From his office in the USA Bill Biewenga is responsible for the shoreside routeing for Cam Lewis’s Team Adventure in The Race. With the vast performance leverage just a little extra pressure gives these 40-knot boats, the task can be a punishing one

The monster multihulls have launched off the start line. The planet is already ringed with multiple global racetracks: the Vendée Globe, The Around Alone, the Volvo and the BT Challenge to name a few of the current courses. But this is The Race. Is it something new, or is it much the same with a new name?

The route to victory is a combination of factors – the weather patterns encountered, the performance characteristics of the vessel, the skill of the crew, and how the vessels and crews bear up under the strain of extended racing. To win, the competitors will be pushing the limits. But exceeding those limits will provide the road to ruin rather than victory.

The climatological hurdles around the world are pretty well understood by now. The teams have studied the typical weather patterns first hand. Many of the competitors have already blasted around the planet on other round-the-world races. Day-to-day weather forecasts will certainly vary, but the significant new variable will be the vessels themselves. How will the crews cope with the world’s weather pattern and what will the changes be from earlier races? 

See Seahorse March 2001 for this article in full