22.04.2005
A fond farewell
The Oryx Quest 2005 has reached a successful conclusion. By any measure the race has been a success for both the individuals that took part, and the sponsors who put up the money to stage the event. When Tracy Edwards first announced the idea of a non-stop race around the world in the biggest and fastest sailboats ever built, her idea was heralded as another great leap forward for offshore ocean racing.
When she mentioned that the race would start and finish in the Gulf state of Qatar, many people had the same response. “Where’s Qatar?” In the interest of honest reporting I have to admit that I too asked, “Where’s Qatar?” I have now been to Qatar a number of times and can tell you that it’s a small, wealthy and unassuming country that juts out into the Arabian Gulf, south of Iraq and north of Saudi Arabia. It’s home to some of the nicest, friendliest and most interesting people who share a common love for sport. The country will host the Asian Games in 2006 and the amount of construction taking place is astounding. They are literally building a new city out of the desert sands.
Qatar is interested in top level sports and therefore the idea of a yacht race that would be contested among the largest, most high-tech sailboats appealed to them. The budget for the race, including the $1 million purse for the first boat back, was relatively small when compared to other events like Formula One racing. While the final hard numbers are not yet in, it’s safe to say that the media value of the Oryx Quest 2005 has been astounding. Via 50 international broadcasters in 80 countries and 10 airlines, the Oryx Quest 2005 reached an average weekly audience in excess of 134 million households in the Middle East, 120 million households across Europe and over 500 million households worldwide. In addition to this over 50 million readers in Europe and the Middle East read about the Oryx Quest in their daily papers. I am not sure how these numbers are quantified into an actual dollar value, but I do know that those people who do understand these things are impressed. The people in Qatar who put up the money and supported the event with their energy and enthusiasm, are impressed. So impressed in fact that there is a new mega-cat on order for the next race. Doha 2006 is one of the new generation maxi-catamarans but the boat is already five years old. The new mega-cat will be the largest racing multihull ever built. The next event, the Quest Qatar will take place in 2007 and be open to both monohulls and multihulls. The event will start and finish in the Middle East, but have stopovers in some of the major economic and commercial cities around the world. The interest in this race is pouring in and if all goes well it too will be a major success both for the sailors and for Qatar.
While pondering the numbers and the commercial reasons for racing around the world is nice, we often forget that it’s the people that make any event a success. Behind the scenes in Qatar there has been a dedicated staff working diligently to stage the race, but it’s not really these people I am talking about. I am talking about the sailors. The men and women who left loved ones at home and stepped up to the plate to take on the challenge of a non-stop race around the world. The crews were a mixture of professional sailors with vast offshore ocean racing experience, to some with very little experience. They were all there for the thrill of a unique challenge; to sail around the world using just the wind and their own strength and resolve. During the race we received some insightful logs from the teams. It has been my job to weave a story around their words. Along the way I have tried to add a little colour, give some insight into the attraction of offshore ocean racing and draw on my own experience as an offshore ocean sailor to tell the story of the Oryx Quest 2005. It’s their story, not mine, and so as a final farewell I leave you with a log from Will Oxley. I was going to attempt to answer the very question Will poses in his log in this report when suddenly his log appeared in my Inbox. Thanks to Will and all the crew who gave so freely of their time during the race to bring the stories from on board, and thanks to all who subscribed to the daily newsletter and visited the website to follow the event. The next note you will get from us will be indicating new images in the Gallery from the prize giving due to be held in Qatar on May 24. Until then, it’s been fun. Here is Will’s log:
“During the race I had time to ponder why. Why do we do this sailing caper? What's the attraction? Why would anyone choose to be constantly damp, perennially tired, and experience periods of rough and changeable weather that leaves you physically and mentally exhausted. There are also times when it is outright bloody dangerous! Perhaps most importantly, we are away from loved ones for extended periods of time.
At first glance it does not seem an easy question to answer. Nonetheless it is a question often asked by those who want to understand the life of an ocean racing yachtsperson (as distinct from those that have absolutely no interest and would prefer to think that people who go sailing actually just drink gin and tonics and swan around with rich people).
It is a good question to ponder especially after more than 60 days at sea. Whilst racing, I asked a couple of the crew, in between sail changes, the question "why" and got a variety of answers but there were some common themes which came out. They were:
‘Because it is a challenge.’
‘An interest in and passion for the ocean.’
‘The satisfaction of being "good" at sailing and achieving success.’
Thomas Coville and I had a long talk about "why" and we agreed that one of the reasons we have so much passion for ocean racing is that life on board is like a micro world, where to succeed you must create a really positive environment with people getting on, looking after each other, and ALL working together to achieve a common goal. This is in sharp contrast to the wider world where this is clearly not the case. There is almost a sense of opting out and choosing a 'better world'. Perhaps a bit philosophical I know, but then again you get plenty of time to consider such things when it takes more than nine days to sail from the equator to Doha (and Thomas did study philosophy at university)!
Finally, there is just the aesthetic and beauty of it all. Every new day brings great changes to the faces of the ocean and the sky. Life becomes very simple and is reduced to basics with reward and satisfaction coming from hard work. We are dictated to by our environment. We cannot decide not to go to work today and if we do not perform at our best then we will not succeed, and in some cases the consequences may be far more serious. There is something very refreshing and satisfying about such an environment. I get a great sense of being alive, and the harder the job is the more the sense of achievement. Of course you also put your wallet away for 60-70 days so that has got to be good!”
To read all the logs from Daedalus go to www.teambullimore.com.
To read all the crew logs from Doha 2006 go to www.maxicatdoha.com.
www.oryxquest.com
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