Vendée Globe 2016-2017

XTE said:
Apologies if this has already been mentioned, it's a long thread, but was it just me or did anyone else think that the military helicopter stunt almost blew AT flat? Btw, I love the French, well many of them, but sport is sport in any country.
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It wasn't that bad and AT certainly wasn't complaining.

Shame the RN/RAF didn't send a helicopter up as he passed the Falklands yesterday!!
 
XTE said:
Apologies if this has already been mentioned, it's a long thread, but was it just me or did anyone else think that the military helicopter stunt almost blew AT flat? Btw, I love the French, well many of them, but sport is sport in any country.
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I read somewhere that 10 million people have watched the clip of Alex waving the flag. Seems pretty sporting of the French navy to provide a Brit with that sort of coverage!
 
I have been suprised by some of the data provided on the gis.ee/vg website; for instance on the 1700 GMT update today it shows Banque Populaire with a TWS of 16.4 kts and a TWA of -108 dgs travelling at 20.5 kts SOG. Whereas Alex on Hugo Boss has a TWS of 27 kts at a TWA of -122 dgs only going at 18.4 kts SOG. Both on Port Gybe. I guess that is the diference a foil makes. 4 kts above the windspeed abaft of the beam would mean that if Alex had his foil he could be travelling at around 31 kts.

Maybe this shows how well he is doing despite the handicap!
 
AT did get a mention on South Today a few minutes ago to confirm that he had passed Cape Horn. Even if it was somewhat out of date at least he made the news with a clip from his video. Such a shame that there is not more coverage.
 
Have to agree that the coverage via the net is now outstanding and hugely enjoyable .

My personal favourite is the Hugo Boss site and clicking on the globe icon. It's as if the skippers
are astronauts flying round the globe.

AT looks a bit more hairy each time you see him . I would just love to see over any of the boats taking part . I wonder if they all have a carbon fibre heads bucket .
 
Seajet said:
Good point; that would have been a golden PR opportunity for Alex and the British services, ' UK Ltd ' - wasted...
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Wasted indeed.

I don't quite understand the BBCs (and the British media in general) reluctance to broadcast anything VG and AT related. Have the BBC got some sort of grievance with the sponsorship? Or do they think the public aren't interested in Ocean Racing? Or do they still think Ocean Racing is the preserve of the rich and wealthy? I'm not really complaining because Andi Robertsons Vendee Live is better than anything the BBC could do, I just wish Alex would get a bit more mainstream credit. I also wish us Brits had the same attitude to sailing as our French cousins. How many millions turned out to watch the boats depart Les Sables-d'Olonne?
 
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Andrew E said:
Wasted indeed.

I don't quite understand the BBCs (and the British media in general) reluctance to broadcast anything VG and AT related. Have the BBC got some sort of grievance with the sponsorship? Or do they think the public aren't interested in Ocean Racing? Or do they still think Ocean Racing is the preserve of the rich and wealthy? I'm not really complaining because Andi Robertsons Vendee Live is better than anything the BBC could do, I just wish Alex would get a bit more mainstream credit. I also wish us Brits had the same attitude to sailing as our French cousins. How many millions turned out to watch the boats depart Les Sables-d'Olonne?
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Here In France the VG is second only to the Tour de France in terms of mass coverage and popularity, and both events are followed by largely professional people with disposable income, so are attractive to domestic sponsors. Naff sports like football and F1 hardly get any coverage here by comparison.
 
Andrew

You have certainly hit the point, another example was the recent start of the Sydney / Hobart race. Excellent coverage from Oz. TV and an audiance of around 600.000 watching the start.
 
Andrew E said:
Wasted indeed.

I don't quite understand the BBCs (and the British media in general) reluctance to broadcast anything VG and AT related. Have the BBC got some sort of grievance with the sponsorship? Or do they think the public aren't interested in Ocean Racing? Or do they still think Ocean Racing is the preserve of the rich and wealthy? I'm not really complaining because Andi Robertsons Vendee Live is better than anything the BBC could do, I just wish Alex would get a bit more mainstream credit. I also wish us Brits had the same attitude to sailing as our French cousins. How many millions turned out to watch the boats depart Les Sables-d'Olonne?
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I like the idea of the daily show but find Andy Robertson almost impossible to watch almost every second word is Erm, Erm, Erm.
 
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