From the Feedback - 11/1/01

Is this race a `legend in the making'? Volvo Ocean Race participants and organizers found that the Baltimore/Annapolis stop generated the most sales, visitors and excitement of any layover. There are huge numbers of sailors in the mid-Atlantic region of the US who have never seen these boats. Spectator boats at the last Whitbread restart vastly outnumbered those at the Vendee start. Just compare how many people live within 50 miles of the Chesapeake (approximately 5 million) and La Sables ..? I can assure you that this stop will generate far more interest than one in Charleston (small market) or Fort Lauderdale (powerboat area) or even Newport. And there are also huge numbers of women sailors here because the weather is benign and distances short. Ellen will bring them out in droves. Note that the shallows of the Chesapeake will prove challenging as will the light summer winds with an eight knot average.

From Chris Duddington,
Is this race a `legend in the making`? Let's hope so. I do think that we here in the UK suffer from negativity when it comes to major sporting events, and sponsorship for projects. How many years has it been since we staged a successful team in the America's Cup, or what used to be the Whitbread? Are companies afraid of sponsorship on a global scale?

From Hamish Goddard,
Team Philips, good or bad for British sailing? In view of the title of the column that I am responding to, do you believe that The Race itself is good or bad for international sailing? Of the Team Philips project, you conclude that 'it is perhaps unfortunate that his (Goss's) trials and tribulations have been expressed through the sport of sailing'. Now that's insulting. But would the Ollier boats or PlayStation have survived a storm like that? If they hadn't, would you be saying the same 'amateur-hour' stuff about them? So I am just wondering whether you are really having a go at Goss or having a go at The Race itself. We'll only know the answer to that when we see how many of these boats, and in what state, cross the line in Marseilles.

Pete Goss was a victim of time. It is still too early to see if he was a victim of design, and difficult to lend weight to the fact that he was a victim of amateurism or that he and a number of people around him have been out of their depth. The bow problem, which was almost beyond any doubt a build problem and not a design one, arguably cost them the project as everything stemmed henceforth from lack of time. The mast problem was no big deal, and as regards the loss of the boat in the final storm, it is not possible to know whether any other boat competing in The Race would have survived it. They had no luck and they had no time, but were good for British sailing.

But you can't appropriately compare Goss's achievements against Ellen MacArthur's. Hers is achievement of unimaginable personal courage, determination and skill, in a pretty established class and size of boat. His was always going to be at the mercy of a whole quantity of unknowns, predominantly influenced by the performances of the boats, more so than who actually sails them. And not just Team Philips, all the other boats too, bar perhaps Legato and Polpharma.

These unknown quantities are surely the features that make The Race itself exciting. No doubt in future years, they will all work out what does and does not work on these big cats and what size these things should be. And it will end up like any other ocean yacht race, albeit a quick one, and will boil down to the quality of the sailors rather than the design of the boats - or professional excellence as you refer to it.

But this time you can only compare "professional excellence" between the Ollier boats and perhaps PlayStation. For Team Philips participation in this event in its inaugural form, surely it's too early to draw your conclusions? You don't know whether British sailing is better than Team Philips, whether the boat might have won or lost by hundreds of miles, or whether it might have survived storms that none of the others could have survived, or whether Grant Dalton and Ed Danby would have sailed Team Philips safer or more quickly over the past ten months than Pete Goss and Andy Hindley. All of that is pure guesswork, of which your only security is that no one can prove you wrong. But thanks for an interesting article.

From António Côrte-Real Neiva,
I think Ellen MacArthur is doing a hell of a job for such a young lady and alone in those dangerous southern seas! It's almost unbelievable! I am astonished with her capacity and determination - climbing up the mast to make repairs etc. under such drastic conditions. I am an old (65 years of age) Portuguese sailor, a relative of Gaspar Côrte-Real who discovered Greenland in the XV Century. Ellen surely has salt water in her blood! I wish to give her my sincere congratulations, hoping that at least she will manage to keep her second position but ultimately to win the Vendee Globe.

From Mike Ahrenberg,
I cannot keep silent on Ellen MacArthur!! When she rounded south of Africa she was sitting in sixth place. I wrote then and told you she will finish in a podium place. Now as she is closing up to the Horn she is up in second place, pretty good sailing I would think. Strangely I´ve begun to have the feeling that the Brits do not quite appreciate her efforts (just a gut feeling...). If I´m wrong, please correct me. Anyhow, I think she has done some remarkable things, especially for her age - she will get all our support from the north.

From Michael Brooman,
Were you at the Bloody Mary event? Yes. My name is Michael Brooman, I am 12 years old and I was helping my Dad who was the race coordinator. It was a brilliant day, the sun was shining and the wind was blowing gently. I was giving out the T-shirts and most enjoyed answering the question, "Are the T-shirts really free?", and asking them what size they would like. Thank you for the sponsorship and the T-shirts and for putting up the results so quickly.