Volvo Ocean Race: Storm-proof drones circle over boats

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And up in the storm the drones are circling

Volvo Ocean Race: Storm-proof drones circle over boats-storm-proof

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Volvo Ocean Race: Storm-proof drones circle over boats-race

A completely normal day on the "Mapfre": Here the team is on their way from Itajai to Newport

Source: Ugo Fonolla / Volvo Ocean Race Ugo Fonolla / Volvo Ocean Race

The stopover in Newport / Rhode Island was about the future of the Volvo Ocean Race: The sailing regatta around the world is becoming more multimedia, more feminine, more sustainable. And remains undiminished hardcore.

NThe race only lasts an hour. There are a few points to the winner that aren’t really that important (unless it gets very tight in the end). But under gray skies in the drizzle there is hard fighting. The boats lie on their side, the crews change sails and directions at lightning speed, the material groans like an animal under the strain.

This in-port race took place in front of the American port city of Newport before Pentecost, shortly afterwards the seven teams of the Volvo Ocean Race started, of the toughest sailing race in the world, on its penultimate leg to Cardiff in Wales.

"Newport tells the story of the United States," says Carlo Ratti, an Italian architect who researches the future of cities in his Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "This is where the first generation of the super-rich built their beach houses."

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The row of imposing villas near the shore is a reminder of that glorious era. The most famous was built by Cornelius Vanderbilt and is called "Breakers" – because the wind and, in an emergency, also break waves. Not far in a park-like garden is the New York Yacht Club. A cannon is traditionally fired at sunset, please take off your hat. An old-fashioned world of rituals and functional clothing, but its charisma should not be underestimated.

During the thirteen days that the seven Volvo Ocean Race boats were in port, over 100,000 spectators came, at the previous stop in Brazil there were even 500,000, the boats covered 45,000 nautical miles (83,340 kilometers) in eight months. “We come to places where boats and people shouldn’t really be,” says Simeon Tienpont, describing the fascination.

He is the skipper of the AkzoNobel team, sponsored by a Dutch paint and chemical company, and explains the charm of Antarctic sailing with the tenderness of a knight: “Around Cape Horn you sometimes close your eyes and just hope that you will comes out safely. All teams give their all for 20 days, fight like crazy and then arrive at the port with a time difference of just a few minutes. This is insane! "

No value is placed on comfort

Madness also needs to be controlled and calculated. The German boat builder Felix, with a ring in his nose and the relaxation of a man who thinks he is in the right place, guides visitors across one of the boats.

Perhaps the most important rule in this race: the organizer provides the boats, the individual teams lease them for three million euros, changes are not permitted. They are a good 20-meter-long high-tech fighting machine. The sails made of the patented composite 2Di, for example, are produced by the North American company North Sails.

"The sails reflect the balanced pressure absorption and dimensional stability of a rigid aircraft wing," it says. On the other hand, no value is placed on the comfort or well-being of the crew. She sleeps in folding nets – always with her head to the bow in case you accidentally hit a whale at night. There is a toilet that is actually only used by women – the men stand outside at the edge of the boat.

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In the damp confines of the fuselage, the navigator sits in a cockpit like that of a pilot, where relevant data on wind, currents and the movements of competing boats are constantly evaluated. He controls the crew via microphone and only occasionally jumps on deck to yell at them.

Next to him is the on-board reporter who evaluates the images from the various permanently installed cameras and keeps a logbook. Stormproof drones are being used for the first time, which produce spectacular aerial photos and land safely on the boats even at 35 knots of wind speed.

Volvo Ocean Race: Storm-proof drones circle over boats-storm-proof

Skipper Simeon Tienpont from the AkzoNobel team

Source: AFP / Getty Images

"In the future, viewers should be able to follow the individual boats in real time via satellite," says Richard Brisius, President of the Volvo Ocean Race and experienced sailor, describing the efforts to make the ocean drama of elements, technology and willpower tangible at home.

The second innovation: at least two women on each team. There was an all-female team three years ago, now there are women on every boat. "Sport should play a role model role in society," says Brisius. A greater permeability for generations and genders makes sportive sense. And give the race another, human dimension. "Even my mother, who is not interested in sports, finds this race exciting."

Volvo Ocean Race: Storm-proof drones circle over boats-circle

Aerial view of Team Mapfre’s boat, which has a good chance of winning the Volvo Ocean Race

Source: Ugo Fonolla / Volvo Ocean Race

There are even five women and five men on board the boat “Turn the Tide on Plastic”. It is currently in last place in the ranking, but it is one of the two boats on which measuring systems have been installed that examine the water for dissolved CO2, surface temperature, salinity and chlorophyll a along the entire route.

"These are the decisive parameters for climate simulation," says Soren Gutekunst from the Kiel marine research institute Geomar. In addition, water samples are regularly taken, which are sent to Kiel and examined there for microplastics. "In this race, we are going to places where it has never been measured before," is how he describes the plausible and innovative connection between sport and science.

Other things don’t change. “When I was twelve, I fell in love with this race,” says Skipper Tienpont and explains the magic of sailing as he experiences it: “Whether you are sailing on a lake or on a stage in a race like this: If you can once you’re on the road, there is no going back. "

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10 thoughts on “Volvo Ocean Race: Storm-proof drones circle over boats”

  3. Quote:
    "Quota for women as "innovation", groan. "
    There is no quota for women.
    The sentence "The second innovation: at least two women on each team"
    in the article is wrong.
    There are rules about the number of crew members,
    based on the assumption that women under the given conditions
    are physically less productive.
    For the current race you can choose between the following
    Choose variants:
    7 men
    7 men + 1 or 2 women
    7 women + 1 or 2 men
    5 men + 5 women
    11 women
    The composition may be changed for each stage.
    More people on board means faster maneuvers and more
    Sleep for the individual. That makes the boat potentially
    more quickly.
    On the other hand, more people mean more weight.
    Not only body weight, but also food,
    Clothing and equipment. The boat does that again
    slower.
    When you consider the top boats after many
    A thousand miles sometimes every few minutes
    Go through the goal, then it is clear that it is on every second,
    but every gram of equipment also counts.
    With the wrong tactics when choosing a crew, you can quickly lose.

    Reply

  4. Great … the Volvo Ocean Race..
    If only journalists would report about it now, who understand something about it … or at least make an effort..

    Reply
  5. will be something more feminine again …. as if that were always a good thing …. when will the universities become more masculine again?

    In the meantime it has almost become a rarity for young men to study …. 1000 people in the humanities but less than 20% male
    And the measly science chairs with 20-30 people each are not worth mentioning.

    Reply

  6. I do not think that it is beneficial for equality for women if the boats with the most female crews always take the last places. There are certainly better sports for the women!

    Reply

  7. You see it all wrong! In order for gender equality to prevail, there should be a quota for women on the podium. Everything else is anti-feminist, patriarchal and sexist!

    Reply

  8. I’ve never heard of NorthWinds as a sailmaker, it must be North Sails.

    Also, nobody sleeps with their head to the bow, which is not very healthy if you ram something in your sleep.
    The article was written by a journalist bot?

    Reply

  9. 2nd attempt – this time in individual parts.
    Quote:
    "… sleeps in folding nets – always with his head to the bow in case you accidentally hit a whale at night."
    Conversely: You ALWAYS sleep with your feet pointing towards the bow.
    If the boat suddenly brakes hard, you are flying
    forward in the bunk. And then it’s much healthier,
    when the forces act on the feet upon impact

    and not on the head and neck.
    Reply

  10. 2nd attempt – this time in individual parts.

    Quote:

    "The sails made of the patented composite 2Di, for example, are produced by the North American company NorthWinds."
    The technology is called 3Di. Because the individual scrim over a three-dimensional shape
    be glued. The sail then essentially consists of ONE piece, and not
    more from various pieces of canvas sewn together.
    The company is called North Sails. Not NorthWinds. It has neither north wind,
    anything else to do with the direction of the compass. The founder of sailmaking
    was called Lowell North.

    Reply

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