Vendée Globe - more than a toe in the water
During the first half of the Vendée Globe, I’m sure I wasn’t the only person to think that Steve White was crazy. Capable, but doomed to disappointment and with the prospect of having to pay off huge debts when it all ended.
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!
