MOD 70 "Race for Water" Capsizes-all OK

Story here------ http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2...tm_term=Environmental campaign capsizes MOD70

 

From where the money comes for a refit...

Pitty and unusually... and hopefully not another MOD70 gone from the water.

Lets see if MOD70 "RfW" will be refitted by UN and UNESCO budget... the Swiss NGO (foundation) mainly is financed from.

UN partnership....
http://www.unep.org/newscentre/Default.aspx?DocumentID=26788&ArticleID=34806&l=en

Unesco project....
http://www.raceforwater.com/smoo/projet-unesco

 

Never race on a MOD70 when being tired...

Just comes in the news that the crew is rescued... tks the circumstances all are well.

We already can learn from, citiation the skipper Stève Ravussin: "Big swell, high waves, and the fact that the crew were tired after the 32,000 miles"

Simply conclusion: Never sail on a MOD70 when being tired in difficult conditions.

Fully report here: http://bit.ly/1USaj2C

Hopefully they manage it to rescue and righten the boat... would be a pitty for this beauty drifting overheaded through the Indian ocean.

 

Avoid risks...

If one – as environmentalist – wants demonstrate how to live a healthy life, he/she should not “misuse” a racing boat for “spectactularly pictures”… and hurting all rules of good seamanship.

Stupidity… and no excuse for. The management should take two sailing crews to keep all safe and healthy to avoid the risks of being overtired.

UN, UNESCO and all the other partners have enough money to finance bigger “sailing staff”.

 

Mod 70

Jay, it's those kind of conditions where an altitude controlled lifting foil on the daggerboard coupled with a rudder T-foil could save the day by instantly developing downforce-automatically.

 

One design class...

Thats the burdon of a one design class, DougL. Citiation of Multi One Design S.A.:

That means: All or nothing. - Maybe you can get the contract by Marco Simeoni (CEO) and Stève Ravussin (technical director) to re-design all existing MOD70s...

Its a heavily image damage for the MOD70 circuit this capsizing, so I see it. The boat was not in "racing modus" at moderate winds. - Same it is a negative image for the "Race for water campaign". A real blamage

 

MOD70's are fine as they are for racing this just wasn't a suitable use for the craft. I looked at the project and couldn't see any reason why you wouldn't just use a cruising catamaran or trimaran, better payload and more room for the crew to do their work. They were clearly pushing too hard for the conditions as one of these boats reefed right down is very safe.

The one design aspects don't matter so much now since the circuit is defunct. Groupe Edmond de Rothschild is now a MOD72 having been extended and had a lighter engine fitted and a heap of other mods that take it away from one design compliance.

 

Lets see it from the rational side as "campaign":

1. There is an NGO sitting in Switzerland, dealing with the big ones, e.g. Unesco and UN.... so plenty of money there.
   
2. And they want fight internatoinally via medias and educational programmes for "protecting water", giving access to humans clean water and try to rescue the plastic polluted oceans.

So simply the question: Who did all this messing around with destroying the water ressources on our planet ? People not caring for water, Individuals not respecting nature and big concerns mainly interested in big money making polluting water ressources.

A MOD70 is the perfect symbol for this "bigger, faster, farer" menthality; all racing boats financed by big concerns (even by those who are heavily involved in corruptive businesses).

So taking a Racing boat like the MOD70 is - under marketing and image aspects - completly contradictive. It is like shooting with weapons for peace making.

They should have taken a boat which spreads out the message: Slow down... become aware of what you are doing (as human/individual, as manager, as politican). And no more speed, more speed, extreme speed for new records.

The crew became victim (and unluckily the boat) of this misuse... why pushing 32,000 miles ???? Dont want know the "carbon foot print" the crew and boat + NGO organisation left behind during that trip...

The guy who developed this marketing campaign has nothing understood about sailing and the whole problem they pushed the boat into it.

Yes, I suppose you are right.... and the 2014 announcement was the last attempt and last breath to make the MOD70 class attractive to new sponsors/renters. But such Marketing CEOs are not fools... they analyse critically every sport trend.

Two capsizes of MOD70s this year, nothing positive for this class. We still remember sadly that of Virbac-Paprec (not to forget Spindrift's flip over in 2013). - Not what sponsors like to see... as there isnt a 2nd boat in the garage and in reserves like in Formula1 after a heavy crash to keep going a brand building / image campaign...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf8Clcngfvk

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI2iIY61Lc8


I suppose the future in this extreme segment of Trimaran racing will be what we see with Gitana Sailing team. - A big "racing company" with a powerful sponsor who invests heavily in different segments of sail racing parallel, running different boat sizes on very different racing circuits with long term business plans (over 5-10 years) to get out the maximum of media coverage.

Its time we revitalize the Formula 40 class

 

RfW crew back on land...

The crew is safely back on land... the Trimaran was pulled all long way still capsized to a military harbour at Diego Garcia.

Officially the HQ says: "The righting of the trimaran will take place with the help of a crane tomorrow (on 17th) in the military harbor."
Source: Logbooks - Race for Water

All depends on the damages. The rig, eventually a broken mast might have damaged the boat heavily. Who knows... probably it will become an expensive refitting... quickly 400-500,000 US dollars if they should require a new Carbon rotation wing mast.

Let's see.... doesn't make sense to speculate around. Let's hope for the best that this boat isn't lost forever as there are many of the racers sitting on dry land and rottening (as we can see on the warft area in Solac Sur Mer / France).

( Source of picture: https://sageonsail.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/p9086839.jpg )

2nd picture shows how the boat looked in "good shape" (in 2013)... it is the Multi 50 Trimaran with sponsor Arkema-Region Aquitaine (which was 2nd in Route dem Rhum in 2014).

( Source of picture: http://www.aquitaineonline.com/images/stories/Voile/Arkema-Region-Aquitaine-Mars-2013-01.jpg =

 

"Ports are no good. Ships rot and the men go to the devil" - Joseph Conrad

 

Here is a photo thanks to Marcus Tomblin of the Race for water at Diego Garcia. The other MOD70's that have capsized have both broken their masts.

 

The Mirror of the Sea...

... from "The Mirror of the Sea", written in 1906 as autobiography by British novellist J. Conrad (1875-1924)



The book one can read freely as eprint (as it is more than 100 years old, no copyright protection).
here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1058

or here:
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Mirror_of_the_Sea
-------

I suppose that time 109 years ago the harbours mainly had been skinky, ugly and dirty places... with all the "dark sides" (e.g. red light districts).

Nowadays crews and sailors on board of commercial (cargo) ships dont have time anymore to stay for many days or even weeks in the harbours. The towing on the docks of the mega sized container giants costs daily ten thousands of dollars as the building costs are round about 2 billion US dollars (e.g. as we see with world biggest cargo ship: "CSCL Globe" is of 400 m length, 58.60 m width and can carry 19,100 standard containers (TEU) and owned by "China Shipping Group").

Such a ship can load and unload computerized in a modern harbour within 72 hours round 8,000 Containers. CSCL Globe in my home city (Hanseatic City Hamburg on Elbe river9 in January 2015 where I live... a real mega giant.




The work place on these cranes is 55 meters high above sea level. Totally madness this form of logistics as it creates huge and new problems (e.g. dumping wages for the harbour workers)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3asWgq6rA8

 

Trimaran R4WO has been rightened...

Is a beautifully boat forgotten so quickly by its owners ??? - Here the latest news (Source: http://www.raceforwater.com/news/r4wo_the_fight_continues )

So the official news... sounds very diplomatically. No single picture of the righting procedure. Does the management mainly have in mind: "Dont damage the image of our campaign by "bad pictures" ???"

If the boat wouldn't have taken lots of damage, they might have shown some pictures or do a small comment kind of "...it looks less bad than expected". - Isnt ?

For me the short news is a signal, that yet it is not clear, if the boat can be refitted... or eventually the structural damages are so tremendously heavy that the carbon racer is only worth for the 'trash box'.

On Facebook they show since couple of hours some pictures after the capsizing... Source: https://www.facebook.com/raceforwaterfoundation/posts/906185046096430


Looks like beautiful art work...

 

The makeshift is done....

The boat is floating on own keel again.... and the crew worked on jury rigging to sail RfW it with a tiny mast towards the Maldives. From there the MOD70 will be shipped to Europe for repairings. It will become a costly one.

Officially press news today: http://www.raceforwater.com/logbooks/indianocean_juryrig

 

RFW -Le Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=202&v=E4qugCaZCZ8