..aRCH rAID _txt
Let’s get elemental, and stop in on one of the sailing world’s most grueling and geographically beautiful events: the always awesome Archipelago Raid, whose seventh edition finished on Monday. It’s where the best of the best (or craziest of the best) go when they want to clear their heads, purge their souls, pee in their dry suits, and sail almost non-stop for four nights and five days. For those of you who have been blinded by the world of Formula One-style sailing events, the Raid is a 400-plus mile race through the 100,000 island (island being a generous description for some of the scraggly rocks involved) Swedish archipelago…in F18 beach cats…at 60 degrees North…paddling when there is no wind…hitting 20-25 checkpoints…while navigating from the trap…after sleeping just 2-3 hours a night…and hoping to hell you don’t hit a rock at 15 knots…because you are so f*cking tired you can barely see straight. Sounds like fun, right? Well, maybe fun is not the right word, but this unique combination of factors makes this an irresistible race, one of the Top Ten in the Wetass List Of Killer Sailing Competitions.
Enough blathering. If you really want to see what it is all about, check out these excellent videos, courtesy of Seamaster Sailing.
 “At least we have a shot at winning the Sailing Anarchy “Ugly Sail” contest…” (Photo: Thierry Martinez) |
Done watching? I rest my case. This year, the French team of Jean Christophe Mourniac and Franck Citeau survived to beat 29 boats from ten countries. It was a normal year: two dismastings, a near sinking, five retirements, and plenty of daggerboard trimming on the innumerable almost-awash rocks along the way. You can read all about it here if you want additional gory details. Suffice it to say that first-timer Conrad Humphreys, who has seen plenty, offered this review: “It certainly ranks up there with the Vendee in terms of mental and physical duress.” What was the lowest moment, Conrad? “The gut wrenching sound as we destroyed both our daggerboards in a collision that could have ended our race. I guess the lesson is - make sure you hit it hard, the boards exploded but we suffered no damage to the boat!” Ah yes. Archipelago Raid Rule #34: Make Sure You Hit Hard! So, what’s not to love about a race like that?
Wetass Bonus Video: Clever ad from Smirnoff vodka imagining what it would be like if the sea spat back all the crap humans have put in it (if only…): watch here.
Have A Wetass Weekend,
Tim Zimmermann-txt and pics via sailinganarchy.com-
posted by lzp! at 9:30 AM
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