I always suspected that Stan was One Of The Best because he has a long history of winning ocean races. For as long as I have known him (8 years) he has been the navigator on Roy Disney's state-of-the-art sailboats, all named Pyewacket, Steve Fossett's trimaran Playstation, and has won numerous ocean races on his own Cal 40 Illusion and numerous other boats.
Currently Stan is the navigator on one of the boats in the Volvo Ocean Race. Not surprisingly it is the winning boat, ABN AMRO ONE (aka Black Betty).
So far Black Betty has won 6 out of 8 ocean legs which is phenomenal. There is one leg left to sail, but this boat has already racked up so many points that they cannot possibly be beaten. They have already won the Volvo Ocean Race regardless of the outcome of the final leg.
The sailing in this race is some of the most extreme in the world. The route takes the boats into the Southern Ocean, famed for treacherous icebergs, waves the size of 3-story buildings, and winds that can reach up to 50 knots. Recently they sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and a sailor on their sister ship, ABN AMRO TWO was washed off the boat and perished.
Sailing at this level engages all the senses to a degree that is almost painful:
Sight - one is constantly watching sail trim, the speed and wind gauges, weather faxes, sunrise, sunset, squalls, the occasional visit by a sea animal, the list of things to keep an eye on is endless.
Hearing - these boats are absolutely cacaphonous and it's a miracle that anybody can sleep. Down below every sound in these naked, unpadded hulls is magnified...water rushing against the hull, any minor trim on the winch sounds like its about to be ripped off the deck. Up above you hear the wind, the water, the shouts of your mates.
Smell - needless to say a group of guys on a boat with no bathing facilities, working full steam 24/7, on ocean legs lasting anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks is going to be aromatic. The degree of work output is directly related to the degree of rankness below decks.
Touch - a good helmsman drives by sight and feel, a good trimmer trims by sight and feel, the water can be icy cold and above decks the trimmers regularly get completely drenched by huge waves, the air is either freezing or too warm, every piece of hardware on the boat seems designed to inflict injury and bad injuries occur with alarming regularity.
Taste - perhaps this is a sense best kept at a minimum as meals are designed for ease and speed, not enticement or flavor. On the other hand, to want victory so bad you can taste it is a good thing.
The skipper of Black Betty recently said this about Stan: "Stan's a legend. He does all his homework. Up in the north of Scotland the course got diverted, but Stan had this huge literature of the tides for the new route. A genius."
A genius...and right now generally considered to be one of, if not THE best ocean navigator in the world. Good on ya Stan.
ocean racing, sailboat racing, volvo ocean race
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