 |
7:23 PM Thu 23 Apr 2009 GMT
For the seven skippers in the Portim?o Global Ocean Race, the 23 day, Leg 3 stop over on the tropical, Brazilian island of Ilhabela was a chance to rest, recover and repair after the major hurdle of 7,500 miles of racing through the Southern Ocean and around Cape Horn.
With the toughest and most physically and psychologically demanding stretch of the race completed, some of the competitors took the opportunity to start planning for the future. When questioned about plans, the responses from skippers were diverse, surprising and suggest that this circumnavigation event is a milestone.
There are two career offshore racers in the fleet: Boris Herrmann and David Thomson. Herrmann is a fully-sponsored professional with big plans: 'I would like to sell my boat now and charter another Class 40 for the Solidaire du Chocolat,' explains the German skipper. 'The reason is I have a loan for this boat and I pay interest every month and it would be better as having the loan is not ideal.' While the new transatlantic race for Class 40s is the short term goal, Herrmann has his sights set on the International Monohull open Class Association (IMOCA). 'My dream and main objective is to move onto Open 60s and I understand the class is in a transition, which is normal after the Vend?e Globe. So for me it's wisest to continue in Class 40s for a bit and it would be very hard to organise a 60 campaign with this race going on.' With clinical precision, Herrmann has formulated a game plan, spliced with a touch of envy for Michel Desjoyeaux's Vend?e winner: 'There are always big decisions to make in the early stages of a project and it would be better to be in France and gain more experience. In a perfect world, I'd take Foncia right now.'
For Thomson, sailing in the Portim?o Global Ocean Race with Jeremy Salvesen on Class 40 Team Mowgli has been the fulfilment of a personal dream held for many years. The 33 year-old Briton has a highly impressive offshore CV and extensive ocean racing experience. As a crewmember on board the late Steve Fossett's 125ft catamaran Playstation, Thomson held four world speed titles including the records for Round Britain and Ireland, the east-west transatlantic record and the TransMed record. More recently, he has become an integral part of many high-profile, offshore racing support teams including the Hugo Boss Open 60 project of his brother, Alex, Japanese solo sailor Kojiro Shiraishi's Velux 5 Oceans IMOCA, Spirit of Yukoh and worked on the complete refit of Philip Kahn's Open 50 Pegasus (ex-Artforms).
Thomson has yet to crack the notoriously tough nut of UK sailing sponsorship. 'I'm really grateful to Jeremy for giving me the opportunity to race round the world,' says Thomson. 'It has been a dream I've had for a very long-time.' Thomson is already planning to compete against Herrmann in the Solidaire du Chocolat later this year: 'I want to do the next Portim?o Race with race with my own boat,' confirms Thomson, whose offshore experience has grown exponentially during the Portim?o Global Ocean Race. Until the time funding arrives, his knowledge and natural ability at sea would be an invaluable asset to any team entering a Class 40, in the Solidaire du Chocolat. 'Of course I'd race on somebody else's boat,' admits Thomson. With a natural ability for adaption to any environment, he can fit in and contribute in any sphere. 'I wouldn't mind what nationality I go racing with.'
Teetering on the brink of pro-sailing, Boris Herrmann's co-skipper, Felix Oehme, is a powerful force in the Beluga Racer team and a popular member of the Portim?o fleet. 'Ah, the future,' muses Oehme. 'This question is asked a lot. Originally I thought I'd make a decision in Ilhabela, but I'm just focussed on the race and I'm not really sure what I'll do afterwards.' A highly talented all round sailor, Oehme first stamped his competitive authority in dinghy sailing, before switching to the offshore circuit and the decision whether to take the sport a step further is fundamental for the 27 year-old German. 'I need to speak with family and friends,' he explains. 'The whole economic situation has changed everything, even in the last month. In our race-world it is really difficult to know what is really going on in the real world. You can't really grasp the reality via the internet.' For Oehme, any decision is currently on hold: 'I need to get back and speak with the company I worked with before the race and talk with my friends,' he adds.
For the fleet's solo sailor, Michel Kleinjans, racing has always been a juggle between his property development and building contractor business and offshore competition: 'The first thing is to get my company back on track,' says the Belgian single-hander. 'Then I might do some more racing.' Kleinjans has an enviable track record beginning with the 1985-86 Whitbread Round The World Race and incorporating Mini Transat and Figaro events and speed records including the four days solo round Ireland record in 2005. 'I would like to do the Route du Rhum in 2010 and then maybe another round Britain race,' explains Kleinjans. 'In a perfect world, I'd like to do it on a 60ft trimaran, but that's something I cannot fund myself. So maybe I'll buy a Class 40.' Until that time, he will remain with his Open 40 Roaring Forty on board which Kleinjans broke the solo, monohull Marseille-Carthage record early in 2008.
There is no firm culture of offshore racing in his homeland and Kleinjans is held back by this lack of popular familiarity with yacht racing. 'So, that's the plan, unless, of course, a big Belgian sponsor turns up, but it hasn't happened in the last 20 years.' Despite this barrier temporarily blocking the chance of corporate sponsorship, Kleinjans is optimistic: 'If it did turn up, maybe I'd do the Volvo,' jokes the solo specialist. 'It wouldn't be a problem if I was skipper,' he adds, laughing heartily. 'I would like to do another Portim?o Race, but not all the legs,' says Kleinjans. 'Maybe two legs.' The option of splitting a double-handed circumnavigation between a pool of six skippers attached to one entry is a compelling part of the Portim?o Global Ocean Race. 'It all depends on money. I'm a so-called professional sailor in Belgium, but it has never earnt me a lot.'
The Chilean duo of Felipe Cubillos and Jos? Mu?oz have added a new dimension to the fleet: not only are they talented, focussed and highly entertaining, their patriotism mixed with boundless enthusiasm brings whirlwind inertia. 'In the short term, when we finish this race in Portim?o, we will take the boat to France and prepare for the Fastnet Race,' explains Cubillos. 'Then we're doing the Class 40 Worlds and the Solidaire du Chocolat and then the boat is going back to Chile, arriving in January.' For the Chilean skipper, the impact of the race in Chile has been breathtaking: when their Class 40, Desafio Cabo de Hornos, rounded Cape Horn on March 19th at the front of the fleet, Cubillos and Mu?oz received a satellite phone call from the office of the Chilean president and were instantly elevated to football star status.
The opportunity to ride this wave of popularity is unmissable. 'I hope to compete in more offshore racing, but I plan to get more children in Chile involved in ocean racing,' says Cubillos. With a youth sailing programme in place, the long-term goal is clear. 'I think there is no reason why the French and the British should dominate in the big ocean races,' he adds. For his co-skipper, Jos? Mu?oz, the Portim?o Global Ocean Race has been an introduction to world class sailing competition. The son of a carpenter from a small village outside the Chilean capital of Santiago, Mu?oz has filled countless logbooks through yacht delivery trips in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and has been a weekend racer in Chile. Since starting the Portim?o Race, the horizon has grown dramatically for Mu?oz who has become totally in tune with offshore racing. 'When I'm free from this round the world race I'm going to offer my services to any boat project anywhere in the world,' he states simply, flashing a broad grin.
The only skipper to firmly discount further participation in offshore competition is Jeremy Salvesen of Team Mowgli. Until three years ago, Salvesen's sailing experience was limited to playing around in small dinghies, but with no formal knowledge of sailing. Having fast tracked into offshore racing and sped through practical and theoretical sailing courses, he entered the Portim?o Global Ocean Race with co-skipper David Thomson providing the experience and technical/tactical support. For Salvesen, the challenge and adventure has been everything. 'I will carry on sailing and have a lot of friends in Scotland who own boats and are involved with sailing schools up there,' he says. Similar to Felipe Cubillos, the British skipper has a philanthropic approach to the experience gained in the Portim?o Race. 'I've also become involved with the Ocean Youth Trust in Scotland which is taking disadvantaged children out sailing on ex-Challenge Business 72-footers,' he explains. 'I'm really willing to share what I've learnt and to put something back into society and it's a really good opportunity.' Salvesen's input as a novice sailor-turned-circumnavigator is likely to have a profound effect on any audience. 'I'm not a hugely experienced sailor, but I've done something that a lot of people haven't,' he points out.
Seven sailors with diverse plans. There are, however, still two legs of the Portim?o Global Ocean Race remaining and - as is the usual case with boats and the sea - almost anything could happen before these yachtsmen can actively concentrate on the future.
www.portimaoglobaloceanrace.com
by Oliver Dewar
|
|
Mount Wellington, TAS
Kitesurfing - Surfboards
Foiling - Wind Wings
Surfing - Shortboards (under 7')