East Bound and... Up? A Few Days in the Greatest Sailing City in the USA...Newport,RI

When I found out that the 2014-2015 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race was stopping in Newport, I didn’t even think about whether or not I would go. Newport, Rhode Island is one of my favorite places in the world, I remember being 16 and walking into a Stop N’ Shop in full gear during a storm, no one batting an eye; I knew I had found my happy place. If you are a sailor, Newport is like your own personal Candy Store, between bars like the IYAC (which features a crushed pulpit on its ceiling), a slew of old friends to run into, and a street named America’s Cup Ave. a sailor can’t go wrong.

When I arrived on the Thursday before the re-start I had already been hearing the buzz about how fantastic Newport was as a VOR stopover. I’ve been lucky enough to attend 2 previous stopovers, Baltimore during the ‘05-’06 race, and Boston for the ’08-’09 edition, and I understand how special the US stop can be. It is the start of the last time these sailors will cross an ocean together… in a sense it is the beginning of the end of the race, and I couldn’t have been more excited to be part of it once again.  

To say that the Newport stopover was a success would be the understatement of the year. When I got down to the race village Friday afternoon (there was some necessary sleeping in to be done… I blame the IYAC, and Zelda’s) it was buzzing with excitement. There was the Pro-Am Race, it was fairly warm, the sun was out, and the breeze was good. However, the best part was, there were people, and lots of them! After catching up with old friends, making some new ones, and riding around on an M32, I was able to make my way down to the dock, and on to the boats. 

If you’ve never had the opportunity to see a Volvo boat in person, I can only really say….think BIG. Having been on a fair share of the VOR70’s in 2009 I was actually half expecting to not be all that impressed, but the boats themselves are jaw dropping. With a max beam of 5.6 meters (that’s 18.4 feet!), the VOR65 is a presence both on the water and especially at the dock. The best part of these boats however, is getting up close and really realizing how used they are, and how they are not unlike our own boats. Lines are marked similarly to how we mark our sheets on the 40.7, notes are written onto the deck, and all the clutches are labeled, with the downhaul almost exclusively being labeled, “DOWNFUCKER”, little bits of gelcoat have chipped away, and you begin to really see the soul of the boat, and you realize, this is something that is relatable. We all have chips, we all have marks, and we all have something on the boat referred to as some kind of “fucker” (hopefully not any crew members of course), and that’s when it starts to sink in that it’s all just sailing…this is just that next level, and as fans of the sport, we are really quite lucky to be able to have this kind of access.

In-Port Race Day. We arrived at the race village, opting to stay onshore for the festivities, and I’m so glad we did. Sitting with my feet over the seawall in front of Fort Adams, I took in the parade that was the in-port race with thousands of other spectators. In Boston, if you wanted to watch this race, you HAD to be out on a boat, there was no way around it. In Newport however, you could gather on the shoreline, run into old friends, and simply hang out and watch racing! My friend Dawn Riley did a stellar job of commentating on the less than exciting racing (it really was a parade), and in perhaps the most exciting part of the day, MAPFRE hit bottom! Perhaps the other, equally exciting thing, was that throughout the cloudy day there were people…so many people that I didn’t leave my spot when the race was over in order to avoid the “rush”. Looking back, this should have been my first sign that things were getting real in Newport, and that I was going to witness something unique and special the next day.

I woke up Sunday and was excited. I was excited to get a coffee, I was excited to visit the Newport Ship Yard, I was excited to see Comanche #kenmanche, and I was excited to get on the water and watch this re-start. Being the nerd that I am, I’ve watched a lot of race starts (thank you YouTube), and one of my favorite parts is watching the spectators follow the fleet. We get to see a lot of this in places like Sydney Harbor, Auckland, and some European ports, but since I hadn’t really seen it in America, I guess I didn’t believe it could happen for us. As we got out on the water and settled into our position to watch the “tour of the harbor” re-start, I was in awe of the amount of spectators. I was across the bay from the Fort, but I could see the shoreline was packed. It was known at this point that the numbers were good, Newport promised 100,000 people coming through the race village when they negotiated to get the stopover, and they achieved that one day earlier for the in-port race. Everything on Sunday, every spectator, every boat on the water filled with people was icing on the cake, and it was stunning.

The sun was out, there was a 10 knot sea breeze, and Newport had showed up for sailing. As I looked around at the tens of thousands of people lining the shore, well beyond Volvo Race Village, it really hit me, America had showed up for sailing. With the USCG and race management pushing crowds back I saw some of the best power boat handling of my life, and as the fleet of VOR65’s made their way back up wind, under the Pell Bridge, and headed out,  the reigns came off. Every YouTube clip, or old race video I had ever watched couldn’t do the feeling that I had justice. As we raced past Castle Hill with hundreds of other boats I had no real words to describe what I felt. I was excited, and I was emotional, and I felt like history was happening. I literally wanted to cry out of pure joy, and I’m totally cool with admitting that I may have shed a tear. This was truly unlike anything I had ever seen, and I had been stunned to near silence. Sure I said things, cheered for ADOR as they sadly brought up the rear, and I tried to get a selfie with the whole ordeal in the background, but the wheels inside my head were spinning wildly. In fact, until that morning, I had actually wondered what exactly I would write about, but as the day unfolded before me, I just knew… May 17^th, 2015 was the day AMERICA showed up for sailing, and it was perfection.

America showed up in America’s sailing capital for what was a truly breath-taking send off, and as it all sank in over rum drinks and bar conversation, I realized ONLY Newport, RI could be capable of creating what occurred. Only a place where EVERY sailor feels at home could create this kind of stir around town. Only in Newport could you walk into a bar after all is said and done and hang out with all of the people that had just made everything happen, shore teams, organizers, sponsors, etc, because what happened in Newport, was more than just your average event, what happened there was special, it was truly unique, and only a town full of sailors could make that happen.

FANS....of Sailing? Part 1

There seems to be a lot of talk lately about how to get more people involved in sailing. How do we make it more exciting? How do we create spectators, fan frenzy, cheering, excitement and an overall emotional experience for someone who may have never even been on a boat.

My gut instinct tells me to look at another sport that I love, but have never ACTUALLY competed in....Football. As a girl, I was obviously never involved in the game on a personal level, and my high school and college didn’t even have a team, however I LOVE the sport. From the coaching, to the crowds and the players themselves, we all get excited. We can be at the game, in our homes, listening in our cars, or checking mobil updates, and when a touchdown happens, we get stoked! I personally have been known to yell, scream, laugh, and cry, all through out the course of a game, that I have never actually taken part in. I’m a life long Chicago Bears fan, and my WI plates on my car say “DITKA”, I own a Gould jersey (yes, he is a kicker), I rock Navy and Orange whenever I can on game day, and I’ve been known to lose my voice at games. I’m completely passionate....about something I’ve never even done?!?!? I am in one simple word, above all, a FAN.

So what does it take to create a sailing fan? What do we as sailors, have to do to create Fans? Do we want them? (I know I do). Do we need them? (Hell YES, our sport is overly expensive and DYING). Where do they come from, and how do we take advantage of them as a way to build and grow our sport? It’s a complicated question, and even after I just wrote it, I’m struggling to grasp an answer in my head. Sailing has so very many outlets, between dinghy, big boats, fast high performance skiffs, AC sailing, the Volvo, and then you get into cruising and adventure cruising. Where do we as a sport start? Are the options to vast? So then why do I like football...

the team aspect
the hometown pride
the waiting 7 months for it to come back every year
the passion of the players (I just saw Tom Brady BLOW UP last night during his game against the Steelers...it was intense)
the passion of the coaches
the strategy
the epic noise a good hit makes
the strength
the fineness
and because I’m a girl....the fit men in tight pants

Solid list....and I’m sure I’ll think of more. So why do I like sailing? Actually for almost all the same reasons! So what are people so afraid of? Is sailing too complicated to understand? Hmmmmm have you ever seen a play book for football, or watched the game with someone who has played? There is a TON that I don’t know about football, it is a complicated game, and while I understand the very basics....I can still barely tell why there was a holding call until I see the instant replay. I’ve always heard the excuse that sailboat racing is too complicated, but I just don’t buy into that. It’s a lame excuse coming from people who have given up.

Next I'll take a look at a true sailing Fan....how did it all begin, where is it headed, and how can we take lessons from this case, and apply it to our sport at a larger level?

So What was it Like?

My boss said, “Imagine if you had backstage passes to Woodstock…that’s how excited she is.” And, I’ve got to say; I think it’s true. My experience in Boston for the Volvo Ocean Race was unlike any other. I met tons of people, helped with some servicing (ok, I sanded carbon and put One Drop on it, but Telefonica will NOT have squeaky winch handles!), and had a fantastic time just hanging out and seeing what the life of a Volvo sailor is like (well, at least the life on shore). I think we all have a lot of preconceived notions about what these people will be like. I know I for one look at some other races happening, and prepare myself to meet some, perhaps not so nice people, hell, Key West Race Week, the NOOD’s any quazi big deal big boat race has yachtie assholes by the boat load, but this is NOT the case with the Volvo Ocean Race. Maybe it has something to do with the amount of time they spend together, or possibly with the fact that they are going offshore for a long time in what can be very dangerous conditions, whatever it is, it makes all these guys fabulous to be around. It’s like being at the best event you’ve ever sailed, only it’s the Volvo, it’s epic, everyone there realizes it, and absolutely no one takes it for granted.

I’ve been back for almost 2 weeks now, and I’ve been struggling to pin point what exactly I can say about the event and my time there. Words like, “stoked”, “epic”, and “sick” all come to mind, but I really don’t think they do my thoughts justice. So here is the deal; there is something special about the group of people involved in this race, and I get the feeling it’s like the mob, and once you’re in, it’s damn near impossible to ever be the same. It’s hard for me to describe, or do a description justice, because I feel that other authors have described this quality far better than I ever could, therefore provoking the perfect emotion to help you understand the feeling that I got in the midst of everything…


“As to just what this ineffable quality was . . . well, it obviously involved bravery. But it was not bravery in the simple sense of being willing to risk your life. … No, the idea here (in the all-enclosing fraternity) seemed to be that a man should have the ability to go up in a hurtling piece of machinery and put his hide on the line, and have the moxie, the reflexes, the experience, the coolness, to pull it back in the last yawning momentand then go up again the next day … and the idea was to prove at every foot of the way up that pyramid that you were one of the elected and anointed ones who had the right stuff….” – Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff (p17-18).

Now, these guys are not flying into space, like the men described by Tom Wolfe, however the are hurtling around on carbon fiber rocket ships, pushing themselves against mother natures wall, you have to have something special, or be a little off, to get up and do that every day.

Boston vs. Baltimore

So I’ve been spending the last few days in Boston, MA for the Volvo Race. The one question that I have gotten a lot is, “How does Boston compare to Baltimore?” I have to say, the comparison is interesting, there are pluses and minuses to each stopover, I would love to say one was way better than the other, but I don’t think I can. Boston has a lot of things going for it that I enjoy. The haul out area and all the bases are right at Fan Pier, so everyone can see everything. While the general public is not allowed in this “wet area” they can still see in and see what is happening. There was nothing like this in Baltimore, in fact everything was quite a ways away, so the general public never really got to see, where the real action happens, in fact, they were no where near it, kind of a bummer for Baltimore and big points for Boston.
Baltimore did however have some strong points in my mind, the location was fantastic, it was right downtown, which allowed the public to see so much. This location was also really cool because you could go to any number of restaurants along the harbor and see boats zipping around, which also means a lot of people who just happened to be going out would stumble upon the VOR. In Boston, the waterfront area seemed not nearly as inviting, which was simply unfortunate. You really had to be aware that the circus was coming to town, and you had to want to go. That said, there certainly wasn’t any lack of excitement Saturday when boats left for the in-port race, or Sunday during the Pro-Am match racing that was right off the pier.
Finally, dock access. The distance between the dock and shore was about the same in both locations…very close. This is fantastic for all of us going there to look at sweet boats, there is no shortage of viewing at either venue, however, Boston has lacked one critical aspect…dock tours. In Baltimore, you could stand in line, and eventually be taken down to the dock in groups of 8 or so, to see the boats. I’ve seen none of this here in Boston, which is a real shame. Getting up close to these boats is certainly a highlight for many people. Now, granted in Baltimore, you were never allowed on the boats, they were still there, and you could still take nice up close and personal photographs, you really cannot do that in Boston, and I think this might be one of the larger shortfalls. For the general sailing public, this was the coolest part, and for the general non-sailing public, this was a great way to show them the sport, I was certainly sad to not see this in Boston.
More to come from Boston!

Shut Up and Fish

I’m not sure how many of you are up to date on your Deadliest Catch, but my mom recently informed me that a crew all had shirts that said “Shut Up and Fish” on them!!! I think this is fantastic! I also think they ripped off MY tee shirt!
My father, like many driver/ boat owners used to have a nasty case of HOBS (Head Out of the Boat Syndrome). This is a terrible chronic problem that leads to the driver looking around, talking about what they see and the ideas that they have, without focusing on what they are there to do…DRIVE!
Our old tacticians would constantly say to my dad, “Jay, just shut up and drive the boat” So finally after a summer of hearing this…the whole crew sick and tired of it….I took matters into my own hands and made every one shirts. They all read, “JAY SHUT-UP AND DRIVE” My fathers reads, “I’m Jay, I just drive”. Needless to say, a hit at the event, and at many event since!
That was at least 3 seasons ago…hence I’m pretty positive Deadliest Catch owes me something here…
Jay Shut Up and Drive Shirt Photo coming soon...

Why is it Always Out with the Old?

As of late I’ve been reading a lot about the IMOCA and about their plans to create an even more stable class rule for their 60 footers to ensure that not nearly as many boats break. At the same time I’ve been hearing about the recent rule changes for the Volvo 70’s. The changes in this class are very minimal, in an effort to make this generation of boats competitive with new builds. This seems to me to be a no brainer and a must for the Volvo. In order to draw more sponsors and sailors into the Volvo boats need to be cheaper and easy to acquire, tweak and then sail. The recent surge by Delta Lloyd to the front of the Volvo fleet is proof that it CAN happen, and it certainly something that Volvo is taking note of. But will the big sponsors with the big money and the ability to make new builds always win out in the end?
Quite possibly, however, half the fun of the Vendee was that there were SO MANY boats to begin with, that it was easy to follow the middle of the pack, and there was of course the drama of boats breaking, but despite that, there was a story for everyone to see themselves in, we were able to relate to someone in this fleet on a very personal level, which is a huge part of this edition of the race being such a global success. Although I feel I’ve been able to watch the Volvo, I’m still not sure if I’ve been able to connect with it. Bring on more boats and more sailors, and a personal touch, and I think this problem is solved.

Well, It’s Over.... Leg 5 That Is

After 40 + days, everyone in the Volvo Ocean Race has made it to Rio. There were a lot of things that I’ve wanted to comment on as this leg evolved, but in the end, I though it would be fun to reflect back on the highlights (plus I don’t want this blog to be all VOR all the time…I think they have a website for that and actually pay the person that writes that blog).
Here are my top 3 moments of the leg.

Well Crap
Not even to the first scoring gate and Telefonica Blue breaks it’s forestay. What a total burn! I like these guys and I love Bekking’s determination in the VOR (we all recall Movistar 05-06). This man clearly loves this game, and I give him, and the whole team, major props for finding a solution and making it work all the way to Rio. Impressive and quite admirable.

Ballsy Moves
Sure it was calculated, but we’ve all heard, when in the southern ocean, head south. However, the guys on Ericsson 3 and the young navigator, AKSEL MAGDAHL, challenged this age-old philosophy. They hit the scoring gate off New Zealand and TACKED!!! To put it rather bluntly, this took balls. I dig it. All of us who ever have to make critical choices can take a note or two from this situation. It was a big risk that would yield a big reward. At one point heading to Cape Horn, these guys were 300 MILES ahead of the second place boat! How stoked am I that these guys went on to win the leg. I’ve got to say, I was stoked for them at the first scoring gate, being 2nd after starting 7 hours behind, and then I was thrilled when I checked the VOR site and learned that even with them and E4 going into “stealth mode” in tricky and light conditions off Rio, Ericsson 3 managed to pull out a well deserved victory. I loved it…I would like to say it was the balls-ist move of the leg…but then what would I say about my last favorite moment?!?!?

Naked
Spinlock, listen up! Casey Smith is running around NAKED in the Southern Ocean… but he’s still wearing your deck harness….when you only have ONE equipment choice. I’m heading off to Boston in a few weeks for the in-port race and restart, if I only meet ONE person, I want to meet Casey Smith, Bowman on PUMA. Dude rounded Cape Horn naked!!! AND IT’S ON FILM!!! I’ve got to say, this is the kind of footage we need more of in sailing. People doing fun and crazy things (believe it or not, it is relatable! We’ve all done something crazy!) This move took some serious balls…pun totally intended, and I think everyone loved it! It shows what sailing is all about….Fun crazy shit!

The southern ocean leg and rounding of Cape Horn will forever be my favorite part of the Volvo. Something magical seems to happen down there, signs are made, family photo’s are taken, cigars and drinks are had, and sometimes someone even gets naked. It just seems that regardless of if you are first or last, you are happy to get there, and happy that Neptune can give you safe passage. It seems like the most sentimental part of the race, and I think that’s what makes it so cool. Everyone is just stoked to be where they are and be sharing that moment with their friends. That’s epic…and totally what our sport is all about. If you had to ask me why I want to sail the VOR, rounding Cape Horn would be damn near the top, and not because I want to knock it off the list, but quite the opposite! I want to experience it, with an amazing group of people, and just be in that moment, where nothing else matters, it’s just you, your friends, your boat, and the Cape…