{"id":11205,"date":"2018-07-23T21:12:13","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T04:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/windpilot.com\/blog\/en\/?page_id=11205"},"modified":"2019-06-03T08:08:22","modified_gmt":"2019-06-03T15:08:22","slug":"antoine-cousot","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/windpilot.com\/blog\/en\/golden-globe-race\/the-sailors\/antoine-cousot\/","title":{"rendered":"Antoine Cousot"},"content":{"rendered":"

WINDVANE SELF-STEERING – BACK TO BASICS<\/strong><\/p>\n

translation of the German blog dated 17th july.2018<\/p>\n

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It has been 16 days since the start gun fired and the sailors could finally put the exhausting preparation period behind them: 18 came to Les Sables, 17 managed to jump through all the hoops and claim their Green Card (clearance to race) and now the sea and the winds will decide. The competitors have barely covered the first 2000 miles and conditions have generally been very kind, but weather and waves have already whittled the fleet down to 13. Silent self-steering systems have found themselves in the spotlight in this early part of the race, singled out as the weak link in the solo sailor’s armour \u2013 and conspicuously lacking a voice of their own to respond. Perhaps, then, this is the right moment to revisit a few of the principles of the field.<\/p>\n

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Windvane self-steering systems are slaves to the laws of physics and have neither eyes to spot and avoid breaking waves nor the long arms that enable human helms to make major course corrections quickly in extremis, all of which reduces their suitability for racing. Sailors operating under the pressure of competition and\/or a sponsor’s expectations have to decide for themselves whether they want to spend their time offshore as prudent mariners or to adopt race mode and go all-out for victory, personal glory and a boost to sponsor profiles. Riding the razor’s edge, that’s what I call it. Each of the participants in the GGR has to decide independently which option is right for them. Both philosophies are represented within the fleet and it comes as little surprise to see the gaps that have opened up between them. <\/p>\n

After 16 days of sailing, the cards are on the table and the fan has had several close encounters with the brown stuff: time, then, to restate a few immutable principles in the hope of seeing no more solo challengers crawling ashore in some far-flung harbour only to pull out that old chestnut: “It’s all the self-steering’s fault”.
\nThe race organisation naturally wants to tell the world an exciting and dramatic tale of courageous non-stop adventurers and reports of conspicuous navigation errors, sleep deprivation, hallucinations, breaking waves flooding the chart table, injuries and, for a little extra spice, non-functioning self-steering systems are all grist to its mill. Sometimes, however, a more prosaic truth lurks behind the drama \u2013 and the facts deserve to be told.<\/p>\n

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We repeatedly hear the GGR billed in the media as “Alone with no outside assistance” and have already seen the organiser, insistent on all of the idiosyncratic rules penned for the event, decline to shake hands or offer a celebratory beer at the drop-off point. And yet there remain numerous uncontrolled communication channels through which the sailors can receive information under way and maintain contact not just with the GGR team but with the outside world in general. This being the case, I would suggest providing an explanation of all things silent self-steering that is sufficiently detailed to enable sailors in difficulty to continue their voyage safely would make far more sense than denying them all help and advice \u2013 and potentially even punishing them for “outside assistance”. Let’s face it, the skippers receive plenty of assistance and information, especially about their competitors, during those entertaining interviews at the drop-off point.<\/p>\n

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CAUSE AND EFFECT<\/strong>
\nIt surely serves nobody’s interest to have technical problems put solo sailors in the position of having to choose between abandoning their dream and retiring from the race or taking a chance with their safety and health and continuing, at least where the technical problems concerned relate to a windvane self-steering system. Kevin Farebrother’s stark description of his hallucinations brought on by lack of sleep leave no doubt as to the consequences. It may sound counter-intuitive, but further retirements from the race do neither the event nor the people behind it any favours, especially if the issues driving competitors to give up could easily be resolved through communication.<\/p>\n

The GGR team has uploaded interviews with two sailors that carry an alarming message: both have the same problem but have reached opposite conclusions about the best way to deal with it (one choosing to stop, the other electing to continue in the race and use his limited messaging capability to give his self-steering supplier a metaphorical kicking along the way). Contractual agreements and personal animosities aside, I would have thought it prudent to seek the advice of the manufacturer of the systems in question rather than leaving the skipper (who needs to be totally self-reliant for the tough sailing to come) to carry on fighting a battle against fatigue that he has no guarantee of winning. <\/p>\n

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It is slightly ironic that the GGR team have gone on to create and post their own video about windvane self-steering systems and principles on the event website \u2013 where everyone apart from the GGR participants themselves, the people it could help the most, can see it… <\/p>\n

The number of online rumours, discussions and web searches concerning the problems encountered by the GGR fleet has spiked since the news of self-steering problems first broke. These arguments and debates led me, after 35\u00a0hours awaiting a call for assistance (or at least some sign of life) from Lanzarote, to publish the Fall Guy post on my blog.<\/p>\n

The fall guy<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n