Volvo Ocean Race Leg 6 - Start
by Volvo Ocean Race 19 Apr 2015 23:19 BST
19 April 2015
No hurry to leave!
Team Alvimedica head the long haul to Newport
The Volvo Ocean Race fleet bid a lingering farewell after a successful stopover in Itajaí with an almost total lack of wind ensuring a go-slow departure for Leg 6 to Newport, Rhode Island, USA, on Sunday.
After watching the six boats drift in frustratingly super-light conditions in the south-east Brazilian port for nearly an hour, the Race Committee cut its losses and ruled that the fleet could sail into the open seas by drastically shortening the opening in-port lap.
Some 270,000 spectators have visited the Itajaí race village since the Leg 5 winners, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR), arrived here on April 5.
There were approaching 50,000 more for the departure of Leg 6, a 5,010-nautical mile stage, and the sailors appeared to be in no hurry to leave an electric atmosphere.
Team Alvimedica (Charlie Enright/USA) are the team with arguably the biggest desire to win the leg into their home port and they duly had the honour of leading the fleet out of Itajaí with barely three to five knots of boat speed.
MAPFRE (Xabi Fernández/ESP) were their closest pursuers followed by overall race leaders Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Team SCA (Sam Davies/GBR), Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA) and Team Brunel (Bouwe Bekking/NED) in that order.
Walker and his crew, who head the leaderboard by seven points after Dongfeng failed to complete Leg 5 because of a broken mast, had a miserable start as they found themselves on the wrong side of the starting line and had to turn around in slow motion before setting off.
Once the fleet escapes the immediate shortage of breeze in almost Doldrums conditions, the fleet should find appreciably more wind up the Brazilian coast through the Atlantic.
The leg is unlikely to match the previous stage's treacherous conditions through the Southern Ocean and south Atlantic, but there are still plenty of challenges to test the fleet to the full.
Light winds, however, could still hamper them along the way.
The boats are expected to take around 17-20 days to reach Newport, the seventh port to host the race.
www.VolvoOceanRace.com
Team Alvimedica Leads the Fleet Home to Newport, Rhode Island (from Team Alvimedica)
American skipper Charlie Enright and Crew Lead at the Turning Mark out of Itajai
American skipper Charlie Enright and the Team Alvimedica crew are motivated more than ever to post a strong performance on the 5,000 nautical-mile leg of the Volvo Ocean Race that started from here this afternoon. The young team, which includes four Americans, is heading home to Newport, RI.
In excruciatingly light conditions at the start in Itajai, Enright and crew eked out a narrow lead at the first mark in the team's quest to be the first to Newport. Due to the light conditions, the race committee changed the inshore portion of the leg start to send the fleet directly to Newport after the first mark rather than doing additional laps. Team Alvimedica earned the honour to lead the fleet out of Itajai toward their homeport.
"It will be very exciting to see family and friends and hopefully the massive crowds of people that await us," Enright said before docking out. "The team is in a good place, we have been training in the right direction, and we're poised to have a good leg."
"I have been looking forward to this leg since the start. We feel really privileged to do this race and in addition it comes to Newport, which makes it really special or me. The maritime industry is a big part of the economy in Rhode Island and I know everyone is looking forward to our arrival. I think there will be big crowds on the water and on the land when we get there. It's a real homecoming."
Enright is joined onboard by fellow Rhode Islander Nick Dana, 29, of Newport who is the boat captain and bowman. The team's Onboard Reporter is Amory Ross, 30, of Newport. Team co-founder and watch captain is Mark Towill, 26, of Kanehoe, HI, who after his years at Brown University with Enright, calls Rhode Island his second home.
Amory Ross is excited to share the team's stories and images over the next two weeks as the team races toward home. "There is something very romantic about sailing home. Any time you come home from a long trip, it's always a good feeling to return home. It's a story I am really looking forward to tell. To have the added incentive of sailing to Rhode Island is a very special thing."
With Newport as the team's official homeport, the team is certain to be pushing themselves to the limit to beat the fleet home. This is where the young team trained and set out from 10 months ago. The team has since logged about 40,000 miles and grown together as a team and steadily improved their performance since the start of the Volvo Ocean Race last October.
"It's really a dream come true to be able to sail into Narragansett Bay as part of this race. Seeing the Newport Bridge from Rhode Island Sound will be pretty surreal. That will be the moment when it all kicks in for me. It's a big moment for me – it's where I grew up sailing - and it' a big moment for our team. It's where we did two transatlantics last summer and that's where our team started coming together."
As the team sailed past the turning mark toward Newport at the start today, Tulio Hochkoeppler jumped off Alvimedica as the winner of the World Heart Health Charity Tour. Team Alvimedica raised over $R 18,000 by auctioning Pro-Am spots and the Jump Seat for the local children's hospital, Hospital Infantil Pequeno Anjo in partnership with the local Universidade do Vale do Itajai – Univali. The funds raised will be used to help treat children with heart defects through the state of Santa Catarina.
Bids are still open for the Pro-Am spots and the Jump Seat for the Newport stopover. Bids can be placed at www.teamalvimedica.com/auction.
Team SCA: USA-bound (from Team SCA)
Team SCA left Itajai in Brazil in light winds this afternoon as they started the sixth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, from the southern Brazilian city to Newport, Rhode Island.
The all-female crew said their goodbyes in the carnival atmosphere of a packed race village, and stepped onboard the boat mentally and physically prepared for the 5010-mile leg to Newport.
"I think it definitely is a big reset for Leg 6. The last leg was very different - it was more about survival, and this leg we are back to some more normal conditions. We are very focused about getting into the right mindset from the word go and settling into performance sailing and boat speed," comments Abby Ehler (GBR).
Over the next few days Team SCA will be looking for the best route through to easterly trade winds while trying to remain ahead of the cold front that is on their heels.
"It seems like the forecast for this leg could suit us really well, it could push us all the way through and allow us to be in the mix among the other boats for the whole leg, so it should be a good run to Newport," added Sally Barkow, one of two Americans onboard the boat.
Team SCA completed the shortened inshore course and left the Itajai leaving mark in fourth place with onboard guest and 'jumper', Ellen Jabour, leaping from the boat just after.
The fleet is expected to arrive in Newport, RI between May 6-9, where a huge welcome is anticipated for the race fleet.
To win, first you have to finish (from Dongfeng Race Team)
"To win, first you have to finish" a quote from Volvo Ocean Race veteran Chris Dickson in bold print in the Race Village. To even have a chance at winning this race first you have to finish it, something that for Dongfeng Race Team was a question mark just less than a week ago.
The other teams have had two weeks to prepare, we have only had a few days and today the start of leg 6.
So the question remains... are we ready?
There is a permanent buzz around the Dongfeng team base on the morning of departure, Pascal printing maps on a printer that only occasionally decides to work, Horace eating as much fresh food as he can get his hands on, Black shaving his head like a warrior and Onboard Reporter Sam Greenfield looking for his charger. Which charger exactly we're always unsure but the fact of the matter is, no matter how organised you are – or how much or little time you have to prepare – there is always something left to do. Not to mention the five different languages flying around.
After working tirelessly day and night it was finally time for the unofficial handover of Dongfeng from the shore crew to the sailors. Graham Tourell and his shore team have done everything in their power to make this boat race ready: "We have a responsibility and that is to deliver a boat to our sailors," he explains, "It doesn't matter how much or how little time we have to do it in – we have to do it."
Skipper Charles Caudrelier showed his appreciation after yesterday's in-port race when he said, "I have one goal and that is to perform as well as my shore crew. If we can be up to their standards I know we can win."
Dongfeng left Itajai in very light conditions in 5th place, with Team Alvimedica leading after the 80 minute inshore circuit. The next leg from Itajai to Newport, USA, will take the sailors on a 5,000 nautical mile journey lasting approximately 18 days. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing are streaks ahead on points and as it stands this race is theirs to lose and in the words of Kevin Escoffier – it will be the ones making the mistakes who will lose now.
"Well the positive thing to take from this so far is that we are still in second place, however we are now closer (in points) to the fifth boat than the first. Since we started the race in Alicante we said we wanted to be on the podium in Gothenburg, this is still our objective and we will do the best we can," explains Kevin Escoffier as he finishes packing his bag. "You know, even if we win every leg from now until Gothenburg it doesn't mean we'll win overall. It will be the ones who make the mistakes who will lose now."