World On Water Global Sailing News – November 1, 2019

This week’s “World on Water” global sailing news show produced by www.boatson.tv.

In this week’s “WoW TV”:
• The Transat Jacques Vabre started from Le Havre France headed to Brazil. The fleet consisted of 59 yachts who broke into two fleets going East and West of the rhumb line to Salvador de Bahia. Most favored the Easterly route but leading the westerly boats is Alex Thomson in Hugo Boss. There are 27 Class40 entries, 29 IMOCA 60s, and 3 Multi50s from 17 nations. The first night the British Class40 entry Lamotte – Module Creation was dismasted. Both crew are safe.
• Britain’s Samantha Davies and her French co-skipper Paul Meilhat are sending a message to the fleet. They are fast and here to win the Transat Jacques Vabre
• The 29 IMOCA skippers have been wrestling with going east or west. Is staying east going for profits, is heading west investing in future or risking conditions not favorable? The situation is not different in the Class40, as they struggle upwind in the Bay of Biscay, with the professionals beginning to leave the amateurs behind.
• Alex Thomson gives us a look behind his new HUGO BOSS which he has built with only the single-handed Vendee Globe next year in mind. This race to him is a “systems test” and we also get the thinking behind the design.
• Heading south and east is the huge French Trimaran, IDEC SPORTS, on Francis Joyan’s Asian Tour. First stop is Marituas, trying to break his record.
• Preview of the Rolex Middle Sea Race.
• The design brief for the Neo 570, already in build and due to launch next year, reads like a yachtsman’s quest for the Holy Grail. It calls for a boat that can keep up with Quantum and Azzura, on most points of sail and in any wind conditions, but has shallow enough draft to get in and out of normal yacht harbors.
• The Melges 14 Southern Championships World league Finals.
• The Day 2 fleet reports on the TJV, in French.
• Boris Herrmann has to fix his broken furler on the IMOCA.
• Yann Elies perenniel IMOCA Skipper is back again this time in Apivia.