At first sight, this sounds as if America’s Cup attitudes have spilled over into round the world racing, but I believe the situation is totally different. America’s Cup litigation is all about a struggle between very rich and powerful men – PRB’s move may be about financial survival in the current economic crisis. PRB is a small business, and its recent sponsorship experience has been financially painful. It is behaving like a US company one step away from filing for Chapter Eleven protection from its creditors.

The problem is that the case is addressing a taboo subject. To quote Yachting World’s Elaine Bunting in her recent blog post:

This dispute is over who should bear the financial consequences of saving a life at sea, something that until now no-one has dared publicly place a price on.

The unspoken worry is that potential rescuers will become litigation-conscious in the same way as landlubbers, and ‘cross the street’ to avoid getting involved. A far cry from the attitude displayed by Captain Ferro, master of the 113,000 ton tanker Overseas Yellowstone, in the recent rescue of the 38-footer Fleur during a storm off the west of Ireland. As reported in the July 2009 issue of Yachting World

… he had never been involved in such an operation before, and was proud to have helped

This despite the fact that his own ship was in ballast, with seas rolling over her and putting his own crew at risk.

On the face of it, PRB doesn’t stand much chance. It made the commercial decision not to insure for anything other than total loss of the boat (as did many Vendée Globe competitors). Full insurance is available, but it’s expensive – for a very good reason.

My feeling is that, even if PRB were to win even partial recompense, the negative publicity would outweigh any temporary financial advantage. I can’t believe that they don’t know this. This could become a very sad affair.

While he was on the way to Les Sables, his wife Kim succeeded in finalising arrangements for the charity Toe in the Water to provide enough funding for him to take part in the Vendée Globe. If I were looking for sponsorship, I have to admit that a charity is not one of the places I’d have thought of looking. Why would a charity want to sponsor an unproven competitor in a three-month-long yacht race where history showed that at least one in three would drop out before getting half way, and several were unlikely to last more than a few days?

[Thanks again to Peta Stuart-Hunt of PR Works for reminding me of the facts, which had faded out of my geriatric memory. It was a consortium of backers that came up with the sponsorship at the last minute, and stipulated the condition that Steve change his boat's name to Toe in the Water. That seems a very philanthropic move - in effect, they were donating publicity to a charity, and I'd be very surprised if the tax authorities gave them credit for that in the way they would if they'd donated the money directly to Toe in the Water]

Anyway, Toe in the Water is about sailing. Here’s their mission statement:

The tri-service initiative TOE IN THE WATER (TITW) aims to inspire the men and women who have sustained often traumatic injuries, including the loss of limbs, to move beyond their disability and to become re-inspired by life. Competitive sailing is a physically and mentally challenging adventurous sport and provides a unique opportunity for injured men and women to sail and race on equal terms with their able-bodied contemporaries.

TOE IN THE WATER was only launched in August 2008 but already it has built an extraordinary following in the sailing circuit. Since the idea first formed in the head of Holly King, a military physiotherapist based in the physiotherapy department at Headley Court between Mar 06 and Oct 08, interest and support for the project has gone from strength to strength.

Vendée Globe finalist Brian Thompson invited two of the injured servicemen to join as race crew on Bahrain Team Pindar for the Artemis Challenge. Artemis have also offered to host a sailing day on their open 60 in Spring 2009, and offers to coach or race with TOE IN THE WATER continue to flood in from medal-winning Olympians to Match Racing European and world champions.

Now it’s our turn. Let’s do what we can to help both Steve and Toe in the Water to continue in their respective missions.

]]> http://www.newfreebooters.com/toe-in-the-water-now-its-our-turn/feed 2 http://www.newfreebooters.com/vendee-globe-marco-going-for-the-summit-in-bare-feet http://www.newfreebooters.com/vendee-globe-marco-going-for-the-summit-in-bare-feet#comments Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:10:15 +0000 admin http://www.newfreebooters.com/?p=195 Continue reading →]]> After Armel ‘The Jackal’ le Cleac’h finished in a storming second place, he owned up to having had  a rather more eventful ride than he had let on, and Mich’ Desj’ had been hiding things, too. However, I reckon Marc Guillemot takes the biscuit.

He’d told the world that his speed was limited because he couldn’t set a full main, but not a whisper about tying his keel on with bits of string. Now it has fallen off and he’s sailing under water ballast alone, but Spain is the nearest land and he’s determined to make for Les Sables d’Olonne unless the weather makes it impossible. As YachtPals so neatly put it in their Breaking News report, Marco is doing the equivalent of making the break for the summit of Everest in bare feet. Bravo!

Meanwhile, this puts Sam Davies back in the race for sharing third place with Vincent Riou, as well as her other goal of beating Ellen MacArthur’s time. It will depend on the weather, but both are possible. That will keep all eyes on the race for the rest of the week…

Meanwhile, Mich’ Desj’ and the Vendée Globe organisers will be glad he’s not going to reach Biscay for another week. Take a look at this:

And now the Shipping Forecast issued by the Met Office, on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, at 1725 on Friday 23 January 2009.

There are warnings of gales in Viking South Utsire Fisher Humber Thames Dover Wight Portland Biscay trafalgar Fitzroy Sole Shannon Rockall Malin Hebrides Bailey Fair Isle Faeroes and Southeast Iceland.

The general synopsis at midday:
Low Bailey 945 slow moving, filling 958 by midday tomorrow. Low Thames 962 expected skagerrak 975 by same time. Low 300 miles west of Fitzroy 973 expected southern france 981 by that time. New low expected 270 miles southwest of Rockall 967 by midday tomorrow.

The area forecasts for the next 24 hours:

Viking North Utsire South Utsire northeast Forties southeasterly 5 to 7, occasionally gale 8 in Viking and South Utsire. Rough or very rough. Rain or showers. Moderate or good.

Southwest Forties Cromarty Forth Tyne Dogger:
Mainly westerly 5 to 7. Moderate or rough. Showers. Mainly good.

Fisher German Bight:
Easterly or cyclonic becoming westerly 5 to 7, occasionally gale 8 in Fisher. Moderate or rough increasing rough or very rough. Rain or snow. Moderate or poor.

Humber Thames Dover Wight Portland Plymouth:
Northwest backing southwest 5 to 7, occasionally gale 8 at first except in Plymouth. Moderate or rough, occasionally very rough. showers, some squally. Mainly good.

Biscay:
Cyclonic becoming westerly severe gale 9 to violent storm 11, occasionally hurricane force 12 in south, decreasing 5 to 7 later. very rough or high, increasing very high in south. Rain or squally showers. Poor or very poor.

Fitzroy:
Cyclonic becoming northwesterly severe gale 9 to violent storm 11, occasionally hurricane force 12 in south, backing southwesterly gale 8 to storm 10. Very rough or high, increasing very high in south. Rain or squally showers. Poor or very poor.

Sole:
Northwesterly 5 to 7 backing southerly 6 to gale 8, perhaps severe gale 9 later. Very rough or high. Rain or squally showers. Good becoming moderate or poor.

Lundy Fastnet Irish Sea:
Westerly backing southerly 5 to 7, perhaps gale 8 in Fastnet later. rough or very rough. Showers. Moderate or good.

Shannon:
Westerly 5 to 7 becoming cyclonic 6 to gale 8, perhaps severe gale 9 later. Rough or very rough, occasionally high. Showers then rain. Good becoming moderate or poor.

Rockall Malin Hebrides Bailey:
West or southwest, backing south in Rockall later, 5 to 7, occasionally gale 8. Very rough or high. Squally showers. moderate or good.

Fair Isle Faeroes Southeast Iceland:
Southeasterly 6 to gale 8, occasionally severe gale 9 at first, becoming cyclonic 5 to 7. Very rough or high. Rain or squally showers. moderate or poor.

Force 12 starts at 118 Km/hour, so the Red Alert issued in the Météo France land forecast, warning of 170 Km/hour gusts on the south Biscay coastal plain tallies with the UK shipping forecast above. Anyone at sea in southern Biscay or southern Fitzroy (the area to the west of Biscay) can expect winds gusting over 90 knots. That’s worse than the 85 knots Dee Caffari, Brian Thompson and others were hiding from as they delayed their approach to Cape Horn.

Biscay is living up to its reputation.

It’s a tribute to the class rules that old hulls don’t seem to end up creaking and twisting and falling to bits after the hammering they get on the racing circuits, but sails, rigs and keel canting mechanisms are prone to wear. It takes both money and skill to keep them in good working order. The same applies to all the electrical and electronic systems. Fully-sponsored boats talk in millions just for a year’s operating costs, and here was Steve talking in a few hundreds of thousands. No contest. Dead in the water. Be lucky to get through the first storm.

And yet here he is, one of the 12 survivors from a fleet of 30 that included more experienced veterans than the race has ever seen before, in a year that has provided some of the severest weather. And he is now clearly familiar with his boat, confident of completing the race at a decent pace.

When he left Les Sables d’Olonne, he was the new kid on the block, and a barefoot urchin at that. Now he has earned his place in an élite club, an English d’Artagnan looking for sponsorship. Even in these lean times, he should find it. Apart from a newer and more fully-equipped boat, he’s also looking for the opportunity to train with the French, so he’ll be working on his Michel Thomas CDs. Come to think of it, why not ask Michel Thomas for a free live course as one of the sponsorship deals?

Good luck, Steve!

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