seen heading NNE towards the Maldives and British Indian Ocean Territories.

Even here the information available was reduced, as according to my calculations the DTL was based upon a test point just in front of the leading boat i.e. not actually very helpful at all, though it must be admitted the scenario is hard to compute when all boats are close to a line (large GDOP in GPS terms).

The only one that is clearly where it should be is Sanya which is here:

All graphics thanks to Google Earth.

Buff completes a "Volvo Circumnavigation"

G'day all! Buff Staysail here! Buff by name and Buff by nature!

Well there's a bit of good news! Seems like Buff can claim to have done a circumnavigation of Australia - a "Volvo circumnavigation" that is.

But what is a "Volvo circumnavigation" you might ask? Well check out the latest race's leg 2 to see for yourself. Rather than sailing all the way to Abu Dhabi the yachts are only sailing the start and end bits and in between the boats are loaded onto a ship while the sailors rest it out.

Now that is the Buff style!

It reminds me of that summer when Brucy, Wes, Dave-boy and me, all good mates, got totally wasted and after jeez knows many tinnies promised to take Wes's Laser dinghy from Brizzy to Perth.

After one last sail - yours truly included - we stacked the ute with XXXX and headed off to the outback. After many adventures (see route above - got a bit lost around Alice to be honest) we ended up launching that ol' dinghy into the Indian Ocean and saying hello to the Fremantle Doctor.

Then it was time to return back home as me ma was having one of her turns.

But Buff had sailed the start and end of the journey on both sides of the lucky country - so in other words I had done a Volvo circumnavigation of Australia!!

Classic or what!

This is Buff Staysail, Volvo circumnavigator, over and out!

Where's the Volvo going?

I'm having a problem understanding the point of Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race. Ok, maybe it means something to those actually sailing it but to us watching we have no idea what is going on.

In theory its from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi but because of pirates its actually sailing to [CENSORED] at which point the boats will be put on a ship and ferried through the danger zone before being dropped off at [CENSORED] for a final sprint.

But as we haven't been told which "safe haven port" is the destination we have no idea who is in the lead or what routing tactics should be used. To further hide from us what is going on, we don't have distance to finish, though we do have some basic (lat, longs) and DTLs.

Ah-ha captain, this be solvable, this be. Yeh be a problem with two unknowns and five pieces of eight information, it be!

So I did wonder if the destination location it could be reverse engineered from parameters available and had a quick hack with C++:

According to this rather rough and ready code the destination is (-20.104, 57.531) which looks like Mauritius.

But if the organisers are so worried about security then surely they'd have thought of this reverse engineering trick and put in some randomisation to throw the calculations off the sense. Therefore the DTLs are either a security risk or meaningless.

So instead of a sailing competition this has turned into a game of bluff and code-cracking, not what the Volvo should be about.

More James Bond than Peter Blake, alas.


Updated: working from the (lat, longs) and DTLs tonight (Sunday 18th) we have a new destination, namely the Maldives as per this Google Earth map:

Three Volvo photos

Its been another manic week of work after a weekend of family business, so blogging has been firmly in the back seat. I've had just enough time to follow the Volvo Ocean Race, though its been a bit of a procession after Groupama's diversion to the Canaries (bravo for taking the risk).

Unlike the last post this one show photos of real Volvo yachts. Above is from the 2005-06's in-port race in Portsmouth, while below is another Solent sail, a day trip I had out on News International which competed in the 2001-02 circumnavigation:

Finally, below is another Volvo 70, Ericsson (the one, I think, from 2005-6), spotted in Stockholm during the Square Metre Rule Anniversary back in 2008:

Next week's schedule not looking much better than last, but will be keeping an eye out on those ocean racers. Tactics for the next stage look more interesting, with all sorts of route wiggling options to get them to Cape Town.

Soon we will all be able to put our feet up and relax.


Updated: for O'Docker here's a fourth picture (see comments):

Three photos for the Volvo

It's been one of those massively hectic weeks where have really valued escaping even for a few minutes onto the Volvo Ocean Race web site. Compared to meetings, presentations, teleconferences, papers, projects, networking etc etc sailing non-stop four hours on four hours off seemed like a really good way to spend one's time.

So in return here are some of my photos with indirect connections to the Volvo. For example the one above I took when sailing near the Canary Islands which Groupama has, in an interesting navigational choice, just passed to the east (bonus marks for identifying the class of yacht).

Below are fishing dhows in Abu Dhabi, which is also the name one of the teams in the VOR. Alas they had a rather too dramatic start to the leg to South Africa, dismasting before they'd even left the Med.

So this is what Abu Dhabi didn't see - one of the Pillars of Hercules, the Rock of Gibraltar. When I was there we had no wind whatsoever, and hence had to motor. We passed a racing fleet that was drifting rather a lot:

The forecast is for posting to remain doldrum like erratic for the near future, but hopefully will be back in the trades shortly afterwards.

Volvo Crumble

Its come around again, the Volvo Ocean Race, and I can just see my productivity falling. A minute in the morning checking the positions over the first coffee and then again in the afternoon over a cuppa tea, it all adds up.

But what is this? Already things are falling apart with a full third of the fleet (ok, two boats) out of action, with a dismasting and hole in the hull of another.

Watch this space, as they say. Hopefully nothing will happen similar to those dramatic events in the Celebrity Yacht Race - as covered by our very own Buff Staysail - which sailed those very waters back in 2007.

The photo above, btw, is of my apple crumble (caramelised apples underneath, brown sugar and walnuts in the crumble) - yum - as requested by Baydog.

Running Aground

Oops!

Not a good day for keeping boats off the rocks. Check out this video of a sailor who got into trouble while attempting his ambition of sailing round Britain. A combination of engine failure and fog resulting in him ending up on the Dorset rocks.

Sounds like a good example to add to the collection of Total Loss.

Evidence that even the most pro of professional sailors are not immune can be seen in the picture above of Telefonica Blue on the rocks after starting the latest leg of the Volvo. No engine failure or fog here.

While not a total loss it must be "like, totally embarrasing!"

Ocean Racing's Not Coming Home

Here in blighty land sailing, alas, can no longer claim - if it ever could - to be the national sport, which arguably is football.

It is therefore paradoxical that there is no national, as in British, football team: for political reasons the "nations" here are England, Wales, and Scotland. Where Northern Ireland fits in I'm not sure but there's this great Wikipedia article that explains the various combinations and what is included in each.

But football was invented here, in England to be precise. And for that reason one of the favourite songs sung by the English fan is the catchy tune with chorus "Football's coming home, its coming home, its coming home". Almost invariably of course the England team fails to live up to these high hopes, and the trophy heads to other shores.

And ocean yacht racing has followed suit, as there are no stopovers in the United Kingdom for the first time since the Volvo Ocean Race (nee Whitbread) was invented, again here in England. The fleet of Volvo 70s will end their crossing of the Atlantic by turning up in Galway, Ireland sometime over the next day or so.

I'd like to say that there's no difference, as Galway is part of the British Isles or Europe, and so either way it's still home. But the regional identity of "Europe" is still too fragmentic and weak to be convincing.

This time around, ocean racing is not coming home (it's not coming home).

Yo ho ho - lets go racing!

On the Devizes to Westminster web site was interested to read a history of that race (which you can find here) and in particular how it was that anyone would come up with the idea of racing in a canoe or kayak across 200 km of England non-stop between those two particular places.

It was, you may not be that surprised to learn, the result of a couple of blokes yarning away over a pint or two (or more) in their local pub. And this is not some mamby bamby watered down stuff, this was strong West Country ale or cider, and after downing a few of them no doubt many things seem not just feasible but a jolly good idea.

I can't help wonder how many other races originated in the bar. The birth of the Volvo naturally springs to mind as it was born from the parents of the Navy (yo ho ho and a bottle of rum) and Whitbread (brewers of many a fine bottle of beer). And of course the answer to that question "what's your poison" after a day of hard sailing across those Southern Oceans was clear "make mine a pint of best".

Alas today its all got a bit too serious and the Volvo is all freeze dried food and nutritionist approved diets and the glass of red with the Sunday roast has gone. Maybe that's part of the team's incentive program: whatever Tillerman might say my experience of sailors is that the first, second, and third thing on their mind after reaching shore involves alcohol. Other priorities might come after that (though the TV programs show an alarming number of images of good dad's heading back to their wives and children - not the way of the traditional sailor) but the bar is the first port of call.

And I can't help wondering how much of sailing's history started in some drinking establishment. Was, I wonder, the great voyage of Columbus (1) inspired by one too many bottles of Chianti in some taverna beside the Mediterranean?

As conclusive proof of this theory I give you Sir Robin Knox Johnston who's ground breaking journey around the world was only threatened by shortage of Whisky! (2)


(1) I refuse to use the Spanish version of his name and call him Colon - that is either something from a medical dictionary or the secret password of the society of Punctuation.

(2) Don't worry Adam, this is not the official 22nd April post, that is yet to come

What TV program is the Vendee Globe?

I posted previously how the Volvo TV show reminded me a bit of Top Gear as its rather un-PC but with high entertainment value. And I still do - can't you just picture the scene:

INT: Studio, big sign says "Top Yacht". Three presenters are doing the cool wall.

Clarkson (for it is he): So what do we think, Volvo 70s, cold or super cold?

Audience, misc: cold! Super cold! Freezing! etc etc

Clarkson: You know the old Volvo 60, good yachts, but these new ones. God they're fast!!

Hamster: That's right, that extra 10 feet make all the difference - and there's a canting keel too!

Clarkson: The power is just awesome, I just can't say no to it

HamsterHammond: The Stig took one out for a spin - think I saw him hitting 40 knots on the Top Yacht course.

May: Of course they'll need ice gates now.

Clarkson and Hammond look at him in disgust, shake heads, raise eyebrows etc

May: If they're going 40 knots and hit an iceberg its all over, all this fancy carbon fibre, give me solid steel any day.

Clarkson: Well, thank you Mr Health and Safety, but who cares, I want one.

He slaps picture of V070 at the ice-cold end of the board and the audience cheers.


You see what I mean? It would so work.

But what TV show would the Vendee Globe be? I haven't had chance to see for myself what its actual TV coverage is like but it surely would be more character based. Maybe a TV drama series - or even dare I say it a soap.

The skippers would be the focus, not the just the power of the boats, and interactions between them drive the story forward, with a cliff hanger at the end of each episode:
- when will the curse of Mike Golding strike?
- can anyone get to poor Jean le Cam before his yacht sinks?
- who will get in first, Roxy or Safram?

and of course:
- When will Elies be rescued, broken leg and all?

There'd also be the light humorous story line to keep spirits up and Sam would do her bit with stories of lost chocolate, karaoke, iPod dancing etc.

Of course a soap never ends so it can't be that. I'd suggest a drama like Lost but that series is just too irritating. So maybe something classical, like Dicken's Bleak House, printed in 20 instalments.

What do you think?

Volvo & Vendee on TV

As suffering from Vendee withdrawl symptoms was pleased to learn from Yachting World that it was going to be on TV over the weekend - though at the rather weekend lie-in hostile hour of 7.30 am. So muttering something about Channel 4 executives bad scheduling when it comes to sailing, decided it was one for the PVR to record ready for when fully awake coffee mug in hand.

Alas the PVR decided to die: gracefully it must be admitted, but when there is 39V on the line that should have just 13V it was brave but most definitely beaten.

No matter thinks I, there is always C4 + 1, the TV channel to catch the first half of programs where enjoyed the last half - or in this case, for those getting up just after 8.

Alas, again, it was not good news as the TV reported "no signal" on not just C4+1, but C4, and indeed every single channel. Apparently the antenna on the roof of the block of appartments was in morning for the PVR or something and refusing to work on even numbered floors (no, don't understand that at all either).

So thinks I, this is the 21st Century, we have 4OD - standing for 4 "on-demand", a web site for those with broadband and a Channel 4 program missed.

Alas, a word that is becoming over used but still - er - alas - is appropriate, there were many programs to download from Desperate Housewives to Dispatches: Unseen Gaza, but no, the Vendee Globe is "currently not available".

But as a consolation prize there was a catch-up of the Volvo Ocean race programs. Now if you think the Vendee Globe slot was bad at 7.30 am on a Saturday morning have a feeling for the Volvo which has got the graveyard 01:45 - 02:40 am slot, even earlier than the Vendee.

Nope, even the C4+1 times of 02:45 - 03:40 that don't sound that good. What is it about TV schedulers and their dislike of sailing?

But the Volvo program was available on download so spent an hour with some VO70s racing from the doldrums to Cape Town and then up into the Indian Ocean. And rather a fun 48 minutes it was too.

Ok, I've been a bit disappointed by following the Volvo, but as a TV show it has certain wow! factor. Those boats are pretty impressive when fully loaded going pedal to the metal and maybe thats what they are all about.

They can give some perzang! to any corporate video, showing leading edge sailing, teamwork, high tech, healthy outdoor competition, and a nice warm buzz of seeing your company's logo on a spinnaker on a boat surfing at 30+ knots across sun lit waves. Followed by some spectacular wipe-outs, shredded sails, broken booms etc.

Woh! Yea-ha! (or something)

And of course the port on starboard miss by millimetres near collision shot:

Having enjoyed that and started the download of the next episode, went over to the VOR web site, and... nope, didn't feel the same.

Five boats, in a clump, just going along, it was like..... slow. Those long offshore legs you really need to have strong characters to keep the interest up, as the Vendee does (or rather did).

So maybe the Volvo has got some strong points, and TV is a good way of getting across the power and exhilaration of the VO70 class. Its a bit like the Top Gear of sailing, you know its not PC, but actually its very watchable.

Of course I have yet to see the Vendee Globe on TV. Now the PVR has been returned from repair and the TV is reporting signal again just have to wait till Saturday morning to compare the two.

I'll be there, coffee mug in hand - unless something else goes wrong......

Volvo vs Vende Globe (again)

The Vendee Globe is winding down and those with Sam Davies withdrawal symptoms have been checking out the other circumnavigating yacht race, the Volvo. But to me at least it's not the same.

I remember back in November posting a 10 point list of why the Vendee is better (ok, it was only 9 but surely there must be another there somewhere) and a similar comparison has been bubbling through the mind of Yachting World's Elaine Bunting in her blog here.

The post raises a number of topics, including the degree to which the greater loads in VOR70 gives a bias towards male sailors and how that could put off some members of the public. She even raises the Mike vs Michelle Golding debate on whether female sailors get greater coverage and if so is that right?

I've been thinking over her arguments over the weekend and don't have any conclusion, just some further points to mull over.

If having men only in teams was a significant problem then Manchester United wouldn't have a global fan base and Formula 1 would be in even greater financial difficulties than it does at present. There does seem to be an appetite for sport viewers to see the highest level of competition - or, as the VOR marketing team would no doubt put it - at the extreme.

And it is certainly true that the VOR is getting support: see the crowds by the dock side for the races and most impressive armadas of virtual sailors following it in the Volvo game. There are some virtual racers that have over a month of log-in time -now that is real commitment and advertiser friendly eye-ball time.

But the VOR does have a problem that neither Man U nor Formula 1 has - lack of continuity and hence fan base. It is harder to feel connected to an international telecom vendor that has funded a campaign, and even less so when it is a one-off sponsorship. It is notable that Ericsson is unusual in that it funded a boat in a previous campaign, not the norm.

If you support a football team you have a good chance of following them not just year in year out, but decade after decade (though that can be a bad thing - one's sympathy must go to those Leeds United fans who have now only distant memories of life in the Premiership).

You can follow individual sailors in the Vendee, but for the VOR its usually a different crew and team name each time round. So Torben Grael is skipper of Ericsson 4 this time round, but in the last race it was Brazil.

It hasn't helped that the VOR didn't offer the great Virtual Spectator viewer which I really appreciated when it was available for the previous race.

Also as posted earlier, the single handed nature of the Vendee Globe makes it a more gripping story, and it is story that we humans like and brings engagement. And it is this engagement that brings media coverage with it, as Sam Davies showed.

Ultimately it will all be decided by sponsors and whether they happy with the return they get on the huge sums required to fund a VOR team. But it is notable how few there are: given the drop outs the fleet for the current leg is only 5 strong and given the two Ericssons that represents just 4 sponsors.

Probably this isn't a question that only Ericsson corporate PR can answer: given what they know now would they rather sponsor next time round a VOR or a Vendee Globe?

It might well be the answer has nothing to do with gender or sailing but something much more simple. If you are doing a corporate PR junket you can get more wanabee sailors in a day sail on a VO 70 than in an Open 60!

So what do you think? If you could modify the VOR what would you change?

Sailing invitation

I got an invitation to go sailing yesterday. It was from Clipper Round the World races - must have signed up to their email list at some point.

Met them again at the London Boat Show and we discussed how you can do a full circumnavigation or just part, and we worked out friends of mine must have done the Perth to Qingdao leg. And the email was all about that particular leg - boasting that it was great as "If you choose leg 4 you will be facing exactly the same conditions that the Volvo sailors are battling now" (pictured above).

Hmmm.... is that really the best of sales techniques? Some phrases today from the VOR web site "E3 safe after terrifying ordeal" and "horrific night when [E3] suffered extensive hull damage and began taking on water". And the wasn't the wave height 14m or something?

What looks a lot more inviting sailing conditions is this video of Sam overtaking Safran to take fourth. To be honest her French is trop vite for me but words like chocolate need no translating!

Volvo Ocean Race saves the World (almost)

While the Vendee Globe has caught my imagination there is of course another round the world yacht race on at the moment, the Volvo.

We are hampered here in the UK in that the main TV rights are owned by the subscription channel Sky, and even before the credit crunch hit us had no intention to pay Rupert Murdoch anything if could help it.

But there was a segment on the brilliant as usual Channel 4 News at 7pm last Thursday which found very interesting. It started with the usual life at the extreme talk, with shots of Volvo 70's surfing down waves at 30 knots or something.

However then it got serious. The fleet might be waiting in Singapore for the next leg, but the reporter was more interested in the scientific work they are doing to track invasive marine species, in particular those that get carried in the ballast of commercial shipping.

The damage already done is huge, with a jelly fish invasion of the Black Sea, killing of 90% of the fish and the Zebra mussel (above) returning the favour in the US and Europe. Its already a problem in London as posted before here and here.

The economic and environmental damage can be horrific. Any information that can help scientists track how far these invaders has got to be a good thing, and that's where the crews of the Volvo yachts come in. Each has a crew member trained to take samples.

Alas the shipping industry has been far to slow in reacting to this and putting in place the technical measures that could stop these alien invaders. One hopes they will soon pull their fingers out.

You can watch the report for a few days more at the C4 News web site by clicking this link here (note: it might be UK only, let me know if it works elsewhere).

The player should look like this:

There's also an piece on the Volvo web site itself from back in August last year here.

Vendee Globe vs Volvo

While been busy working and travelling the Vendee Globe has started and joined the Volvo in racing round the world.

Having missed the first leg of the Volvo and initial excitement of the Vendee had a little think about which feel is the more exciting and involving to this armchair sailor this time round.

And the clear winner was the Vendee, and here are ten reasons why:

1. Its a single handed epic adventure, non stop around the world

2. You get to know key sailors as individuals, rather than merged together as a crew

3. The competition includes both men and women (see above)

4. The Open 60 class is the standard for offshore racing

5. It sticks to the traditional route each time

6. It dives into deep southern ocean, iceberg territory like true global races should

7. It's got a better race tracker - in particular it shows wind forecasts. In my mind the Volvo made a big mistake by not continuing the Virtual Spectator from last time. More positive comments about their web site from Adam here.

8. It's got a bigger fleet

9. The competitors get to try out their sexy French accents

10. Er... running out of ideas - any suggestions for a 10th reason?

VOR Game

I was really looking forward to the VOR game. In case you haven't seen it, the on-line simulator allows you to match your offshore racing skills against the wider sailing community from the comfort of your arm chair. You can choose course and sails, and plan your tactics to beat the real boats to Cape Town.

Alas last few weeks have been firstly sick and then having to catch up at work and then have a forthcoming return business trip to Australia for a rather scary 6 day single-handed presentation (for which really must stop blogging and start preparing).

So the good ship Dampier (my ship's registered name) never got its instructions and is now heading straight into the St Helena high and certain doom of coming in last if at all.

But have enjoyed hearing about those that having been doing it right - such as over on EVK SuperBlog, who's dedication has led to interrupted sleep and meetings.

Good luck to all of those competing - especially those doing it solo.

Corporate IT sinks Volvo Viewer

Previously I posted how the wonderful Virtual Spectator software (above) used in the Volvo Ocean Race 2004-5 isn't being made available for the current race, and what a shame that was as it was simply brilliant.

Well I emailed VOR HQ and got the following response:

"We require a browser-based flash raceviewer for this race, because one of the most constant complaints we received in the previous race was that race fans were unable to download and install the Virtual Spectator programme at work.

Virtual Spectator have supplied us with their latest 3D product, which unfortunately has been experiencing technical issues and it is taking time for the VS technicians to work out the problems and make fixes and improvements.

In the meantime, TracTrac have provided us with their 2D viewer as a back-up raceviewer while we find a solution to the raceviewer difficulties, and you may have noticed that new features are being introduced on this 2D raceviewer as the race progresses. "

Now there's no problem downloading and running VS on my work PC as I've given myself Admin rights, and anyhow we're a small company. But we've heard of cases where users of our software not only can't install it themselves but get an internal charge from their IT department to do something they'd rather do themselves.

Its a shame that such a good piece of s/w should be hobbled because of over controlling corporate jobs-worths.

Of course not getting access to a race viewer (which BTW surely is two words not one) or having an inferior one means higher productivity at work and less time spent following the action, but you wouldn't have thought that was something VOR would like to see.

And even if the Volvo site had an improve web based viewer, surely that wouldn't stop the old software still being available?