Ramping up for the Volvo Ocean Race

We speak to John Kostecki about his Ericsson campaign and racing on the leading TP52 Caixa Galicia

As Juan K's team in Valencia and the build team in Stockholm work furiously on the two new Ericsson boats for the next Volvo Ocean Race, skipper John Kostecki has reassumed his duties as tactician for Caixa Galicia on the Breitling MedCup circuit for the TP52s. At present Vicente Tirado's Spanish TP, driven by a fellow round the world sailor Roberto 'Chuny' Bermudez Castro is leading the circuit overall and at the end of yesterday was lying fourth overall at Copa del Rey Camper Audi.

This is the American Volvo Ocean Race winner's third season with Caixa (pronounced 'Kai-sha' we are corrected), although this will be his first season with them full time. He sailed a couple of races with them in 2005 after departing BMW Oracle Racing and last year sailed another two regattas with them when Michael Illbruck was unable to sail Pinta. Pinta has since been sold to Irish multiple boat owner Colm Barrington and is shortly to be competing at Skandia Cowes Week as Flash Glove.

"Michael isn’t sailing too much this year," says Kostecki of his old owner, for whom he won the Volvo Ocean Race. "I know he’s doing the Maxi Worlds on his 72ft cruising boat. I think next year he wants to either do a TP52 or a GP42."

This year, the Caixa Galicia Kostecki is sailing is a new boat, a Botin & Carkeek design and sistership to Vasco Vascotto's race leader Mutua Madrilena. "It seems to be pretty good so long as we sail it right! The old boat was a couple of years old, so for sure we needed to get a new boat for this year and it is a big improvement over the old boat."

Kostecki reckons that compared to the old Caixa Galicia (now Russian Serguei Shevtsov's Valars) the new boat may be actually a little slow in light airs, both upwind and downwind, but otherwise is better all round. "It probably has a little more waterline beam but then it has a lot more deck beam and it is a fuller boat for sure," he says.

Kostecki agrees when we put it to him that the performance of TP52s is evening out to the extent that crews almost have to approach it like a one design class. "I would more or less say it is like one design. The Judel Vrolijk boats seem to be going pretty well. In this regatta there is a lot more chop and it seems that the Judel-Vrolijk boats goes better in the chop. Besides that they are pretty even between J-V and B&C."

Apart from the fundamental design of the boats it of course also comes down to sails. Caixa Galicia's sails are designed by North Sails Spain's Juan Meseguer, who was part of BMW Oracle Racing's sail team. "There’s big differences between the sails and that seems to be where you can get an edge or not," says Kostecki. "We are working really hard on our sail program and Juan has done a really nice job for us this year. He’s had the luxury of designing some TP52 sails in the off season for boats in the States, so that has given him another few steps from last year." Meseguer also sails on board as a trimmer.

And then it comes down to the sailing. This is the first season that Caixa Galicia has had a coach in the form of 1987 Star World Champion, Ed Adams. "This is his last regatta with us. He did Alicante, Valencia and Breitling. He’s a very active sailor and technical guy. He did the last year with George Andreadis as navigator and the year before with Lexus. So he has got quite a bit of experience in this class and he’s got a really good eye and he is a very well rounded coach. We wouldn’t be where we’re at today without him."

In addition to the Breitling MedCup circuit Caixa Galicia also sailed in the Trofeo de la Reina regatta in Valencia, immediately after the America's Cup and competing in this is one reason they won the last TP52 regatta in Porto Portals recekons Kostecki. "That was a great tune-up for us. We really struggled with that early on and our coach Ed did a really nice job of raising our game each day and by the last day we won the day of racing and ended up winning the regatta coming from behind in the last race and we seemed to carry that momentum through into the Breitling Regatta."

Also while other boats have suddenly taken on great troupes of sailors newly freed from their Cup team shackles, so Caixa Galicia has had a regular crew from the outset this year. "We had a few hiccups before Alicante because we had two guys from Luna Rossa in our team and they were a little late for showing up. Besides that everyone has made every regatta, so it has been good," agrees Kostecki.

They will be together for the rest of the Breitling MedCup but won't be going to Porto Cervo to compete in the Global Championship (sponsored by that other watch manufacturer...) as that is an amateur driver regatta.

On to Volvo Ocean Race and the Ericsson Racing Team are into a furious design and build phase. "We've started building one boat and we start shortly with the second boat - we’re working on the structure and designing of the second at the moment," says Kostecki. As was the case with the ABN AMRO boats they won't get the opportunity to sail boat one before boat two starts construction. Obviously the two boats will be different, as were the ABN AMRO boats last time.

So how different will the new Ericsson boats be compared to the first generation? "Yes, it will be a fair amount different," confirms Kostecki. "ABN definitely had some weaknesses, particularly in light air. Remember in that first in-port race. You don’t want to be like that. For sure it is a little more light air orientated but hopefully keeping the speed."

The design of the second generation VO70s will obviously be dictated by the new route of the race taking in India and the Far East with far less time spent in the Southern Ocean. "There’s a lot more upwind and not as much big breeze downwind because there’s a lot less Southern Ocean," says Kostecki. So thinner boats? "I don’t know. Probably not thinner than the Farr boats last time."

As to which of the two new Ericsson boats Kostecki's team will sail, he's not making the call yet. Almost certainly it will be the second which will have benefitted from even more number crunching time by Juan Kouyoumdjian's team in Valencia. "We don’t know yet. Whichever one we are most comfortable with."

Crew-wise Kostecki says they have eight or nine picked including the now mandatory two nippers (under 30 year olds) in the form for ex- ABN AMRO One crewman Dave Endean and Ryan Godfrey. "He hasn’t done the race before," says Kostecki of the latter. "He has been sailing on Alfa Romeo a fair amount. He is bowman, a real tough guy, a sail maker. We’re happy to have him on the team."

In terms of timing Kostecki says the sailing team will get going on the former ABN AMRO One they have purchased in September. New boat number one will be launched in November sometime and they will begin two boating in December with the black boat. Kostecki reckons this will take place somewhere in the Canary Islands. "We are scoping that area out. There are trade winds throughout the winter time and its not as frontal and we’ll be able to sail throughout the winter, whereas in Europe it’ll be a lot tougher." Boat two is expected for launch in the spring next year.

At present few would bet against Kostecki is on track to imitating his success Kostecki managed with illbruck two races ago. They are way ahead of the other teams when it comes to building their first boat and at this stage hold a greater advantage than ABN AMRO did in the last race. Remember movistar was actually launched before the first ABN AMRO boat on that occasion...