Dangerous designs?

One of the big things about the VO 70 series is the media coverage- they're going to great lengths to try to correct this issue, what with video cameras everywhere, a media station, satellite uplink, etc on each boat.

What to expect after.... I personally would not take a VO 70 out of a sheltered harbour after the race is over. They take such a beating, and they're so fragile, I wouldn't trust the boat any more after tens of thousands of miles of abuse.

 

Good point about bashing a boat for that mileage. What is the KELLY BLUE BOOK value after the race? Public auction?

 

If they turn out to be anything like F1 cars, solar cars, and other specialized race vehicles, they'll tour some fancy ports for a few months before quietly living out the remainder of their natural lives lying on their sides in run-down warehouses.

 

Yep, and there is nothing wrong with that. The days when gentlemen raced production Swan 65's around the world, hove-to at night and expected to enjoy the boats for years afterward are gone.

[TROLL]
I suspect the value of the Farr boats will be somewhat less than the race winners ...
[/TROLL]

 

Talk about instant gratification and and a throw it away, countries!

 

Certainly Tabarly could (and perhaps should) have been more cautious.

My post was in reply to Cyclop's claim that the VO 70 sailors were not experienced enough, and I think the fact that Eric Tabarly was incautious merely confirms that someone of his vast experience and a naval and traditional boat background can make mistakes too. Therefore Cyclop's view that the VO problems are caused by lack of experience (which is pretty strange considering most of the crews have circumnavigated before) seems incorrect.

 

The VO 70 sailors probably arent used to having to throttle back so much in regards to what the boat is capable of. If one's boat was capable of 40 knots in 42 knots of wind, but the safe thing would be to sail at 12-15 knots, the sailor probably would not slow down by that margin. They would probably be sailing in the 20 knot range.

 

I think these boats reflect the new (by neccesity) corporate mentality. Win at all costs.

After all, whatever those costs are, the corporate leadership rarely have to pay them themselves. But they do get to sack a disproportionate amount of the loot should things turn out well.

It seems that the modern, trans national, corporation creates, with its mutual fund driven expectations, an atmosphere where the worst of human nature is encouraged and the best is left to languish.

I see the modern trans national corporation the biggest threat to freedom and dignity (for the average Joe, not the CEO) since the down fall of Stalinism (Soviet style communism).

Take these boats, for example. If one of them comes to grief, who pays for the rescue of the hapless crew. You got it. The poor taxpayer of the unfortunate country that happens to be closest. If the crew should perish in the freezing waters? Who cares. 'They knew what they were getting into'.

And the lucky winner? Gets to live like a rock star.

You may call me a sail atolla, complete with my baggywinkle and lead line, but remember, the ayatolla's (who may be bad themselves) were but a reaction to very bad goings on in a world of few winners and lots and lots of losers.

With this perverse logic, there is no need, from the sponsors point of veiw, for any real safety at all. And even the contestants, who all want to win in the worst way possible, get to boast about how tough they are if they win, finish, or even survive.

My big fear is not that someone may get hurt, may drown, or maybe freeze to death. That risk, after all, is the sailor's lot in life. What scares me most is that that may happen to one half, three quarters, or even the entire fleet as well as some of the shore based rescuers. Then there would be a mighty clamoring. And the risks, that many of us see as privileges of being free people, will suddenly be stripped away, rebundled in hundreds of pages of bureaucratese, then handed back to us along with a stiff lawyer's fee to interpret it.

Bob

 

Dread

Geez, Bob what an awful cynical analysis. I fear you may be right....

 

And I thought I was a cut to the bone person. Good, concise, observation of corporate P R, Sharpii2.

 

Nice rant there.

The only flaw is that more multi-national corporations spend orders of magnitude more money to sponsor lower risk sports than to sponsor toy boat races.

The only people that have a motive to win at any cost are the ones that will benefit from the win.

The sailors and design firms have their reputations on the line. It's their need for a good result that feeds the win at all cost mentality. The sponsors couldn't care less, they get press no matter what.

Based on the fact that as I write this the race leader is making 17 knots 135M from the finish and the closest Farr boat is 210M back and three Farr designs have had keel problems ... who would you call to design your next boat? Who do you think pushed the design envelope perhaps a bit too far?

Unless things change radically, how many Farr designs will be in the next VO?

 

Which supermaxi will break first in the Sydney to Hobart Race if they encounter rough seas?

 

CBTF Triumphs!( stickng my neck out!)

Niccorette, I mean AAPT or Konica Minolta broke once and I bet they have it in them again but it sounded like light air the last I checked. It will be interesting: the Reichel Pugh CBTF designs have thousands of sea miles on them and there has never been a failure to my knowledge with a CBTF boat. Except Wild Oats One when somebody forgot a pin and an electrical system problem unrelated to the keel.
GO CBTF!!!!
Merry Christmas/Happy Chanuka and a Happy New Year to the rest of you!

 

actually i think all the big boats have had failures/technical issues in the time leading up to the race.

 

like what?

like I said...
GO CBTF!!!