RORC Caribbean 600 starts on Monday.

[dunedin]

A lot of people expected Comanche to still have the legs on the 125. Looks not..

I have to confess that I really can't get excited about the tris. I know they are amazing machines, and I know they're much faster than the maxis, but I just can't relate.

And to be honest it's only the battle between Skorpios and Comanche that is interesting at the front, to mean the real interest is in IRC 1 and 2. Sunrise are looking good for another class win in a major offshore... That really has become the benchmark for offshore programs.

On the contrary view, why waste time and money building super expensive monohulls only suitable for hunting line records - when they are always doomed to be miles (often days) behind the smaller boats setting the true line record. Skorpios and Comanche are totally unsuitable for anything other than racing fast - yet not the fastest form of racing.
To me the multihulls are the proper boats for line honours, and then it is handicap winner that counts.

 

[geem]

Great to see the tacking duel in the last few miles between Mazaratti and Argo. 100yrds apart at times over a 600 nm course went down to the wire. Stunning racing and a new course record

 

[flaming]

On the contrary view, why waste time and money building super expensive monohulls only suitable for hunting line records - when they are always doomed to be miles (often days) behind the smaller boats setting the true line record. Skorpios and Comanche are totally unsuitable for anything other than racing fast - yet not the fastest form of racing.
To me the multihulls are the proper boats for line honours, and then it is handicap winner that counts.

Oh I don't disagree...
Using my head I can see the attraction of the big tris. But I just can't get excited about them.

The real battle in this race is for IRC overall. Dawn Treader just overtook Sunrise in the standings, one 1180 passing another... But they are in the Guadeloupe wind hole, so we'll see if their overall lead survives by the time they get past...
Sunrise must be spitting that they stopped and DT has sailed round them...

 

[oldbloke]

I think the real attraction of the mega monohulls to the owners is that the person with the money gets to come out and play.

 

[flaming]

I think the real attraction of the mega monohulls to the owners is that the person with the money gets to come out and play.

To be fair the owner of powerplay is onboard....

 

[Zing]

I think the real attraction of the mega monohulls to the owners is that the person with the money gets to come out and play.

It’s more like the story of race horses and their backers. Big money in the sidelines.

 

[dunedin]

I wonder if any of the superyachts might be impacted by sanctions due to ownership

 

[flaming]

I wonder if any of the superyachts might be impacted by sanctions due to ownership

Hope so.

 

[geem]

I wonder if any of the superyachts might be impacted by sanctions due to ownership

I doubt it yet. Most are in the Caribbean for the winter. These small island rely on the income they generate. They won't be applying sanctions. It might be a different issue come summer and they want to put in to European ports.

 

[flaming]

I doubt it yet. Most are in the Caribbean for the winter. These small island rely on the income they generate. They won't be applying sanctions. It might be a different issue come summer and they want to put in to European ports.

The Islands might not. But of note is that in the case of Skorpios and Commanche RORC already changed their flag logo on the tracker from the Russian flag of the owners to the flag of their hailing port. They did this after the 1st round of sanctions.

We shall see if other race organisers take a view on who is now eligible to enter their races.

 

[geem]

The Islands might not. But of note is that in the case of Skorpios and Commanche RORC already changed their flag logo on the tracker from the Russian flag of the owners to the flag of their hailing port. They did this after the 1st round of sanctions.

We shall see if other race organisers take a view on who is now eligible to enter their races.

I think they may be more worried about which countries will allow them to dock. Lots these Russian billionaires have British, American, Canadain, crew. Will they be allowed to stay on these yachts?

 

[dunedin]

The Islands might not. But of note is that in the case of Skorpios and Commanche RORC already changed their flag logo on the tracker from the Russian flag of the owners to the flag of their hailing port. They did this after the 1st round of sanctions.

We shall see if other race organisers take a view on who is now eligible to enter their races.

Changing flag of state does not change beneficial ownership. And I expect anybody who is professional racing crew, or support crew, on one of these boats may need to be a bit cautious before stepping back on board.
Penalties for sanction breaches can be extremely severe, and USA in particular doesn’t worry too much about in whose waters / jurisdiction any perceived breach takes place - and has a proven appetite for seeking extradition of anybody it perceives to have breached USA law, even if not a US citizen or even visited the country.
PS. I am no expert, but it is possible that existing FSTS (Financial Sanctions & Terrorist Funding) laws could apply, as soon as the sanctions are announced. Tread carefully anybody involved with a boat likely to be considered owned by a Russian oligarch - unless and until certain that the individuals are not included. NB. The sanctions will be against people considered linked to the Russian State - most Russians have no involvement with any of this, and many will be as shocked as we are.

PPS. It was widely reported a couple of weeks back that Putin’s personal superyacht departed a German shipyard at very short notice, and with work still underway. It swiftly moved back to Russian waters.

 

[flaming]

Changing flag of state does not change beneficial ownership. And I expect anybody who is professional racing crew, or support crew, on one of these boats may need to be a bit cautious before stepping back on board.

Oh, I wasn't suggesting otherwise. Just pointing out that in advance of anything official RORC had already taken the decision to change the flag displayed on their entry from owner to hailing port. A tiny thing maybe, but hopefully a step in the right direction from the point of view of how the sport, and the source of its money, is viewed.

 

[dunedin]

Oh, I wasn't suggesting otherwise. Just pointing out that in advance of anything official RORC had already taken the decision to change the flag displayed on their entry from owner to hailing port. A tiny thing maybe, but hopefully a step in the right direction from the point of view of how the sport, and the source of its money, is viewed.

Not sure that is. If RORC made a change from previous practice to accept entry fees based upon ownership to based on flag, to allow boats to continue to compete, that could be very risky. Clearly Caribbean 600 entries were pre any sanctions.
But in future accepting entry fees for a boat with any links to a sanctioned person (hypothetically - not suggesting applies to any specific boat), even if routed via a third party, would be likely to fall under scrutiny.

 

[flaming]

Not sure that is. If RORC made a change from previous practice to accept entry fees based upon ownership to based on flag, to allow boats to continue to compete, that could be very risky. Clearly Caribbean 600 entries were pre any sanctions.
But in future accepting entry fees for a boat with any links to a sanctioned person (hypothetically - not suggesting applies to any specific boat), even if routed via a third party, would be likely to fall under scrutiny.

Sorry, I'm clearly not expressing myself very well.

The action by RORC (I assume, the tracker is run by yellow brick) in this case is clearly symbolic only, as it's just a flag on a tracker. I was not suggesting that RORC would have, or would have not accepted the entry of those boats, I know nothing about the owners.
I just thought it was interesting that an organisation such as RORC would do anything at all that could be construed as political.

The top end of sailing has had a Russian money "issue" for a while now.

 

[Laser310]

I doubt it yet. Most are in the Caribbean for the winter. These small island rely on the income they generate. They won't be applying sanctions. It might be a different issue come summer and they want to put in to European ports.

I doubt any of them are Russian flagged.., and the ownership will be in some LLC, or whatever.., so how are you going to keep them out?