Shosholoza update

We speak to Sailing Manager Paul Standbridge

Despite his deep involvement in the go home, get a shower and into a comfy bed each night world of the America's Cup, Paul Standbridge still looks every bit the round the world seadog with his ragged facial hair and Roaring Forties-beaten complexion.

The Sailing Manager for Team Shosholoza is currently ensconced down in his own personal homeport of Cape Town at the base for the South African America's Cup challenger, where the team are at present PR sailing while also playing host to Bouwe Bekking's movistar team in the Volvo Ocean Race, an event with which the Standbridge name is synonymous.

Having competed in the fully crewed round the world race on five occasions, ultimately taking over from Chris Dickson as skipper of Dennis Conner's Toshiba in 1993-4, Standbridge today is in the family way and is happy with his spectator's role in the present Volvo Ocean Race.

"Am I standing teary eyed in the background? I am at the front of the dock welcoming them in because I am a big supporter of the race," says Standbridge. "It is one of the few sporting events I support. I think it is a great sporting event. Yes, I’d like to be out there for a few days, I’d like to have the world record, I’d like a lot of things. In reality I am very happy they are out there and I’m not. I’m worried about the few boats and the regatta not continuing in the future. And it is such a shame for other people not to have the opportunity I had to sail around the world and have the time of your life. If it is one handed and two handed races you just don’t get the volume of people on the water. It is the volume of people on the water which I think is a shame."

Standbridge's first two circumnavigations in the round the world race were on the South African boats Xargo III in 1981 and then on board the maxi Atlantic Privateer four years later. At this time the lead mines being sailed were not limited in the crew they carried and the opportunities for the willing were greater given that at this embryonic period of the sport there were precious few 'pro' ocean racing yachtsmen.

Back to AC business and while the Shosholoza sailing team are carrying out promotional sailing for their sponsors and VIPs in Cape Town on board RSA 48, so Jason Ker's design team is now based in Valencia, where RSA 83 has remained over the winter. RSA 83 was launched at the beginning of this year and is the Cup's first boat newly built to Version 5 of the America's Cup Rule. As a result the South Africans are out of sync with their competitors - over this winter while most of their rivals will be into their build phases, so the South Africans are modifying their boat. Next season this may, initially at least, be to Team Shosholoza's advantage. "They’ll be trying to slot them as we did last year, which will cost them a little bit, because new boats always cost you to start with in terms of time and resource until you get them up to speed," says Standbridge.

Work on RSA 83 is being carried out within their base in Valencia's Darsena harbour (their base was one of the first to be finished) where a few of their shore team and their boat builders led by Tony Evans reside. Standbridge says they considered bringing RSA 83 back to South Africa, but that would have represented six weeks out of their schedule.

The sailing team are set to return to Valencia during February to resume training and will then be based permanently in Spain through until the Cup proper in 2007. Standbridge says they will not be bringing their original boat RSA48 to Europe, as there is no need. "This one is irrelevant and we don’t have the money to spam it up to be a trial horse. So we’ll trial against other boats."



Standbridge with Team Shosholoza boss Captain Salvatore Sarno

In the shorter term a more important date in their diary is April when the decision will be made over whether or not they will build their second version 5 boat. "We’re still planning on doing a second boat," says Standbridge. "We don’t have the money at the moment, but we’re still going on with the design and infrastructure for boat two and we’ll either build it or not build it come April."

If the second boat goes ahead then once again it will be built in South Africa by Tony Evans' team where they will hire a shed and set up their own facility as they did with the first boat.

During this season Team Shosholoza's performance suffered when their Version 5 mast proved not to be man enough for the job and they had to resort to using one of Alinghi's Version 4 spars. Standbridge says that they now have a new mast.

In terms of people, John Sweeney, with Oracle during the last Cup and who was trying to launch his own Sausilito Challenge has been working with the team as Sports Director. Having worked with Andy Green and Chris Law so the team ended up this season with American Dee Smith in the tactician role. Standbridge says that they plan to continue with the American on a part time basis over the next months. "He did a great job last time and we’d like him to help us again as tactician." He adds that they will be bringing on a few more rockstars in the forthcoming months. "As we ramp up we intend to bring more people in - not 10s but two or three. We might get a trimmer to help us, one more afterguard, something like that. We don’t have to, it is just strengthening all the time."

This season former South African Finn sailor Ian Ainslie (no relation) has steered for the match races but Standbridge is adamant that while Ainslie is being groomed for the position, he is not their designated helmsman, just one of the team's helms alongside Geoff Meek. "I think all teams are the same. No one has named who is going to steer their boat yet, so we’re no different from anyone else. Ian is doing a good job and we’d like to keep pushing that way and he’s doing great."