Volvo Ocean Race Leg 8 - Day 4

by Volvo Ocean Race media 13 Jun 2012 16:12 BST 13 June 2012

Telefónica lead fleet hurtling into eye of storm

Team Telefónica led a furious charge into the eye of a North Atlantic storm on Wednesday, with just 10 nautical miles separating the top four teams overall and the fastest 24-hour runs of the race a real possibility.

How the leading quartet of Groupama, Telefónica, PUMA and CAMPER play the risky situation could ultimately decide the entire race with just 23 points between them and only one more leg to go after the fleet arrive in Lorient on Friday.

The teams have been battening down the hatches in preparation for gale force winds up to 50 knots and waves in excess of six metres that could see the IWC Schaffhausen 24-hour record for the race toppled, but could equally prove boat-breaking.

The delicate balancing act is likely to turn many a skipper and navigator into an insomniac.

On board Abu Dhabi's Azzam the whole team have been engaged in an intense team meeting to discuss their tactics for what skipper Ian Walker described as "the sternest test yet of this race".

"This leg could still hinge on who pushes hardest and survives the gale force winds ahead," the double Olympic silver medallist said. "We will make sure we are well rested and everything is strapped to the back of the bus before the wind rapidly builds tonight.

"In those conditions, first and foremost it is surviving. The problem is that we are actually racing so it will be a case of which boats push hardest and force everyone else to as well."

Few are more nervous than Groupama sailing team, who have the most to lose. The overall race leaders, nursing an eight-point advantage over Telefónica, are all too aware that they will have to push hard to defend their narrow lead on the Leg 8 race to their home port.

But, with the conditions threatening to be as tough as the Southern Ocean in Leg 5 when the French team broke their mast and were forced to finish under jury rig, there will be trepidation.

One thing the team are confident in is the stamina of their crewmen, who are prepared to put every ounce of energy into the remaining 1,000 nautical miles, according to helmsman/trimmer Charles Caudrelier.

"There is a lot at stake, for sure,'' he said. "We are realising that we are leading the Volvo Ocean Race, and that we can win it. We are in front and that's more motivation. Plus the leg is short and we don't have to save energy for later on. We are sprinting."

The teams will be sprinting alright, with 24-hour distances expected to near, if not better, the 553 nautical miles notched by CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand during Leg 1, which has Chris Nicholson's team at the top of the IWC Schaffhausen Speed Record Challenge leaderboard.

CAMPER navigator Will Oxley said there was plenty of run-way available for the teams to accelerate without interruption, loosening the team's current clutch on the IWC Portuguese Yacht Club Chronograph Edition 'Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12' timepiece.

"There are almost 800 miles before we have to gybe, so there are plenty of opportunities for very fast time/distances to be covered over the next 36 hours," Oxley said. "A 24-hour distance record is possible, certainly the watches are up for grabs."

Ericsson 4 broke the world 24-hour speed record for a monohull during the 2008-09 race, recording 596.6 nautical miles -- a mark that has not been bettered since.

At 1500 UTC Team Telefónica held a 1.6 nautical mile lead over Groupama sailing team, followed by PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, CAMPER, Abu Dhabi and Team Sanya in sixth place.

The latest ETA for the boats' arrival at Lorient, on the Brittany coast of France, is Friday.

Position Report at 13:01:36 UTC:

Pos	Team	DTL	Boat Speed	DTF
1	TELE	0	21.9	1004.1
2	GPMA	1.6	21.7	1005.7
3	PUMA	2.9	21.9	1007
4	CMPR	9.6	22.1	1013.7
5	ADOR	20.3	22	1024.4
6	SNYA	38.8	19.8	1042.9

www.VolvoOceanRace.com

Groupama 4 in with a good chance (from Groupama Sailing Team)

The final home straight to Brittany will be extremely quick, to the extent that the first boats are set to finish by midday on Friday or early afternoon! Groupama 4, which rounded Sao Miguel just astern of the Spanish, is in a favourable position for this high tension final and the result in Lorient could well determine the winner of the Volvo Ocean Race… Answer on Friday.

Ultimately the Azores High didn't prove to be a pitfall and didn't really enable any major tactical options: the centre of the high pressure shifted to the South of Santa Maria and the whole fleet fell into line behind each other to round the island of Sao Miguel. Even the breeze played ball since the boats rarely slowed to below ten knots. The westerly wind kicked in midway through the night and it was shortly before daybreak that the three Juan Kouyoumdjian designs passed Sete Cidades, to the West of the Azorean island.

An architectural triumvirate

Once again the three designs by the Argentinean architect were a cut above the rest during the long beam reach between Lisbon and Santa Maria. And even though Camper was able to make up part of her deficit during the light airs beat through the Azores, the three virtual sisterships were in a different league as soon as they could sail with sheets eased. Telefonica, Groupama 4 and Puma were sailing within sight of each other as they rounded the island, with the New Zealanders some five miles behind. However, as soon as the three leaders latched onto the westerly breeze, which gradually picked up to twelve knots, then fifteen, twenty and now twenty-five, they extended away and the Kiwis are nearly ten miles shy of them this Wednesday afternoon.

As the breeze is set to build over the coming hours, it would seem that there will be a three-way battle for supremacy in this boisterous final sprint! The problem for the skippers now is to know how hard to push it: the sea is building the deeper the boats get into the Atlantic depression, whose centre is situated some 700 miles to the West of Lorient. However, this disturbance is slowly shifting across towards Ireland, which it should reach in 48 hours time. As such the crews are in a zone of westerly wind, with breezes which will exceed thirty knots as they shift round to the South-West over the next 24 hours, once the fleet enter the Bay of Biscay.

The final thousand

This Wednesday afternoon, there were just 1,000 miles left to go before the leaders make Lorient and this section is going to be one of the fastest on this circumnavigation of the globe! Basically, the initial stretch will involve a reach, which will become increasingly boisterous and technical at the helm, as the seas will build on the aft quarter: benefiting from the waves to slip along requires a great deal of concentration. Since exiting the Azorean archipelago, Franck Cammas and his men have purposely chosen to let themselves be carried a little more to leeward so as to later reposition themselves to windward once the breeze lifts so as they'll be in an attacking position once they have to make the approach on Cape Finisterre. Indeed the fact that the wind will shift round to the South-West will give the race a tactical slant because by ending up with the wind aft the crews will very likely have to perform one or several gybes.

As such there is nothing in it with less than two days to go till the finish in Lorient, added to which the three leaders in the overall standing are also the top three on tonight's leaderboard! Solely eight points separate Groupama 4 from Telefonica, which herself is just five points ahead of Puma, which makes this eighth leg very important: the first into Brittany will collect thirty points, the second 25 points, the third 20 points… As a result there may be an almighty reshuffle as regards the respective placings of these three boats. We mustn't forget of course that Camper and Abu Dhabi have their assets in the strong breeze forecast: they showed great potential in the South Pacific before breaking… Indeed that is the limiting factor: to avoid any technical hitches, the teams will have to try not to go into the red. As a result, the skippers' responsibility is massive at this stage of the race: so the question is how do you react when one of your rivals is staking it all over the final few miles?

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

“This could suck.” - Rome Kirby

HEADING: 013-degrees
WINDSPEED: 14kts
BOATSPEED: 14.7 kts
DISTANCE TO AZORES: 0 miles
DISTANCE TO FINISH: 1200 miles

The things you see and the places you go. We just keep adding to the list! At around 5 AM local time we cleared Sao Miguel and the Azores in total darkness after making just one tack near sundown (our only manoeuvre so far since leaving Lisbon). Thank you to all of the supporters that shook off the early-morning cobwebs to come out and cheer us on; your enthusiasm was greatly appreciated!

Telefónica and Groupama are not far in front, just over a mile or two, but our options from here to Lorient are limited. The routing software has all models sailing us along a relatively identical line into the approaching low, which means it will more or less be a drag race to France. A drag race is okay if you’re fast, but not if you’re slow, and we haven’t spent much time racing downwind against the fleet so to be honest we’re not completely sure how these next few days will treat us.

Of course there’s the “other” element too, the risk management factor: the forecast is calling for a steady build in breeze – by lunch time we should have 25 knots – and within 36 hours as we approach the center of the looming low-pressure system, winds could increase well into the 40’s. There’s a lot than can happen between here and there, and everyone’s aware of the potential risks and dangers that kind of weather creates; managing those changing conditions could be key to the remaining miles. After a Southern Ocean leg where we were the only boat to finish without stopping for repairs, we well understand the value in sailing conservatively through possibly breaking conditions.

Either way, everyone’s getting ready for one last push. We know it’ll be tough, tiring, wet, and wild, but it’s only for a few days and they’ll be some of our last, so bring it on! What would a leg of this race be without some extremely uncomfortable sailing...

- Amory