Volvo Ocean Race Leg 1 - Alicante to Cape Town - Day 11
by Volvo Ocean Race media 15 Nov 2011 15:44 GMT
The Doldrums put up little resistance to the Volvo Ocean Race fleet on Tuesday with PUMA’s Mar Mostro and Telefónica, still locked together in a tight battle at the front of the fleet, looking set to breeze through the notorious ‘windless’ zone in under 24 hours.
Known as the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone, the Doldrums are renowned as one of the trickiest areas of the world to navigate – but they posed little problem for PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG and Team Telefónica as they continued the sprint south through the Atlantic.
“This Doldrums band isn’t nearly as wide as last time,” said PUMA skipper Ken Read, recalling his experience of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. “In the last race we parked for days. This time we might make it through unscathed. Tom Addis [PUMA’s navigator] has done his homework and we think we’ve come up with a nice path.”
PUMA and Telefónica have been locked in a close-quarters battle since the fleet left Alicante on November 5, and after entering the Doldrums neck and neck on Monday evening both looked set to escape by 0000 UTC on Wednesday. At the 1300 UTC position update PUMA held a narrow six nm lead over Telefónica, with both maintaining speeds of more than 10 knots.
Weather experts were also forecasting an easy passage for CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand and Groupama sailing team. “Boats speeds will go down through the Doldrums but I expect a relatively fast crossing for all the teams,” said Volvo Ocean Race chief meteorologist Gonzalo Infante.
The drop in speed from the 20+ knots the leaders enjoyed over the weekend allowed third-placed CAMPER and fourth-placed Groupama to make back some ground. Over the past 24 hours CAMPER pulled back 24 nm on PUMA as the fleet compressed with Groupama gaining 54 nm.
On board CAMPER, navigator Will Oxley and co-navigator Andy McLean have been glued to the boat’s radar display, attempting to pick a route through the cloud-ridden Doldrums.
“We try to position the boat relative to big clouds,” McLean explained. “The big clouds are either sucking air or blowing air depending on whether they are raining or not. They can increase breeze by 100 per cent or you can sit in a hole for hours so getting it right is pretty vital.”
Groupama watch leader Damian Foxall said the team remained focused on speed despite being 273 nm behind PUMA at 1300 UTC.
“It’s not over yet and everyone is very aware of that,” he said. “What’s important is to take the small gains and make sure the boat is at 100 per cent, stay in touch with the others and, by the time we get to Rio in a week, other options may have presented themselves.”
The leading yachts are expected to reach the Leg 1 turning mark Fernando de Noronha, an archipelago off the coast of Brazil, within 36 hours.
On the way to the islands they will pass the Equator into the Southern Hemisphere, the signal for traditional ceremonies during which, for reasons of superstition, first-timers must go before King Neptune and his court to be punished for former sins.
“This is not like going to a confession booth at your church or saying hello to the local petrol station pump attendant," explained 28-year-old Kiwi sailor Brad Marsh, one of two facing the trial on Groupama alongside France's Erwan Israel.
“King Neptune and Queen Codfish have a long history of inflicting the worst punishment possible for any crimes that have occurred in the past. It is nature's way of achieving equilibrium against any wrongdoings. Trust me when I say the show is rated for adults only and not intended for younger audiences!”
Once past Fernando the teams have around 3,300 nautical miles of South Atlantic to navigate before reaching the finish in Cape Town, South Africa.
Blog from the Seas - Amory Ross, MCM, PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG
Things are heating up around here, literally and figuratively. We’re currently about 50 miles from exiting the Doldrums and we have seen nothing of the sail-flapping drift off from past races. It has been wet, windy, and frenzied, and credit goes to Tom Addis for staying patient and calculated through it all.
After a couple days of easy sailing, we were unprepared for some of the stronger winds we first encountered yesterday afternoon, and that set us back on our competitors for sure. When we entered this region of “lost days” sometime last night, Telefónica was almost abeam of us. Since then we’ve recovered nicely and have regained our southerly position, but progress hasn’t been without its drama. Naturally unpredictable weather has done its best to keep us busy, and tonight has been one of squall dodging and sail changing; everyone’s tired.
It has also become uncomfortably hot below deck. We smell bad enough as it is, but we now have the equatorial heat and humidity to make things worse. Clothes won’t dry, sleeping is hard, and life is generally less relaxed. The fans are on and the shirts are off!
The winds have just eased slightly to 13 knots, we’ve re-stacked the weight forward, and everybody’s settling back into the current watch schedule; hopefully there will be a few hours without disruption so we can play a bit of catchup.