In the few protests I've been involved in in recent years, it seems that jurys have increasingly recoursed to the letter of the law perhaps over the spirit of it, as would seem to have happened here. Mike Golding is of course right in what he says, the letter of the rule would seem to leave the jury little option. However, given the nature of the race and of Bernard Stamm himself (and his complete honesty regarding the incident), a time penalty allowing him to at least score a finish would have seemed more appropriate.
I've never met Bernard (or any of the skippers in the Vendee) but have followed and admired him (and them all) throughout each cycle for their tenacity, bravery and downright good humour... this is no way to end a man's dream..
My thoughts are with Bernard.. and I agree with Richard Tolkien.. we salute you and hope you'll be back.
Maybe this is, in fact, a case of "Force Majeur", a concept widely recognized in law and applicable in certain circumstances in interpreting behaviour. If so , it would seem that the Jury should reconsider its position. Richard T
It does seem very harsh. Assistance with mooring only, presumably to avoid collision after anchor dragging, should justify an appeal by Stamm. I'm sure he refused any assistance with the repairs. Let's hope the jury will be sympathetic.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to see how the Race Committee or Jury could have reached a different conclusion. Bernard is widely and rightly respected for his skill, tenacity and good humour. It appears that without his honesty, neither the Committee nor Jury would be considering the case. At this desperately difficult time for Bernard we should salute him and hope that he can find the strength to return for a fifth attempt. Richard Tolkien
We should bear in mind that this is the fourth time Bernard Stamm has attempted the Vendee Globe - after his boat was washed ashore in the Kerguelen Islands in the last race, when his boat was all but destroyed in the Artemis Transat the summer before the 2004 race and his retirement from the 2000 race... Poor guy
I'm delighted that David 'Sid' Howlett MBE gets a mention from you and the recognition of the significant contribution he has made to the success of our sailing team. He's not just a brilliant bloke, but is quite capable of kickings ass as well, which is what is required to reach perfection. Well done mate. AT
Any time penalty by way of slowing down/stopping has to be immediate, as the compounded advantage of hooking into the breeze sooner because of the gain only means the rich get richer and would potentially render the original penalty insignificant very quickly! No mention of solo sailors/no look out kept in a zone designed to bring vessels closer together - I think the blanket ban is the ONLY option!
yes, Bilous team has been working for the last 5 years on Biocomposites. There are no resins or fibers on the market today that come even close to that of carbon/foam much less carbon nomex, and they are heavier to boot.
Still we can only keep looking and developing. Look at www.kairos-jourdain.com
I think that the trawler has acted unlawfully not using the AIS, perhaps in order to avoid monitoring by fishing authorities. If they were not trawling, they should have dodged the sailboat. That should also be determined.
Awesome work by Paul and the Vestas SailRocket Team, big pats on back to all you guys.
No you proved it can work, go and drive it like you stole it.....hit teh big big numbers!
An IMOCA 60 has a maximum draft of 4.5 metres. A blank for a keel fin is likely to be somewhere around 5 metres long, 1 metre wide, and (being lazy) 0.2 metre thick. As a rough order of magnitude estimate, that comes out as a cubic metre.
According to Wolfram Alpha, a cubic metre of titanium weighs 9960 lbs and costs $67K, €52K or £42K.
I suspect machining will be hideously expensive for anyone who doesn't have an aerospace supplier as a sponsor.
I read there was only a five inch stub left - will be interesting to see what the cause was - two bangs says to me one for the initial fatigue failure as it finally bent / fractured the second as it became completely detached / snapped off. Real shame as this was clearly a boat pushing the technical boundaries and a great skipper.
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Maybe this is, in fact, a case of "Force Majeur", a concept widely recognized in law and applicable in certain circumstances in interpreting behaviour. If so , it would seem that the Jury should reconsider its position. Richard T
Unfortunately, it is difficult to see how the Race Committee or Jury could have reached a different conclusion. Bernard is widely and rightly respected for his skill, tenacity and good humour. It appears that without his honesty, neither the Committee nor Jury would be considering the case. At this desperately difficult time for Bernard we should salute him and hope that he can find the strength to return for a fifth attempt. Richard Tolkien
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