Volvo Ocean Race Leg 4 - Thoughts from the teams
by Volvo Ocean Race media 1 Mar 2015 13:35 GMT
1 March 2015
MAPFRE's stand-in skipper Xabi Fernández (ESP), was savouring a memorable Leg 4 triumph in the Volvo Ocean Race on Sunday, but his stint in charge will come to a halt for the next stage through the Southern Ocean.
The 38-year-old Basque took over from his long-term partner and best friend, Iker Martínez, for the last two legs while the latter concentrated on his 2016 Rio Olympics preparations.
Xabi, for so long the right-hand man of his illustrious partner, has clearly not been daunted by the challenge, guiding the Spanish crew to fourth in Leg 3 and then following up with a paper-thin victory on Saturday night on the 5,264-nautical mile (nm) stage from Sanya to Auckland.
He told a press conference on Sunday morning that, despite his success, normal service on board MAPFRE would be resumed when the fleet sets sail for Itajaí on March 15 for the toughest of all nine stages, Leg 5 through the Southern Ocean.
"Iker is coming back," Xabi told reporters. "He's flying out on the 6th (March). He's going to be with us on the next leg, which was always the plan.
"I am especially looking forward to him coming back. We are already a very strong team with Jean-Luc (Nélias, the navigator) and the rest, but we'll be stronger with Iker in again, for sure." So will he be back for the rest of the race now?
"It depends a lot on how things are going. He has some commitments, of course. For sure, he'll be doing the next leg and for sure he'll be doing the cross-Atlantic leg (from Newport).
"But there's a question mark for the leg from Itajaí to Newport."
The six skippers who arrived in Auckland harbour within seven hours of each other in the small hours of Sunday morning, local time, looked remarkably fresh after snatching very little sleep before a press conference attended by the knowledgeable New Zealand sailing media.
Ian Walker (GBR), skipper of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, had every reason to look buoyant, despite being pipped into second place by four minutes 25 seconds.
Their second successive runners-up spot, however, has given them the overall race lead over Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA), who they beat by under four minutes.
Both have eight points but Walker's men have the advantage thanks to their superior record in the in-port race series where they lead after four races.
Walker outlined a clear, pre-race strategy in October: Finish on the podium in every leg and the chances are you will end up on top come the end of the race in Gothenburg, Sweden, on June 27.
So far, he has carried out that plan to perfection with, successively, first, third, second and second places, but he conceded: "The difference between the teams is getting less and less, but our strategy is consistency. However, it if it becomes a two-horse race, it could be the wrong strategy."
Caudrelier, without wishing to slight Team Alvimedica (Charlie Enright/USA) who won the first in-port race in Alicante back in October, has identified that all crews are taking the inshore series increasingly seriously since it could well break ties by the end of the event.
For Enright, it was another leg of learnings tinged with slight disappointment that his U.S./Turkish-backed boat could not build on their third-placed podium finish in the last leg in Sanya.
"Nobody goes into a leg hoping for fourth place," he summed up succinctly. "We've still got work to do on our boat speed."
Bouwe Bekking and his team on board Team Brunel are still very much in the hunt for the overall title in third place on 12 points, but the Dutchman was typically forthright in his conclusion of feelings on board the boat following their second fifth place in a row, having triumphed on Leg 2 to Abu Dhabi.
"We feel gutted, not only myself, but everybody on the team," he told reporters. "We made one mistake – and we paid for it. We had some sickness on board, but that was no excuse."
For Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR), it is a familiar story of gradual, but constant improvement, despite again finishing at the end of the fleet.
"Results haven't changed, but we're improving. We're almost in contact with the rest of the fleet. We're learning as we sail next to them," she said.
She, her crew and the rest of the fleet will now enjoy some well-earned rest in New Zealand's sailing-mad and most populous city before the action resumes on March 14 for The New Zealand Herald In-Port Race.
The departure for Itajaí, a leg of some 6,776nm, begins 24 hours later on March 15. It is the longest leg of the race and, the skippers agreed, the one that could well point to the eventual destination of the trophy in the race's 12th edition.
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Dongfeng Race Team's leg 4 by Ed Gorman
In sport there are common hallmarks of winning teams and one of the most well-observed is the ability to fight back from a losing position, or to win when not playing your best.
The crew of the only Chinese-sponsored boat in this year's Volvo Ocean Race, Dongfeng Race Team, were disappointed to reach the end of the epic 5,264-nautical mile stage four from Sanya to Auckland in third place. But it could have been far, far worse.
As it is Dongfeng is tied at the head of the leaderboard with Ian Walker's pre-race favourites, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, with the tie only broken by Walker's better score in the in-port races. But with half the points of this race now accounted for, the Dongfeng team remains poised to battle for overall honours as the crews prepare to take on the Southern Ocean in leg five.
Ten days into leg four – a stage that challenged the Dongfeng crew in every way with tropical heat, big breeze or no wind at all, squalls, thunderstorms, islands to avoid and damage to the rig and sails – Dongfeng had slipped to last place for the first time in the race. This after having led early in the leg.
Kevin Escoffier, the French driver, trimmer and general repairs specialist on board, believes what happened next put a marker down for the rest of the race.
"I think we can be very proud of being able to come back from last to first," he said after arriving in Auckland just eight minutes behind the stage winner Mapfre, skipped by Xabi Fernandez, and four minutes behind Walker's crew. "It's very important for our team and our crew to know that we are able to come back even when we are in trouble and not in a good situation. We can be confident in our speed and in our capacity to recover. It is also something that our rivals know that, even if we are last, they will have to keep an eye on us and know that we can come back."
As is in previous legs the crew on Dongfeng featured new faces for this stage including two Chinese sailors and navigator Erwan Israel, standing in for Pascal Bidegorry. But Dongfeng's boat speed, which has been one of the cornerstones of their competitive edge, was unaffected. Escoffier believes the team has proved that no matter who is on board, they can get their bright red Volvo Ocean 65 moving quickly on most points of sail.
"It was not easy having four new people on the boat even if three had already been on board on previous legs, but we have been very good at knowing how to make the crew go fast," he said. "All the crew choices make no difference, we all know exactly how to make the boat go fast. For me this is one of the most satisfying aspects of this leg and it was very important for us to demonstrate that."
Dongfeng is a strong team and Charles Caudrelier, the French skipper, has said repeatedly that the team aspect and the crew's good morale are critical ingredients in their success to date. But there is no doubt that this leg imposed stresses and strains like no other before it, as the crew had to deal with the snakes and ladders of an, at times, cruel game on the sea.
Sam Greenfield, the On Board Reporter on Dongfeng on this leg (who took some incredible footage of Escoffier up the rig using his drone camera), belies Caudrelier has proved on this leg his true leadership credentials. The key is his honesty.
"He is a good leader in the sense that he knows how to bring together a really good group of guys and he knows how to train the Chinese guys and foster the skills they need," said an exhausted Greenfield in Auckland. "But he also knows how to acknowledge his own weaknesses.
"He can get really frustrated if we are falling back in the pack and maybe not be a nice guy to be around but the difference between him and other skippers is that he'll come back and acknowledge his shortcomings. The other reason, of course, is that he's a skipper who will go to the front of the boat helping haul sails with the guys – there is no hierarchy on board – he jumps right in and gets his hands dirty."
The team had to contend with a broken jib halyard locking system and with more damage to the mast track on Dongfeng, but they fought back and were leading a tight front group of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Mapfre in the closing stages. But then came the dreaded black cloud in Dongfeng's way that scuppered the team's chances of a second consecutive stage win.
As is often the case the leading boat got the worst of it. Dongfeng stopped in the water – as Walker put it, "ruined" by the cloud – while Walker's boat sailed round them and Mapfre went from third to first and never looked back. Like a deflected goal in a World Cup Final, Dongfeng was undone by cruel luck that is an intrinsic part of all sport.
Escoffier did his best to put a brave face on a very frustrating last ordeal of a long and harrowing leg. "I don't want to say it was luck because Mapfre are very good," he said. "But we arrived at a bad moment in the clouds and Mapfre, who were behind us, arrived at a very good moment. But that's life, that's sailing and we cannot do anything about that."
Team SCA Completes Closest Race in Race History by Annaleisha Rae
In the early hours of this morning, Sunday, March 1, Team SCA arrived into Auckland just seven hours behind the winner of the leg, MAPFRE (ESP) in the closest ever Volvo Ocean Race leg.
After 5,648 miles in some of the toughest conditions the fleet had experienced to date, the leg from Sanya, China to Auckland was the closest leg in the history of the race, with the three leaders finishing within eight minutes of each other.
On the dock Annie Lush (GBR) reflected on the leg.
"It was tough, so we decided to take a dive to the north and we were kind of relieved to see someone [Team Brunel] follow us, so at least we had someone alongside us. That was pretty exciting for quite a while, it was going well but unfortunately we didn't quite take the right moment to cash in on all the gains we made and we ended up in less pressure than we had anticipated.
"I think we dropped the ball when we had a bad night - some clouds, which we didn't sail too well. As a result they gained some miles and I think that shows what this race is like. It is relentless, it is tough, and you let up for one minute and that's it – that's one design racing for you."
Sally Barkow commented, "I think this leg was good in that we were always in touch with the group and had something to think about, we were sometimes right there, sometimes had some catching up to do, but I definitely think that we have more to give and maybe we can start making some bigger leaps."
The team will spend the next few days resting before they start preparing for Leg Five from Auckland to Itajai, Brazil which, 6,776nm is the longest leg of the race. The leg begins on Sunday March 15 and is expected to arrive in Brazil on April 5.
Team Alvimedica in Top Four Fight by Jane Eagleson
Team Alvimedica staged a herculean fight to the finish closing the gap on the leading three boats to only five nautical miles in the final hours to Auckland to place fourth. After 5,264 miles from China, the top four boats finished within 90 minutes of each other, in sight of each other down the coast of New Zealand's north island into the City of Sails.
In the first four legs of the Volvo Ocean Race, there have been four different winners, underscoring how close the competition is in this around-the-world marathon. The top three boats crossed the line in Auckland less than 10 minutes apart.
Team Alvimedica skipper Charlie Enright, 30, of Bristol, RI, said it's become a game of inches. "Just before the finish, we were only 3.7 miles from Dongfeng (third place)." The youngest skipper in the fleet continues to seek ways to improve boatspeed. "We sailed a very consistent and complete leg, probably our best so far even though the final result doesn't reflect that. We just need to get a little faster."
With two New Zealanders on the race crew – watch captain Ryan Houston and trimmer/helmsman Dave Swete - Team Alvimedica had a flotilla of Kiwi friends and family awaiting them as they sailed into the Hauraki Gulf.
Despite the late hour, it was an enthusiastic and heartfelt welcome for the young team as they finished just before 11pm local time.
While an impressive result finishing 1 hour, 27 minutes behind leg winner Mapfre, it was not enough to get New Zealand race crew Dave Swete to the dock in time for tonight's Cricket World Cup. Sporting rivals Australia and New Zealand were competing at Auckland's Eden Park and Swete, a passionate cricket fan, had a ticket waiting for him. Team Alvimedica's trimmer and helmsman couldn't make it in time as the cricket match ended just before the boats arrived. Swete now is hoping the Black Caps can come for a sail during the Auckland stopover.
For Houston, the homecoming was beyond his expectations.
"I'm a bit overwhelmed really," Houston said on the arrival pontoon. "To see all those boats out there was just amazing. There is something special about coming home."
This was a challenging leg with different conditions than Team Alvimedica had experienced in the race to date. "Leg Four was dominated by big decisions weighing risk versus reward. Brunel and SCA's early split was the biggest and boldest of the race thus far sending two boats away from the fleet in search of pressure and leverage," said Anderson Reggio, the team's navigation support.
"For Team Alvimedica this was surely a difficult moment on board as the routings said north was a winner, but the main competition was heading east. Do you stay with the boats you want to beat, or go with the boats against whom you have proven to be faster? It was a tough call and one that will surely be discussed by all teams as they debrief the leg in Auckland."
In this edition of the Volvo, no lead has proven too safe and Brunel's lead vanished as the fleet progressed south of the Equator during week two, eventually giving it up to the speedy Dongfeng who would in turn lose it to Abu Dhabi.
The final 1,000 miles were spent with Abu Dhabi, Dongfeng, and Mapfre exchanging blows as they pushed hard toward the New Zealand coastline. "Throughout it all, Team Alvimedica continued to make confident decisions in both tactics and sail selection. If not but for a few clouds when transitioning through the final trough, they too would have been amongst the leaders heading into the final light zone off the New Zealand coastline," Reggio said.
This was the toughest stage in terms of wind and weather conditions so far and will most certainly prove a good warm-up for the Southern Ocean to follow.
While Team Alvimedica was reeling the leaders in during the final few days into Auckland, the young crew took a slightly more westerly track down the Pacific towards Auckland. "It looks as if this leg all came down to a 100nm Coastal Classic Race in reverse as we worked our way down the NZ coastline on Saturday," said navigator Will Oxley.
Team Alvimedica crew race crew are: Alberto Bolzan, 32, (ITA); Nick Dana, 28, (Newport, RI, USA); Charlie Enright, 30, (Bristol, RI, USA); Ryan Houston, 32, (NZL); Sebastien Marsset, 30, (FRA); Will Oxley, 49, (AUS); Dave Swete, 30, (NZL); Mark Towill, 26, (Kanehoe, HI, USA); and OnBoard Reporter Amory Ross, 30, (Newport, RI, USA).