Golden Globe race - to qualify!

[Jackdaw]

My friend Nabil is one of the skippers in the 2018 Golden Globe Race. Like most of the boats, this spring has been a rush to get the boats ready and do all the qualifications. Most skippers left the 1000-mile documented solo sail (if they had not done one yet) to the end. Nabil is 3 days out on his, and found a dead spot in the ocean. 150 miles so far. Drifting at 0.7knts. He has to do the 1000nm, and then get to France for the mandatory skippers meeting on the 12th. Gonna be close!

 

[agprice22]

We will pray for some wind! I hope he makes it back in time.

 

[Jackdaw]

It’s wild. He has no weather service access, so he’s blind to the wind all around him, or when it might hit him.

 

[danstanford]

I can only imagine the frustration at being so powerless amidst the need to succeed. Kind of like being a tax advocate among today's politicians!

 

[Scott T-Bird]

I can only imagine the frustration at being so powerless amidst the need to succeed. Kind of like being a tax advocate among today's politicians!

Weird analogy ... I'm afraid I missed it! Dare we get an explanation?

 

[capta]

Twice in my life I have whistled for the wind. Twice I have gotten a full gale in response. In his case it might be time to take the chance!

 

[Brian D]

He has not weather service because of choice? or because of rules?

 

[Jackdaw]

He has not weather service because of choice? or because of rules?

Rules!

The GGR2018 is being run to mirror the technology and conditions of the original race. Older boats, and no GPS, no weather service, and no comms.

The have a locked-up GPS on board, but if they use it they are DSQ
The have a sat phone on board, but if they use it for any reason besides their weekly check-in they DSQ.

 

[danstanford]

Weird analogy ... I'm afraid I missed it! Dare we get an explanation?

Scott, I admit it wasn't a well thought out analogy but it does represent how I am feeling. We know that we are spending way more than we are receiving in taxes and borrowing to make up the difference. With kids and grandkids going to have to pay the interest cost AND the accumulated debt, I believe action needs to be taken. So....here I sit becalmed and seemingly without influence as all around me the winds of reckless spending to buy votes carries on.
Does that work? Today is provincial election day in Ontario and all three major parties have tripped all over themselves telling us how much more we will get if we vote for them with no explanation of how we can pay for it beyond wild claims about economic growth. Just frustrated I guess.

 

[Head Sail]

Scott, I admit it wasn't a well thought out analogy but it does represent how I am feeling. We know that we are spending way more than we are receiving in taxes and borrowing to make up the difference. With kids and grandkids going to have to pay the interest cost AND the accumulated debt, I believe action needs to be taken. So....here I sit becalmed and seemingly without influence as all around me the winds of reckless spending to buy votes carries on.
Does that work? Today is provincial election day in Ontario and all three major parties have tripped all over themselves telling us how much more we will get if we vote for them with no explanation of how we can pay for it beyond wild claims about economic growth. Just frustrated I guess.

Don't worry, the Canadian gov't like the US has one ability you and I don't have...they can print money!

 

[Scott T-Bird]

So....here I sit becalmed and seemingly without influence as all around me the winds of reckless spending to buy votes carries on.
Does that work?

Perfectly! Now I get it … I had to look up "tax advocate" and it seems that the term has some use to describe services that work to advocate for somebody who is at odds with the IRS. That's where I got a little lost. But, now I like your analogy!

 

[Brian D]

Wow, strict rules.

 

[Jackdaw]

Wow, strict rules.

Was Sir Robin Knox-Johnson's idea. We wanted a race sailing the way he and Moitessier sailed it!

 

[Gunni]

I wouldn't go out of sight of land without at least 3 GPS devices. Well maybe I would leave 1 at the dock and feel like a wildman sailing with only 2 GPS devices!

When we were taking the Safety at Sea seminar a number of years ago I sat in a break-out with an old WWII Submariner and the moderator asked the retired CMDR how they navigated. He told us that he was the officer in charge of taking sights and was trained on the sextant. The old Corinthian said he hasn't picked up a sextant since he left the service, and had 3 GPS devices aboard his boat. Much easier he said. We had a good laugh.

 

[JRT]

His current tracker says he has 2.9 knots! That Istvan Koper did a quick crossing from the US!

 

[thinwater]

When I started cruising I had a VHF. GPS had not been invented and the rest I couldn't afford.

I don't think the lack of instruments would bother me much, but the lack of human interaction could mess you up for life. Read "A Voyage for Madmen;" nearly 1/3 of the race entrants the first time went nuts. I'm just not feeling it.

 

[thinwater]

When I started cruising I had a VHF. GPS had not been invented and the rest I couldn't afford.

I don't think the lack of instruments would bother me much, but the lack of human interaction could mess you up for life. Read "A Voyage for Madmen;" nearly 1/3 of the race entrants the first time went nuts. within a few weeks I'd probably sell my sole for a sat phone (not for information--for conversation) and an MP3 player. I'm just not feeling it. I'd feel like I should be getting paid rather than mortgaging my life to fund it.

 

[capta]

When I started cruising I had a VHF. GPS had not been invented and the rest I couldn't afford.
I don't think the lack of instruments would bother me much, but the lack of human interaction could mess you up for life. Read "A Voyage for Madmen;" nearly 1/3 of the race entrants the first time went nuts. I'm just not feeling it.

You must be a young 'un. lol
When I started playing this game, we had AM marine radios, VHF had not been invented, or wasn't available to yachts then. When the CG switched us all over to VHF it was to limit the range of the signals to 'line of sight'. With the AM set, when the propagation was right, one could call a Mayday in Frisco and ten CG stations in SoCal would answer, screwing up your comms with the local coasties.
Of course, as always happens, the coasties built higher antennas and more powerful radios, and the same thing can happen these days. Go figure?
I knew Moitessier pretty well. Our families spent 8 months or so cruising and hanging out together, from Tahiti to the Bay of Islands, NZ. I thought him extremely sane, possibly the sanest person I've ever met. Do remember though; he WAS a Frenchman. He certainly had the ability be alone if it pleased him, though not a need it seemed. For most of our time together I hadn't a clue that he was a world renowned sailor, until a friend in NZ gave me his book. His attitude to his fame? Hands raised palms upward with a shrug, "Big deal".

 

[heritage]

Was Sir Robin Knox-Johnson's idea. We wanted a race sailing the way he and Moitessier sailed it!

Wasn't Moitessier the famous sailor and author that didn't finish the race, instead kept on sailing?

 

[shemandr]

You must be a young 'un. lol
When I started playing this game, we had AM marine radios, VHF had not been invented, or wasn't available to yachts then. When the CG switched us all over to VHF it was to limit the range of the signals to 'line of sight'. With the AM set, when the propagation was right, one could call a Mayday in Frisco and ten CG stations in SoCal would answer, screwing up your comms with the local coasties.
Of course, as always happens, the coasties built higher antennas and more powerful radios, and the same thing can happen these days. Go figure?
I knew Moitessier pretty well. Our families spent 8 months or so cruising and hanging out together, from Tahiti to the Bay of Islands, NZ. I thought him extremely sane, possibly the sanest person I've ever met. Do remember though; he WAS a Frenchman. He certainly had the ability be alone if it pleased him, though not a need it seemed. For most of our time together I hadn't a clue that he was a world renowned sailor, until a friend in NZ gave me his book. His attitude to his fame? Hands raised palms upward with a shrug, "Big deal".[/QUOTE
You continue to amaze. Moitessier is portrayed in the press as an eccentric, who sailed on after a circumnavigation and dropping out of a race he was winning. According to the press he then settled in Tahiti with a women and lived his life in near poverty. I'm not judgmental about this. I get that to the normal world this would constitute a level of insanity. And that to the sailing / adventurous world this would be an act of independence and accomplishment. I'm so envious that you actually knew the man. I BTW I think he was completely sane.