tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73576020701160271292024-03-05T12:27:04.396+00:00VOLVO HOTSEATAs navigator of Delta Lloyd I can assure you, few adventures compare to sailing the Volvo Ocean Race. My experience in the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-9 was an incredible experience; A epic adventure surrounded by amazing people. It is addictive. With out a doubt, I'll be back in the Volvo Ocean Race come 2011-12; but in the mean time I'll still be guided by doing what I love to do; navigating, racing to win, and blogging about my adventures. <br>
Matthew Gregory <br>
-matt@gregorysports.com-Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-21745239274586788102009-10-07T06:52:00.004+01:002009-10-07T08:04:19.199+01:00Let's look at the numbersThe Volvo Ocean Race is a great place to dig into the numbers that show that sailing does, indeed, deliver for sponsors. It has a global reach that is incredibly unique in the sponsorship marketplace due to its 9 month duration and its physical touch points in most of the worlds major markets.<br /><br />The preliminary numbers from the first half of the 2008-9 VOR are outstanding, both in their absolute size and also in their growth from the 2005-6 race.<br /><ul><li>In the first 5 months of the race, 2.41 million unique visitors visited volvooceanrace.org, up 39% for the same period in 2005-6.</li><li>In the first 5 stopovers, the total number of spectators to pass through the turnstyles of the race village was 2,350,392. This is a 250% increase over the first 5 stopovers of the 2005-6 race</li><li>The pro-am race day in Alicante brought 68,400 people to the village, while the total stopover attendance was 937,000 people. </li><li>Cochin India, by comparison, brought in a total of 811,677 people with a peak day attendance of 107,289. Yup over one hundred thousand people in the race village on a single day. You'd have to see it to believe it....From being there I can assure you that it was absolutely amazing. </li></ul><div>Unfortunately we don't have data from the individual teams that participated in 2008-9 quite yet. However, we will look at two examples from 2005-6 to set a base line; Ericsson and ABN Amro. Here are some very top line results their sponsorships in 2005-6;<br /><br />Ericsson 2005-6:<br /><ul><li>Estimated their media value benefit at US$ 65 Million.</li><li>Put on 500 B2B focused events where they entertained 4,600 decision making customers at the Executive, VP, and Senior level.</li><li>Engaged employees through over 100 seminars and workshops focused around the race.</li><li>Estimate their total value of sponsorship at close to US$100 Million, which is a 450-500% ROI.</li></ul>ABN Amro:<br /><ul><li>Estimated their media value benefit at US$ 77 Million.</li><li>Entertained 35,000 key customers and clients worldwide</li><li>Engaged employees and developed corporate pride as demonstrated by the 25 Million intranet hits that their employees generated on the team's website.</li><li>Measured their tangible total economic return on investment at 600%</li></ul></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-34366569569355877852009-10-01T21:45:00.009+01:002009-10-01T23:01:40.590+01:00It's time to sell the sponsorship<p></p><br />The key to a selling a sponsorship proposal is the in-depth focus on designing activation programs for the sponsor. Before going into talk to a sponsorship opportunity I research everything that there is to know about the company that I’m presenting to. I read every annual report, SEC filing, analyst call, and executive interview that I can get my hands on. I study the strategies of their competitors as well. If they are growing into a new market, then I design it into the activation. If they are having employee retention or recruiting problems then I design the solution into the activation. Launching a new product? Want to demonstrate a technology? Purchasing a company? Launching a philanthropy project? Need a voice for a PR campaign? Redefining their brand? Whatever and where-ever the company wants to go I build the platform to catalyze their core business goals and relate it all to the property attributes of the sailing team. The sailing project is not the focus of the presentation; it is, instead, the base that the entire business case is built upon. It is also critical to show the sponsor that their investment’s returns will be both measurable and also be independent of the sporting outcome of the races. Ericsson Racing's VOR 2005-6 project is the perfect example of a measurable activation strategy, that was wildly successful, even though the sailing team was, arguably, not.<br /><br />Think that putting a pitch presentation together sounds like a lot of work? Well... it is. Mainly because every pitch must be fully customized for every audience. This is why properly <a href="http://blog.team-update.com/?p=20">managing the sales cycle</a> can help this process. Leads are fairly easy to generate. We all know people that know people. And there are always cold calls that can fill the pipe line with leads. However, the key is to properly qualify each of our leads into realistic opportunities. Opportunities are the leads where the where the activation case is strong once vetted through the qualification process. It is in the preparation for the selling stage where the research and creative planning happens.<br /><div><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 122px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHOEdUcnX7RhqPSrVLg_yMwVUfrlX5l5lOeNWxvqXD6FEYkQtFODZLJ7xnPXKfTU2szHk_s9fQO80zZCTO6xGv1yaknBhltvuhakmLfDbKloq6WkAhIkRiUN8JUclzv6oK8gi4jT777KgO/s320/Sales-Funnel1.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387740159411340018" /><br /><div><br />We have a big job ahead of us. It is critical that we make sure that the sailing fan base has an accessible and entertaining America’s Cup 34 and Volvo Ocean Race in 2011-12 to enjoy. Hopefully we all can, collectively, light the imaginations of sponsors to join us as we transform the commercialized and entertainment side of our sport.<br /><br />Again please leave your comments and questions for me to reply to. I've enjoyed reading and responding to all of the comments so far.... Also stand by for case studies in the next blog posts.</div></div><br /><br />-Matt out<br />37 48.0N<br />122 26.6WUnknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-40954061539456616112009-09-29T19:43:00.008+01:002009-10-01T23:00:35.441+01:00Creating real value for sailing's sponsors<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>To start off the second posting in this series, I want to quickly discuss the partners that make up a Volvo Ocean Race or America’s Cup team:<br /><br /><b>The Sponsor:</b> The sponsor is the end customer. The sponsor’s key competence is aligned with their core business, whether it be manufacturing cars, writing software, consulting businesses, banking or designing handbags. The sponsor makes decisions on building new factories, hiring employees or launching marketing programs, based on that project’s investment yielding a positive <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_present_value">Net Present Value (NPV)</a>.<br /><br /><b>The Activator:</b> This is typically an events agency such as Momentum, Octagon, or IMG. They work for the sponsor to build all of the auxiliary activities upon the sailing property platform.<br /><br /><b>The Property:</b> This is the sailing team. It provides the base for the activator to build a positive NPV business development program targeted at the sponsor’s core business. The end goal of the sailing team is to manage the sporting operations, while supporting the activator’s plan.<br /><br />I’ve read a lot of team sponsorship proposals over the past 5 years: Volvo Ocean Race, America’s Cup, World Match Racing Tour, European IRC, and Med Cup teams... Most sponsorship proposals lose sight of, both, the customer and the product. When I read most sponsorship proposals, generally, my first thought is ‘Hey, I’d love to sail for this team. This is going to be fun.’ The proposals talk about the race, adventure, prestige, competition, sailing team members and the program’s management structure - all of the key elements to winning a sail boat race. While this type of presentation does have a place in the sales cycle, it does not focus the product to the customer. The product that we are selling is a platform for corporations to leverage their core business goals.<br /><br />Remember, we are selling the activation plan, and not the sailing team. The reason for this is straight forward; If a sponsor only financed the sailing property and did not make a further investment into activation, they would, most likely, just barely recover their costs of the property's sponsorship cost. However when the property is coupled with a sophisticated activation program, then 2 things happen; Not only is the activation the source of the most significant returns on investment, but also, the activation, through network effects, brings more attention to the sporting property, thus increasing the returns that the sporting team generates. The following illustration gives a basic insight to this principle.<br /><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkDxAlr9Nbx0Q7ZZfcHTgIhJj_sQVuF49ktBA2nFOriITq9dex_pkclj84Y88lIVL4BDjQclMVs2ldVVMx4suGGjpzdFodECg-kzAAyWGiGl41ocJKYex-w8yRKzTfcQsV5ZFFRE9enAqg/s320/Screen+shot+2009-09-30+at+2.01.30+AM.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387183417441928866" /></p>Since we've examined the marketplace (<a href="http://sailvolvooceanrace.blogspot.com/2009/09/filling-sponsorship-pipeline.html">in part 1</a>), understand how commercialized sailing projects are structured, how sponsors financially justify their investments, and where the real value is generated we are now ready to look at the sell cycle....stay tuned for part 3 of this series.<div><br /></div><div>Thanks for posting questions and comments, I'll continue to post responses.<br /><br />-Matt out<br />37 48.0N<br />122 26.6W</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-21485006804691355522009-09-25T18:48:00.014+01:002009-09-25T20:10:59.026+01:00Filling the Sponsorship Pipeline<p></p><br />I’ve decided to kick off a multi-part series of posts on the ‘Commercialization and Business of Professional Sailing’ as a bit of a change from my typical ‘Life from the Nav. Station’ pieces. This has been a personal interest of mine for some time, but seems particularly timely given where we are with the VOR and America’s Cup timelines. In this first part I will establish a baseline for where 'we' are in the global sponsorship market place.<br /><br /><b>Let's dig in...</b><br />With the start of next Volvo Ocean Race two years away and the America’s Cup/Louis Vuitton Series, ostensibly, returning to life, we sailors are asking: “Who’s going to be on the starting line”. While some of the teams will be underwritten by wealthy ‘hobbyists’, both the Volvo Ocean Race and the America’s Cup have their eye on the commercialized sports level where F1 and NASCAR currently reside. <br /><br /><b>What does this mean? </b><br />There are a lot of corporate sponsorships that will need to be sold in the next 12-24 months. Consider that an America’s Cup team will spend at least $20 million, and a Volvo Ocean Race team spends about $8 million annually. With an idealistic, 12 AC and 12 VOR teams, there is at least a $336 million annual pipeline that must be filled to sustain each event. To add some perspective on what $336 million represents in the advertising industry, in 2008 $918 billion was spent globally on all forms of advertising; $16.8 billion was spent on sponsorships, and 69% ($11.6 billion) of those sponsorships were allocated to sports <i>(IEG Sponsorship Report)</i>Thus the America’s Cup and the Volvo Ocean Race teams should represent a 2.9% market share of global sports sponsorship.<br /><br /><b>By way of comparing the VOR or AC to other sponsorship properties: </b><br /><ul><br /><li>The title sponsorship of a week long PGA event has a price tag of $15 million.<br /><li>A full year (38 race) title sponsorship of a NASCAR team costs $18 million.<br /><li>Each ‘Gold Level’ sponsor of the 2008 Beijing Olympics spent $100 million.<br /><li>A top tier Formula1 team’s annual operating budget in 2008 was $400 million.<br /></ul><br />If you consider that, practically, none of the AC or VOR teams have financial commitments from commercial sponsors at this point in time, we have a long-long ways to go to reestablish professional sailing’s stake in the global sponsorship market. In the second post in this series, I will discuss (what I see as) the make up of a successfully commercialized sailing project. Please post comments and questions. I will post responses to each of them.<br /><br />-Matt out<br />37 48.0N<br />122 26.6WUnknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-59620124893059475342009-07-13T08:44:00.001+01:002009-09-26T20:17:08.780+01:00Starry Starry Night<div class=Section1> <p class=MsoNormal>The sun has set, and the moon has not yet risen. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>After a week of sailing across the Pacific Ocean we, finally, have a cloudless night. The stars are just about as clear and numerous as any of us have ever seen. It’s a great night to be out on the ocean.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>I’ve spent quite a bit of time staring into the sky today. Part of the TransPac requirement, for Navigators, is to resolve 4 lines of position based upon celestial navigation. It’s been about 10 years since me and my college buddies Ben, Eric, Hans, and Shannon sat in on a ROTC Navy Navigation course at the University of Michigan. I only remember one thing about the celestial navigation part of that course; always remember to pack a hand held GPS and a bunch of extra batteries, just in case the boat’s GPS goes on the fritz… <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>In the spirit and tradition of the race I spent a couple hours today, relearning the details of how to plot position fixes using a sextant, a watch, the sun, and a computer based set of sight reduction tables….oh, there was also the text book that Brad Avery brought along that served as my crutch throughout the whole process. Without its guidance I, definitely, would not have gotten very far. My first fix took about an hour and a half to resolve. The fix was 124 miles off from our actual position (as compared to our GPS which gives position accurate to less than 2 meters, updated 5 times per second). With the process now streamlined and my work flow sorted out, I was able to resolve my next position in about 40 minutes and was about 55 miles off from our actual position. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>We have 231.81 miles left to go in our journey across the Pacific. We are in a parade now. Our goal of finishing in the winning position is an impossibility. Fortunately, tonight, we have great conversation, an endless supply of jokes, a sky full of stars, an upcoming moon rise, warm winds and perfect sailing conditions to keep our spirits high….Sammy’s freshly baked brownies, paired with a glass of cold milk, add quite a nice touch to the evening too…<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>-Matt out<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>22 50.940 N<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>153 14.134 W <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>(precisely)<o:p></o:p></p> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-59303745473999461972009-07-11T14:19:00.000+01:002009-07-11T14:21:09.148+01:00Instrument's meltdown?<div class=Section1> <p class=MsoNormal>“Hey Matt. The instruments aren’t working. Can you reset the system?” was the call I heard from on deck<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>“Strange. I have data coming into my computer. Must be an ondeck display problem”, I thought to myself. Let’s try turning the instruments off and on again.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>A flip-flop of a switch later …..<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>And, still, nothing. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>It was blowing 22 knots, it was cloudy, the sun had just set and the moon had not risen yet. It was pitch black on deck and the guys were, literally, sailing blind.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>“This is not good” I thought.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>I went for the low hanging fruit again;<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Flip -flop…<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Nothing.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>“Crap. This is not good”<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal> “It must be some sort of connection problem.”<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>I traced out the cable that connects the on-deck instrument displays to the system down below and set out, in a form of triage, to remove all possible ‘points of failure’. Clip- clip -clip went the wire cutters and I spliced a bundle of cables together. I then hit them with some solder to hold the wrangled mess of wires together. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>“That might do it. Lets check”<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>“Crap. I have NOTHING now?!’, Not even my computer was getting data anymore.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>“This is REALLY not good”<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>“Hey Matt. We can’t see where we are going. Hurry up!” the cries echoed, repeatedly, from on deck.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>“Oh boy, where to start? This could be ‘a major’. We might have a full on instrument melt down here. “<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>My buddy, Sammy, was now by my side helping me figure out the problem. He handed me a cordless drill and we dismantled the panel that contains the electrical, instrumentation and computer systems, revealing a mess of wires of different colors going into and out of a menagerie of boxes.”<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>“Let’s start with the basics. I wonder if the instruments are getting power. They aren’t responding to anything and we aren’t getting any sort of output…. How is this thing fused?’<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>‘ … ah. I see one of e2’s power/ network junction boxes back in there. Got a philips head screwdriver Sammy? Let’s look in there.”<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Sure enough; A blown 5A fuse. With luck on my side, I found a spare fuse taped to the inside cover of the box. The question was, however, what caused this fuse to trip? This might be the only fuse that we have, who knows, and I don’t want to turn on the power and have it kick again.”<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>I kept probing. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>“Ah ha! Found it. We are out of the woods. It’s a loose network wire.” This would explain the initial network problems and then the eventual blown fuse. I reconnected the wire into its rightful home and flipped on the instrument power.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Full systems go….whew…that was a close one.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Now let’s see if we find just as much luck with a couple wind shifts to claw our way past a couple boats. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Humm…. that could be a bit more complicated…<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>-Matt out<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>24 18 N<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>145 03 W<o:p></o:p></p> </div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-27917884634238861742009-07-10T06:07:00.000+01:002009-07-10T06:08:37.422+01:00Pacific Ocean Sleigh Ride....Finally<div class=Section1> <p class=MsoNormal>18 knots of wind, clearing skies and great sailing today…more importantly, significant gains on our entire fleet with every hourly position report. Great news and spirits are high.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>We are half way through the race. It’s now less than 1200nm, before we’ll be sipping on our first Mai Tai on the docks in Honolulu. Thus it was a perfect time for me to break out my ‘finish time contest’. This morning I posed a series of factoids on my bulletin board. The notice read:<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>As of 1200 (noon) Hawaii Local time today:<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Distance to finish: 1200nm <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Previous 24 hour run: 300nm<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Wind Forecast: 12-20 knots, 40-70 TWD, periods of squalls<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Bearing to Finish: 250 degrees<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Router time to finish: 4d 8h<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Router distance to sail to finish: 1300nm<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Everyone submitted ‘secret’ entries, until everyone had a chance to enter, then I posted the entries on the wall of the nav station. There is plenty of consensus for a Tuesday afternoon arrival. However Bruce Nelson, Sam Heck and Brent Ruhne picked times on Monday. While everyone is excited about winning the bottle of rum that goes along with winning the contest, we are focused on the real prize- beating the other Sleds to the finish line.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>-Matt out<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>25 29N<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>138 33W<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> </div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-70846124511400234962009-07-08T05:35:00.000+01:002009-07-08T05:36:26.016+01:00TransPac Day 3: Ups and Downs<div class=Section1> <p class=MsoNormal>Or … to put it into chronological order: Downs and Ups. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>We had a very tough pill to swallow this morning. We suffered significant losses in order to execute on our overall race routing and positioning strategy. To compound our woes, we were a couple hours late to change the spinnaker from our reaching oriented A3, to our downwind spinnaker, the A2. Thus, the lead pack of OEX, Pyewacket, and Grand Illusion all gained on us from sun rise to noon this morning. Certainly the questions were asked; “ are we sure that we are doing the right thing here”. There is nothing worse, as a navigator, than having to deliver 3 back to back scheds (position reports) that only feature losses. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>However this afternoon thing turned around. Since 2pm we’ve been making massive gains on the fleet. In a 2 hour stretch, from 2 to 4pm, we erased all of our morning’s losses- the expensive move that solidified our southerly lane. From 4pm onward we’ve been mak’n money. Now that the opening moves in the race have been made, and with our competition locked into their lanes, we’ll have to see how we do over the next 4 days on starboard tack. We anticipate making gains down here to the south, but have our eyes on an unstable forecast for the last 2 days of the race. Anything can happen, but for now, there are plenty of smiles to go around onboard the Holua.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>-Matt out<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>27 17.16N<o:p></o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>127 58.00W<o:p></o:p></p> </div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-26764624088712133562009-07-07T04:30:00.002+01:002009-07-07T04:43:57.731+01:00TransPac Day 2From where we left off yesterday we were rounding Catalina Island with the front runners in our class; Pyewacket, Grand Illusion, and OEX. The battle rages on. Pyewacket, Grand Illusion and OEX are in a neck and neck battle, all within sight of each other. Meanwhile we were able to execute our strategy for the first 36 hours of the race exactly as we planned. We came<br />around Catalina Island at a heading of 215, while the 'pack of three' maintained a slightly higher line. This places that group about 20 miles to the north of us. While the 'race viewer' might show them as closer to Hawaii, and thus on the top of the leader board, we are all within about a<br />mile of each other, as I score the race. It will be interesting to see how things play out. QuickSCAT images show lighter wind directly in front of usand to the north. This is also reflected in some of the numerical models that I am reviewing. Like the analogy of the runners on the track that I referred to in a blog from just before the race started; We will sail a bit<br />longer distance (like running around the outer lane 6 on a track) than the group of three to the north (that will run on the inside lane 1). Our plan is to stay in higher wind speeds and in faster true wind angles that those to the north of us. If our plan is correct we will start to reap the rewards over the next 72 hours...<p>Even though we are only 36 hours into the race we've already had plenty of adventure. The sunny skies that we left under, as we departed Long Beach yesterday, have turned to complete cloud cover today. We left the dock wearing shorts and a t-shirt, while today we have been bundled up in all the clothes that we brought on board. We had to make a repair in our mainsail,<br />which resulted in sailing with only a headsail, for about an hour last night. We have seen dolphins, flying fish and sun fish swim by our boat. And, I am very happy to report, that we have been eating like kings. Sammy Heck, the boat's captain, has put together a full-on royal menu. We had Honey Nut Cheerios swimming in ice cold milk for breakfast, peanut butter<br />and concord grape jelly sandwiches for snack, turkey-tomato-avocado sandwiches for lunch, and a three course dinner of soup, salad, and beef stroganoff over rice. Maybe I'll have some grapes or an orange for desert. Thinking practically, Sammy packed the boat with 'real food' for the first 5 days, where extra 'cargo' on the right side of the boat makes us faster. Once we get to the last half of the race, where being as light as possible is advantageous we will supplement with freeze dried food.</p><p>Brack Duker, the owner of Holua, has put together an all star cast of characters, and we are having a tremendous time out here. We are racing hard just as hard as we are laughing, so I'd say we have the trim of theboat just about right.</p><p>-Matt out<br />29 44.2N<br />123 29.5W</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-88477876235495743212009-07-06T00:33:00.001+01:002009-07-07T04:39:58.925+01:00Back at it: The TransPac is underwayAloha from the Holua.<br /><br />At 1pm this afternoon we started our race to Hawaii. The conditions could not have been better for both racers and spectators. We were sent off by a tremendous fleet of the race fans that came out for Sunday afternoon pleasure cruises.<p>In an effort to start at the favored pin end of the line, we were pushed over early, by a couple aggressive boats below us, just before the gunsounded. This forced us to dip around the pin end of the line and restart. Because we were quick to respond we didn't loose that much on the fleet and were able to reach down into a clear lane of wind. By the time we reached Catalina Island, 20 miles upwind, we were back in touch with the leaders. With some fabulous crew work, that included 8 tacks and 2 sail changes below the rock cliffs of Catalina Island, we found ourselves in front of our class. The other front runners in our class our Alchemy and Pyewacket.</p><p>Right now we are exactly where I hoped we'd be coming around Catalina Island. We have our with our bow poked out just a bit and are in the leeward lane... Just the perfect place to execute our race plan over the next 48 hours. Curious what that plan is? Well, I'm not going to tell you. You'll just have to wait and see what we have up our sleeves.</p><p>-Matt out<br />33 22.3 N<br />118 44.4 W</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-6307799761595735152009-07-02T23:38:00.009+01:002009-07-03T03:32:08.214+01:00Group 2 is off and racingThe TransPac is a 2230 mile race from Long Beach Ca, to Diamond Head, the infamous backdrop to Waikiki Beach in Oahu. Since there are boats of all sizes competing, the race starts in 3 waves so that the different classes will finish at about the same general time. The slower boats started on Monday, the middle group started at 1pm this afternoon, and our group, of the fastest boats, will start on Sunday.<br /><br />The dock talk this morning was abuzz about a weather forecast that is misbehaving... The more complicated and abnormal the better, I'd say...but apparently not all navigators and skippers would agree with me.<br /><br />Let's have a look at the weather scenario for those that kicked off their 2009 TransPac this afternoon in the middle group;<br /><br />In a 'normal weather scenario' the racers are pushed along by winds rotating, clockwise, around the Pacific High. Typically the center of the High is located directly west of northern California at a Longitude somewhere midway between Hawaii and the west coast of the USA. The weather maps in this scenario would look quite plane; a big 'H' out in the ocean with a bunch of concentric circles of increasing size around around the H. These rings depict the isobars (lines of equal pressure). The wind close to the H is light and the wind a couple rings out away from the H is nice for downwind surfing....thus the strategy is similar to running on a track. Would you rather be a slow runner running around a track on the inside lane one, or a fast runner on the outside lane six.<br /><br />Most of the woes on the dock this morning were focused on this image:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRgnjTX03OWbAQv8SoHz9ClXbt51fXIBEzKT9A1aPggSflwmXJleDMPY4cvVSB5dSjIJgvr30YsWEGrXrE9h3sytoW6Z701gIl5_ig5upxu9fc9AWZgVP0SKJFYLJllFsk-HnQ59ZvMaru/s1600-h/P_sfcbw_7_2.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRgnjTX03OWbAQv8SoHz9ClXbt51fXIBEzKT9A1aPggSflwmXJleDMPY4cvVSB5dSjIJgvr30YsWEGrXrE9h3sytoW6Z701gIl5_ig5upxu9fc9AWZgVP0SKJFYLJllFsk-HnQ59ZvMaru/s320/P_sfcbw_7_2.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353999536646842290" border="0" /></a><br />Quite different from 'normal'; you can see a front that reaches up from Hawaii, an L where an H should be, and massive gaps between the isobar lines. This all indicates very little wind and very tricky conditions. The trade winds are, for all practical purposes, completely shut down. Furthermore, the 500 millibar analysis features a massive trough that is further complicating the 'normal' wind flow at the upper levels.<br /><br />To look at a wind and pressure (MSLP) analysis (from the 12z GFS model run, plotted in Expedition), you can see that there is very little wind across the rhumb line (as noted by the black arc below). The areas of light wind are noted by the light purple regions, while the windy areas are in the green - to red side of the color spectrum.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEink_8MDNAD6IZVfbN6O6TwtqjH8yVYKXDmP9tak0gzZ4ia07wkh0uAzdWUAp60TB1cbWCKrxNPalsawixWnoN2ifxPI5VAxIEGXSXh-T-6kff0uWxq6GMrZTq-MgaP7bOnxvMp5nOXSycV/s1600-h/screen+shot_7_2.bmp"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEink_8MDNAD6IZVfbN6O6TwtqjH8yVYKXDmP9tak0gzZ4ia07wkh0uAzdWUAp60TB1cbWCKrxNPalsawixWnoN2ifxPI5VAxIEGXSXh-T-6kff0uWxq6GMrZTq-MgaP7bOnxvMp5nOXSycV/s320/screen+shot_7_2.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354002655546498658" border="0" /></a><br />You can see that the analysis changes quite a bit over the next 5 days. This is what the wind will look like about half way through the race for those that started today:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_aW79ztYaoPC6GI794mBqzCvFE_PxcDX2P69Mdr9mY93SLGglP9UgwffQvaEqeshUgLKL-OCLc2z6XJyecW10F0ynNjffpiVwOU5ZQ5DeUqFL2OK_gLgiD0aE3BItbhxjgfUX0no7Pp5p/s1600-h/screen+shot_7_2a.bmp"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_aW79ztYaoPC6GI794mBqzCvFE_PxcDX2P69Mdr9mY93SLGglP9UgwffQvaEqeshUgLKL-OCLc2z6XJyecW10F0ynNjffpiVwOU5ZQ5DeUqFL2OK_gLgiD0aE3BItbhxjgfUX0no7Pp5p/s320/screen+shot_7_2a.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354003412338917506" border="0" /></a>You can see, by the blue regions just below the rhumb line, that some normalcy will return to the Eastern Pacific by the middle of next week.<br /><br />So what will the game plan be for the boat starting today? I've heard that some boats are going to attempt a north route, while others will attempt a deep southerly route as their long range plan. While the boats started this afternoon in a coastal 12 knot sea breeze, the wind will quickly drop off to below 5 knots by around 3am tomorrow morning. It will most likely be a very slow morning for the fleet in group 2. I'd put my money on the boats that favor the southerly route coming out of the blocks. Those that press north will be rolling the dice and could likely find them selves adrift.<br /><br />It's going to be a complicated couple days, but the race course is full of opportunity when the weather is this dynamic. Plenty of people asked for my opinion this morning before they left...the best advice that I could give was, "start on Sunday".<br /><br />-Matt out<br />33 45.69N<br />118 11.62WUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-51930469219954032152009-07-01T06:44:00.003+01:002009-07-01T07:29:17.979+01:00Fast forward to nowWhere last I left the blog, I promised that the blog would continue....<br /><br />Clearly, it's taken awhile for me to come around. I must admit, once I left Team Delta Lloyd, I ran out of ideas for blog posts. I had a fully diagnosed and incurable case of writers block. While I anticipated continuing to write blog posts about the VOR from the sidelines, I discovered that I had a lot more to say as a race participant than as a race pundit. <br /><br />On my way home from Singapore, I swung through Boracay, a 1x7km island in the Philippines. I lived there for a month. I was the perfect way to unwind from the VOR. The very humble room that I rented was located above a cafe on a long white sand beach. I spent most all of my time in Boracay kite boarding, running, swimming and eating copious amounts of fresh seafood. When I returned home to San Francisco, I moved into a new apartment - conveniently located about 3 blocks away from the St Francis Yacht Club. The sailing season was close around the corner so I spent the remaining weeks of winter and the early spring enjoying some fabulous skiing conditions in Tahoe, while also working on some business development oriented consulting projects.<br /><br />As the sailing season started to kick into gear several sailing projects headed my way, including the opportunity to sail in the TransPac as the navigator for Holua, a very successful Santa Cruz 70 program. I immediately jumped at the chance. We've had one event leading up to the TransPac, the Cal Cup, which we won, and have done some offshore testing as part of our preparations. Most of the crew have spent a lot of time with the boat and sailing with each other over the past several years, so I am the 'new guy' on the team.<br /><br />It's great to be back at it; immersing myself into racing, polar optimizations, sail cross over development, and weather analysis. It also feels good to be writing again. Maybe my writers blog has been cured. I have plenty of blog topics on my mind, so hopefully the Volvo Hotseat blog can pick up where it left off.<br /><br />-Matt out.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">on Thursday I'll post a weather briefing for the Divisions that are starting at 1 pm PDT, later that day. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-58467418165070969362009-06-30T23:28:00.001+01:002009-06-30T23:28:11.347+01:00Getting back into the Hot Seat....I was working at my computer this afternoon, sifting through GOES satellite images from the Pacific Ocean, when I got an email from my college buddy Ben;<div><br></div><div>"Matt, you are doing the TransPac this year. What do you think about bringing back your blog? Come on...bring it back..."</div> <div><br></div><div>Alright Ben, you've got it, my 'Hot Seat blog' is back...stay tuned...</div><div><br></div><div>-Matt out</div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-81919786126690536862009-01-09T04:36:00.003+00:002009-01-09T04:41:27.758+00:00It's time to move on...I'm leaving Team Delta Lloyd. This interview with Volvo gives a pretty good summary of what happened: <a href="http://www.volvooceanrace.org/multimedia/audio-gallery/Listen/Listen.aspx?id=f39c1970-2a36-4a15-878c-6df19d43ff10">Click Here</a><br /><br />But don't worry, the blog will continue. As always, if you have topics that you want me to cover let me know: blog@gregorysports.com<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">-Matt out</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"></span><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-56460416579987036672008-12-24T07:47:00.002+00:002008-12-24T07:51:52.882+00:00Finally in SingaporeWe made it. Here is an interview that was recorded as I stepped off of the boat and onto the dock. It pretty much says it all : <a href="http://www.volvooceanrace.org/multimedia/audio-gallery/listen/listen.aspx?id=c220828d-75b1-49bd-a851-b206b0c72d6d">Click here</a><br /><br />To all of my friends and family, I miss you all very much and wish I could be with you over Christmas and New Year...<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Matt out</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-79287892358811811132008-12-21T23:05:00.001+00:002008-12-21T23:06:57.180+00:00Still Sailing<P></P><br />We are still sailing, which means that we are still in the race. We are almost 200 miles behind the leaders but still pressing on to the finish of Leg 3 under sail.<br /><br />We are badly broken but not out. Hopefully we can make Singapore under sail, and that would be a victory in itself. One great thing about the Volvo 70 is that even with the throttle set at idle, we can still make 9 or 10 knots, given a decent wind. Not too bad.<br /><br />But a new problem popped up today. We can’t keep hydraulic fluid in the one remaining cylinder that is holding the keel in the center cant position. This means that the keel slowly creeps to the leeward side. Hydraulic oil is running out of the cylinder and into the bilge. It’s a huge mess. We’ve used all of our spare oil. Now we are collecting the oil/water slurry that ends up in the bilge. We pour it into buckets, let it settle, skim off the oil from the water and pour the oil back into the hydraulic pump.<br /><br />Yup, this is a long leg. Knowing that we all have a week long vacation when we get to Singapore only makes us more anxious to put this leg behind.<br /><br />In the mean time, we’ll keep sailing.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-58287740593220157122008-12-19T18:05:00.005+00:002008-12-19T18:19:46.086+00:00Up Side of Down<P></P><br />Not so bad, this being broken. <br /><br />After the initial shock and disappointment of the BIG BANG, it became apparent that we would be able to make the Malacca Strait and sail the boat to Singapore, even with a separated bulkhead and a crippled keel ram. <br /><br />As ugly goes, this was fantastic news.<br /><br />Then it dawned on me that my workload as navigator was dramatically reduced. Basic route planning, weather analysis, piece of cake. The logical next goal was a good night's sleep. I got up from my desk, brushed my teeth, washed my face with fresh water and dragged our big masthead spinnaker into a nice corner of the boat. I fell asleep with the thought that I wasn’t going to get up until the sun came up. A couple dreams later, I decided to move into an open bunk on the leeward side. Yes, the strange, unexplored <I>leeward</i> side of the boat. I pressed on in my mission to sleep until dawn. <br /><br />Later, back to the sail bag.<br /><br />Later, back to the bean bag.<br /><br />When I woke up for real the sun was shining down the companionway hatch. Mission complete. Man, I have felt amazing all day today. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-sLgdU0Kzehh_K18XGYWVdHFk8qDPHfCLZUjl1nhBfKk-YP5IqtiJxyZSUbFhn6bwDKRkR7bQ68DiSMlPdpKBO95pbNd72voRqAafvbnI-WaTZ45hR9ZcsJhR3i9Jwqbkb5-PV2Llf8g/s1600-h/IMG_2427.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-sLgdU0Kzehh_K18XGYWVdHFk8qDPHfCLZUjl1nhBfKk-YP5IqtiJxyZSUbFhn6bwDKRkR7bQ68DiSMlPdpKBO95pbNd72voRqAafvbnI-WaTZ45hR9ZcsJhR3i9Jwqbkb5-PV2Llf8g/s400/IMG_2427.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281565201998731010" /></a><font size="1">Photo by Sander Plujim/Team Delta Lloyd/Volvo Ocean Race</font><br /><br />I drove for couple hours, casually confirmed that we were still heading east, radioed a passing tanker in my best trucker accent, and spent time joking with my mates. That's the great Ryan "Housty" Houston above, left.<br /><br />This is working. I just might sleep two nights in a row.<br /><br />Out, until the sun comes up.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-20075686880259862612008-12-18T20:40:00.004+00:002008-12-18T20:54:25.705+00:00HQ, We Have a Problem<P></P><br /><br /><br />I was lying in a bunk catching up on sleep. Dreaming about something, I don't remember what.<br /><br />I woke to the sound of a deafening explosion. There is just no other way to describe it.<br /><br />BAM <br /><br />(!)<br /><br />Something major. Broken. I sprang up. I waited for the rig to hit the water. I heard nothing. The sails weren’t even flapping.<br /><br />Screams from the crew<br /><br /><br />It’s something in the boat.”<br /><br />“Check the chain plates!’<br /><br />“Are the bulkheads ok?”<br /><br />“Did we de-laminate?”<br /><br />“We are taking the headsail down. Can we have another body on deck?”<br /><br />“Get the tool box. I need the Allen keys. We need to open the keel box to see the rams”<br /><br />“Holy shit. This is it! It’s bad!”<br /><br />“Emergency water pumps ready.”<br /><br />Grab bags and survival suits were pulled out of the locker in case.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9vpda-8oncqP7nbaVq4NPSkj8rVw490ne2f2hlDaCn_XUh9aq0ChCjd5xrZao43JtjyHMnZWDrIgGP6UiM5iYJnYNI4TuHcjihkKIBT_tmLym0W8Hy0XuDt1jEhJnyx-DKvW6npTdMaT/s1600-h/broken.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9vpda-8oncqP7nbaVq4NPSkj8rVw490ne2f2hlDaCn_XUh9aq0ChCjd5xrZao43JtjyHMnZWDrIgGP6UiM5iYJnYNI4TuHcjihkKIBT_tmLym0W8Hy0XuDt1jEhJnyx-DKvW6npTdMaT/s400/broken.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281235372402595522" /></a><font size="1">Photo by Sander Plujim/Team Delta Lloyd/Volvo Ocean Race</font><br /><br />I got on the sat phone. The first call was to the Volvo Race HQ. “This is Matt Gregory. We have a problem. We’ve had a massive failure to the port side bulkhead that attaches the keel canting hydraulic ram to the boat. We aren’t sure of the situation yet. Can you put everyone on standby? We might need help from the Russians; they are the closest boat to us. Are you receiving our position through the telemetry?”<br /><br />After some tense moments we were able to assess our prospects. The hull was intact. Water was not coming into the boat, and the starboard side ram was holding the load of the keel. We had a stable situation, were not in immediate danger, and now needed to figure out what to do next, not to create a dangerous situation.<br /><br />We called Juan K, our boat’s designer. He helped us determine that the damage was contained to the port side keel ram structures. The starboard side structures and ram would be strong enough to allow us to go upwind and into the waves - east towards the Malacca Straights and then towards Singapore. The closest land, which happens to be the scoring gate, is 400 miles away. We don’t have enough diesel fuel to motor the entire way, so being able to sail in some capacity is important. Also, because the boat heels, sailing helps reduce the pounding loads on the boat moving upwind and into the waves. With the keel uncanted and in the center position, we are able to gingerly sail upwind. This is good news.<br /><br />Right now, we are making headway in 15 knots of wind, sailing with a reef in the main and a J4 headsail.<br /><br />(It's a tiny staysail like headsail.)<br /><br />We are coordinating with our shore team and Volvo Race HQ to manage the logistics of getting the boat to Singapore. This might involve sailing to Indonesia, taking on fuel, and then motoring the rest of the way. But these are details. For now, we are all happy to be safe and for our boat to be in one piece<br /><br />Well, sort of one piece.<br /><br />I've adjusted my Christmas wish list.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-19384927619743963472008-12-16T20:09:00.004+00:002008-12-16T20:15:00.713+00:00Two Sides of One Coin<p></p><br /><br />Yesterday was one of those days. <br /><br />We were approaching the turning mark at the 'pirate <br />exclusion zone' and nicely sailing in about 12 knots of <br />wind. We needed to simply round a virtual coordinate, freeing us to sail east across the Bay of Bengal. I was exhausted and I was <br />looking forward to a nap after the rounding. <br /><br />Then, about 8 miles short, the wind started to die. <br /><br />By the time the wind got down to 4 knots we were not able to keep up with the current that was flowing against us at 2.5 knots. For 8 hours we struggled to make progress south. Meanwhile, the rest of the fleet made the turn and sailed away in moderate winds, <I>perpendicular to the current.</I> <br /><br />For us it was like walking up a down-escalator and finding out that iPhones are being given away for free on the third floor of the mall. You can see the stampede of people running towards the Apple store, but you are trapped running as fast as you can, arms pumping wildly, going nowhere, unable to keep up with an endless Stairmaster throwing stair after stair after stair at you.<br /><br />Finally the wind gods stopped their torturous joke. We got around the mark, but the fleet gained 35 miles on us in their shopping bonanza. Pissed off, exhausted and frustrated I climbed into a bunk for a nap.<br /><br />A couple hours later the sun set and we were gently sailing along in 8 knots of wind. To find a way to put my self in a better mood, I took an iPod, a water bottle and a freeze dry Chicken Korma up to the foredeck. It was a perfectly clear and dark night. I ate dinner and then reclined on our A4 spinnaker, which makes a perfect bean bag chair. Dressed simply in a pair of board shorts, on a comfortably warm Indian Ocean night, I lay looking up at the mast, sails and an uncountable number of crisp bright stars. The darkness was, every so often, interrupted by a flash of lightning from a thunderstorm that was passing us by far off on the horizon. With "The Cars - Magic" playing in my headphones, I decided that life was not so bad after all. I watched a nearly full moon rise from the east and decided it was time to go back to work.<br /><br />We've made gains over the past 16 hours and we are clawing our way back into this race.<br /><br /><I>Matt out</I>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-33611583332909562792008-12-14T22:47:00.003+00:002009-01-03T22:18:38.049+00:00Yo-Yo Parade<P></P><br />The weather brief from our meteorologist, Fritz Koek, has been spot on so far. Simply put, the short sprint from the start, down to the virtual marks that Volvo laid to the south of Sri Lanka, would be full of geographically placed 'bands of wind' and 'bands of little wind'. From the start:<br /><br />-<br />A band of westerly sea breeze<br />-<br />No wind<br />-<br />A band of land breeze from the east<br />-<br />No wind<br />-<br />A band of 20 knots from the east, funneling between India and Sri Lanka<br />-<br />Little wind on the lee side of Sri Lanka as we round the first turning mark <br />-<br /><br />And that's where we are as I write. The strategic implications of this brief? <br /><br />In theory: After the first park up, in no wind, the first boats to work east and south into the land breeze would jump ahead of the fleet. Winning the first six hours would be key in this Yo-Yo race. <br /><br />In fact: During the first park-up, the entire fleet was separated by only one or two miles. But two miles was all the leaders needed to then leap ahead 30 miles; they got the land breeze first and sailed away.<br /><br />Yo<br /><br />Time for the boats in the back to play catch up as the leaders sailed into the next parking lot. We were all separated by only a handful of miles yet again. <br /><br />Yo<br /><br />The leaders got south into the strong funneling wind from the east and zoomed away. <br /><br />Yo <br /><br />Still blast reaching at 20 knots the trailing boats caught back up to the leaders. <br /><br />Yo<br /><br />How many more 'Yo's' are left in this leg? <br /><br />Stay tuned.<br /><br />YoUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-71635567979887248342008-12-13T21:29:00.006+00:002008-12-13T21:51:01.880+00:00Christmas in Singapore?<P></P>Three hours into leg three. <br /><br />The entire fleet is sailing due south along the west coast of India in a nice westerly seabreeze. We are flying our A4, a big downwind sail, and cruising along at 10 knots of boatspeed in 9-11 knots of wind. This won't last forever. <br /><br />I expect the wind to die in about two hours. We most likely will come to a complete stop. A new wind is coming, however. The winter monsoon, a northeast gradient, should set the tone of things and get us moving south once again. As we leave India behind and turn the corner, we'll add extra distance to skirt an exclusion zone that Volvo has set around the southern coast of the island of Sri Lanka; the zone is intended to keep us clear of a gang of pirates that apparently even have their own 'air force'.<br /><br />Once we clear the land masses of India and Sri Lanka we will be able to head east across the Bay of Bengal. The northeast monsoon will still be our driving weather pattern through this 1,000 mile stretch of open ocean.<br /><br />Sailing mostly on port tack, at maximum upwind angles we will have a couple of strategic decisions to make.<br /><br />To the north of our expected track there should be more wind; to the south, a light and shifty convergence zone that is full of clouds, rain and not much wind. However because of the mechanical forces that propel the boat through the water, going south is easy, going north is difficult. We can reach a bit, to sail faster, but then we will be flirting with the convergence zone and the risk of being swallowed up by calms. Going north then seems like the obvious choice, but we can sail only so close to the wind. Climbing up to the windier areas might be costly if we have to sail in full upwind mode or <i>very</i> costly if we actually have to tack. We'll just have to wait and see what micro weather systems exist when we turn east.The last 600 miles of the race will be incredibly tricky as we sail down the Strait of Malacca, with Sumatra to the west and Malaysia to the east. This is a narrow strip of water that is full of fishing boats, fishing nets, commercial shipping, more fishing nets, and, yes, more pirates. But this is also an area of very little wind and an opposing current. No reason to expect it to be easy.<br /><br />For the last couple of days before we started this leg, the wives and girlfriends of my team mates were asking if my forecasting models show us getting to Singapore in time for Christmas. I didn't have the heart to tell them directly what I was thinking. The truth is, I don't care when we get to Singapore, except in relation to the fleet. All I want for Christmas is a podium finish.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-40777741644005885232008-12-08T14:04:00.008+00:002008-12-08T15:55:46.939+00:00YOU are going for a wild ride....Pull your chair up close to your desk, and strap on your seat belt. Thanks to the media guys at Delta Lloyd, I have a really cool video to share with you today. This is an 'MTV style' compilation video of our team Delta Lloyd in Legs 1 and 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzvuEQQ8K9-yG8f8yIvzIfnLzrY0AB3elSCkCnYgpCPrjh_3uzN_B7fG-I53exjDtdczlxocAer8U7LdlY8sQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />If you want to download the high res version <a href="http://625.gaoz.net/vor/Voor_Ivo.wmv">click here</a>. It's only 80 MB... a quick download, and definitely worth seeing in the full version!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">-Matt out</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-35494291044216985012008-12-07T14:24:00.003+00:002008-12-07T15:07:50.660+00:00It doesn't matter if you like cherries....Today I was walking through the Volvo Ocean Race Village on my way from our base to the race headquarters for a meeting. While wearing my 'MBA hat', I was thinking about why this stopover has been so overwhelmingly popular. This sort of enthusiasm is common for the Volvo Ocean Race in Europe where the race is followed intensely. However, consider that these fans are not sailors. They know absolutely nothing about sailing nor anything about the history of the race. I asked myself "why are they all of these people here if they are not sailing fans?"<br /><br />I've figured it out. Strangely, this stopover reminded me a lot of the Cherry Festival in Traverse City Michigan. If you either live or vacation in northern Michigan, the Cherry festival is a 'must attend' summer event. It doesn't matter if you grow, pick, sell, bake, or for that matter, even like cherries, you'd still go to the festival as a highlight of the summer season. Volvo has managed to not only capture the adventurous imagination of the local people of Cochin, but they've also turned this stopover into a 'must attend' event for the local people. 'Bravo' Volvo....this is exactly where the future of the 'professional' end of our sport needs to head.<br /><br />The 2008 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race seems to be extending the path for the future commercialization of professional sailing. This race is creating a fantastic show for the public to match the intense racing on the water. While this race will always have a loyal technical and sailing fans, this world class event is developing into a traveling 'circus' with attractions, concerts and up-close and personal access to boats and teams. Meanwhile behind the scenes sponsors are using this event to entertain and build relationships with their most valuable customers. Team sponsors are also using the stopovers as a platform for launching global internal communications and team building projects. Throw in a parade of elephants here and there and it's easy to see that there is a lot going on at a Volvo Ocean Race stopover!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">-Matt out</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-68294392092663365382008-12-05T11:45:00.005+00:002008-12-05T12:55:43.000+00:00"How is India?"My friends have sent me a million emails, all with the same question. "How is India?"<br /><br />It's incredible. <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />(I'm, also, fine... by the way.)</span><br /><br />I must admit that the Cochin stopover was not on the top of my list of places that I was 'most' excited about visiting on this world tour. The edge of Rio, the 'homecoming' in Boston, the Midsummer parties in Stockholm, and the finish in Russia, were on the top of my list. I was a bit melancholy about Cochin. It's hot, there are a lot of mosquitoes, eating the 'wrong' food will make you sick and internet access is very limited. Furthermore I thought that Cochin might be a dangerous place considering the recent events in the country.<br /><br />But none of that matters. This stopover is amazing. I love this place!<br /><br />A lot of my excitement comes directly from the people of Cochin who are going absolutely bonkers over the Volvo Ocean Race. When we arrived there were thousands upon thousands of people here to greet us. Like rock stars, we were led down 'greeting line', where every onlooker wanted to welcome us to their city and shake our hands. When we walk around the streets crowds engulf us, asking for our names, our autographs and about our participation in the race. Nightly the race village bulges at the seams to make room for all of the people that come for the exhibitions, concerts and attractions . During the day thousands of people wait patiently in ques of up to 5 hours long to ride on the Volvo 70 sailing simulator, walk through the Volvo pavilion and to get an up close boat view of the boats from the spectator platform.<br /><br />The local military and police have the race village under tight security and they are all armed with very large guns. However, this does not distract from the local 'karma' that is overtly friendly and enthusiastically welcoming. Although the security is very intense, I feel completely safe here.<br /><br />I'm looking forward to the next 10 days that we have left to enjoy the city of Cochin. Here are some photos that I took today.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOG1wsm4_2z5z1XZxLzbLR1Jyrm-DjGdTnfMyTdBSvktTpWzNxUll1CK9r0QFBfqVVO_FcNWpvEQM18s4B8kxh4WGk4vOYvCM6dbRHl-zI54LJpgUU3Xq45zyS4fAXNH9bU5_LSRM31jH9/s1600-h/india+001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOG1wsm4_2z5z1XZxLzbLR1Jyrm-DjGdTnfMyTdBSvktTpWzNxUll1CK9r0QFBfqVVO_FcNWpvEQM18s4B8kxh4WGk4vOYvCM6dbRHl-zI54LJpgUU3Xq45zyS4fAXNH9bU5_LSRM31jH9/s320/india+001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276282528640532402" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Our boat is well guarded</span><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaVEzIV_ljl-IiSEaP41Fw2ezKqx8DpTM__3DBQupbkXuYOB8rQU_GBONVZyzYlSN9tv_5MLbvlPNpFaqeoM62Kv-bNF1No8cIAWq6O6_HizEBdzIpgu8SXU-S6e44Qp6Y6_7ofDVt01Dg/s1600-h/india+008.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaVEzIV_ljl-IiSEaP41Fw2ezKqx8DpTM__3DBQupbkXuYOB8rQU_GBONVZyzYlSN9tv_5MLbvlPNpFaqeoM62Kv-bNF1No8cIAWq6O6_HizEBdzIpgu8SXU-S6e44Qp6Y6_7ofDVt01Dg/s320/india+008.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276284313616761058" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">A local fishing boat cruising down the river next to the VOR village.<br />We passed hundreds of these boats on our way in to the finish line of leg 2. Needless to say the sea food here is absolutely fabulous!<br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDHKc3SCiwqXfibZAYz8CDpPWraJoWFkTIoHLB8BbSYIsEpeNI0nQX1UUqgHRvVP7Z9vVECrOXfmR-W_mMmtOqJJT-O5849Hr51o6y2gdoRgEr_t1BMfq5KcvH39AyM_u-0JLqXva-s4BG/s1600-h/india+012.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDHKc3SCiwqXfibZAYz8CDpPWraJoWFkTIoHLB8BbSYIsEpeNI0nQX1UUqgHRvVP7Z9vVECrOXfmR-W_mMmtOqJJT-O5849Hr51o6y2gdoRgEr_t1BMfq5KcvH39AyM_u-0JLqXva-s4BG/s320/india+012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276284302573994162" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">What's a day in India with out seeing an elephant walk by? Apparently it's a rarity.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">-<span style="font-style: italic;">Matt out.</span><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357602070116027129.post-67755309139165062422008-12-02T11:42:00.002+00:002008-12-02T11:52:29.734+00:00Dockside in Kochin India<a href="http://www.volvooceanrace.org/multimedia/audio-gallery/Listen/Listen.aspx?id=49ef4247-9057-48e8-a665-e17204181772">Click here for a link to my dockside interview with VOR.</a><br /><br />Stand by for some blogs from the shore.... I'll work to keep the blog updated with 'the stopover experience'<br /><br />Matt outUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0