Venture Cup cancelled :(

Gentlemanracer said:
If the RYA is the duly authorised UK governing body (looking for a Motorsport parallel here) and they don't sanction an event, then if such an event runs anyway, I cannot see how any RYA race licence holder could be sanctioned by the RYA for taking part!
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It is not as simple as that I'm afraid
On my race, we had to operate under the ISAF Rules of Racing
When we were running our race, the rules stated that if a competitor entered an unofficial race, they could be banned from all other international events
In our case, the RYA were responsible for declaring that our race wasn't official.
In fact, our event was one of the few long distance races on the sailing calender and we were attracting entries from all over Europe.
Our event was one of the most popular on our calendar.
Two of our competitors were even Olympic medalists.
These people and others would not have entered if we were to run an unofficial race.
In the end, the RYA regretted that they had helped write these rules and we found a way for us to affiliate ourselves just like any sailing club.
This, of course, cost extra which the competitors ended up paying.
People don't realise that most sailors are paying twice for RYA membership - once with their own membership and again as a fee through their sailing clubs
In this case, they were being asked to pay yet again.
At the time, I had just retired and had the time to make the event work by finding the way out.
But the whole affair made me loose all confidence in the RYA - and proved to me that they don't actually support the sport of sailing.
We only went ahead with our race because of a dedicated team on enthusiasts who refused to let the bureaucratic machinery of the RYA get in the way.

This was all in the early 2000s - lets hope that this bureaucratic machinery has changed so that the Venture Cup can go ahead.
Good luck guys
 
Cripes! It's surely reasonable for any competition to operate according to rules, with entrants by definition, willing to be bound by those rules and competitors holding a licence recognising their competence to participate whilst correctly understanding and interpreting the rules (predominantly I presume for safety under way & technical compliance) and could be sanctioned via licence status for any rule breaking. But I am unable to reconcile how any body has legitimate authority to sanction a licence holder for participating outside the jurisdiction of a licence, i.e. commitment to be governed by its rules. To make a point, how could a licence be withdrawn if its holder "shopped in Sainsbury" an activity outside its jurisdiction? That, surely is bullying at one end of the scale, through vigilante in the mid ground to terrorist at the other end! All abhorrent to a normal person. Surely with a sport as old as this, there must be a stronger grip on reality and what must boil down to common sense and refinement by lessons learned. Or are there so few events (of this type) that we are all (organisers, entrants, governing bodies) still at the painful birth stage in the definition of rule making, governance & compliance?
 
Just seen a recent tweet/facebook post from about an hour ago which doesn't suggest anything other than the event is going ahead...

Lets hope so... good luck to all concerned :encouragement:
 
trying said:
Just seen a recent tweet/facebook post from about an hour ago which doesn't suggest anything other than the event is going ahead...

Lets hope so... good luck to all concerned :encouragement:
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+1

Could be optimism or heads in the sand, but I hope not... I've had a couple of F/B updates too and it does feel like everyone's carrying on as before!

I've not got much time/patience for bureaucracy and some of the responses above do suggest that's likely to be a factor. However, if it was known what was required and by when, then it doesn't suggest the time or resources are in place to make it happen? I've not joined the RYA myself, mainly because they come across as more concerned with protocol and sailing than representing the boating community/industry and I'm certainly not interested in discounts on trendy attire. Issues like Studland/MCZs don't do them any favours either when they should be vocal in standing up for the community rather than prodded into action. Probably an unfair assessment, but issues like this don't help the perception for me and the formal tone of their statement doesn't sound much like they were seeking a way forward. :(
 
Can't find it!

Anyway it seems as though it really is on and starting in London/Belgium! I hope they have the red diesel situation licked as that's going to be fun trying to fine all of the diesel boats before they do a runner to the med!

The full press release:

Get set for one of the World’s greatest adventures


2,500 miles of unforgiving seas ….15 days …. 30g+ snap impacts coming every few seconds …. 9 glamorous locations …. thousands of horsepower … and a commitment to never give up, no matter what you’re faced with. These are just some of the many ingredients which await the participants of a very special, and very unique, event which will run right across Europe from June 7th to 22nd.

The 2014 Venture Cup will be the ultimate demonstration of seamanship, navigation, skill and strategy. It’s the longest, toughest and most prestigious adventure in powerboating. The nature of this epic challenge means that running at 100% from the start would almost guarantee failure. There's two weeks of hard ocean conditions to overcome, so participants need to carefully manage themselves, their crew, boats, engines, and strategies to stand any chance of making it to the finish. And what a finish it will be - coming into Monte-Carlo as part of the opening celebrations for the magnificent new Yacht Club de Monaco. This is one of the world's truly great adventures, where only the very best will make it to the end.

As well as being the most significant powerboat event of 2014, it will also involve the largest ever scientific study of human factors on fast boats. This research is being backed by several universities and will influence the development of patrol, rescue and leisure boats in the future.

The excitement begins at ‘the Gathering’ on Wednesday 4th of June, where the boats come together at their home port of St Katharine Docks in the heart of London to make their final preparations and meet the public. They’ll remain on display there until early Saturday June 7th when they’ll slip their moorings, leave the lock in St Katharines, and make way down the Thames for the official start at Nieupoort in Belgium. From there they’ll make passage to Jersey, then Les Sables d’Olonne in France, A Coruna in northern Spain, Lisbon, Malaga and right up along the azure waters of the Med to the end of the challenge in Monaco on Sunday 22nd June.

Throughout the event spectators will be encouraged to come down, meet the boats and the teams, learn some more about powerboating, and enjoy the many festivals along the route. Those unable to get to the event directly will be able to follow the excitement on the event website.

This is the first of what promises to become a major annual sporting occasion, bringing powerboating back into the mainstream and returning the daring deeds of these determined participants to the public eye. Future events will include Venture Cups in the Caribbean and a run from London to St Petersburg.

The boats and crews are ready, the venues are waiting, and the excitement builds more and more with each passing day. Monte-Carlo is in their sights!
 
its off..

statement as issued by the organisers


Quote...


Following the recent decision by the RYA regarding the Venture Cup race to Monte-Carlo, the organisers have been working with the Belgian National Authority, the UIM Pleasure & Navigation Commission, and the UIM in an attempt to source an alternate way of running the Venture Cup this June.

For UIM approval we needed to find a specific element within existing UIM rules which could be voted on, and this was found under Rule 307 of the Pleasure & Navigation section of the UIM. An ‘Advance Notice’ was then created and submitted to the UIM Pleasure & Navigation Commission for their approval, and the vote was passed to support the event.

The only remaining item then was for the UIM Executive Committee to vote on the matter of the application timing. Under normal circumstances a request must be submitted some time before the time-window we were operating in, so a derogation was required.

We have just learned that the UIM Executive Committee have voted not to allow the derogation.

We are therefore left with no option but to cancel the Venture Cup at this time. as it has always been our intention to run the event under the governance of the international powerboat authority.

We would like to apologise to all those affected by this decision.

We understand that several of the teams are planning their own private run to Monaco during the same dates, and we wish them the very best of luck. We are more than happy to support them in way we can, and would ask that others do the same.

We will not be commenting any further at this time.

Unquote....
 
A big shame, but imo not a big surprise :-(
When the RYA pulled out the writing was on the wall.

I saw the teams competing in the pre race last year when they ended up in Poole and was amazed at just how few people were there to see them. Especially as I understand PHC were a sponsor?
I could find nothing in the local press about it. Pity as it could have been a great event.

I hope the teams can turn this around and compete in future races, I do feel for them.
So, was the Venture Cup just a bit too ambitious?
 
Saw on facebook on friday that it had been cancelled.

Great shame for all concerened, teams, organisers, sponsors etc... real pity.

Was this inevitable / did the RYA scupper it?? Couldn't the event have been run anyway? This close to the event I'm guessing that the teams had everything in place ready for the off and the support crews etc?
 
Looks like 4 boats will be making the trip but not racing or in any timed capacity, another race that did not live up to expectations and too ambitious for the amount of sponsorship out there.
 
Cookee said:
Looks like 4 boats will be making the trip but not racing or in any timed capacity, another race that did not live up to expectations and too ambitious for the amount of sponsorship out there.
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From adversity, some like minded folks are getting on with their programme. And why not? Any form of racing can be demonstrably too expensive, blinking hard graft and ultimately not that much "fun" unless nothing breaks (!) and I'd wager that "organised outings" rather like "boutique boat shows" might better hit a spot for participants, rather than competitors. Now you'd have my attention! Time for a school or two to put their names to some long distance stuff?
 
Some news and images from today and yesterday are here: http://gopowerboating.com/news
All four boats made it to Jersey today, but we did have concerns about the Scorpion Rib 'Hot Lemon' and it took them nearly 12 hours to make the journey. It turns out they had a stowaway. It would appear that Matt Wilson (of Perkins) was so disappointed not to be making the trip in the legendary HTS (winner of the 1972 London to Monte-Carlo), that he squizzled himself on board with the flying Scotsmen. Karma came a-calling a few hours later though when they hit a rogue wave which sent Matt flying into the back of skipper Darren Mellish's seat. Darren explained it some more: "Matt hit his lip and nose off my seat, which meant a lot of blood everywhere. We had him checked out at a hospital in Jersey, but it turns out that he's fine. No cure for his looks though, but he's no uglier than he was before. Biggest problem is that he chipped my new f*@*>> seat." Looks like Matt hasn't learned any lessons from today and is planning on heading off with Hot Lemon again tomorrow morning.
 
London's Metropolitan Marine Police Unit lead the fleet out from iconic Tower Bridge yesterday morning
 

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Safe 'n sound in Lorient. Crews will meet up tomorrow morning at 0800 (local) for an 0900 departure. Tomorrow's destination is a change from the planned route, as they're going to push further into the Bay of Biscay and aim for Arcachon.

Full report to follow

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