During these final hours of preparation, calculations ticked through crews’ heads, and the final checks seemed to weigh heavy on some as they prepared to hand over these wild ocean racing machines to their skippers who will be alone in 48 hours time, rocketing across the Atlantic to the home of the Vendee Globe in Les Sables d’Olonne.
“First I always think about that he does not need to worry about these boat parts at all,” said Frederico Sampei, Kojiro Shiraishi’s rigger as he painstakingly felt and looked over each of the nearly hundreds of blocks, winches, lines and connection points on DMG MORI Global One. “Because if there is one thing broke, even if there is a little piece like a small block or lashing, it’s a lot of pain for him to repair it in a situation like 40 to 50 knots gusty storm weather when it would likely break.”
Sampei said he was ready 24 hours a day to answer any questions from Shiraishi and even translates his skipper’s message into English and French for the shore team. He brings those solutions back to Shiraishi in his native tongue so it is easier to understand.
New Zealand American Conrad Colman sailed into Newport at 4 a.m. Monday aboard his MS Amlin just in time for a quick 36-hour turnaround and was playing catchup with the rest of the teams.
Colman had a miraculous finish in the last Vendee Globe under jury rig after he lost his mast at sea. Just starting this week's transatlantic will complete his qualifying miles for the Vendee and he said he feels more steady and content heading into these final training stages after having proved himself under the most harrowing of circumstances.
"Big events change people and the last Vendee Globe really whipped my butt, frankly," said Colman. "I started that race younger and fresher than I finished. I learned how to keep the boat alive but also about myself and how deep I can dig within myself and the resources I have, physically and mentally, to get me to that finish line. I’m taking this year in much more of a Zen manner.”
Aboard Guyot Environment Monday, control lines were being spliced and tools were being stowed after several days of hard use. “Now we are doing some upgrades down to the last detail in order for Benjamin to win this transat,” said Charles Drapeau, the team’s engineer. “He wants to do something good in this race. He’s has the knife in his teeth.”
Sampei like most of the shore teams, has a deep commitment to his skipper and his role. He even undertook a two-year Mini Transat campaign, racing a 20-footer across the Atlantic in 2023 to prepare for his role this year with Shiraishi.
“The reason I wanted to do it was to understand exactly what the skipper wants on board when racing. It’s kind of hard to understand it without experience,” said Sampei. “This helps me a lot on my job right now.”
Keeping their eyes on the prize, all the shore crews in Newport and New York know that this New York Vendée Les Sables d’Olonne transatlantic race is the last chance to test their skippers and boats under race pressure before November’s big show where they will be taking a lap around the planet alone.
“Biggest goal for us to finish the next VG in better place than in 2020,” said Sampei. “To do that we need to finish this race as well. Many fans in Japan are waiting for Kojiro to bring back the good news.”
