Preface: The recently launched International Space Station
Alpha
orbits the earth at an altitude of 249.5. For Captain Cook, a distance
of 1000 miles from land was common. So too for the sailors of The
Race.
Despite space age communications for The Race actual human
assistance
will often be too distant. For Captain Cook and his wooden ships there
were no rescue options. They sailed in absolute isolation and chanced
perishing without trace.
With these facts in mind enjoy 'Racers and Explorers' combining the
explorations of Captain Cook, Clipper Ship voyages and The Race in a
look at sailing history.
Beginning 31 December 2000, The Race will see a group of
professional mariners sail giant catamarans around the world through
the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Cook Strait, and
Indian Ocean.
The exploring voyages of Captain Cook saw a professional navy
officer lead crews composed of sailors, soldiers and scientists
throughout the then unknown Pacific Ocean in the mid 1700's.
The above paragraphs give a basic portrait of each of these
great maritime endeavors. What they don't tell is why the voyages
occurred.
Both have calendar related inspirations. For The Race, the
calendar event that it aligns with is the beginning of the Third
Millennium. In the preamble of its rules, it states: "The Race is
also intended to be a sporting and cultural event symbolizing the
beginning of the third millennium." Further it states, The Race
"is an invite to global adventure, symbolizing the advent of the
new millennium."
Another connection between The Race with The Millennium is its
starting date and time. The start will be on 31 December 2000 the last
day of the current millennium. As the 100 foot plus catamarans sail
the Mediterranean their first night at sea will be in the extreme
beginning of the Third Millennium.
Captain Cook's first voyage of exploration was also inspired
by an event controlled by time and calendar. Cook was given two
primary tasks on his first voyages. Task one was to observe the
transit of Venus, the other to explore new lands. Why observe the
transit? Because it was suggested that the distance from the Sun to
the Earth could be calculated by timing the transit of Venus across
the face of the Sun.
What Cook observed, in June 1769 on Tahiti, was the planet
Venus crossing the Suns disk. Such an occurrence is rare. Since
Cook saw it there have been only two other occurrences 1874 and 1882.
The next occurrences will be 2004/2012.
Similarly, both the explorers of the 1700's and the Racers of
the 2000's had tasks delegated to them by the passage of time and the
calendar that marks it.
The voyages, justified by time and science, promised adventure.
Without funding, neither would have gone beyond the idea stage. Since
neither of the voyages are money making in the commercial sense,
sponsors would be needed.
Sponsors would have to pay for the voyages while staying
behind. For Cook the sponsor was the Royal Geographic society and
the British Government. The Geographic Society had an interest
in the astronomical information and so put forth funds for Cook
to do their bidding. The Royal Navy provided men and a ship.
For the very large multi hulls of The Race it is commercial
companies that will pay for the racing machines. For instance,
resort company Club Med is sponsoring a boat. They are doing so to
celebrate the company's 50th anniversary. For sponsors of the 2000's,
like Club Med, the payback will come in the form of publicity gain
and enhanced company image.
Regardless sponsors are integral, as these time inspired
voyages both received sponsorship from parties not directly involved
with on the water operations.
Today we live in a world convinced that it is one. As
Endeavor left England much of the world was left to be discovered
and connected to others portions of the globe. While there was
literally less of the world to chose from, Cook's crew included men
from: Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Brazil and New York (at that time a
colony of Britain).
Organizers of The Race hope to have a similarly diverse crew.
They state they wish to: "gather Anglo-Saxon and Latin sensitivities,
too often distant or rival, into one maritime culture on the scale of
the planet."
An example of this combining of sailing cultures is in the
crew of Club Med. Club Med's leader is Grant Dalton of New Zealand.
He recently added Frenchman Frank Proffit as co-skipper. This is
the blend that the values of The Race seek. Generally Anglo-Saxon's
have sailing background in racing heavier mono hulls offshore while
French sailors have dominated the lightweight multihull offshore
culture. Other nationalities on the crew include: British, Italian,
Canadian, Spanish and Japanese.
Another entrant, Team Adventure crew combines American
and French sailing cultures. American Cam Lewis is the skipper.
There are 2 navigators- Jean Yves Bernot who is French and American
Larry Rosenfield. American sailmakers Brian Hancock and Randy Smyth
are balanced by French offshore aces Jacques Vincent and Lionel
Lemonchois.
This diverse blend of cultures within their crews is
something both The Racers and The Explorers of this piece share.
This cultural mix is not surprising as the definition of a
sailor is one who travels by water. Over 300 years ago it was not
uncommon for a sailor of a given nation to sail under the flag of
another. The Race is trying to duplicate the historical composition
of earlier sailing groups.
Both Cook and his explorers and The Race Class catamarans
sailed due to reasons of celebrating or capturing moments of time.
Both were sponsored by large organizations. Both Cook's Endeavor
and The Race Class catamarans shipped crews of divergent origins.
Separated by hundreds of years, seemingly different, the explorers
and The Racers have much in common in the purposes of their voyages.
In the next installment we will look at the people involved
and how they were prepared for the difficult voyages.
Racers/Explorers Trivia Contest: Online at:
http://www.torresen.com/therace/trivia1.htm