Volvo Ocean Race Leg 1 - Day 18
by Volvo Ocean Race 28 Oct 2014 14:23 GMT
28 October 2014
Team Brunel snatch lead... for now
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing have finally given ground to Team Brunel after almost exactly a week at the head of the fleet but the new leaders' thin advantage may well be very short-lived as the Volvo Ocean Race Leg 1 turned into a game of hunt-the-breeze.
Ian Walker's (skipper-GBR) men edged ahead of the fleet on October 21 after leapfrogging past Dongfeng Race Team, having navigated the Cape Verde Islands.
They kept their noses in front until Tuesday morning when Bouwe Bekking (skipper-NED) and his crew moved into a 59-nautical mile advantage.
But before Dutch race fans get too excited, their position only reflects their placing in the most easterly point of the fleet, closer to the opening leg finish in Cape Town.
Team Vestas Wind have gambled by following a course to the west of the two leaders but it was paying slim dividends with markedly less breeze where they were.
Spain's MAPFRE went even more for broke, heading 230nm west of Team Brunel but in the best gusts of the fleet.
Could that be the ploy to propel them first to the westerlies which could give them the crucial advantage in the Southern Ocean sprint to the finish?
"Right now it's almost as if we're in a three-way tie for the lead with each boat making bets as to where the breeze is going to be strongest as we make our way around the western edge of the St Helena High," said Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's onboard reporter, Matt Knighton (USA).
"Vestas is way out west. We gybed westward a couple of times during the day to try and find more wind. Brunel opted to continue on our original southerly route and not gybe west.
"Three boats, spanning 100 miles of ocean, each with a chance of working around the other two to get around the high fastest. We've been routing all of our positions and if you were to trust the computer, we'd all be finishing within an hour of each other with Abu Dhabi in the lead."
Meanwhile, the temperatures are dropping as the tension rises with the thermals being donned for the first time onboard Abu Dhabi while the women of Team SCA were putting on their fleece-layered hats.
The boats are expected to complete the 6,487nm first leg from Alicante to Cape Town around November 5 after setting out on October 11.
www.VolvoOceanRace.com
Getting from A to B is never easy... (from Dongfeng Race Team)
- Days at sea: 17
- Boat speed: 17 knots
- Position in fleet: 4th
- Distance to leader (Team Brunel): 100 nautical miles
- Distance to finish: 2,712 nautical miles
- Where are they? 850 miles east off the coast of Brazil, south-east of Rio de Janeiro
- Racing conditions: Downwind reaching 15-18 knots
Departure Alicante, destination Cape Town, 6,487 miles... But many more miles will be sailed on the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race as the most direct route is not an option. That's yacht racing for you and the vagaries of the weather that determine the fastest route. In this instance, avoiding the windless St Helena High Pressure zone is determining the fleet's route – bit like driving round London's M25 or Paris' peripherique – a longer route but, in theory, faster than driving through a city blocked with traffic jams.
There is a three way battle going on at the front as the boats push south, staying clear of the effects of St Helena, Team Vestas Wind taking the most 'westerly' lane, Team Brunel the 'easterly' lane and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing the middle lane. Behind Dongfeng Race Team and Team Alvimedica are on similar track to the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. "After four or five days sailing in a straight line we are now downwind so we start to gybe and it will become a bit more interesting in terms of strategy as the boats choose different options," reported Thomas Rouxel.
The most-eagerly awaited emails on the boats are the 6-hourly positions reports but the front-runners know the rankings are meaningless right now as they are measured on the boat closest to the Cape Town finish, and being closest doesn't mean much as it's all about getting into the stronger westerly breeze first ie the Roaring Forties, the Southern Ocean freight train where the wind and the waves rotate around the earth's surface with no interference from land. "The positions are likely to change as teams try to get any tactical advantage they can which allows them to pick up the new conveyor belt of breeze which lets them bring the bow around to aim at South Africa," reported Dongfeng Boat Captain, Graham Tourell. "Until then, the leaderboard is not the holy bible on how well teams are doing in the race so hold on to your seat, keep your fingers crossed and pray for our boys that they come out within striking distance of the front runners, as once the boats are all pointing in the same direction it will be much harder to close any big gaps!"
Dongfeng is approaching 30 degrees South, so the Roaring 40s are 600 miles further down the track but in a couple of days life on board is going get very wet and very cold. Yang Jiru (Wolf) was captured on film hastily repairing his neck seal on his wet weather top in readiness for what is to come.
Whilst in warmer climes, his Dongfeng teammates Cheng Ying Kit (Kit), Liu Xue (Black), Kong Chencheng (Kong) and Liu Ming (Leo) were racing on the waters of Shenzhen and Hong Kong in the 8th edition of the China Cup International Regatta (24-27 October), as part of their ongoing training programme and quest to be part of the VO65 crew on future legs of the Volvo Ocean Race. The outcome could not have been better, as Dongfeng Race Team fought off the 14 other entries to win the IRC-B Division.
From Yann Riou, OBR, Dongfeng 28.10.14:
Virtual Arrival!
We almost are... Let's say that with our 10-day weather files, we did a first routing to Cape Town today... In theory, we know when we arrived, in which position, and where to go. Except that it tends to change with every new weather file!
Cleaning up and gybing
We gybed today. Several times. That means that, for the first time in a while, we were on starboard tack. It also means we moved everything we pack on port to the starboard side. That includes the sails on deck, but also all the gear inside the boat. Bags of food, tools, personal bags, spare pieces, parts of our kitchen... When we sail at a reaching angle like we've done in the past days, the more things you stack on windward, the fastest you ho.
Let's say we put it all.
So, when you move after almost a week, you find some random stuff that got stuck in a corner or under a box. A sock, a tee-shirt... I found a pen, and a camera battery. On the other side, there is also a layer of dirt and old food crumbs that made the spaces between the bags their home too.
So we cleaned.
"We've got some 10 days of sailing left. It's going to be complex and interesting." Pascal. 10 days... More or less. And looking at our competitor's positions, we can see that it goes everywhere. So – no certitude about the best route to take... Interesting.
Yann