laika
Well-known member
Does anyone know the division structure in the 1989/90 whitbread? I don't seem to be able to find out what boats were in what divisions or what the crtieria were for each of them.
89-90 whitbread class divisions
- Thread starter laika
- Start date
AndrewfromFal
Active member
If memory serves me correctly there were 3 divisions plus trophies for overall and corrected time. The largest division by numbers and IOR rated length was the maxis and included Steinlager II, Fisher & Paykel, Merit, Rothmans, Fazisi, The Card, and Gatorade. There was a mid size class, which had only one entrant; Equity & Law, then the smaller class which included Maiden and Esprit d’Equipe.
The class winners were Steinlager II, Equity & Law (surprise!) and Esprit d’Equipe.
Steinlager II won line honours and I think corrected time (I think I’m right on this, if so it was owing to a number of factors, the main two being the incarnation of the IOR rule the race was being run under and the speed the maxis had developed by this time enabling them to hook onto weather systems and remain in a favourable position for longer periods).
Hope this helps.
The class winners were Steinlager II, Equity & Law (surprise!) and Esprit d’Equipe.
Steinlager II won line honours and I think corrected time (I think I’m right on this, if so it was owing to a number of factors, the main two being the incarnation of the IOR rule the race was being run under and the speed the maxis had developed by this time enabling them to hook onto weather systems and remain in a favourable position for longer periods).
Hope this helps.
michael_w
Well-known member
Steinlager II won every leg, The course had been changed from previous years, missing out Cape Town, this made the race very downwind orientated. So the ketches, with a vast amount of laundry up dominated. In the next iteration the Whitbread 60s trounced them.
Anorak mode off.
Anorak mode off.
laika
Well-known member
Thanks for the replies. From what I can find from wikipedia and other sources there were 4 divisions: A, C, D and "cruising", the former 3 AndrewFromFal pointed out the winners for and the latter being won by "Creighton's naturally":
https://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/history/1989-90.html
What I can't find though is what the criteria was for entry into each division (and indeed what a "cruising division" was). I was particularly interested in what the size requirements for class D was and what yachts other than Maiden, Esprit d’Equipe and (I think) Rucanor Sport were in it that year.
I saw a talk by tracy edwards yesterday which of course led me down one of those google rabbit holes....
https://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/history/1989-90.html
What I can't find though is what the criteria was for entry into each division (and indeed what a "cruising division" was). I was particularly interested in what the size requirements for class D was and what yachts other than Maiden, Esprit d’Equipe and (I think) Rucanor Sport were in it that year.
I saw a talk by tracy edwards yesterday which of course led me down one of those google rabbit holes....
AndrewfromFal
Active member
The criteria for each class was based on IOR rating bands. I can’t remember what they were exactly, but I think the smaller class boats probably rated around 40’-50’ IOR (as the length overall generally tended to me around 10’ greater than the IOR rating at that time). The limit for a maxi rater was 70’ IOR (although S2 and F&P because of the rating advantage of their rigs were around 85’ and 82’ overall).
Just had a look and there’s a fully entry list on Wikipedia http://https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989–1990_Whitbread_Round_the_World_Race
Just had a look and there’s a fully entry list on Wikipedia http://https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989–1990_Whitbread_Round_the_World_Race
laika
Well-known member
The entry list is there but not the classes. I note that Maiden was 18m, Esprit d’Equipe a tad smaller. There must have been at least one other boat in division D besides those two and Rucanor Sport as in the link I posted above it mentions one leg where Maiden was fourth in class.
AndrewfromFal
Active member
The other boats in the class were Schlussel Von Bremen which seemed to get little or no mention in any of the things I’ve read about the race, and La Poste which was 51 footer.
laika
Well-known member
thanks!
capnsensible
Well-known member
That race inspired me to an eventual 2nd career in sailing. Tops.
E39mad
Well-known member
Steinlager II sailed more miles than any other boat - they were the first to really incorporate weather routing to maximise their VMG. It was not the quickest on broad reaches or close to dead downwind but made up for it in other conditions. Here's a pick I took as she crossed the line with the late great Sir Peter Blake with his hands in the air - signed by him on the Hamble a week or so later
Attachments
AndrewfromFal
Active member
Awesome picture - one really gets a sense of the power of an old-skool maxi
asteven221
Well-known member
Interesting post as I remember this race so vividly. It inspired me. In fact I can't recall any decent sailing on terrestrial TV since, other than the last one or two Americas Cup events. Shame as it was a fantastic event and full of drama.
A few years ago a rather tatty "Maiden" appeared at Greenock during the Tall Ships event and looked just like a grey hull with a mast. I doubt many new it's history and if it wasn't for the Whitbread neither would I have known anything about her. The second I saw her, it was seeing a celebrity!
Similarly I stumbled across Steinlager a few years ago and immediately recognised the red hull. She was just lying in a marina pontoon along with dozens of other boats and didn't look anything special to passers by. However for me, similar to seeing Maiden, it was like seeing a massive celebrity such the impact that race had on me. Thinking about it, I am sure I still have most of the TV coverage recorded on VHS in the loft!! I might have at some point transferred it to dvd, so I will need to check that out for a cruise down memory lane!
A few years ago a rather tatty "Maiden" appeared at Greenock during the Tall Ships event and looked just like a grey hull with a mast. I doubt many new it's history and if it wasn't for the Whitbread neither would I have known anything about her. The second I saw her, it was seeing a celebrity!
Similarly I stumbled across Steinlager a few years ago and immediately recognised the red hull. She was just lying in a marina pontoon along with dozens of other boats and didn't look anything special to passers by. However for me, similar to seeing Maiden, it was like seeing a massive celebrity such the impact that race had on me. Thinking about it, I am sure I still have most of the TV coverage recorded on VHS in the loft!! I might have at some point transferred it to dvd, so I will need to check that out for a cruise down memory lane!
RoseyAccess
New member
Hello laika,
You offered an interesting question about yachts May 21, 2019: "Does anyone know the division structure in the 1989/90 whitbread? " This is also our question. Have you received a credible answer as yet? If you have can you please share it? laika, we re not asking for you to do any further digging since the answer, in our experience, is very elusive. Perhaps someone will be more practical, sparing us the philosophical values, are directly answer the question. That is, of course, conditioned on if you have since May 2019 received it. Thank you. Stay safe.
P.S. Specific, of course to the 1989-90 Whitbread world race.
laika
Well-known member
Sorry I had no further info than what was posted in this thread. AndrewFromFal did post some useful pointers above
RoseyAccess
New member
Hello laika,
Yes. AndrewFromFal offered very useful pointers. Also the link was very helpful. Although it was not quite what we expected, it was enough to answer, for us, the question about Division break down. It was necessary to "read-in" what was not written to fil those gaps.
laika? We apologize for the delayed response to your much more timely one. It was not intentional. Nevertheless, even eleven days into 2021, we wish you all the best of the year, which at this point, remains fresh. Stay safe. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
RJJ
Well-known member
I was a 13 year old boy.
Tracey Edwards was and remains a hero. Astonishing story against "you won't even get a boat or money; you won't get to the start; there aren't enough capable women in the world; if you start you won't finish; if you finish you'll waste everyone's time and embarrass yourselves".
Tracey Edwards was and remains a hero. Astonishing story against "you won't even get a boat or money; you won't get to the start; there aren't enough capable women in the world; if you start you won't finish; if you finish you'll waste everyone's time and embarrass yourselves".