Volvo Ocean Race Leg 1 - Alicante to Cape Town - Day 19

Team Sanya's new bow section being made in South Africa © Marc Bow / Volvo Ocean Race

PUMA's Mar Mostro picking up diesel during a mid-ocean rendezvous with the 'Zim Monaco' © Amory Ross / PUMA Ocean Racing / Volvo Ocean Race

Wet scary days ahead for Telefónica

The Volvo Ocean Race fleet are set for some high adrenaline action over the next two days with the three remaining boats hoping to ride a fast moving South Atlantic cold front all the way to the first leg finish in Cape Town.

On board leader Team Telefónica, skippered by Spain’s Iker Martínez, the crew have battened down the hatches ahead of the storm system, the first effects of which have already pushed their peak boat speed up to almost 30 knots.

Despite travelling at breakneck speed navigator Andrew Cape says the crew and the boat are under completely under control and ready to go even faster.

“We’re at the beginning of a front so we’re getting ready for the big speeds. We are already seeing 25 – 30 knots of breeze and the next day or so is going to be quite exciting for us.

“We’re already averaging 24 knots so it’s already getting a bit spooky. We’re preparing ourselves for a lot more than that -- and a full 36 hours of it.

“It’ll be a good ride.”

Historically the final section of this leg is where 24-hour distance records are set. Mike Sanderson on ABN AMRO 1 (563 nm) and Torben Grael on Ericsson 4 (696.8 nm) respectively turned in record setting performances here in the last two races. Sanderson’s chances of another record attempt in this race ended when bow damage to Team Sanya sidelined him for the first leg.

According to race meteorologist Gonzalo Infante, however, the speed that the cold front is travelling at means that the window for a record attempt this time is very small.

“The front itself is moving at around 40 knots so the boats will not be able to ride it all the way to Cape Town. To break the record they will have to average faster than 24.85 nautical miles over a 24 hour period and the record attempt weather window could shut as early 1200 UTC tomorrow.”

Infante believes the timing of the cold front will benefit Telefónica the most, with Chris Nicholson’s second placed CAMPER arriving a little too late for the full effect.

Third placed Franck Cammas’ Groupama sailing team could have to dig much deeper south to avoid being caught by a secondary windless high pressure system which could keep them at sea for days.

With a 130 nautical mile distance to finish lead over CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, Cape says Telefónica will have to strike a balance between speed and caution on the run in to Cape Town.

“Clearly we don’t want to break anything but we do still have to push the boat to get in on time. If we delay it just gets worse and worse. We’ve definitely got the racing sails up and going full speed.”

Cape says he is very happy with Telefónica’s positioning in relation to the chasing CAMPER, but also strikes a note of caution.

“We’re 50 miles due south which is very important. We get a better angle on the breeze and we ride the front for longer. They will get the lighter airs earlier so we will still need to keep an eye on them and make sure we don’t leave ourselves exposed.”

As for record attempts, Cape agrees that breaking the monohull world record is unlikely, but believes the IWC Schaffhausen speed distance challenge prize for the fastest 24 hour run on Leg 1 could be set.

“We’ve got at least 30 hours of sailing in good strong breeze and we’ve seen 29 knots of boat speed in the last couple of hours but the potential speed is easily in excess of 30 knots. We could average 26 knots if we choose to do so.

“I think everyone is pretty happy with where they are right now so the most important thing is not to break anything.”

Cape also confessed that after nearly three weeks of non-stop ocean racing the Telefónica crew were ready to get ashore.

“Everyone just wants to get in now. We’ve had enough. We’ve been out here 18 days, got three more days to go and they are going to be wet, scary days.

“I think everyone’s anxious to get in, have a beer, see their families.”

Latest routing predictions suggest that Team Telefónica could finish the first leg in Cape Town on the evening of Sunday November 27.

Having retired from the leg, Ken Read's dismasted PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG completed a tricky transfer of fuel from a container ship last night to allow them to continue to motor sail with a jury rig to the island of Tristan de Cunha to rendezvous with their shore crew.

Fuel Lifeline to Stranded PUMA Video:

Position Report at 16:00:51 UTC:

www.VolvoOceanRace.com

CAMPER update

MCM Hamish Hooper blog:
Since crossing the Equator and heading south it has slowly been cooling off each day, which has been a very nice reprieve from the stinking hot we had. But today it became proper cold onboard. Waking up was like a cold winters morning when you just don’t want to get out of your warm bed, but alas I had a drip dripping on my face all night, like water drop torture so I had had enough and wanted to get up. So out came the thermals and extra layers.

And besides that, I had to get up to check on my old mate Mike to see how he was this morning. Now, I am sure there are many people (mostly female) out there with heightened concern for Mike and just how badly he has been beaten with the ugly stick… And the answer I am sorry to say was that Mike fell a long way through the ugly tree and hit almost every branch on the way down. He is not the most pretty of pictures today, but he is smiling- which isn’t a good thing because it’s best when he doesn’t smile. Trae thinks if he gets a gold tooth in place of the one he lost then he would definitely get at least an extras part on the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie…. I agree. But the good thing is he is up back on deck and into the watch system again, having had a good nights sleep and many painkillers to help take the pain away.

It is a bit ‘calm before the storm’ feeling today, in that we have been easing along nicely at around 18 knots in flat water with slight warmth of the sun to take the edge off the chill, and making some good small gains on Telefonica. But everyone I think is quietly preparing for the arrival about midday of the frontal system that will hurtle us to Cape Town. It will be cold, it will be windy and the guys are hoping to be averaging up around the mid 20’s knots of boat speed. They have checked over the boat, and prepared things so that when it arrives it will be full throttle hammer down until we reach Cape Town some 1800 miles away. There will be little sleep and little room for error and take all of the physical and mental strength they have to get there.

But this is most probably our last throw of the dice if we are to beat Telefonica into Cape Town. They have a good lead, and this leg could come down to who sails these last couple of thousand miles the best. It will be all on.

Back to the burgers… Chuny’s turn to submit today…
“The Spanish Mouse’
Big White Hamburger Bun
Beef patty- big one
Fried Egg
Lettuce, Tomato, Onion
Cheese
Gherkin
Ketchup
Mustard

Skipper Chris Nicholson:
"The performance of these boats are amazing, you know the difference between last race and this race is in the order of knots faster. We haven't had a huge amount of breeze yet in this race an average of maybe 20 knots at times, and yet two boats have dropped rigs and the chance of damage for everyone has been really quite high and that's because in 20 knots we're sailing up to 25 - 26 knots of boat speed. These are just ridiculous speeds and we've been saying a lot is that we have to manage this thing over the next few days in 30 knots plus of wind and that will be crunch time for this leg and will shape us up for the future".

Groupama 4, flat out in the front (from Groupama 4)

Groupama 4 has managed to hook onto the front rolling across the South Atlantic at 40°S, but this particular system is shifting quickly towards the Indian Ocean. As such there is little hope that Franck Cammas and his men will be able to stay ahead of it as far as the outskirts of South Africa, in contrast with the two frontrunners…

With over 400 miles covered across the water over the past 24 hours, the French boat only just scraped ahead of the front rolling in from South America at 36° South and has been able to begin circumnavigating the Saint Helena High via her southern face. Furthermore, her positioning 200 miles further North than the Spanish leader is finally enabling her to link onto a shorter course towards Cape Town. Unfortunately, this weather system is moving faster than the yachts in the Volvo Ocean Race and even Telefonica (and even more so Camper) are unlikely to be able to stay ahead of it all the way to the finish. The home straight will be run in a light southerly breeze, with Groupama 4 seriously stalling as the high pressure moves in position offshore of South Africa.

A smack of the Forties

Whatever happens, the men on Groupama 4 are bound to sample the delights of the Southern Ocean with a powerful north-westerly wind of over 25 knots, and gusts beneath the squalls. The sea will also pick up to over five metres accompanied by the big Atlantic swell. As such these downwind sailing conditions will alter the tone since the 20° heel of recent days will give way to some very long spells spent slipping along under gennaker. Naturally the resulting steady pace isn't set to last long (24-36hrs) but they will be able to discover the first albatrosses and the wintry chill of the Southern Ocean is always a fantastic experience on a round the world. Logically, these conditions are unlikely to be repeated prior to the Cape Horn leg between Auckland and Itajai… In this way, Franck Cammas and his men are sure to enjoy a thrilling ride this Wednesday afternoon as these boats love nothing better than a good breeze and some downwind conditions!

For Groupama 4, there are 1,800 miles to go to reach the final destination of this first leg and the hierarchy is likely to remain unchanged between now and then as, for now, Camper hasn't managed to outpace Telefonica. Furthermore, already positioned at 41°S, the Spaniards are reaping the benefits of a more boisterous breeze which will also last longer. Indeed the New Zealanders are likely to be the first to be engulfed by the high pressure. As such, the goal for the three crews is more focused on this experience of high speeds in some difficult sailing conditions (sea, wind, temperature…) and the reliability of the gear, rather than an unlikely upset in the standing. That is unless the Saint Helena High decides not to stretch out a tentacle of calms in front of Cape Town…

Blog from the Seas (by Amory Ross, MCM, PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG)

We were dehydrated of diesel, sucking on fumes. With each new jug pulled onboard, roped in hand over hand from the deck of the super-freighter Zim Monaco, came another pile of miles towards our mid-Atlantic salvation island of Tristan. Every green container brought hope of bringing this boat and the eleven of us on it to the starting line in Cape Town.

But geeze louise, what an ordeal! If there’s one thing that can be said so far about our recent travels, it’s that nothing has come easy. Yesterday’s transfer of 600 liters of fuel went extremely well – we got all we needed – but it was not without some hiccups and a few scary moments.

We got our fuel, signed a few documents, sent up some sweet and smelly PUMA Ocean Racing gear, waved goodbye, and put the bow straight towards Tristan, bearing 125 true. Vamonos!

We owe these mystery men on some mystery ship our thanks, and in a lot of ways our race; without them we would miss Leg 2 for sure. But all casualness aside, this is still a fight against the clock. We’re expecting to get to Tristan sometime early Saturday. Our freighter from Cape Town leaves with the PUMA shore crew, supplies, and a stocked 20-foot container of repair equipment. They should arrive Sunday or Monday. The replacement rig is in transit. There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle and not very much time to put it together, so time will tell how we fare.

The most important news to share though is that the mood onboard is great. We’re all very ready to get off this boat and start the “rebuild,” but we’re doing extremely well given the circumstances. To everyone out there – thank you for all of your support. This is a great team, a great group of guys, and we all really appreciate it.

Amory