Volvo Ocean Race Leg 5 - Day 5

Going great guns on PUMA Ocean Racing during leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race © Amory Ross / PUMA Ocean Racing / Volvo Ocean Race

Ian Walker steers Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing during leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race © Nick Dana / Abu Dhabi / Volvo Ocean Race

Record-breaking conditions and “the best sailing in the world” await the majority of the Volvo Ocean Race boats but Team Sanya have been left assessing their repair options after breaking a rudder while leading the fleet.

Groupama sailing team and CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand have been slugging it out for the Leg 5 lead since shortly after 0800 UTC on Thursday when Sanya’s starboard rudder broke and about three tonnes of water gushed into the aft watertight compartment.

Sanya skipper Mike Sanderson and his devastated crew immediately began repairing the hole, while the four teams at the front of the pack sailed away.

The leading crews have since been busy stowing away valuables, ensuring essentials are within reach and checking their survival suits as they gain ground on the back of a low-pressure slingshot.

Volvo meteorologist Gonzalo Infante said the Southern Ocean low would pack winds in excess of 40 knots and propel the fleet into potential 24-hour distance record breaking territory.

"The low has very strong, very violent, very cold winds from the deep south, so strong that they are likely to reach gale force," Infante said. "The boats will be going very fast, and depending on the sea state, we could see the 24-hour record smashed over the coming days."

At 1315 UTC Groupama were clinging to first place with a 3.9 nautical mile lead over CAMPER as the fleet sailed with more than 20 knots boat speed.

CAMPER co-skipper Stu Bannatyne, competing in his sixth Volvo, said this was the kind of racing he had been waiting for.

“Without a doubt the best sailing in the world is downwind sailing in the Southern Ocean, no question about that,'' he said. "We are about to get a bit of it. Our tactics for sailing from here to Cape Horn - be safe and go fast.”

Groupama skipper Franck Cammas said the wind had already been gusting in excess of 30 knots for the past six hours, and his team were preparing for more.

"We have reduced the sail area and are getting ready for a tough period of time with a big low to round in the next four days," he said.

“We thought about these conditions when we built the boat and when we trained, but it looks like we will have more than expected and there is some stress on board while we wait.

"I don’t know if we will be able to enjoy steering and playing in the waves or if we will be surviving, holding on to the wheel to stand up. It will be a compromise between safety and performance."

PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG navigator Tom Addis said the coming days would be more about survival than anything else.

"At the moment we're trying to go as fast as we can, but we're not fussed about the positions, we're just trying not to break anything," he said.

Team Telefónica are in fourth place, followed by Team Sanya in fifth, while Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing continue to chase the fleet in sixth position.

Ian Walker conceded that the leaders reaching the low was bad news for his team, who were hopeful the fleet would be holed up for longer while they played catch-up after being forced back to port with damage just hours after the start.

"The gap between the leaders and us will grow considerably," he said. "Everyone on board knows the likely scenario so we begin our own race against time. That is not to say we have given up hope of catching anyone up – it may just take a little longer than we had hoped."

Meanwhile, Team Sanya are now focusing on repairs rather than racing, skipper Mike Sanderson said. The winning skipper from 2005-06 described hearing a loud bang while he was at the navigation station.

"I wasn’t sure what it was but I knew it was bad," Sanderson said of the moment the team’s starboard rudderstock broke. "It could have been one of two things. It could have been a wave coming up and slapping the side of the rudder; or, it could have been we hit something in the water again. I’m not sure."

Sanderson said his team had since secured the emergency steering system and fixed a hole in the aft watertight compartment.

"It is the second time we’ve heard water coming into this boat at that sort of pace, so it’s pretty scary," he said, referring to Leg 1 when the team tore a hole in their bow which threatened to sink the boat.

"We’re devastated, we really are," he said. "We were very pleased with our leg from a performance standpoint. We won the Pro-Am race, we got a fourth in the in-port race, we led the fleet out of Auckland and we were in the lead when we pulled out, so it’s obviously really, really sad."

More than 5,500 nautical miles remains between the teams and the finish at Itajaí, Brazil where they are expected to finish in early April.

Position report at 22/03/2012 13:16:22 UTC:

Blog by Ian Walker, Skipper, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing

Despite an exciting day or two gaining many miles over the fleet, it is now clear that the leaders are escaping in strong downwind conditions to the south east of us. We have to head north to evade some light winds and the gap between us and the leaders will grow considerably. Everyone onboard knows the likely scenario so we begin our own race against time.

We still hope to catch the fleet up – it may just take a little longer than we had hoped. For a start the weather has a habit of changing… plus 6,000 miles is a long way to Brazil! Right now it looks like there is unlikely going to be an easy way back into this leg - probably not until after Cape Horn.

One result of this is that it means we are going to be all alone across the Southern Ocean. Our safety net - the other boats - will be hundreds of miles away downwind. This is not ideal but it is a situation we knew was very likely when we left Auckland 24 hours after the fleet. It is something we will consider in every decision and move we make.

Another result is that as a team we will need to work hard to maintain the intensity required to sail these boats fast. No longer will motivation be provided by the three hourly position reports that help us judge how we are doing against the other teams - these are meaningless with no boats in the near vicinity or in similar wind. We will continue set our own goals and to work together to maintain our own high standards.

It is typical that we have now finally got the conditions we have been waiting all race for with 17 knots downwind sailing but the fleet are 250 miles away!

There is some good news though. It may be foggy and damp on deck but the sea is still 16 degrees so it is far from cold. Conditions below are ideal and are probably the best we have had for sleeping all race. Azzam and the sails are in perfect shape and it sounds like the crew is less battered than on some other boats.

In other news we were chased by a juvenile albatross today – these birds never cease to put a smile on your face whatever is happening in the race. The team on Azzam is as determined as ever. Spirits remain high – we will just need a bit more patience than normal!