Cape Town In-Port Race! plus a bonus drinking game!

The in port race was held on saturday at some ungodly time in the morning. Which is why the replay is being posted here...a day later...and well into the night. I dislike timezone and how it is affecting my sailing obsession.



If you want to play a fun drinking game try taking a shot every time Alan from Sailing Anarchy (the American Voice) underhandedly disagrees with the owner and super power ($$$,$$$,$$$) behind Volvo Ocean Race Knut Frostad (the heavy Norwegian accent, you'll know it when you hear it). They have an interesting relationship to say the least...I can't believe they sat on the same boat together and no one drowned.



Enjoy!

Cape Town In-Port Race

A day late and a dollar short but that's just how life can be. Enjoy the Replay!

The Team Brunel Song...Finished 3rd

Keeping their spirits up as they cruise to the line!

Dongfeng Finish Line 2nd place!

First Three Boats Cross Finish Line in Cape Town!

The first three boats have crossed the finish line in Cape Town, South Africa! Here's some footage from the crews...and don't forget there are still four other teams that haven't finished yet.

oh and this is just LEG 1...

Fast & Furious | Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15

Looks like we'll start seeing boats coming into Cape Town tomorrow!

Volvo Update 19 days into Leg 1

19 days at sea the teams have faced dead calm in the doldrums, crossed the equator, raced before the wind down the African coast, grazed the coast of BRAZIL,  and are now heading far south catch the right breeze to turn the fleet east. Oh and now they might have to look out for icebergs...no big deal.

The sailors meet King Neptune | Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15

This is what makes sailing awesome. When was the last time you saw this sort of shenanigans in a sporting event. Oh wait you don't, ever. And if they did do this in basketball or football it would get waaaaay out of control and they would call it hazing. But sailing we keep it civilized, like baked beans to the face.

In-Port Race Alicante | Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15

Also I made it thru the entire wedding without looking at my phone once for the in-port race results. Leg 1 starts in 1 day 7 hours and counting...get excited!

This is my Superbowl VOLVO OCEAN RACE

I wait for two years to watch these boats sail nearly 40,000 miles, 9 months, 5 Continents, 4 Oceans. This is my Super Bowl, this is my World Cup, This is my Tour D' France,

Last time around I was in for Puma, this time around I'm behind Team Alvimedica. Charlie Enright, Mark Towill,  Armory Ross are my player favorites. I am giddy with excitement.

That said in case you are new to this craziness I've posted a link here for you to get caught up with. It's a three part series from CNN it should just play all three back to back for you.  

COUNTDOWN TO VOLVO 

Seriously though, I'm excited. This is the culmination of two years of reading the message boards, following behind the scenes drama. Nail bitting stuff seriously. The big change that the media will focus on is that the VOR is now a one design race. What does "one-design" mean? It means that instead of a 7-10 boats built and designed by different firms by different yards, one design was chosen and one boat yard was allowed to build the boats. This makes it easier to raise funds for a cheaper race campaign and in theory lets the team that gets the first boat practice while the next 6 boats are being built. 

That is a major change to the premise of the race. At the surface it says that the sailors are going to be the ones tested and less so on the boats since all the teams are using the same boat.   BUT I AM NOT SO EASILY FOOLED! 

My theory: the yard that is building the boats, Farr Design, has a great history and a solid track record. I personally love some of their ocean cruising designs. But they are building 7 boats! The last boat to come out is definitely without a doubt going to be better than the first. There is just no way to avoid it. The processes are adjusted and kinks fine tuned in the building system to streamline production and create a better product. Its the nature of the beast! 

Interestingly enough though....and arguably (everywhere just look to the forum and builders blogs) The first team will have had their boat for something like 18 months (don't quote me) by the time the race starts. Which means they'll be able to practice to their hearts content and work out all the human factors well before the last boat is finished...in theory. 

Here's the catch: The first boat finished went to the ALL WOMEN team SCA the last boat finished is going to the team who's skipper came in 2nd in the last edition of the race. How's that for engineered balance.  Knut Frostad is definitely scheming in his Volvo Home office. 

Someone else that is probably scheming but in a far more sinister fashion is Juan Kouyoumdjian and his team. They are the massive sore losers in the one-design plan. Juan K has designed boats for the couple of editions of the VOR and has put more than one boat in each race. Believe me when I say, he lost a LOT of money in this deal. Here's the thing though, his designs, they have a tendency to break. But maybe thats not his fault. Maybe it's the boat yards fault. Maybe the crew pushed the boats, dare I say it, TOO HARD?

Here's the juice, this is going to be a sick race. New tech is going to allow us to have live interviews with the crew mid race, there is going to be high definition video and graphics. Think of all the graphics that go into explaining where the 1st down line is in football or the arc of the kick in soccer, or the wind line in golf. All of that is going to be added to Volvo this edition... and it's going to be nutz!

oooo I got goosebumps... there's rumblings that we might fly out to one or two of the stops on the race.

photo credits: volvo ocean race 2014-15

Family matters | Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15

Being a Husband is hard sometimes...being a Dad is even harder. I get the feeling sometimes that our society has made it seem as if there are no good dad's out there anymore. Like we are all deadbeats that don't take care of our kids and let them grow up to be criminals. But I think the reality is that there are a lot of dads out there busting their asses to be the heroes their kids can look up to. But the mainstream media portrays us differently.  Here's a good dad that inspires me to be better.