Volvo Ocean Race Leg 5 - Day 4

It is what makes the Volvo Ocean Race so special; the chance to sail in the harsh wastes of the Southern Ocean, where temperatures plummet, waves are as big as a block of flats and howling tailwinds produce mind-blowing downwind sailing. This is what the six-boat fleet is preparing for tonight as they line up to hook into a westerly depression later tonight. But it’s a race against time to reach the fast-moving conveyor belt and to be denied this opportunity, even temporarily, would be a huge disappointment.

Already speeds are building to 16 knots as the fleet swings south under the ridge of high-pressure that has been slowing progress for the past two days. Now, down to 45 degrees south, four of the five teams are keeping together, but Iker Martínez and Telefónica have taken a flyer to the south in order to reach the strong breeze earlier. They are now showing in fifth place on the leaderboard, which is calculated on distance to finish.

After nearly four days of racing, there has been just one loser, Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in sixth place after returning to Auckland to effect repairs, but even this team could luck-in and re-join the pack if conditions continue to play into their hands.

It has been known before, on this leg of the course, for the backmarker to sail around the leading stationary pack and cruise on to win the leg. A comforting thought for Ian Walker, who has reduced his deficit to 264 nm with a runway of 6,126 nm left to cover before the finish in Itajaí, Brazil.

There is a fair chance that the fleet will be too slow tonight to catch the low-pressure rolling towards Cape Horn, and be spat out the back into lighter airs. This scenario would play very nicely into Walker’s hands, but it is something almost too awful to contemplate for the leading group, who are ready and waiting for the first real downwind test of the race.

“The fast option really looks infernal, a true challenge with lots of cold and unstable winds and a bad sea state,”Groupama’s navigator Jean-Luc Nélias said. “We would follow a low pressure until Cape Horn in winds always above 30 knots. But, on the other hand, if we are too slow tonight, we don’t get to surf that low pressure and we will be back in the transition with lighter winds.”

At 1900 UTC, Chris Nicholson and CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, the most northerly of the fleet, were the new leaders with the slimmest of leads over second placed Groupama 4. Mike Sanderson’s Sanya was in third, 4.6 nm astern of Nicholson, followed by Ken Read with PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG and Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP) filling the fourth and fifth slots respectively. It is almost re-start time so close is the fleet, which is split 9.1 nautical miles between first and fifth, but no other teams have followed Telefónica south.

Position report at 21/03/2012 19:01:05 UTC:

Blog by Ken Read, Skipper, PUMA Ocean Racing

I am sure it is well documented by now – we had a fairly active first couple of days. Everything pretty much happened according to plan. Long beat out through the Coromandel and Great Barrier Island, increasing breeze as we headed off on starboard. Lose all wind instruments just after dark the first night of the storm. Tack in a front to port and haul the mail southeast towards the westerly winds that lie to the south, all in a head-on wave pattern that was incredibly violent and wet.

On the way south is another transition of very little wind that we are currently smack in the middle of. The calm before the storm, so to speak.

In the bizarre department is the fact that four of the six boats are sitting here right next to each other, slatting in no breeze. Obviously our friends on Abu Dhabi had a tough first day. And CAMPER isn't too far off our radar, to the west looking to break through this breathless zone first.

That is the tactical take on things. Lets talk real life for a second.

We certainly had a scare or two in the first 24 hours of this leg, and to be honest the health and well-being is always top priority for this skipper. Long, long, long before any result in any race. So when Casey took to his bunk with a bum back and Thomas took a wave to the posterior that shot him across the cockpit like he was blasted out of a cannon, there were certainly decisions to be made and phone calls to make.

First off, the Volvo medical staff and our own Dr. Ruth McIlrath, Mike Cecchi and Bert Reid all were incredibly responsive. Dr. Ruth and Dr. Spike (Volvo) on the medical side and Mike and Bert on the PT and hopeful recovery side. We also have three trained medics on board and all had their hand in helping both of our fallen comrades. Michi, Rome and head doctor on board, Jono Swain, took it on.

First Casey. He was in the bunk and in pain pretty much hours after the start. He was simply moving a sail. Felt a pop. Couldn't move. Anti-inflammatory and pain meds immediately. He was hurting. Was it a disk or muscular? That was a big issue for us. A disk and we were likely heading to the Chatham Islands to unload him. Muscular we could hopefully deal with. The prognosis was unclear until a set of tests were done to him on board after about 48 hours. Essentially, the tests were to determine if it was a disk problem. Four simple aided activities with his legs and toes. If he screamed bloody terror from the pain, then it was most likely a disk. If he didn’t, it was most likely muscular.

No scream. Whew. Massive relief. So, time to get him better, and I am happy to report that he is standing next to me as I write and just did some minor stretching, and he was laughing at himself earlier. All a good sign.

Next Thomas. Not in order of seriousness but simply because his first initial T comes after C.

Thomas took a good shot to the shoulder courtesy of the leeward side of the cockpit. He was crumpled up as the wave washed away and was assisted back to the hatch where he couldn't move his right shoulder. Clearly dislocated. Clearly in pain. We got him to the media man bunk and made some calls. I'm no doctor so please don't quote me on all of this, but essentially he was left to rest and relax for a short bit, then left his bad wing hanging off the bunk to try and let the shoulder pop back in on its own. Next, led by Dr. Ruth, Jono slowly grabbed his elbow and eased his forearm to the side and voila! Shoulder popped right back into place. The look on his face was priceless. He shifted from sheer agony while it was happening to eyes wide open and speechless, essentially saying through telepathy that it worked. His shoulder looked like a real person’s shoulder again. Clearly with the toughness of a real hockey player, Thomas has made a fantastic recovery, and 24 hours later he was back on the wheel after the craziness died down. He is absolutely feeling better by the minute. No need for a Chatham Islands stop for him either. We continue. And, we continue with the hope that our team will be whole again by the time we get into the big downwind breeze expected.

I have to admit it was quite a scare for the skipper of this vessel. The thought of having to drop one or two of the guys off someplace was very real for a time – to get both fixed and healthy if we couldn't do it ourselves. Then, the idea of continuing on without the safety net of the rest of the fleet is a bit daunting down here. The Southern Ocean is lonely enough even when surrounded by five of your racing compadres. To be way behind the fleet and left off the front needing to make up big miles would create a "go it alone" situation. And that is never very much fun.

It is all about the boys. The most important part of racing. Everything else is very much secondary compared to the health of the troops. Lets hope we have seen the last of injuries on this leg and for the rest of the lap around the planet for that matter. It's no fun for anyone.