Hola! He recibido por mail este comunicado de prensa. No tengo mucho tiempo, pero estoy segura de que os interesará. No es más que la opinió que tiene la clase de los últimos acontecimientos. No me he detenido mucho a leerlo, así que ya me perdonareis si voy equivocada. Aparece también la opinion de mi "gran amigo" Dominique Wavre
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Aquí os lo dejo!
IMOCA AND ITS PRESIDENT PAY TRIBUTE TO RECENT EVENTS12 January 2009After all the events over the last few weeks, IMOCA would like to pay tribute to everyone that played a part in rescuing Yann Eliès and Jean Le Cam.
Before going into the details, everyone is obviously delighted with the happy outcome of both incidents. They were both caused by such different reasons, but they both risked the sailors' lives. Yann Eliès was saved thanks to the great professionalism of the Australian rescue services, by the precision, composure and competence put in place by the race organisers, the solidarity of the sailors, Marc Guillemot in particular and finally by the courage and lucidity of the sailor himself and his shore team.
VM Matériaux's capsize deserves similar tributes. Everyone involved made the right decisions. Again, thanks to the help of the official search and rescue organisations, this time the Chilean MRCC (Maritime Search and Rescue), to the tanker that was diverted, to the Vendée Globe organisers and of course the actual rescuers, Armel le Cleach and Vincent Riou, who risked everything to recover Jean Le Cam. Even to the detriment of their boats, which was harshly seen in the subsequent dismasting of PRB. It is in circumstances such as these, ones so hard to imagine from the safety of land and IMOCA would like to congratulate all the efforts at sea and salute the extraordinary solidarity of its members.
Following keel problems earlier in the race, Dominique Wavre sent the following message from Western Australia, in his capacity as President of IMOCA and representative of the Class:
« I was so happy to hear that Jean was safe and sound. The courageous rescue undertaken by Vincent was spectacular, dramatic and unusual, having taken place in one of the wildest areas of the planet. Everyone at IMOCA is delighted with the happy outcome and having lived through the despair of losing my keel, I would like Jean and Vincent to know that all the IMOCA skippers share what they have been through at sea. Obviously the dismasting of PRB after the rescue has saddened us deeply and we are sorry about the injustice of it, but in the name of IMOCA, we look forward to seeing him race again in the races to come. After the race, we will all give a lot of thought on how to maintain the strength of the keel bulbs for future races. But the code of honour seen here, and the quality of Vincent and Armel's manœuvres involved show the extreme human quality of the IMOCA skippers: solidarity in adversity.»
Even though it is terrible to loose two boats, it is worth remembering that they both followed an actual accident, one of health onboard Generali and a collision with an unidentified object in the case of VM Matériaux. This 6th edition has all the usual characteristics of a typical Vendée Globe. Not only is it an amazing race, it is also an exceptional adventure.
It goes without saying that IMOCA is not happy about the percentage of abandonments. But it is worth remembering that most of the past editions of the race have seen 40-50% not finishing. The Vendée Globe is a race without outside assistance, which intrinsically means it is a race of elimination - it will obviously be necessary to follow this race with a thorough assessment on how to strengthen the boats in the interest of the owners, sponsors and above-all the sailors. Through their association with the Class, sailors have worked on improving their monohulls, particularly in terms of stability, hulls and safety. Sébastien Josse was interviewed after he was swept over by a gigantic wave « If I'd had a '96 Vendée Globe boat, the wave would have completely capsized me and I wouldn't have self-righted.» Another factor is the progress made in terms of safety, weather reading, and adapting to the iceberg zones with an increased number of icegates.
No hace falat decir que IMOCA no está contenta con el porcentaje de abandonos. Pero es necesario recordar que la mayoría de las pasadas ediciones han visto un 40-50% de abandonos. La VG es una carrera sin asistencia externa, lo que significa que es una carrera de eliminación-obviamente será necesario seguir la carrera con una evaluación exhaustiva sobre como fortalecer los barcos porel interés de propietarios, sponsors y sobre todo, los navegantes. A través de su asocioación con la Class, los navegants han trabajado en la mejora de sus monocascos, particularente en términos de estabilidad, casco y seguridad. Sebastien J fue entrevistado despues de ser barrido por una ola gigante "si hubiese llevado un barco de la VG '96, la ola me hubiese volcado completamente y no se habría adrizado. Otro factor es el progreso hecho en términos de seguridad, meteo y adaptación a las zonas de iceberg con un mayor número de puertas de hielo.
Fully aware of the difficulties involved in around the world races, especially single-handed ones, IMOCA has been working since the beginning of 2008 on an evolution of the rules alongside the majority of the skippers, with the aim of simplifying and limiting the power of the boats. The solutions are not obvious and the knowledge drawn from this edition of the Vendée Globe will contribute largely to any future decisions.
Completamente consciente de las dificultades involucradas el las regatas vuelta la mundo, especialmente en solitario, IMOCA ha estado trabajando desde el comienzo de 2008 en una evolución de las reglas de acuerdo con la mayoría de los patrones, con el objetivo de simplificar y limitar la potenia de los barcos. Las soluciones no son obvias y el conocimiento extraído de esta edición de la VG contribuirá enormemente a las decisiones futuras.
When asked about it by the race organisers before the race start, IMOCA stated: «We have to be careful: the temptation to change is great during a moment of euphoria, but we have to remember what helped the Class grow in the first place. The Vendée Globe dictates the rhythm of the IMOCA Championship, without doubt it creates great champions and great sailors, but with it, it teaches us so much, and we will learn from everything it teaches us; it's the big sailing adventures that remain the real judicators.»
It is too early now to make a full assessment. We will have to wait for all the sailors to return to hear about all their exploits and performances - and we will then examine the cause of all the differing kinds of damage and abandonments as well as looking at the role the weather has played in the race - the weather in this edition has been much harder than the last two and is similar to the 1996/97 race. For the time being we hope that the Southern Ocean does not claim any more casualties and that the race continues to be just as fascinating and intense right up until the very end.
Written by Eric Coquerel, Effets Mer and translated by Sophy Williams