Heartland Ocean Racing

Since my time working with ASSA ABLOY in the Volvo Ocean Race, I've been hard pressed to find news and information about ocean racing, and particularly the VOR, in mainstream US media outlets.  I'd scour the web for news, I'd search for any snippet of info from MSNBC or CNN...  most of the time I'd come up short, relying only upon the VOR website for updates and information.

With the advent and spread of Facebook and Twitter, things have become easier, but it's still a pain to locate any significant amount of news.

Even as the Race's reach has grown exponentially around the world, the USA still lags behind in views, information, and interest. I know I've mentioned this before, but there was recently an article (http://www.yachtracing.biz/blog/2012/05/volvo-ocean-race-audience-numbers-1/) released about the media reach for HALF of the most race. "For what its worth, the cumulative TV audience as of February 19th was 880 million based on 1,200 hours of coverage across dedicated programming and news items. Those figures compare with a cumulative audience of 459 million at the corresponding stage of the last race, representing a 90 percent increase."  Can you guess how many of those 1,200 hours were visible in the US?  I'd guess maybe .25%.  MAYBE 3 hours total.  A mention here, a 30 second filler there.  Dismal coverage, no wonder the race is virtually unknown in the United States, especially in the heartland.

So, I've decided to do something about it.  Enter "Heartland Ocean Racing"online newspaper.  It's a site for ocean racing fans to get news from dozens of sources, all in one place.  The page will be updated weekly to start, with more frequent updates as the news requires them.  There is a discussion area, and I look forward to the contributions readers will make.

The first edition is available now, with wrapups from VOR teams, America's Cup and Olympic news, and great photos from photographers and enthusiasts from around the world.  Go take a look!

Been a while...

It's been a while since I had the time or the brain to write something.  Mostly the brain.  I don't know what it is, but when the degrees go up, my IQ points go down.  Any extended amount of time over 100F and I will probably have to return my National Honor Society pin.  We're going on 3 weeks now, this may be my last post EVER.

It didn't help that during this recent chunk of "too damn" (in answer to the question "How hot is it?") I was finishing up my math class at KU.  Most of my brain cells went toward completing the square and remembering the quadratic formula.

Emily Sings the Quadratic Formula

Yeah.  I sang it when it came time to use it. Kind of like I sang the Preamble to the Constitution when I had to get up and recite it in class in 7th grade.

We the people...

 Anyway... I ramble.

I'm working up a new website, sort of a "one stop shop" for ocean sailing news and information, videos, photos, blog posts etc.  Trying to drum up interest in the sport here in the heartland.  As a matter of fact, I've gone and bought the URL "HeartlandOceanRacing" and made a logo and everything:

I'm pretty excited about it, there will be more info as Drew and I figure out just how to make it work.  I welcome any input.

That's it for now.  Supposed to hit 106F today, I'd better go find my pin.

Mom's Top 10. Plus One.

As the mom of a member of the class of 2009 I feel like I'm in a special place to answer this. So here goes.

Mom's Top 10 Bits of Advice (plus one)

1) Follow your dreams, but remember that reality is where you live. To put it more bluntly- you have to eat. You need a roof over your head. You'll need money to pay your bills. Now, don't get me wrong- I'm all about following your dreams, living your life on your terms and all that, but if the current economic situation shows us anything, it's that living on credit will eventually come back to bite you right in the butt. Live within your means and you'll find that your means are more expansive and rewarding than you ever thought possible.

2) Be nice to the Earth. It's the only one we have (at least for now) and we want it to last for all the future generations. Plant a garden, ride your bike more, think about your impact on this fragile marble.

3) Forgive people. This does not mean "be a doormat" but rather it means understanding that not everyone thinks or experiences or lives exactly the way you do, so take a moment and ponder that before you carry a grudge around with you. We all have our own journeys to travel, grudges just weigh us down.

4) Don't take any wooden nickels. Trust but verify. Question authority. What I mean here is this- do your own research. Don't let anyone tell you something and insist that it's THE TRUTH or THE WAY or THE ONLY THING. You're smart, you've learned how to research, with the Internet you have the wealth of the world's intelligence at your fingertips. Learn the difference between what's put out there for mass consumption and what's real.

5) Be helpful. Just the fact that you can read this puts you in an elite class of people on this planet. The fact that you're reading it on a computer puts you in an even smaller class. You're fortunate people. You have more stuff in your rooms than millions of people own in their entire lives. You eat more for lunch than millions of people eat in a day. Don't be selfish with your wealth and talents. Share them to help someone else.

6) Don't be afraid to ask for help. Just because you're in those elite groups I mentioned in #5 doesn't mean you won't need help some day. When you get to the point where you need help, don't be ashamed to ask for help.

7) Stay healthy. Don't smoke, don't drink booze to excess, don't get fat and lazy. Eat good quality food, get exercise and stay healthy. You'll still die eventually, but your life will be fuller and richer than if you spend half of it sick.

8) Don't ever stop learning. You don't have to continue your formal education, but don't stop learning new things. Now that it isn't the bane of your existence, learning can be beautiful and fun.

9) Take full responsibility for your actions, even the bad ones. If you do something and fail miserably, be able to say "Wow. I failed miserably, and I take responsibility for that." Don't let anyone else be your fall guy OR take credit for the good. Don't be boastful, but remember that it's not a bad thing to say "I did that well."

10) If you're going to clam, clam big. Don't half ass your way through life.

11) Remember that there are people who will love you, no matter what stupid stuff you do. Don't shut those people out. However, if you do, they'll still love you, and they'll still be there when you decide to open that door again. 

Breaking the spell of inertia

All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is to - act as if it were impossible to fail.  Dorothea Brande

All my life I've wondered what I wanted to be when I grew up.  For a while I thought archaeologist, then interpreter, then graphic designer, then simply employed, then Ugly Betty.  I was always amazed and envious of people who knew what they wanted to be and went out and achieved it.

For the past decade, I've kind of halfheartedly pursued a position with a VOR syndicate, to no avail.  It never seemed like a real calling until the past year and a half.  My last layoff put things in to stark perspective- I wasn't finding work doing what I had done, so I took the job I could get.

Instant.  Frustration. 

It really made me realize I was MORE than just a paycheck, that I DO have a passion, that it is important to me to find something I love to do.

So I've been chipping away, trying to find inroads into a field where I'm not sure where to start or who to start with.  It's also frustrating, but in a good way.  This frustration I feel I have some control over, that this is the frustration that will lead me somewhere, as opposed to the frustration I feel at my current job.

But that also leads me back to my opening quote- a variant on "What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?"  Well heck- I'd move to Spain, France, Ireland, Brasil... somewhere there was a syndicate starting and get hired!  Easy peasy, right?

Right.  But I'm not in a vacuum here.  I have people who depend on me, and they NEED me to not fail.  It's all well and good to say "I won't fail!" and believe it with all my heart, but reality- people DO fail.  I HAVE failed in the past.  Sure- I don't set out to fail.  But it happens.  Being optimistic is good, being realistic is better.

When my son graduated from high school, I wrote a note to him and his friends.  The first thing I told them:  Follow your dreams, but remember that reality is where you live. To put it more bluntly- you have to eat. You need a roof over your head. You'll need money to pay your bills. Now, don't get me wrong- I'm all about following your dreams, living your life on your terms and all that, but if the current economic situation shows us anything, it's that living on credit will eventually come back to bite you right in the butt. Live within your means and you'll find that your means are more expansive and rewarding than you ever thought possible.

And that is why I don't buy "act as if it were impossible to fail."  Because you have to be prepared.  Anything less is irresponsible.

And that's frustrating.

I'm obsessed, why isn't everyone else?

As you may have noticed, I have an obsession.  Well, I prefer to call it a "passion" because obsession sounds so... stalkery.

My passion is the Volvo Ocean Race.  During the 2001-2002 VOR, I was working for an ASSA ABLOY Group company, and had the unenviable task of figuring out a way to convince die-hard NASCAR and NFL fans, living in Nevada, to be interested in a yacht race that didn't even come within 2,000 miles of us. I found the hook in the story of fellow ASSA ABLOY Group employees in Africa. In AIDS-ravaged areas, funerals were (and still are) a common occurrence. Weekly, ASSA ABLOY Group employees attended funerals of their coworkers, and to show their solidarity, they would wear the ASSA ABLOY Racing Team shirts all Group employees were given. 

My coworkers were shocked that the race that they took so lightly was being used as a rallying point for people who had lost so many. Our interest spread, and we began to take the race much more seriously, and learned about our far-flung partners. 

After we made that connection, I spent the time leading up to the North American stopovers being a cheerleader, following the race around the world from my desk while arranging housing, events and other activities in two ports for over 300 people from around the world.

When I got to Miami, I lived in the Hyatt for three weeks. Up every morning, walking down Biscayne Boulevard to the race venue, which at that time was behind the basketball arena. Full day of running around like a crazy person (The chef's baby daughter needs a playpen? OK.  I need to find a Swedish-speaking babysitter? OK.  Two dozen Easter baskets for the crew‘s kids?  Bring it on.) followed by festivities at night.

When ASSA ABLOY actually arrived, in first place, in the middle of the night, it was like rock stars showed up. Stinky, sweaty, scroungy looking men piled off our beautiful boat and onto a stage. They hugged their families and drank booze out of coconuts. Shortest night ever for those of us who had to go back the next day to meet & greet the throngs of people who showed up at the Race Village.

I got to work closely with some of the crew, and picked up a little Swedish, although I speak it with a Kiwi accent evidently. I brushed up on my French, took a sail on the twin boat, and spent time on South Beach in dive bars with sailors from all over the world (much to my mother's horror I suppose).  I worked three weeks straight, 16- to 20-hour days, with one afternoon off. I washed my clothes in the sink in my room, nearly wore through a pair of sport sandals, and lost 20lbs.  It was AWESOME.

There's a thing about the people that participate in this race. They're the best in the world at what they do. If they don't do their best, people die. Even if they do their best, people die. The great thing is, while it's an exclusive bunch, they're not exclusive. You're judged, of course, but if you pass, you're almost swept into it- brought up to their level and you too are inspired to excellence. 

The most recent edition of the Race wraps up today in Galway, Ireland, with the inshore race and the prizegiving.  If photos and mad tweets are to be believed, half of Ireland, a good chunk of New Zealand and much of Sweden has descended upon Galway this week, and it looks like they're all having a ball. Presidents, Princes, sailors, moms, dads, kids, Maori, Vikings, flamenco dancers, hula hoopers, punks... you name it, they're there and they're ripping it up.  It is indeed a fitting end to the race that some call "the Everest of sailing" and "the toughest sail race in the world."  

Here are a couple pictures I gleaned from Facebook.  

The first- American team PUMA Ocean Racing arrives in Galway in the middle of the night (no joke- it was about 3am):

The second- American team PUMA Ocean Racing arrives in Miami, mid-day:

WHAT THE HECK, USA?  IT'S YOUR OWN TEAM.

There was recently an article released about the media reach for the first half of the current race. "For what its worth, the cumulative TV audience as of February 19th was 880 million based on 1,200 hours of coverage across dedicated programming and news items. Those figures compare with a cumulative audience of 459 million at the corresponding stage of the last race, representing a 90 percent increase." The article goes on to explain why, but NINETY PERCENT INCREASE in just a few years. (http://www.yachtracing.biz/blog/2012/05/volvo-ocean-race-audience-numbers-1/)

Quite possibly the BIGGEST thing in the sporting world, with the BIGGEST audience.

So riddle me this, Batman.  Why barely a peep of this amazing race in the US?  This morning, I checked the tweets and the Facebook posts, so I knew who'd won today's inport, but when I looked at several US news outlets, there was nothing.  I even searched, and found a week-old article.  Nothing new, nothing about the closest finish ever, nothing.

SADNESS.  Sadness and frustration. 


I want this race to continue, and to thrive, which it's doing nicely thanks to inroads into China and the Middle East.  (Team Sanya was the 2nd Chinese/Irish syndicate and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing made it's debut this year)  But, speaking as the Ugly American in the room- what about the US?  Sure- the US has entered teams- PUMA, Pirates of the Caribbean, but I'm pretty sure that 99.99% of people in the US have no idea.


And this presents a hurdle for the race.  Sure, I'm obsessed, and I have friends who are now casually interested because I've bludgeoned them with pictures and stories for the past 9 months, but how do we get the general public in the US even knowledgeable about the race, let alone interested?

The 45 million euro question.  (45 million being a high-end estimate for how much it costs to mount a syndicate)

The other question- how do I get to go along?

(photo courtesy of Leighton O'Connor)

Cheese moving. CHEESE. MOVING.

There's a very popular book called "Who Moved My Cheese?" that tells the story of how to deal with change.  I won't go into the whole thing, click on the link if you're interested.

Anyway, I'm much more the "MY CHEESE MOVED I'MMA PANIC" type of person.  I dislike routine, but I dislike surprises even more.  Once I get used to something, there had better be a really good reason for me to change my ways.

That being said, I always find it amusing when other people lose their minds at change.  So often they're lost in the same kind of morass I get into when confronted with something unexpected, new, different or weird, but it's funnier when they're in it than when I'm in it.  Why is that, I wonder? ;)

Case in point- yesterday, the Volvo Ocean Race moved the sail racing world's cheese by announcing  that for the next two races, every team would use the same boat.  Not the exact same craft, but all the boats would be built from the same model, no differentiation save paint scheme.  In the past there have been parameters that the designers and builders worked with, coming up with similar, but not identical boats.

This setup worked, but it favored the syndicates with deeper pockets.  More $ meant more research, design etc.  The new setup levels that playing field. 

Not surprisingly, some people are displeased with the change.  A few of the comments I've seen:

• Perhaps the clue that the Volvo Ocean Race would introduce a one-design format for the next two races lay in the brand persona of the title sponsor itself. Volvo is not a racing brand at heart.
• Unfortunately, future legends regattas will not feature a diverse fleet of boats that show different approaches to the design problem of racing around the world, but instead will include boats that are indistinguishable except for their sponsor brand decals and livery. This is a huge price to pay for the survival of the race.
• Volvo way to cow down and kill a good race. So you only had 6 boats this race.... with the world in the state it is in that's huge. Yea Southern Ocean breakages, its the Southern Ocean it is meant to break boats. Cost what type of racing doesn't? Go back to an open design and stop trying to screw up a good thing!!!!!
• A sad day for our entire sport. Monopoly never leads to something good... This is the end of the Whitbread/Volvo as we knew it.

Not everyone is crabbing though:

• love the new boat!!!! I think its the best thing they could have done for the race!
• How can you make something, so beautiful, even more sexy??? I love it!!!! Formula one car of sailboats.
• The argument about Farr vs JuanK is moot when it's a OD format. It's a format for the times we live in and puts the sailors front and centre. More teams racing, more sponsors involved, more live media off the boats - this is not OD in the Volvo forever - it's for the next two races... and with the economic climate the way it is we should be glad its going to exist at all!

Of course, I have my own thoughts.  To those that complain that the one boat format limits the race, I ask is the race about the boats or about the people who sail them?

With a one design field, it will be the skill of the sailors (combined with some luck) that determines the outcome, rather than the boat. We can see from this race alone how the boat developments help or hinder a team- Team Sanya has outstanding sailors, but with an older boat, they just don't have a chance to keep up with the newer generation.

I think that this can only HELP the Volvo, as it will become a true sailors' race.  They'll be competing against the sea and against each other, not against the other teams' designers and checkbooks.

I admit that this change does adversely effect the design houses, I'm guessing that the VOR was quite a budget booster for Juan K, Botin, and some others. But this change is only for two races, other houses will get a chance later. Maybe? I don't know.

But just as in my post "To Be A Great Commander" I talk about killing the Whitbread to save the Volvo, I'm all for this change.  Let's move this cheese!

Cross your fingers that I get to see it all move in person!

(Photo Credit: Farr Yacht Design)

 

Do The Math

I'm going back to school to finally earn my bachelor's degree.  It'll take me a while, I get one free class per term by virtue of being a University of Kansas employee, and I'm not interested in incurring any more debt, so I'm looking at about 6 years.  I can handle that.

What I cannot handle is this- When I started my math class this summer, I went to the bookstore and found out that a new math book would be $111. I didn't buy it, I got a $40 used book. Turns out the used book doesn't have the access code for the online portion of the class, so I have to get that separately. OK- fine.

As recommended by the math department, I went to the bookstore on campus to purchase my access code. They do not have the separate access code in stock, but I could purchase the package of access code + new book for $111.

I have already purchased a used book for $40. I can’t see any reason to have two books, so I looked online, to purchase it from MyMathLab directly. $95.80. NINETY FIVE DOLLARS AND EIGHTY CENTS.

This is ridiculous. What possible reason is there for the code to cost that much, beyond the fact that MML can charge it? What if I don’t pay? What if I choose to NOT do the MathLab portions of Math 101 for the rest of my class? How badly would my grade suffer?

I'm guessing it would suffer quite a bit. ( actually- it turns out I'd lose 13% of my grade) So I'm stuck having to drop $95 on a stupid access code for a class that will be over in a month. I was furious to the point of tears.

Welcome to the world of "Why Students are $50,000+ In Debt When They Graduate."  My "free" class (for which I really am grateful) would have cost me over $250 if I hadn't been able to borrow a graphing calculator.  ($119 at the bookstore, for the cheap one at that!)  As it stands I'm down $135.

Why is this accepted?  Why is it ok for textbook companies to charge exorbitant prices, and then more often than not, not allow a decent return rate?  I can't tell you how many times I've tried to return a college text only to be told the edition had changed, the prof decided not to use it again, or just flat out "no." 

And this brings me to another point.  Part of my job is to educate people on the 3 Rs of sustainability- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  By purchasing a used book, instead of a new one, I felt I was upholding the "Reuse" part of all of that.  But, to put it bluntly, I got screwed.  I tried to save money, I tried to do the right thing ecologically, and I was smacked for it. 

What does that say about the sustainability movement?  To me it says "We'll pay you lip service, but we're not going to cut into our profits to save the environment or anything else."

Richard Branson quoted Gro Brundtland (the first female PM of Norway, and one of The Elders) recently, while at the Rio+20 Summit:

“We must break away from our sectoral ways of viewing economy and ecology. We must learn to accept the fact that environmental considerations and economic growth are parts of a unified management of our planet. The one is dependent on the other.”

I'm pretty sure what I experienced today was the opposite of what Brundtland has been advocating.  And that's a problem.

 Richard Branson and Gro Brundtland at the Rio+20 Summit. 

June, 2012