How about a The Ocean Race Europe thread?

[bucc5062]

With two classes starting, the routing will be interesting to follow.  Given the shortness of the legs they may not vary much, but I would think the IMOCAs would/will route to favor their foils.  I don't see any fliers happening with the 65's so for the most part that should be a tight group with the teams that squeeze the most energy out of the boat up top.  Sail choice mistakes and other minor mishaps will start the separation.

I loved reading Pip was crewing on an IMOCA.  What a great way to start learning about the newer foils boats (like the one she'll get next VG) and how to handle them with an experienced crew.  She will be one to watch next VG.

I am looking forward to the start and if not a live tracker, at least every 15 or 30 minutes.  Hell they will be in AIS range almost the whole race so it is not like teams gain an advantage.

 

[Trocola]

Had the chance to walk the pontoons in Lorient. 

It's amazing to be able to look at them so close. The 65 were in a different pontoon and couldn't access it. Maybe that represents the different philosophies... And why one class is so successful... 

 

[yl75]

 

[DtM]

When he gets here, welcome Max.

 

[Rennmaus]

15 minutes to go.
Until now I was a bit uninterested in the race, but now the excitement is back  .

 

[Rennmaus]

A tracker question: When I hover over the boats, there is a metric "Hour retained". Does this mean that it's the time when the boat's data was last received or anything else?

 

[WLIS Jibing]

Very excited to follow this race on SA!  Will make for better reading than certain other threads that are train wrecks at the moment. 

I became a fan of Louis Burton during the VG due to his never quit attitude and constant pushing. His boat repairs in the southern ocean were incredible to follow. I am hoping he comes away with a victory here. 
 

Also rooting for Yoann in the V65 class due to his awesome analysis during the VG. 
 

was AT ever considering this race?  Would have been fun to see him do a few legs against some amazing competition. 

 

[WLIS Jibing]

Video of the start. Not much breeze, but still great to see these teams get off the line. 

 

[Rennmaus]

Below my new playlist with VNRs, hopefully interviews, specials and what else might be published by the TOR organization. I'm curious what will be issued; for the moment it's just one VNR.
 

 

[psylophitales]

I just discovered Sailing Anarchy !

I quite excited by the Ocean Race, my favorite offshore race. The local race in Lorient was interesting, with very light winds the VO65 were significantly faster than the IMOCA - who were dragging their foils under water.

Of course it's specific to those weather conditions, but I wish Hugo Boss or Arkea-Paprec was present: they have retractable foils.

In any case, one can follow the course of each boat on the tracker, which I think updates every few minutes (!): https://tracker.theoceanrace.com/leg01/en/index.html

 

[yl75]

Looks like Sailing Poland is towing the Austrians as a dinghy on the tracker, poor choice of colors ..   :

 

[yl75]

And geovoile forgot to take the foils out of the Germans

 

[Rennmaus]

Looks like Sailing Poland is towing the Austrians as a dinghy on the tracker, poor choice of colors ..   :

View attachment 443793

Click on the second toggle from the top on the left side and the color will change.

 

[dg_sailingfan]

We need 3D Virtual Eye Graphic and not just 2D!

 

[yl75]

We need 3D Virtual Eye Graphic and not just 2D!

Not at all, 3D fancy stuff usually do not work, eat up resources, and are basically useless to follow an ocean sailing race, what matters is weather info (now much better with windy thing), some routing tools could be cool, and a readable UI. For that geovoile is still the best. Great bottom part on this one

 

[Rennmaus]

Not at all, 3D fancy stuff usually do not work, eat up resources, and are basically useless to follow an ocean sailing race, what matters is weather info (now much better with windy thing), some routing tools could be cool, and a readable UI. For that geovoile is still the best. Great bottom part on this one

Right, there's actually nothing to complain about regarding the tracker, at least for now  . 

 

[psylophitales]

Not at all, 3D fancy stuff usually do not work, eat up resources, and are basically useless to follow an ocean sailing race, what matters is weather info (now much better with windy thing), some routing tools could be cool, and a readable UI. For that geovoile is still the best. Great bottom part on this one

For the routing, I published an analysis yesterday of the route and strategic choices coming up for the race. I'll update later today with the latest and try to do it every day of the race(s)

If it feels like spam, my apology, simply let me know:

 

[psylophitales]

Here is a summary of my analysis of the evening.

Super tight race, especially on the VOR65 class.

The Austrian project are taking at the time of recording a slightly southern option, pushing them lower in the rankings. This is something Bureau Vallée did earlier during the day, until they converged all together in a compact fleet. Bureau Vallée lost ground on that option though...

The IMOCA seem to be faster as early as 8-10knts of wind, while the VO65 are faster under. Presently the two fleets are virtually at equality: until they all pick up some better winds in the evening of the 30th ?

The choice for a route far west off the coast of Portugal vs the direct route is still opened, although the optimal routing predicts a winning direct route. But the direct route will force boats on very unstable winds: something to ponder and reflect upon !

I have recorded some details of the analysis on my youtube channel, but I don't want to spam the forum here.

 

[LeoV]

Is there not a waypoint between start and finish ? If so no direct route possible.

 

[Sailbydate]

So, 5 IMOCA60's leading. That didn't take long.