Category Archives: International Races 2012

BoDream News/ Autumn in Portugal

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Hello from Portugal, where I’m told the American Embassy and the U.S. Navy are both looking for me!

Not that I’ve done anything wrong, it’s just that one of our crew friends has close connections hereabouts, and they would like to properly welcome me to Portugal! Haven’t gotten over there yet, but hopefully will, before I depart. I have to say, from what I’ve seen so far, Portugal is a wonderful place! Such friendly (and pretty) people, and it seems the perfect time to be here – the summer crowds are gone, but the warm vibrancy of the old town of Cascais is still around.

The View across the Harbor...

I sailed in last Sunday. The trip down, which you know (if you read the earlier update) was quite the ride, all worked out well in the end. The part I hadn’t planned for though came right at the end, as I sailed in towards Lisbon. At that point, the lollygag of a sail I was expecting, turned into a 35 knot upwind haul. The gusts and spray were incessant, and I admit I was not properly prepared for that. I only had a “waypoint” on the GPS to head for, and I hadn’t studied the charts much, as the earlier forecast was for no wind and an easy sail into the harbor. So there I was, leaning into the cockpit cowlings, tracking the GPS and chart plotter, steering around waves and wind, all the while getting tossed about by churning currents. It all made for a pretty intense four hours, as I slowly plowed my way towards the port of Cascais.

Portuguese Wind

At one point, I considered turning around and heading back out to sea… to the safety of open water. The only problem was that the next port, Madeira, was some distance away, and I would risk running low on food and water. So, I pressed on to at least take a look at the harbor, and to see if I might find some way to enter it and find dockage. As I came closer, I started to think it would be a bit sporting to give this a try. I figured if I stayed focused on the task at hand, I could do it. I set the boat up so that I could moor on either side, and after a time, I entered the harbor where I took the first available slip I could find. Fortunately, it was a slip suitable for a 150′ yacht, so I made a good (and spacious) landing. I’m embarrassed to say though, I needed all 150 feet to get the job done. But like they say about flying, anything you can walk away from is good!

With some help from the harbor master and crew (and after a good cleaning,) I am now situated in a nice slip, and Bodacious will remain here until I return around December 1st and make plans to sail to Charleston, S.C.. We’re all hoping this ferocious hurricane season will be over by then! Our hearts go out to all those souls lost or displaced by Sandy. News of the hurricane (as well as the storms on the Great Lakes) has kept the sailing community buzzing around the wi-fi hot spots in the harbor. On that score, I’ve been a bit hampered. Just as I got settled here, my computer crashed. In an early morning emergency call, my go-to guy, Jonathan, convinced me NOT to fling the damn thing overboard, but to bring it back home where he would dissect the problem and recover the data.

In the meantime, I quickly purchased a mini-computer so I could keep up with emails and such. Frugality suggested I buy the least expensive one on the shelf, which seemed fine, except for one thing… it has a very small Portuguese keyboard.

A small computer to be sure..

So accounting for clumsy typing, and things not being where I am used to them being, my emails are looking as if I’ve been over-sampling this country’s fine port wines. Fortunately, with the great editing help of Mark Petrakis, you likely won’t notice this. Mark has been receiving my updates and emails in various “soaked” states, and drying them out into more readable forms – which should also help explain the mystery surrounding the sudden improvement in my writing, grammar and spelling skills. Thanks Mark!

And if things go right, we’ll soon have a whole bunch of photos AND videos from the summer, to hold you through the long winter.

I’ve got one more story to share. I found a great little Irish bar here in Cascais, where folks like to gather in the evening for a bit of conversation and music. I was finishing up a beer when a gentleman walked in, and as often happens, gave the stranger a friendly wink and a nod. He asked where I was from, thinking perhaps I was from Belgium or France. As we got to talking, he told me he was from a Portuguese fishing family… and he said… “we never really understood sailing.” As we talked, I told him of the trip in and of the porpoises and how they played and cavorted about the boat for hours late at night, and how I was sure they had something very important to impart to me. He smiled and said… “they are happy you have taken the time to come to their world, a place you aren’t supposed to be… and so they come to play and visit with you.” The twinkle in his eye told me so much. I thought this must have been something that his grandfather had told him as a young boy, and I imagined him at that age, leaning over the bow of their fishing boat, laughing and talking to the dolphins – as all of us who have encountered those wondrous creatures, cannot help but do.

So, while Portugal is lovely, it is time to head back home. So come Saturday, when some of the boaters in the harbor will head south to Madeira, I’ll be heading to the airport for a flight home. I’ve not been back there since June, and it’s time to catch up with family and friends and have a good old-fashioned Thanksgiving, one in which I will be thankful for so much and thinking of so many of you.

– Dave and Bodacious Dream

BoDream News/ T-Minus 4 Days Til’ Departure!

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I’m back in La Rochelle, France after a short holiday in London and Ireland. Had the great opportunity to meet up with the London Office of William Blair, and share some stories. Great folks there, and one fun story to share … a typical Rearick story!

The plan was to meet at HIX Restaurant in the SoHo district, and I arrived a bit late after a couple of twists and turns on the subway (called the “tube” in London.) I explained to the hostess that I was meeting a group for dinner and she, without any hesitation, pointed me to the room down the stairs. I walked down and into a room full of suits and ties, and figured I was in the right place. Though I didn’t recognize anyone, I heard talk in the background of financial market conditions, and so I relaxed, ordered a beer and began to circulate. After a few minutes of conversation with one group of guys … (of course, you can imagine I wasn’t really dressed the part) … I finally thought to ask if this was in fact, the William Blair party. After a good chuckle, we figured out I was at the wrong party, though curiously enough, this firm does business with William Blair – so all was good. I excused myself, thanked them for my beer and went in search of my party. When I arrived at the proper table, beer in hand, they all knew where I’d been, as they had watched me walk in and disappear down the stairs. Well, what good would a sailor be, if he couldn’t walk into a strange party, tell a good story and get a free beer?

In London, I got a chance to take in some of the high points, especially the Maritime Museum in Greenwich. What an interesting place to visit, complete with the famous Cutty Sark heself, outside “on the hard.” The Cutty Sark, a clipper ship of the tea trading days, which long held the speed record of 73 days for its outbound passage from London to Australia back in 1874.

Cutty Sark Clipper Ship 1874

From London, I took a train and then a ferry to Dublin and spent a couple of days drenching myself in Irish culture and music. Way too short a time to spend, but circumstances being what they are, it was all I had, and a bit was a whole lot better than none at all.

So, now I’m back in La Rochelle, where it’s still raining. Bodacious Dream has been drying out and being looked after by good friends Pat and Michelle of the Croix du Sud, who are also planning on competing in the Global Ocean Race as a double-handed team. I’ll be spending the next couple of days doing the last minute preparations necessary before leaving La Rochelle and France, and then sailing for home on Wednesday. Jobs will include provisioning, water, sorting and packing, weather routing and maintenance.

Fellow sailor with Bodacious Racing, John Hosking has been keeping track of the weather and providing routing guidance for the trip back. So far, it looks like a decent start to the trip, but after a week or so, it gets a bit confusing with a few lows building and moving into my desired path. As you may know, low pressure systems are typically the systems that bring stormy wind and rain. Finding a route between them that still sustains good winds is what we call routing. It will be interesting to see how the whole weather systems play out, as the typical Atlantic weather is somewhat mixed up at the moment. There is an old saying—“Sail south until the butter melts, and then head west with the tradewinds.”  The trade winds are steady winds that blow in consistent directions through the tropical zones. These winds blow from the East toward North America in this area of the Atlantic, and so provided good sailing for the old trading vessels like the Cutty Sark … hence the name Trade Winds!

Here’s what our computer routing programs look like to us.Navigation Routing Display

The black line is the course to the Azores, south west of France. The Red line is one route by the computer, the blue line another. They are determined by computer weather models. The various shades of color represent wind strengths … blues being lighter, greens to yellows being heavier. The wind strengths are represented by the “flag” type symbols. You can see that some have one “feather” on them, while others have one and a half or two. Each full feather is 10 knots of wind, a half is 5 knots.  So, a feather and a half is 15 knots, two feathers is 20 knots. If you think of it as the feather on the back of an arrow, that is the direction of the wind.

So, just a few more days here in France. This afternoon, since it’s Sunday and most of France takes Sundays off, I’m going to try to make some time to travel north to the seaside town of Les Sables-d’Olonne, where the VendĂ©e Global Race is scheduled to begin on November 10th.

The Vendée Globe, begun in 1989, is the evolved version of the Golden Globe Race of 1968 when the first person, Robin Knox-Johnston, sailed his boat non-stop around the world in about 312 days. Nowadays, the race is filled with state-of-the-art, carbon fiber Open 60 sailing machines, each still manned by just one person, with the goal of racing around the world nonstop. The winners in this race typically take less than 90 days for the passage. The Vendée Globe, like the Global Ocean Race and the Velux 5 Oceans Race, are the premier solo world circumnavigation events.

There’s always a lot of discussion as to what would be harder … non-stop or stops in a circumnavigation. What would you think? Some say non-stop … some say stopping. With non-stop, once you build your lead, your strategy is just to stay ahead and not break anything. In the stopped version, you restart even at each port. Each leg then is a new race, and so you sail with a different strategy. Interesting question isn’t it? No doubt, 90 to 100 days, constantly racing your 60 foot boat is a great test of human endurance and fortitude. Check out progress on the VendĂ©e Globe at www.vendeeglobe.org.

Well, enjoy your day. I’ll send out one more update before I depart on Wednesday. Then I’ll be relying again on my friends at Firm Solutions to help forward news of my passage to you through these newsletters, the BD website and Facebook. My plan is to send out news along the route through our onboard satellite communication system – hopefully!

– Dave

BoDream News / Packin’ Up & Headin’ for Home

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It’s Thursday afternoon, as I write this. The Mondial Worlds ended Saturday night, five days ago, and it’s only stopped raining for a few moments since then. Most of the crews left Sunday, and their boats followed shortly thereafter. It being early fall here in La Rochelle, the energy about town has quieted from a month ago when I first arrived. Some of the restaurants have even begun to help me reintegrate into the American life I’m headed back to, by closing early… around 9:30pm!! I had grown accustomed to grabbing something to eat at very late hours.

It’s time now to sort and pack the boat, and get ready to leave myself. Being a traveling sailing program, I’ve acquired many things over the summer – from all sorts of extra gear to new electric tools, due to the different electrical system over here. The race sponsors help arrange storage and moving of gear from one port to another by truck or container – which helps for racing, but since I’m sailing home, much of the gear needs to come with me. Here in La Rochelle, I emptied the contents of the boat into a storage locker, and am now retrieving everything including some things I’ve acquired since the races… like bottles of French Red Wine!!

Deep in the Belly of the Stuff
 Deep in the Belly of the Stuff…

On Monday, with it still raining, and before beginning to repack, I took the time to wash out the boat from one end to the other. The rain keeps coming, so the inside is still struggling to dry, while I keep bringing stuff onboard that’s gotten soaked between the car and the boat. Good thing the dehumidifier is less than a year old. The other task at hand is to set up sails for the trans-Atlantic sail home. The mainsail is up at this point, and I have two jibs I have yet to set up. Whenever the rain stops for a moment, I’m going to take care of that.

Sails and the Lady in Waiting
Sails and The Lady in Waiting..

This push to get the boat ready, is also to give me a chance to leave here this weekend, and to take in some touring of London and Ireland. I hope when I return, that the weather will have changed, at which point, I can do some quick shopping for food, say some goodbyes to friends, untie the dock lines and point the bow west and head for home. This trip will be a solo trip all the way – partly for training purposes, partly to qualify for the Global Ocean Race and partly just for myself. My solo dreams of long ago began with reading about those who sailed solo across the Atlantic. It will be a real treat for me to retell those stories in my memory, as I sail the 3500-4000 miles from La Rochelle to Charleston, SC.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to sailing from France west to North America. Many of the boats this time of year are headed more south than I am, to the Caribbean for the winter. In that case, they will likely sail south to the Canary Islands and Madeira, before hooking onto the trade winds and sailing west. That trip is approximately 4500 miles long. I hope to find a weather window that allows me to sail to the Azores, and then across, which shortens the route by 1000 miles, but also comes with the threat of heavier low pressure systems which may mean lighter or no wind days.

 Using Google Maps to Get to the New WorldUsing Google Maps to Get to the New World..

But the first goal of this trip is to get clear of nearby Bay of Biscay and then past Cape Finisterre, at the northern tip of Spain. It’s a toss-up, but some recent looks at the weather pattern, suggest I might get the weather needed. For the next week though, predictions are for a rather intense low pressure system which could bring wind and rain to the area. That makes it a good time to head to Ireland, and hopefully find some great Irish music and learn a wee bit about the country.

So, one last adventure to be had – Ireland and London – before heading for North America, hopefully Charleston, SC – or else, somewhere in Florida. From there, I will begin the ramp up in preparations for the Global Ocean Race, which starts about a year from now. There are lots of things to do to make the boat ready, and that will take up my winter, and then come spring – lots of sailing solo to train for the race.

I’ll pass along another quick update before I leave France, and then hopefully, there will be some updates along the way as I head west. Until then, if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, enjoy the fall weather, and if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, spring is here and summer isn’t far behind!!

 – Dave

BoDream News/ Around the Last Mark..

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Well… a tough day on the water, for sure. With a regatta like this, such top-level competition and an “all in” attitude, you stand to either win or lose a lot.

We started the day in fifth place… a point or two behind one tough competitor and a couple of points ahead of another. We didn’t come to do “just ok,” so we showed up today to race hard, take all the chances necessary and hope, when we had our bets placed, our cards would come up the way we wanted.

In a regatta like this, on the final day, the leaders take few chances and try to retain their lead, and those behind, pull out all the stops and take all the risk. So, what’s to lose in moving from fifth to something less, compared with what’s to gain in moving from fifth to third maybe?

So, first race, we came at ’em. Hard-pressed on the line for a great start, but you can’t be over the line before the start gun – so the trick is to try to hit the line with great speed just at the time the gun goes off. If you’re a second early, you have to go around – which is what happened to us. Unfortunately, that second early cost us about three minutes, as we had to turn around and restart… essentially giving everyone else a head start. Three minutes later, we were back, hard at work trying to make up ground and we did. We made up a lot of ground, but… ran out of runway as they say. In the end, we took a tenth I think, and so lost points to our previously trailing competitor.

Rounding the last mark..

Determined to do better in the second race, we pulled out our upwind code zero at the start and led the fleet to the first mark – first around… downwind to the second mark, at which point the winds began to die a bit and to shift abruptly. We were able to stay very close while rounding the second mark… but in the next upwind leg, the winds took a 50 degree shift away from our covering position, and that cost us dearly. We went from second or third to somewhere around twelfth, in a matter of a few minutes. I’d have to show you how that works on paper, but it works and it’s a really hard pill to swallow when it happens to you. We worked back a few places, but THEN it got exciting!!

Coming into the last mark before heading into the short distance to the finish, we came shoulder to shoulder with another competitor. There are some rather complicated rules in sailboat racing, and one of them is a rule about two boats being overlapped at a mark rounding. If that’s the case, the outside boat has to give the inside boat room to round the mark. We came in as the inside boat… requesting room to round the mark, but the other boat contested our overlap and refused to give us room. With nowhere to go, our two boats each holding steadfast to their beliefs, came side-by-side with each other and collided! Needless to say, there was a lot of contention as to who was right. Fortunately for us, there were two jury boats close by to witness the incident, and they confirmed our “rights” with regard to the rules. Pretty exciting, but nobody wins anything this way… so while other boats slip past, you’re left to untangle boats, rigs and egos.

Third race – at this point, with nothing left to lose, we took off with every intention of taking home another first. Unfortunately, the shifting winds did a similar thing to us once again, and our “all in” bets were lost. We rounded the first mark in an embarrassing last place… but we worked hard and finished back in the middle… but, that was also the end of the regatta, and when the final totals were made… we ended up in 10th place.

Still, I remind myself that these are fortunate days, exciting experiences and exceptional people to be sharing them with. If you write it out… tenth in the world doesn’t look so bad, does it? Well… nonetheless… this has been one of the great regatta’s I’ve ever had the chance to sail.

Next up is a bit of time to put the boat back into offshore condition, and then head for home… North America, that is. I’ll send an update soon as to the plan to sail for home – solo – across the Atlantic, and be home in time for Thanksgiving!!

Thanks for hanging with us through all this. it means a lot to all of us.

– Dave and the Bodacious Crew

 

BoDream News/ The Vagaries of the Wind

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Class 40 Worlds: Day Three… 

The day started pre-dawn once again, but this time under clear skies and a gentle 8-knot wind. We left the harbor and paraded out to the starting area. Once the wind settled in, the Race Committee set up another “Banana” Course and the starting sequence began. The first start was another general recall, as the boats crowded the line, which blocked the view of the judges, forcing another restart.

Once past that, the race was on. We performed well upwind rounding the top mark in good position, and leaned hard into the downwind portion of the race before rounding and heading back up the course. Numerous position changes followed, with boats crossing closely in tacks and gybes. As we came to the finish, we were able to hold off one of the top competitors, but lost a position to another, leaving us with a seventh place finish. Certainly not as good as we’d have liked, but the third through eighth positions were really a matter of a few boat lengths. We are definitely showing that Bodacious Dream is a solid contender, and when we get the trims all lined up, we are very fast.

Staying ahead of the FleetStaying ahead of the fleet



After the lunch break, we were off again on a long harbor course. Unfortunately, as we set out, the wind began to die, and as we rounded the first mark and headed towards the second mark of the course, the wind completely shut off. We’d positioned ourselves well among the stronger competitors, but it was up to the vagaries of the wind to determine who would be where when it filled in. We’d like to believe we were in the top five, but the wind never filled in and by the end of the day, the race committee abandoned the race and soon shut down racing for the day – and we all headed in. A long day on the water and only one race to show for it, but that’s what dealing with Mother Nature is all about.

Tomorrow is the last day of racing. We’re hoping for at least a couple of races, so we can improve our standings overall. Regardless, I’m really pleased with the way the boat has performed, with the exceptional talent of the crew and their light-hearted can-do attitudes and with the overall intensity of the racing. Coming in the top third of a World Championship Regatta is still something to be very proud of!

Check out our Facebook Page for an excellent album of photos of Bodacious Dream taken on Wednesday by a fine photographer here named Christophe Breschi.

And here again, is the photo of the crew from yesterday.. this time, with everyone identified by name.

 Our Illustrious BD Crew..
Bill Dalbreth, Jerome DeVos, Oliver Scott-Mackiem, Phillip Airey, Richard “Bicky” Bicknell & Brett Elliot


Expect another update, at the end of the day tomorrow. Best to all!

– Dave & the Bodacious Dream Crew

 

BoDream News/ A Wire 2 Wire Win!

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Class 40 Worlds: Day Two..

This morning came on rather harsh. Winds were up to 30 knots as we left the harbor under a solid rain. With the schedule of the locks and tides, we were concerned that they might get us out there, and then not be able to hold a race because of the conditions – but all went smoothly; we cleared the harbor, again pre-dawn, and got the day underway. This morning came on rather harsh. Winds were up to 30 knots as we left the harbor under a solid rain. With the schedule of the locks and tides, we were concerned that they might get us out there, and then not be able to hold a race because of the conditions – but all went smoothly; we cleared the harbor, again pre-dawn, and got the day underway.

Three races today.

Race One was a distance race that kept us on our toes. The initial information on the racecourse was that it would be the same one as yesterday – so we set up all the navigation necessary under that information. At the last minute, before the starting sequence, they changed the course to an entirely different one that sent me scrambling to work out the new set of angles and winds. At the same time that we were tacking, we were also putting on and transferring the water ballast, which left the guys up on deck working like mad to sail the boat!

We had a great start and held our own with the leaders, but on the third leg, had a bad reach plan and lost a number of places. The guys just dug in, and as they say in New Zealand, “grunted it out” and we worked our way back into sixth place by the finish.

By the time of the Second Race, the winds scaled back and down to about 12 knots. The race committee called for a windward/leeward or as they say in France, a “banana course.” We got off to another good start on this, but missed a shift sequence, and so fell a bit behind. Then the wind shut down to single digits, and they shortened the course, before we had a chance to work our way back out of the corner we were in. Not even sure any of us kept track of how far back we were on that little go-round.

Zigging and Zagging in Traffic..
Zigging and Zagging in Traffic..
In Race Three, we were determined to make a difference. We got up there in the start while the other leaders fought for the other end of the starting line. We hooked into the proper shift sequence, and made huge gains on the other boats, all the while sailing faster and higher in the water. We were really feeling like our systems were clicking, and the boat was responding beautifully. We rounded the first mark ahead of everyone, and from there on; we were able to hold that lead all the way to the finish! A great win for the crew, and a convincing one at that!
Our Illustrious BD Crew..
Our Illustrious Crew… Bill Dalbreth, Jerome DeVos, Oliver Scott-Mackiem, Phillip Airey, Richard “Bicky” Bicknell & Brett Elliot
.
Back at it tomorrow, early pre-dawn again. The weather is questionable with a forecast for lighter winds, but our hope is for a sea breeze fill in the afternoon, which will allow us to get in some more good racing.

The guys are really great people to sail with, and they don’t let disappointments get them down… they just keep going right after the rest of the fleet, picking them off one by one as they can.

More tomorrow. Thanks for keeping tabs on us.

– Dave and the Bodacious Dream Crew

BoDream News/ It Begins with a Bang!

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Wow… what a great day of racing!! With 18 boats in the event, the racing is extremely top-notch and in very close quarters. It’s been totally full on from the starting gun through to the end of today’s races, with leads changing all the time.

We left the dock at 7:15 this morning just before sunrise, because of the tides and the lock/harbor entrance schedules. The first race went off at 9:00 am.

There was a slight time delay, but as the starting sequence of five minutes began, the boats began to work out their starting strategies and positions. The way sail races begin is with a five-minute countdown… you can’t cross the starting line until the gun goes off at the end of the five-minute countdown… so you try to position your boat so it’s at full speed to take maximum advantage of the winds and smoothly hit the timing of the start.

Class 40 Worlds at the Start

We started at the front of the pack, but quickly enough there was a general recall… meaning the line judge wasn’t able to see all the boats clearly, and so they restarted the race. On the second start, we were in an equally perfectly position with a clear lane for a fast start. We held our position and were the second boat around the first mark… working hard with winds in the high teens and low twenties. We went back and forth with the leaders the whole time, but ended up in fifth position just a boat length behind Mare – one of the race favorites, but all of the boats were very close in their finishes.

The second race was a long distance harbor race with 7 marks and about 25 miles to the finish. Again, we started strong and held onto a top position working our way up to third rounding the last mark. Confused by the translated sailing instructions, we misunderstood which mark would be used for the finish, and hoisted our A3 spinnaker, when we should have used our A4. With the boats as close as they were, this miscalculation cost us three positions, and so we ended up that race in sixth position.

Bodacious Dream in the Class 40 Worlds

Though we weren’t up front, our finishes were still quite respectable within the fleet of 17 boats.

It was a day of great sailing and of demanding performances under a variety of conditions. One leg across the harbor at 8 miles long went by so quickly, it was almost a shame. With Bodacious Dream skipping through French waters at speeds between 17 and 21 knots, it only took 20 some minutes!! All in all, it was a great thrill, and we are all very excited about racing again tomorrow.

Given this was our first time racing as a crew, and that we only had a couple of quick hour-long practices, we are confident we will continue to get better as the regatta continues. And I have to say, what a thoroughly great group of guys to sail with – happy, fun, energetic and excited to be taking part in a World Championship.

We’ll continue to try to bring you updates from the water as best we can. Until then… time for some much needed rest before the pre-dawn boat call tomorrow.

– Dave and the Bodacious Dream Crew

P.S. In addition to our own BoDream Facebook Page, the Class 40 Association has a Facebook page too, which while it is in French, looks like it will have lots of photos. We’ll pull the best ones… (i.e. the ones of BoDream anyway!) and post them on our FB page.

Class 40 Worlds: Day One Updates

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Mondial Class 40 World ChampionshipLa Rochelle, France where the Class 40 World Championships is 7 hours ahead of U.S. Central Time – so, as this is posted, it is 7:45 pm in France.

Below are the live messages sent during our night from Dave during Day One races.

Day One: Hour 4: Great first event. Tight group among the top five. We were fifth, but only one boat length behind Mare in fourth, and maybe five boat lengths total difference between second and fifth places. We’re feeling good!

Day One: Hour 9: Great second race. We were in good position for a podium finish, but we used the a3 spinnaker instead of  the a4, and lost three places. We are in sixth position at present,  but there are eighteen boats and we stay solid up front.  Tomorrow will be great.

BoDream News/ It’s Regatta Time!

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Well, here we go! Class 40 Worlds about to begin!

The boat’s as ready as she has ever been. We’ve got some new sails, and even a special new one – a light-wind Code Zero, at the encouragement of Matt Scharl and the guys at North Sails! We’ve got a great crew with a great attitude, so we’re really looking forward to some mighty good fun racing against some of the best sailors in the Class 40 world!

Today was another one filled with last minute scrambles, as we worked our way through the “scrutinizer’s” list and the sail declarations. (All sails must be approved for the Class.) We worked right up to the end of the day when the Skipper’s meeting was held – and of course, it was all in French, so we were a bit unmoored – but thanks to some English-speaking French folks and our old’ buddy, Google Translate, we got the basic info we need to be competitive out there.

 Dave wondering what they’re talking about.

I’m off for a quick night of sleep here, and at the same time I’m thinking how different this event is from our last few races. This one is a real “Regatta” – a multi-day series of races all pretty formally structured. There will likely be 10 races over 4 days, and it is the cumulation of all the scores that will determine the winners. This is very different than say the Normandy Channel Race, where there is one start and one finish and the winner takes all. In this regatta, you can conceivably win the entire event without winning a single individual race; consistency is what counts!

The other interesting difference is that it’s late at night; I’m tired and looking towards a 6:45 am start.. not unlike the other events.. but this one is different, in that we’ll be off the water by 6 in the evening, and so able to enjoy some fine French cuisine and a good night’s sleep before the next day’s races. This is in sharp contrast to the long distance races where meals are freeze-dried filler and rest is taken in an alternating combination of catnaps and Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Kisses!!

So, we plan on keeping you as informed as possible. Hard to say how well our communications will function until we’re on the water – but we’ll do our best to keep the BD website, as well as Facebook and Twitter updated. Hopefully, there will be lots of fun news to share over the next four days.

And thanks so much for rooting for us, and for following along with our racing!

– Dave and the whole Bodacious Dream Crew

BoDream News/ Chasing Sails & Ramping up to Worlds

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Hello Again!! Still in France!!

We’re getting ramped up here in La Rochelle for the Mondial Class 40 World Championships that begin this Wednesday. The crew arrived yesterday and Richard “Bicky” Bicknell has been here for a couple of days helping to organize the program for us. He, along with Bill Dalbreth have pulled this team together. Bicky has the North Sails Loft in Auckland, NZ and has, with the help of his team, made the sails for Bodacious Dream. Also on the team, we have Phillip Airey, Brett Elliot, Jerome DeVos and Oliver Scott-Mackie. Six from New Zealand, one from Holland and one American – an international team for sure!!

As could be expected, shipping hassles have plagued us once again. The shipper wanted 505 euros to make the last two hour trip from Bordeaux to La Rochelle with our battens! But thanks to years of integrating creative hauling techniques into my repertoire, I was able to skirt that hurdle. Using ingenuity and some “outside-the-boat” thinking, I lashed the bundle to the top of my small rental car and drove them back to La Rochelle. This slight diversion in Bordeaux was preceded by a few tours of some lovely chateaus and vineyards, so the time was well-spent. It’s a real treat wandering through chateaus that are four and five hundred years old and still producing wines from their estate grounds.

Alternative Shipping Techniques

Our shipping hassles were not over just yet. Last Monday was spent driving from Nantes south to Niort looking for the shipping company and our sails. They were to have arrived a week ago Friday in La Rochelle, but for some reason hadn’t yet shown up. What better person to trust to get them here but myself! The hour and a half drive to Nantes didn’t sound like a big deal.. only once I arrived, there was no terminal and I spent the next few hours finding an outlet for the shipping company, while the shippers, Peters and May tried to locate it as well. Long about noon, I found out the sails were in Niort, (when spoken in French, it sounds exactly like “New York” – so you can imagine the spike in my heart rate at initially hearing that!) Niort I soon learned, was another hour and a half back towards La Rochelle. After their lunch break ended though, we found out the sails were actually onboard a truck already in La Rochelle and scheduled to be delivered soon. A long day of chasing, but eventually the sails did arrive and we were able to mount them and head out of the harbor at 5:30 pm for a short hour look at them.

Tomorrow will be the typical scrutinizing program, and we’re hoping everything goes well. We got in a short practice on Sunday afternoon and another today. The challenge is that we only have two and a half hours of access to the La Rochelle harbor with the dramatic tide ranges I mentioned previously. Just enough time to set the main, do some testing of sails, maybe a mark rounding or two and head back in. Much like many regattas, we’ll start the first races strong, though not well-practiced and hope to get better over the course of the regatta!

We’re expecting some exciting racing from these top crews and boats that have gathered here. Mare, Comiris, Phoenix, Picoty and others are all here and we’re all looking forward to a great season finale of a regatta. Right now, the weather for the first day looks pretty windy with lighter winds predicted for the remainder of the week.

I’ll be trying to text updates from the boat, and get them up on Facebook as soon as possible, so you can follow our progress. If you aren’t yet on Facebook or Twitter, I guess now might be a good time to sign up.. don’t feel bad.. I’m new to them too!

You can also go to the site for the Mondial World Championships, but it’s in French and doesn’t have a translate button (unless you use the Chrome browser, I am told – but even then, the site content looks to be pretty minimal). They may also provide news on the Class 40 Web site – and we’ll let you know if they do.

Otherwise, take care and more very soon!

– Dave