GUSTAVIA, Saint Barthelemy — 6 December 2015 The start line of the Transat Saint Barths, the first solo race for the IMOCA class this year, is indicative of the struggle for all teams to get to this point. Regardless of budget or skills, all of the IMOCA class had a tough journey to join this race, and some had not made it.
The carnage within the IMOCA class during the Transat Jacques Vabre Race left some boats unable to race, but Canadian Ocean Racing had made a strategic decision to retire from the TJV in order to ensure the team’s participation in the Transat St Barths Race just a month later. This decision has allowed Skipper Eric Holden to spend time training for his first solo race and hopefully qualify for his ultimate goal — The Vendee Globe — upon completion of the Transat Saint Barths.
This is Holden’s first solo offshore race, and his IMOCA sailing career rides on his performance in this race. Below is a personal account from Skipper Eric Holden on his preparation and thoughts on the big race ahead of him:
Final days of preparation here in St. Barts before the start of my first solo race on O Canada. We have done almost all we can to to have her and myself ready, and we will soon see if that will be enough.
Morgen and I had a great doublehanded sail across the Atlantic from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands to get here. The goal of that crossing was to sail the boat in singlehanded mode, performing maneuvers myself and having Morgen observe. We also wanted to gain confidence in our autopilot and alarm systems so that I can be confident to get some sleep while the boat continues on. This proved reasonably successful, yet the pilots are temperamental and will occasionally do something quite unexpected. Not always does the blame fall on the computers, occasionally human error is to blame, such as when I inadvertently bumped off the autopilot power switch when reaching for the watermaker.
As I have been kept busy with preparing the boat, I have had little time to think too much about the race and challenges ahead. On previous passages we have had some issues with the boat that would be hard to rectify when alone, and this does cause some level of concern for the upcoming race, but that will always be the case and is part of the challenge. The overall emotion is one of being eager to set sail and get started.
The biggest priority of this race is to make it to the finish in France and thus to qualify myself for the Vendee Globe. A big challenge will be to temper the competitive drive and not damage the boat and jeopardize our qualification. In some ways it is easier being the underdogs as there is no pressure for a top result. I am up against some very quick boats and we are missing some sails from our wardrobe that could be very useful to have. Although expectations are not high in terms of result, it would still be nice to put up a good show.
This race is part of the journey that will hopefully culminate in the Vendee Globe round the world race next year, and for me it is important to keep that goal in mind and learn as much as I can about sailing the boat solo, as well as about myself, my sleep patterns, moods, etc. The race of 3400 miles should take about two weeks to complete. This will be my longest time alone on a boat.
The course will take us northeast around the Azores high and into the strong mid-latitude westerly winds. All going well, it should be mostly a downwind race, but if I know anything, it is that weather is rarely that cooperative. My biggest concern is probably having a storm hit on the final day in the Bay of Biscay with the rocky shore of Brittany under my lee. It can be a nasty piece of water and you won’t have the room offshore to avoid the weather. It will be getting cold as we head north, quickly leaving the tropics behind us and approaching the European winter. I will then head directly to Australia to compete in my fifth Sydney to Hobart race, so at least I know I will get warm again.
A total of only 8 IMOCA boats will be competing in the Transat St Barths, which is less than half of the showing for the Transat Jacques Vabre Race in October. Canadian Ocean Racing has been able to raise just enough money from private supporters to compete in these races, but the team is hoping that the Vendee Globe qualification will help them land a corporate sponsorship for the year ahead.
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Press Contact
Meg Reilly, PR & Partnerships Manager
mreilly@canadianoceanracing.com
+1 908 294 2222
Canadian Ocean Racing
Canadian Ocean Racing (COR) is Canada’s premier offshore racing team. Founded by Eric Holden and Morgen Watson, COR is dedicated to promoting the sport of offshore racing in Canada. COR is using Open 60 O Canada, built in Canada, for an offshore training program and is taking her back on the racing circuit to compete in the IMOCA races, like the Vendee Globe.
The mission of COR is to raise the profile of Canadian offshore racing while building a program to develop the next generation offshore sailors. The team launched its Aspiring Offshore Athletes (AOA) Program in March 2015 in which young Canadian sailors have the opportunity to be mentored and trained by Eric Holden on various offshore passages onboard O Canada. Visit www.canadianoceanracing.com for more information.
Vendee Globe Race
The Vendee Globe is a round-the-world single-handed yacht race, sailed non-stop and without assistance. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years. The 2016-2017 edition is planned to start on Sunday, 6 November 2016.
As the only single-handed non-stop round-the-world race, the race is a serious test of individual endurance and is regarded by many as the ultimate in ocean racing. www.vendeeglobe.org
IMOCA
Founded in 1991 and recognised by ISAF (International Sailing Federation) since 1998, IMOCA is the class association, which takes care of 60-foot Open monohulls (18.28 metres). With more than twenty skippers signed up, its championship includes two round the world races, a round Europe race and several ocean races. The IMOCA class aims to make ocean racing more international and it brings together ideas about competitions, innovation, human adventure and safety.
