Not having Martin is a big deal; he was basically their teacher and reliable voice of experience in the pit when they were a bunch of kids, some of them never really having gone offshore before. Now they’re going into what’s arguably the scariest leg of the race — down to the ice limit, across the Southern Ocean, and around Cape Horn — without their mentor.
They’re not the the same kids that started Leg 1. They’ve raced halfway around the world, including 6500 miles through the Southern Ocean from Cape Town to Melbourne back in Leg 3. But this is a little like the third act in a movie when the plucky heroes have to stand up and show what they’re made of.
The poet in me absolutely agrees with Damian Christie’s editorial here, boats named for sponsors in major events seem dull and unromantic compared to some of the more poetic names their predecessors had. At the same time, however, I realize that those poetically-named-boats were typically backed by single wealthy individuals in a time when participation in sailing was even more restricted than it is today, and that in the corporate era many people from comparatively humbler backgrounds have been able to participate in these events by recruiting such sponsors with the caveat that they name their boats after them.
Perhaps typical teams with brand names that are themselves poetic-sounding, such as Artemis and Luna Rossa, and two-part names that are half-brand, half-original, like Kilcullen Voyager-Team Ireland and Sun Hung Kai Scallywag, are the best compromises possible at present.
It’s a gross disappointment that the names of boats in global events like the Volvo Ocean Race and the America’s Cup – even down to a domestic regatta like the Superfoiler series in Australia – are little more than unmemorable, unflattering billboards for their sponsors.
I thought I was relatively familiar with the VOR teams in this edition but if you asked me to rattle them off on my fingers, the only one I could automatically name is Scallywag for the joint Hong Kong/Australian entry – and that’s not even its official name! In fact, I quite like Scallywag as a name for a boat – it’s certainly better than Sun Hung Kai team!
In the Superfoiler series, we have unedifying names like Euroflex, IDTech and Kleenmaid, which are mere sponsor names. Considering Euroflex has a ‘dream trio’ of Australian superstars – Glenn Ashby, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen – flying on the foiler, you’d think a combination like that would be worthy of a more dynamic name!
The same is true of the America’s Cup in recent times (with a few notable exceptions, eg Alinghi, Luna Rossa, Artemis). Most people would know the 2017 Cup winner as Team New Zealand – but the boat’s actual name was Aotearoa (the Māori name for New Zealand).
Interesting side note: The boat that actually won the last edition of the Volvo was the only one with a proper name. Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing was the team that won, and in the video coverage they always called the boat that, but in fact the boat was named Azzam (Arabic for “Determination”), the same as the Volvo 70 Ian raced in the 2011-12 edition of the race.
The Volvo 70 Azzam was destroyed in a fire in 2015, but the Volvo 65 formerly known as Azzam is still racing: She’s now Scallywag. 🙂
Is it “completely”? I remembered it as “absolutely”, but then I have bad memory.
The original video (which was not bleeped) was pulled down, but this version exists still on youtube:
My video description from the obsessive spreadsheet (747 video descriptions and counting):
With Charles at the helm, Dongfeng gybes from port gybe to starboard as dawn is breaking. Slomo of the crew working in the cockpit. We then see them gybing back to port? Sunrise. Then they’re on starboard again. Jack, sitting in the cockpit, talks about the tactical situation and the remainder of the leg. “We’ll find out in two hours at the next sched report. Everyone’s a bit anxious for that.” Pascal, at the nav station, looks at the latest sched. He rubs his face. On deck, Dongfeng is sailing on starboard gybe around midday. Marie, sitting on the cabin: “I think it is not really good. We did a mistake, maybe, gybing too late. It’s not a good moment to talk to Pascal. We have to let him… alone.” Pascal stands in the cockpit, reading from a piece of paper. Marie and Horace stand close to him; Darryl steers. Pascal: “MAPFRE is 89 miles at 244.” Marie: “Eighteen, uh, eighteen, uh…” Darryl: “Eighty-NINE.” Marie: “Eighty-nine!” Pascal: “We are fucked. [beeped in FB video] Darryl: "We are what?” Pascal: “We are fucked. We are completely fucked.” Stu: “Well, well, well. Three holes in the ground. I’ve seen some very strange stuff happen out here on the ocean. It’s never over till it’s over… Nothing we can do about it now, except keep sailing our boat. Who knows what might happen.” [NOTE: This video does not appear in the Raw Content feed. I’m taking this from the version posted on the VolvoOceanRace YouTube channel, and taking the time of it from the time of the two stills posted to the Raw Content feed showing the same events.]
I’ve drawn pokemon before but they weren’t really good, but now I’m gonna try it out again! Here’s Lenore with the spoopy Mismagius! Her pokemon team would be a whole bunch of ghosts.
Haha. I’ve definitely seen it immortalized on the Sailing Anarchy forums in someone’s sig. But you’re right; that needs the meme treatment so Tumblr can enjoy it properly.
Drone footage by on-board reporter Martin Keruzore.
As of the end of Leg 6, Dongfeng Race Team is in second place in the 2017/18 Volvo Ocean Race. Leg 7, from Auckland, New Zealand to Italjaí, Brazil, starts Sunday, March 18.
My latest painting, pretty proud of this one!It’s an officially licensed Wonder Woman artwork. Also available as a print at Bottleneck Gallery ONLY until this Sunday (March 11th at 11:59PM EST!)
James Blake might have already had his most special moment as part of the Volvo Ocean Race.
The onboard reporter (OBR), who sailed into Auckland with Turn the Tide on Plastic, was greeted by loud cheers before he had even set foot on land.
It was an unexpected, but memorable surprise – his mother, Pippa, and sister, Sarah-Jayne, were out on the water to welcome him home.
“I didn’t realise they’d be out on the water, so I just heard these shouts and screams out there in a tug boat,” Blake said with a grin.
“It was great to see actually, and seeing them on the dock was fantastic. We all hadn’t been together in ages, so that made it special…nothing can beat that. That was fantastic.”
Awwww…
While some parts of the leg would be horrible for the sailors, Blake said he was excited to capture the raw emotion the challenging sea brought out of those onboard.
For him, it was that emotion going from bad to good that he was hoping to shoot when he signed on for the job.
So trying to capture that and show really what it’s like onboard and what the sailors actually go through, a bit more of that human side, that’s what really interests me and actually how tough it is for them.
“They don’t enjoy it all the time. I think they actually find it quite miserable, and it’s trying to capture that and then when they do have their highs they are very good.”
I started this blog when I was a nightclub bartender in Hollywood with a “useless” lonely nerdy passion for the world of entomology/ararchnology nearly 9 years ago. The act of creating this blog opened my eyes to a community of fellow naturalists that shared my passion. I was no longer lonely and my passion no longer seemed useless. Our community grew and grew. Because of this realization – I went back to school, despite my original doubt that “bugs” were a legitimate career and that I had what it takes to be a scientist. I finished my BS in ecology/evolution, and I am now close to finishing my MS. Since starting this blog, which originally was only intended as a bug journal of the insects i stumbled upon throughout daily life…an outlet for my interest in bugs… I have been to the Ecuadorean Amazon 3 times to study the organisms I was only dreaming to blog about.
Today, I got word– I have been awarded a 4 year fellowship to continue my research and earn a PhD in Zoology in Leticia Aviles’s lab at the University of British Columbia.
This is a dream come true for me.
I am not exaggerating when I say that I credit the experience I have had making this blog and interacting with so many of you as the foundation of my journey as a scientist. We shared a love of the natural world and I am reminded every day why it is that I love being a biologist through this process. Many of you have helped fund my research through my campaign on experiement.com, and some of you even sent me live spiders. Whether directly or indirectly– this has contributed to my science… and has enriched my life..
Thank you, all.
Spiders and bugs rule!
-Andrea
Oh. A beautiful Phoneutria wandering spider for attention in Jatun Sacha, Ecuador.
