Dongfeng Race Team witness a surreal scene
by Dongfeng Race Team 12 Dec 2014 20:14 GMT
27 November 2014
The final pages of the Leg 2 epic to Abu Dhabi will be played out in the next 24 hours. The leading trio of Team Brunel, Dongfeng and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing have been close sparring partners since crossing the Equator on day 16. On day 18 Dongfeng were just 2.1nm behind the leader Team Brunel and not much has changed since. "We witnessed a surreal scene," wrote Yann Riou. "After 24 days of racing, Brunel, our Leg 2 partner, is crossing only a few lengths ahead of us." The intense close battle will continue right up to the finish line 187nm miles away.
Obsessed with their own speed and that of their Dutch rivals, it was a slow night in fickle winds from the north-east and north – typical of night time sailing in these hot climates. The wind dropped through the night to 3 knots early this morning. Team Brunel and Dongfeng exchanging tacks at 0500.
The breeze has picked up from the north-east but it's going to be a hard few miles to get round the tip of Musandam peninsula. The next position report at 1300 UTC (local time +4hours UTC) should show Dongfeng rounding the top of the peninsula having navigated the Strait of Hormuz – the narrow passage between the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf. Then it's a big turn left as they round the corner (top of peninsula) to head down the coast of United Arab Emirates sailing past Ras Al Khaymah, Dubai then to Abu Dhabi.
Dongfeng's estimated time of arrival is going to be hard to predict knowing that during daylight hours Dongfeng could be broad reaching in 8-10 knots of NW breeze but at night, the wind shuts down. So it will all depend on how much progress Dongfeng make during today and into the night. Volvo Ocean Race HQ is currently posting an ETA of 0600 tomorrow (Saturday, 13th), we suspect it may take a bit longer to reach the finish line and turn the final page of this gripping drama.
From Yann Riou:
It started with: "Everybody on deck!" Everyone came out. And it was totally worth it, for we witnessed a surreal scene. After 24 days of racing, Brunel, our Leg 2 partner, is crossing only a few lengths ahead of us.
They seem to have a different wind, the two boats being on a parallel yet opposite route. A few moments of silence onboard, and we had weighed up the situation. We chose to keep sailing on our tack. "In this situation, one must be right, and the other is wrong..."
So we kept sailing in our wind, painfully. After several minutes, Brunel tacked and came to sail two miles windward of us. They've got more wind and sail two knots fast. I don't know how they had foreseen all of this, but they've done very well.
Some long minutes followed, when we could only notice that we were reaching two knots only when they're flirting with a five-knot boat speed. More than two and half times faster. The crew at the chart table announces Brunel's speed on a regular basis 4.2 knots, 4.5 knots, 4.8 knots...
Will you shut up?
www.dongfengraceteam.com