around alone preview

When the sixth Around Alone Race gets underway from NewYork Har¬ bor on September 15, its most remark¬ able aspects from a local point of view are that two of the three Americans in the 14-boat fleet are Californians, and two ofthe boatswere drawn by BayArea designers and built on the West Coast. This marks the largest West Coast and the largest U.S. representation in this event's five runnings and 20-yearhistory.

By now, most oftyou are probably fa¬ miliar with at least one ofthose sailors, Alameda's Bruce Schwab. In numerous Latitude articles and updates in the last two years, we've detailed the design of his Open 60 OceanPlanetbyTom Wylie, its cold-molded construction at Steve Rander's Schooner Creek Boatworks in Oregon, its local shakedowns, and its eventual passageback to the EastCoast. Theformerhead riggeratSvendsen's Ma¬ rine and his Made In America syndicate have gotten as far as they have solely through grassroots donations, a real testiment to Bruce — and to the Bay Area's interest in fielding a world-class singlehanded campaign.

The other West Coast skipper is Ma¬ rinadel Rey's BradVan Liew. Threeyears ago, Van Liew emerged from sailing ob¬ scurity to take third in Class II (50footers) in the last Around Alone — and gain the respectofmanycompetitorswho nicknamed him 'Cowboy'. This time he's back with a newer 50-footer, a strong team, and title sponsor Tommy Hilfiger.

The other BayArea connectionis also sailing in the 50-ft Class II Division.

That's Tim Kent's Everest Horizontal, a Jim Antrim design that started life in 1999 as the Alameda-based Conver¬ gence. She was built locally, too, right up the road at Jim Betts' shop in Truckee. Kent, the third American in Around Alone, is a Great Lakes sailor based in Milwaukee.

The remaining 11 sailors represent 9 different countries. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of that is the dearth ofFrench involvement — and newboats. Only 6 of the 14 entries were launched since 2000, and three of those are 40footers.

TX. hosewho follow the world’s globe¬ girdling races know Around Alone used to be the BOC Challenge, named for the British supplier of medical gases that sponsored the first four races in '82-83, '86-87, '90-91 and '94-95. When BOC dropped that sponsorship in '95, therace becameAround Alone and ran under the auspices ofGreatAdventures, Ltd. in '98Californians Brad Van Liew (left) and Bruce Schwab will represent the West Coast in the upcomingAroundAlone Race.

99, For this current running, the race was acquired by Clipper Ventures (the folks thatput on the pay-as-you-go Clip¬ per crewed round the world race), and is being run by British sailing legend Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, who, coinciden¬ tally, also chaired the first race in '8283. SirRobin had earlier achievedworld¬ wide fame bywinning the Sunday Times Golden Globe trophy in 1968, the non¬ stop round-the-world racewhich became the basis for bothAround Alone and the world's othermajor singlehanded roundthe-world race, the Vendee Globe.

The differencebetweenAroundAlone and the Vendee is that Around Alone is sailed in legs (five this time), while the Vendee is nonstop. Knox-Johnston an¬ swers the often-asked question ofwhich is tougher this way: "It depends on the outside influences and thismeans the competition. In arace where theboats have to make stops, they tend to sail harder as they know they can make repairs in the stopover. Aboat going nonstop must pace itself, as any breakage that requires re¬ pairs in port means with¬ drawal from the race." In practical terms, both races cover the same basic route throughthe At¬ lantic and Southern Ocean, both are massive tests of stamina and seamanship, and both traditionally experience staggering attrition (only 9 of 15 boats finished the lastAround Alone; only 15 of24 finished the last Vendee) — up to and including loss ofboatsand lives. The BOC/Around Alone has claimed two competitors — Jacques de Roux fell off his boat in the '86-87 race, and Harry Mitchell and his boat were lostwithout a trace in the '9495 race.

Thefirst three BOC/AroundAlones started and endedin Newport, Rhode Is¬ land. The '94-95 and '98-99 races were based in Charleston. Clipper Ventures moved the start back to Newport for the upcomingrace, then September 11 hap¬ pened. Around.Alone has now become part of a week of 9/11 commemoration in New York. So the Around Alone boats will compete in a crewed, non-counting, 160-nm feeder race that starts in New¬ port on September 12 and arrives the next day in NewYork. TheAroundAlone boats will then take part in the 'Sail For America' weekend, and then have theftofficial start on a line between Ground

AROUNDALONE2002-V3 ENTRIES

Skipper

tti

Age Country Boat Uamched Designer

Tiscali 1998 T-' N. Zealand Hexagon 2002 Owen Clarke Thierry Dubois 35 :e 1994 Joubert/Nivelt Patrick de Radigues : Ga 1996 Grt. Biitain Pindar 1998 Group Finot

Ocean Planet 2000

Bernard Stamm Switzerland 2000 Pierre Roland

Armor Lux

CLASS II (40-50 feet) John Dennis 57 Canada 38

-V. Tim Kent 50 USA

1994 Peter Ebbutt 1994 Lyons/Martin da* 2001 1999 Jim Antrim Bermuda 2001 Kojiro Shiraishi 34 Japan Spirit of Yukoh* 2001 Group Finot Brad Van Uew 33 USA TommyHilfiger FreedomAmerica

New York’ (start/finis

Pacific Ocean Atlantic Ocean

THE COURSE

Leg I — New York toTorbay, England. ETA of first boat: 9/26.

Leg 2 — Torbay to Cape Town. Start is 10/ 13; ETA offirst boat into Cape Town: 1 1 /8.

Leg 3 — Cape Town to Tauranga, NZ. Start is 12/1; ETA of first boat into NZ: 12/28.

Leg 4 — Tauranga to Salvador, Brazil. Start is 1/26/03; ETA of first boat into Brazil: 2/26.

Leg 5 — Salvador to New York. Start is 3/23; ETA of first boat into New York: 4/ 14.

Indian Ocean

/v Pacific Ocean

Tauranga, ' New Zealand

Zero andthe Statue ofLiberty.

Here's a quick look at each ofthe en¬ tries in alphabetical order:

CLASS I (60-footers)

Graham Dalton — Older brother of seven-time round-the-world racerGrant Dalton, Graham Dalton has assembled afirst-class effortforhis firstrace around the globe. With backing from HSBC, a London-based banking organization (which is also sponsoring an educational tie-inwith schools called the GlobalEdu¬

cation Challenge), Dalton had the Owen Clarke Group design a "mach II" King¬ fisher. Theresultis Hexagon, aboatvery much like Ellen MacArthur's potent 60footer, but faster in most conditions.

A dismasting in earlyAugust putthis program behind schedule, but at this writing, Dalton is completing his combi¬ nation deliveiyand qualifying sail across theAtlantic using Kingfishers borrowed mast. Hexagohs spare mast will be fit¬ ted before the start of Around Alone. If he can keep that one in the boat, Dalton is definitely one of the contenders for

overall honors, (www.grahamdalton. hsbc.com)

Simone Bianchetti — Perhaps the most experienced round theworld sailor in this Around Alone, Italy's Simone Bianchetti, now 34, took part in the '9495 BOC on the Open 50 Town ofCervia, buthad to drop outduring Leg 2 because of hull leaks. He honed his skills (and his commando physique, forwhich he is renowned), and came back to finish the '00-01 Vendee Globe on the Open 60 Southern Ocean

Aquarelle, 12th of 15 finishers. For Around Alone 02-03, Tiscali — Europe's largest Internet Communica¬ tions company — has acquired the Lombard-designed Open 60 Tiscali, a 1998 boat that previously sailed as Catherine Chaubaud's Whirlpool (www.

simonebianchetti.com)

Thierry Dubois — Dubois acquired Pierre Follefant's Open 60 TBS in 1994 and started the '96-97 Vendee Globe, only to hit a growler (small iceberg) and have to layoverin CapeTown for repairs, which disqualified him. He tried to fin¬ ish anyway, butwas capsized and aban¬ doned the boat in the Indian;Ocean. He returned to the Vendee in '00-01 with the Open 60 Solidaires, only to be foiled again by electrical problems. He never¬ theless completed the race unofficially.

In the upcoming race, Dubois — who looks like Pierce Brosnan's better-look¬ ingyoungerbrother—will race the same Joubeft/Nivelt design for the same cause. 'Solidaires' refers to Amnesty Iny ternational, and Dubois says his main objective in competing is to spread the message for human rights around the

world, (www.nwt.fr/amnesty-loireocean/tduboisai/som.htm)

Patrick de Radigues — Ex-motor¬ cycle racer de Radigues has one roundthe-world race under his belt,,having completed (though unofficially) the '9697Vendee Globe on the 60-ft FullImmer¬ sion. In 2000, he started the Vendee boat washed up little the worse forwear on a Portuguese beach.

De Radigues' boat, Gamier Belgium, is probably betterknown than her skip¬

per. As AquitdineInnovations, this Finotdesigned Open 60 sailed the last two Vendee Globes under Yves Parlier (who you mayrecall sleeved abroken mastby himselfwhile atanchor offNewZealand). De Radigues and '98-99 Around Alone Class II winner Marc Thercelin actually gotin something ofabiddingwar for the boat, bothwiththe intention ofdoingthis race. De Radigues won. ’ Emma Richards — Emma Richards is the only Brit, only woman and, at 27, the youngest competitor in this year's race. Though she broke into interna¬ tional sailing onlyfouryears ago, she has proved a good investment for title spon¬ sor Pindar, a British media company — She won her class in the doublehanded Jacques Vabres (La Havre, France, to Cartagena, Colombia) in 1999, the doublehanded Round Britainand Ireland Race in 2000 (setting a new 'all female' record), and the singlehanded Europe 1 New Man Star Race (Plymouth, England t# Rhode Island) in 2001. We wouldn't be surprised ifshe 'pulled an Ellen MacArthur' in this race and became famous.

Pindaris the former Gartmore Invest¬ ments, a Finot design which fellow Brit Josh Hall sailed in the 98-99 Around Alone (dropping out after he was dis¬ masted) and '00-01 Vendee Globe, (www.

his living as a rigger, and for the last two decades has been one of the most ac¬ complished shorthanded sailors in Northern California. Abitmore than two years ago, he teamed up with designer Tom Wylie and supporters to form the Made In America syndicate. Their goal: put the firstAmerican skipper and Open 60 in almost a decade into international competition. (The last American to race in this class was Steve Pettengill who took second on Hunter's Childin the '9495 race; the lastAmerican to win a Divi¬ sion was Mike Plant, who took Class II honors in the '86-'87 race on the 50-ft Airco Distributor). The fruits of their la¬ bor — and the donations ofhundreds of grass-roots supporters — is the Wyliedesigned Ocean Planet, which sports Around Alone's most unusual rig — an unstayed carbon fiber mast. At this writ¬ ing, the projectwas still shy offull fund¬ ing, butSchwabvows he's going, funded

or not. (www.oceanplanet. org)

Bernard Stamm — Stamm achieved sailing fame overnightwhen he dropped out of the 2000 Vendee Globe (after his autopilot failed) and decided to appease his sponsors by attempting a west-east Atlantic record run. Call it luck or call it fate, he got ideal conditions and slashed across the ocean to set two new records — 8 days, 20 hours from New York to England, and 462 miles in 24 hours, the all-time monohull record (since broken).

At leastas amazingas his sailingfeats is the fact that Stamm and some friends

built Bobst Group — Armor Lux them¬ selves. For Around Alone, the boat has gone through substantial upgrading, testing and refits. With more time in his boat — and more intimate knowledge of it —than any competitor, we have to think the dashinglygood-looking Stamm could well be the MVP of this class —

and race. (www.bernard-stamm.com)

CLASS II(40-50footers)

John Dennis — At 57, Canadian John Dennis is the 'old man' ofthe '02OS AroundAlone Race. He is also the first skipper with diabetes to compete in this grueling event. In one of those interest¬ ingturns offate, Dennis securedprimary sponsorship for Around Alone from the Bayer Diabetes Foundation. His race aboard Bayer Ascensia (launched in 1994 as Brian Hancock's Great Circle) will not only achieve a lifelong dream, but will encourage others with diabetes to achieve their dreams, as well. can Gladman is sailing perhaps the "mostveteran" boat in thisyear'sAround Alone. In the '94-95 BOC, Australian Alan Nebauer completed the race in the. then-new boat, named Newcastle Aus¬ tralia. In the '98-99 race, she raced to third place as Brad Van Liew's Balance

Bar. Now, as Canada Challenge, she'll be heading around the world again.

Gladman has been hooked on solo sailing since he guided his father's boat to a solo victory when he was 16. He hopes his diverse sailing background — everything from helm and tactics at grand prix events to top finishes at windsurfing Pro-Am events —will stand him in good stead for his first major off¬ shore solo adventure. (www.canadachal lenge.com)

Derek Hatfield — Though launched justlastSeptember, Hatfield's 40-ft Spirit ofCanadaboat and syndicate havebeen building and evolving since 1998. One ofCanada's mostseasoned offshore sail¬ ors, Hatfield's accomplishments include a second in the '97 Bermuda One-Two, an overall win in the ’96 Legend Cup TransAtlantic Race, and seventh in the '96 Europe One Singlehanded TransAt¬ lantic Race. When it comes to shorthanded offshore experience and prepa¬ ration, you could say Hatfield is the, ahem, real McCoy. He should do well.

(www.spiritofCanada, net)

Tim Kent — Kent has sailed for 40 of his 50 years, both around the Great Lakes and offshore. Like several other teams, his project is a grassroots one, put together and largely supported by friends and other Great Lakes sailors. Kent is the spark plug that created the syndicate and holds ittogether. "It's been my goal to sail around the world since I read about Slocum and Chichester. The stars are nowaligned to make the dream

reality." (www.everesthorizontal.com)

Alan Paris — Bermuda's Alan Paris discovered solo offshore sailing a decade ago and has since racked up more than 10,000 offshore miles — most of them aboard his 1993 J/105 Learning to Fly, on which he won overall first place in Class II in the 95 Bermuda One-Two (singlehanded from Newport, RI to Ber¬ muda, doublehanded back). ForAround Alone, he’s sailing the new.40-ft BTC Ve¬ locity, designed by Australian Scott Jutson (who drew David Adams' 50footer TrueBlue for the '94-95 BOC). He could well be the top 40-footer in Class II. (no website)

Kojiro Shiraishi — There has been

BOC/Around Alone, and 34-year-old Shiraishi continues the tradition. In a sense, Shiraishi 'grew up' around this race, meeting '82-83 Class II winner Yukoh Tada not long after that race and serving as his assistant during prepara¬ tions for Tada's participation in the '9091 BOC. On his own merits, Shiraishi sailed around the world in '93-94 to be¬ come, at 26, the then-youngest circum¬ navigator. With a new 40 footer from Finot, keep an eye on this guy. (www.jp. real,com/kojiro)

Brad Van Liew — A former profes¬ sional pilot who ran his own aircraft management and charter business in Santa Monica, 'the cowboy' is back with a new 'bronc' and perhaps this race's most colorful sponsor. Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America is the boat Mike Garside sailed as MagellanAlpha in the last Around Alone. Though fiveyears old, this Finotdesign is still considered one ofthe fastest Open SOs around, and —withthe help ofSouthern CaliforniadesignerAlan Andrews — Van Liew has optimized the boat forits nextround-the-world sprint. Not to put any undue pressure on him, but we think the big news will be if he doesn't win this class convincingly.

(www.oceanracing.org).

If you've made it this far, you may be askingyourselfthe same question we did: Where’s the glam-fest of interna¬ tional sailing stars?

Well, one ofthe places they are is get¬ ting ready for the trans-Atlantic Route du Rhum in November. The RDR is not only quicker and cheaper, but probably offers abetterreturn on the sponsor dol¬ lar, at least in Europe. (At one point, it was hoped Around Alone could incorpo¬ rate the Route du Rhum as one of its race legs, but that plan never got much past the talking stage.)

Another sad truth is that, in the great scheme of things, Around Alone is not the big deal it once was. For better or worse, the Vendee Globe, with its Euro¬ pean start/finish and nonstopvenue has 'upped the ante’, and that starting line is where you'll find the Mike Goldings, Ellen MacArthurs and Michel Desjoyeauxs in the fall of 2003.

Fair or not, the Vendee Globe has in¬ herited the title .'Everest of sailing.' But even ifAround Alone has to settle for K2 status, it's still going to be a hell of a ride. We'll have regular updates. In the meantime, follow itat www.arouhda.lone. com.

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