andymcp
New member
There was a part of this thread earlier talking about numbers on watch at the time, and the availability of rest. I'll leave others to debate what is right/wrong according to the forum rules, but the watch systems on each boat are very relevant here since Vestas had just travelled through storms. Whatever their system, whether 4-on-4-off or a reduced watch based on skipper and navigator excluded, if you follow any of the earlier commentary from the race it's clear that no single watch can manage a gybe/tack or sail change. So any time one of those is required, the off watch get themselves on deck to help. So fatigue is a much greater issue as racing the boat takes precedence over getting a full 4/5/whatever hours of sleep. The regular VOR articles are littered with references to broken watches.
As a secondary point, I do think that not having raced is a very valid viewpoint to counter examples (not picking on a poster here, just the most recent example I can mention) of cruising round the UK with kids. If your aim is to get from A to B while beating only weather, then yes it's tiring but you can, broadly, set the sails and not tend every rope unless there's a major shift. You can use an autohelm. You can furl a sail without having to wake anyone. And in those inbetween times you can take a lot of care over every navigational nuance you would like, wander around the boat checking you're happy, make a brew to keep you perky. Racing, and in particular high level racing, takes a different mindset (which I have seen but am not in any way claiming to achieve). If you're awake, you're racing. If you're asleep you'll be woken should speed demand it because, well, you're racing. And you don't care because you want to race. If you're miffed about something it's probably because you're slower than boat B, rather than because you didn't get a full 8 hours and a full English to wake you. These boats and crew sign up to be fastest, limiting even the number of days food they carry, happy to be hungry rather than heavy. You may not like it, you may not approve of it, you may not wish to ever be part of it, but that's what the race demands if you want to win and the approach, mentality and experience demands exactly that commitment. It is as unlike general cruising as is possible while still having sails and a floaty thing involved. That's not to say seamanship doesn't have its place, and any failures can be examined under general seamanship requirements, but the environment for those mistakes to happen is fundamentally different.
As a secondary point, I do think that not having raced is a very valid viewpoint to counter examples (not picking on a poster here, just the most recent example I can mention) of cruising round the UK with kids. If your aim is to get from A to B while beating only weather, then yes it's tiring but you can, broadly, set the sails and not tend every rope unless there's a major shift. You can use an autohelm. You can furl a sail without having to wake anyone. And in those inbetween times you can take a lot of care over every navigational nuance you would like, wander around the boat checking you're happy, make a brew to keep you perky. Racing, and in particular high level racing, takes a different mindset (which I have seen but am not in any way claiming to achieve). If you're awake, you're racing. If you're asleep you'll be woken should speed demand it because, well, you're racing. And you don't care because you want to race. If you're miffed about something it's probably because you're slower than boat B, rather than because you didn't get a full 8 hours and a full English to wake you. These boats and crew sign up to be fastest, limiting even the number of days food they carry, happy to be hungry rather than heavy. You may not like it, you may not approve of it, you may not wish to ever be part of it, but that's what the race demands if you want to win and the approach, mentality and experience demands exactly that commitment. It is as unlike general cruising as is possible while still having sails and a floaty thing involved. That's not to say seamanship doesn't have its place, and any failures can be examined under general seamanship requirements, but the environment for those mistakes to happen is fundamentally different.
