I know I am not alone in becoming less excited about round the world yacht races. The recent Velux 5 Oceans was remarkable for the Southern Ocean rescue of Alex Thomson by Mike Golding, and for the participation of veteran sailing hero Sir Robin Knox Johnston, aptly sponsored by Saga. But from a racing perspective it was less thrilling, with Bernard Stamm the runaway leader throughout, and the result never in much doubt.
The last Volvo race too suffered from a relatively small fleet, dogged by gear failure. It wasn't so much about which boat would win, but how many would hang together to the finish.
But entries are coming in for the next Volvo, and more and more Open 60s are being built, thanks to more major sponsors coming on board - largely as a result of the revolution in communications technology which makes it ever easier for spectators to track ocean racers round the globe. What can be done to get and keep those spectators hooked?
Next month sees the start of the two-handed, non-stop Barcelona Round the World Race. There are plenty of single-handed ocean races - so many in fact that IMOCA has decided to drop the next Velux race from its official programme. And there are crewed events, from the hyper-professional Volvo to the “amateur” Clipper race. But surprisingly perhaps, this is the first two-handed round the world challenge.
Is it a soft option compared with single handing? Single-handed ocean racing has always had its critics, not least because it goes against one of the first principles of the Colregs: a solo skipper has to sleep sometimes and clearly cannot maintain a good lookout at all times. With two people working watches, the boats should be safer, in this respect at least.
Two-handed racing is growing steadily in popularity in offshore racing: it solves the problem of finding large numbers of crew for ever bigger boats, not to mention the logistical nightmare of keeping them all fed and watered.
Two-handed teams might be expected to push offshore racers slightly less hard than full crews in identical boats, but recent RORC results show some two-handers right at the top of the all-comers results. There's an enormous weight-saving advantage, of course, which probably makes up for any time lost doing sail changes and things more slowly. But clearly these guys aren't afraid to sail full-on.
It's a reasonable bet that Open 60s, designed for solo sailing, will actually be pushed harder by crews of two.
“To my mind, this will be the toughest offshore race that's ever happened,” says Alex Thomson, who will be sailing his new Hugo Boss II with Andrew Cape in the 25,000 mile non-stop Barcelona race.
“It will be harder than the Vendée Globe We'll be sailing nearer 100 per cent the whole time. You'll always be changing sails, always grinding. There will be no let-up whatsoever.”
There are nine teams entered for the race, which is being contested by some of the fastest new Open 60s, four of them (including Thomson's) launched earlier this year and still presumably sorting out teething troubles.
“It will be hard labour - like going to prison, basically. Not quite solitary confinement, but very, very tough,” said Thomson, who has predicted “a significant breakage rate”:
“They are all pretty new boats and nobody's used to pushing their boats for that long, so no-one really knows what's going to happen. It wouldn't surprise me if everybody has a half serious problem.”
The good news is that if there are problems, at least there will be two people on board to deal with them.
Solo ocean racing does capture the public imagination: it has made Ellen Macarthur a bigger household name than Olympic hero Ben Ainslie for example. But as Alex Thomson has acknowledged, solo sailors can't and don't push their boats to the limits.
It will be interesting to see if competitors in the Barcelona race get round significantly faster than those in the last Vendee Globe. The newer boats ought to be faster than the last generation of Open 60s, and the additional manpower should also make a difference.
That is, as long as two people confined in an Open 60 together can stay on good terms and work harmoniously for the duration of the race.
Alex Thomson acknowledges that the race is going to be harder on the boats. Will it be harder on the crew as well? Sailing alone imposes enormous pressure on the individual. Sailing with someone else imposes different challenges.
It's possible that the people who have done well sailing solo - which requires huge strength of character and determination verging on obstinacy ¬- may by definition find it hard to make the concessions necessary to share the running of a boat. They're going to be at sea for weeks, in a very small space, in a pressure-cooker atmosphere and often in extreme discomfort. It's not going to be easy.
The Barcelona race, which starts on November 11, promises to be one of the most interesting ocean races for a long time. With two people on each boat, they should not only go faster, but also stay closer together.
Having two people on board should also help to reduce the attrition rate, and mean more of the starters get to the finish line. All these factors should generate more interest ashore.
The organizers of the Barcelona race have taken a bold step by introducing new thinking to a sport that was in danger of losing its way - despite the record number of new boats being commissioned. Let's hope the new event lives up to its promise.
For more information visit www.barcelonaworldrace.com
