On October 22 at 1200 UTC, the longest endurance race in the world begins, the Volvo Ocean Race. Libby Greenhalgh, who was navigator for Team SCA in the 2014-15 edition, shares insight as the seven teams prepare for this eight month challenge.
Someone on the SA forums the other day commented that she probably had an âinâ making the team because of who her dad is. To which someone else replied that she didnât need an âinâ and also wtf is wrong with you? Which pretty much sums up the SA forums.
Sheâs a world champion and Olympic gold medalist. And yeah, sheâs also a *second-generation* gold medalist, but you have to be a particular kind of dense to think thatâs how she got her ride.
I havenât been obsessing publicly over it, but the Volvo boats just had another non-scoring pre-race race (the âPrologueâ, not to be confused with the previously completed âLeg 0â). This race was from Lisbon, Portugal to Alicante, Spain.* Basically itâs a preview of the upcoming Leg 1, except sailed in reverse.
There were light winds nearly the whole way, with just a bit of a breeze as they entered the Mediterranean through the Straits of Gibraltar. MAPFRE got an early lead and never gave it up, and at one point they and Brunel extended by going inside and picking up a land breeze while the other five boats stayed parked offshore. After that it was a match race between those two boats.
I love this video of them crossing the finish line. Things I love about it:
How low-key they all are. This was a really slow, intense, difficult race, and theyâre all exhausted. But itâs the good kind of exhausted. đ
My unproblematic fave Sophie.
Speaking of low-key: Check out how on-board reporter Jen Edney (the only woman among the OBRs) included a shot of Xabi talking about the race that just happens to include TĂĄmara Echegoyen in the background hiking up her foulies after (one assumes) peeing off the stern. Itâs just a little thing. But the more I think about it the more cool I think it is. You want an example of real equality? This is what it looks like.
Ten days until the race proper starts. CloserâŚ
ÂĄVamos MAPFRE!
* Technically they ended the race early, at Cabo de Gata, due to the light winds. Now theyâre all motoring to Alicante.
I just noticed Xabi and Pablo have their first names on their shirts while the others have their last names.
I wondered if that was due to length of the names (i.e., not having room to stencil the whole last name). If you order all of them by length you get:
Cuervas-Mons (12)
Greenhalgh (10)
Echegoyen (9)
FernĂĄndez (9)
McDonald (8)
Altadill (8)
Sinclair (8)
Arrarte (7)
Ciszek (6)
Tuke (4)
Vila (4)
So that doesnât support my name-length theory very well. Maybe itâs just a personal preference thing, and speaks more to a low-key approach to leadership that Xabi and Pablo have? Rob is listed as the other watch captain, and his should have his first name under either theory, but I think his say âGreenhalgh.â So who knows?
Iâm guessing it falls into the ânot important enough to have a policyâ category. And like having Sophie and TĂĄmara working the grinders and moving the stack (and casually peeing off the stern on-camera) alongside the rest of the crew, I just really like the casual vibe that comes across about what itâs like aboard their boat.
Itâs easy to look relaxed when youâre winning, and it will be interesting to see if the mood on the boat changes when they face more adversity (like MAPFRE did on Leg 1 in the 2014/15 race). Whatever system they have for determining what is and isnât important enough to worry about, though, it seems to be working so far. đ
A five-time Volvo Ocean Race veteran and passionate ocean conservationist, there isnât much Irish sailor Damian Foxall hasnât done when it comes to sailing.
Having won the trophy in 2011-12 with Groupama, he jumped onboard Dongfeng for the latter stages of 2014-15 â and races with Vestas 11th Hour Racing in 2017-18.
His mission? To help the team â led by Charlie Enright and Mark Towill â to make a big impact both on and off the water. The campaign aims to lead sustainability through the Volvo Ocean Race, and part of that saw 11th Hour Racing facilitate a race-wide Sustainability Training day in Lisbon, which was attended by over 100 sailors, shore crew, stakeholders and industry experts.
Hi Damian! The Sustainability Training was a great event and a unique thing to see an entire sports organisation come together in this way with one goal. You must be really encouraged by the way that this has been embraced across the boardâŚ
Absolutely, and this is just the start. One of the girls from our team said it really well â weâre here to do our very best to win the Volvo Ocean Race, and also here to be the most sustainable team in the event. As well as doing all of that, we want to do something that is much bigger than this event, or the sport, and genuinely leave a legacy, and an event like todayâs is a great start. We have a worldwide platform and weâre privileged to interact with. What a super opportunity.
I saw @shipwreckedcomedyâ âs short film âThe Case of the Gilded Lilyâ at Buffer Festival yesterday and it was everything I wanted and moreÂ
I even got to say hi to Shipwrecked which was amazing, although unfortunately I wasnât able to give them the physical version of this (bc it didnât exist yet oops)
but yes it was so good I canât wait until it gets released ahhhh *flails*Â
Hey guys, a TON of my friends are involved with a proposed show that has 4 days left to reach itâs goal, and Iâm pretty intrigued by the concept. They describe it better than I could, so from the kickstarter description:
The Wayward Guide for the Untrained Eyeis a 10 episode webseries inspired by the podcasts Serial and S-Town, crossed with the game One Night Ultimate Werewolf, peppered with the surreal comedy of Pushing Daisies and Twin Peaks. Wayward Guide will feature the absurd and larger-than-life comedy that youâve come to love from the Tin Can Brothers, but wonât be shy when tugging at your heartstrings.
Additionally, as a companion piece to the show, we will be bringing on a specialized sound design team to help us produce the complete 10 episode in-world podcast that Artemis & Paul are making in Wayward Guide. This supplemental material will be released in conjunction with the series and exist parallel to the story, offering new insight into the mystery of Connor Creek and its quirky residents.
You can watch the teaser scene/concept video and support it here. Iâve been asking people to consider donating the price of a movie ticket if it sounds like something they would want to watch when itâs out⌠It should be really cool to have the story told from two different angles, and this is a solid group of people, and includes some big names like Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee), Carlos Valdes (from the Flash), and Darren Criss (Broadway, Glee, etc.)
Most of the cast from Shipwrecked Comedy’s Poe Party (A bunch of authors at a dinner party, itâs hilarious and cool and up for a ton of IAWTV awards right now) are in it, as well as a ton of people from The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (which is, no lie, why I live in LA), so I feel very invested in seeing them hit their goal. Also, these are all just fun things to watch if youâre looking to kill some time on youtube!
Iâm on the record as being a non-fan of the â2-minute music videoâ approach to Volvo Ocean Race media. But this is an exception. I really like this one.
It turns out what I dislike is bad 2-minute music videos. (Okay and also, not being able to figure out whatâs going on because the action has been cut up too much to watch what is, you know, an actual sport.) But this one isnât like that.
The race village in Alicante, Spain opens on October 11. The first in-port race will be on October 14. And the first ocean leg (a relatively quick dash out the Mediterranean to Lisbon, Portugal) starts on October 22.
Shipwrecked Comedy is proud to present âA Change of Sceneâ from The Case of the Gilded Lily written by Dylan Glatthorn and performed by Mary Kate Wiles.
We are so excited to share this little bit of our new project, The Case of the Gilded Lily, with you. The full short premieres at Buffer Festival in less than two weeks, and we canât wait! Weâre also thrilled to announce that weâve added some Gilded Lily merch to our store, in case you want to show up to the premiere in style. And you can buy âA Change of Sceneâ on iTunes and Bandcamp! Turn your very own living room into Bixbyâs Lounge.
You might have noticed that the Volvo Ocean Race teams have been chalking up plenty of miles recently. Well, with the Assembly Period starting on Monday 18 September, itâs their last chance to get to grips with the boat for a couple of weeks.
So what is an Assembly Period, and why do we need it? Itâs a mandatory part of the pre-race preparation, when all teams must report to the Boatyard facility in Lisbon, Portugal, so their boats can be lifted out of the water and given a final once over before the start of another ocean marathon.
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[Blatant but amusing product placement that you can see for yourself at the link]
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With nearly 9,000 nautical miles until the next big service in Cape Town, the Boatyard will do a lot more than just kick the tyres. The masts will all come out to be scanned by non-destructive testing specialists to confirm that the challenging Leg Zero racing didnât leave any lasting effects.
To guarantee the best level of service the Boatyard uses the original manufacturers to maintain the equipment on the Volvo Ocean 65s.Â
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In short, the Boatyard becomes a dusty, oily version of the United Nations and the core staff jumps from 20 to 55 during the intensive maintenance periods.
Oh wow oh wow oh wow. Iâve been a fan of Annalise since her incredible (ultimately, kind of heart-breaking) performance at the London Olympics in 2012, and then through her silver medal in Rio. Sheâs awesome! Iâm so excited to get the chance to see her race the Volvo.
I now have three favorite teams. đ (Eh, technically I was already a fan of Dee and TTToP. But now theyâre right up at the top of the list with MAPFRE and Dongfeng.)
