Volvo Ocean Race - Leg 1 Start

Pirates of the Caribbean starts the Volvo Ocean Race © Daniel Forster / Pirates of the Caribbean

Pirates of the Caribbean starts the Volvo Ocean Race © Daniel Forster / Pirates of the Caribbean

Up to 1 million people watched the start of the Volvo Ocean Race. With 70,000 people lining the dockside alone and 2,000 spectator boats out on the course area, the race got a magnificent send-off from the Spanish port of Vigo.

There was a bustle of excitement on the dock this morning in the Spanish port of Vigo as the crews hurried around making final preparations and saying goodbye to friends and family, before they headed off on the first 6,400 nautical miles of the race.

The final farewell was delivered in person by His Majesty King Juan Carlos I of Spain, who greeted the crews on the dockside above the new breed of Volvo Open 70’s that were about to become their homes for the next 20 days.

On the Vigo dockside there was still one boat missing; the boat that was formerly known as ‘Premier Challenge’ and now as ‘Brunel Sunergy’ was still on her way to Vigo after clearing final measurement just yesterday. As the six teams made their way off the dock, Grant Wharington and his crew, which also saw final changes this morning, had just arrived at the start.

At 14 00 HM King Juan Carlos I fired the starting gun onboard the Swedish ship Göthenborg and finally the months of waiting were over. Ericsson and Pirates of the Caribbean shot off the start line under spinnaker and led the charge to the first mark. With the breeze light and shifty there was some clear differences in boat speed, and like the in-port race last weekend which took place in similar conditions, Ericsson proved speedy and was first to round, followed by Paul Cayard’s Pirates of the Caribbean and home favourites movistar skippered by Bouwe Bekking.

The course then took the teams back through the start line which provided a fantastic spectator opportunity, especially as the breeze picked up under a rain cloud to 17 knots. Again it was Neal McDonald and his team onboard Ericsson who were first through the gate followed by movistar, who had overtaken Pirates of the Caribbean on the close hauled reach through the start line. Third to go through was Pirates, followed by ABN AMRO ONE, Brasil 1, ABN AMRO TWO and finally Brunel Sunergy.

As the teams head out of the Ria de Vigo followed by a small army of hospitality boats, media boats and spectators, the order has not changed and Ericsson leads the charge to Cape Town followed by movistar, who has made up some ground on the leader, and then Pirates of the Caribbean.

The first 24 hours of the race is due to be a physical one as the forecast is likely to build and for the crew’s first night they could have 30 knots of wind. Already the wind has increased and there are 2-3 metre high waves which the boats are crashing through. There is much talk of 24 hour records being broken on the first Leg and only time will tell if this prediction is true.

Even though the boats are out of site, they are never out of mind with the new Volvo Ocean Race website. Log on to www.volvooceanrace.org to get the latest action and position reports from the race.

Ericsson Racing Team leads Volvo Ocean Race out of Spain

The first offshore leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 kicked off today from Vigo, Spain, a 6,400 nautical mile trek to Cape Town, South Africa. The Ericsson Racing Team (SWE) had a first class start to the leg and led the fleet out of Spain, headed for the first scoring gate, Fernando de Noronha.

The atmosphere in the race village was electric this morning, as friends and family kissed goodbye to loved ones and crowds of spectators took to the water. The fleet slipped the dock at 11.30 local time under grey skies and light winds. The start guns fired at 2.00 and the fleet headed on a short run in the Ria de Vigo to a turning mark at the end of the bay.

Ericsson got off to a good start in the middle of the pack but Pirates (USA) and movistar (ESP) just sneaked ahead. Cayard and his team were the first to jibe and take advantage of the wind shift. But one jibe further, Ericsson managed to cover Pirates and take the lead.

McDonald and his team executed first class crew work and rounded the first mark 47 seconds ahead of Pirates and 1 min 10 seconds ahead of movistar. As they headed back upwind, Ericsson was first to meet the new 12 knot breeze and flew across the passing gate. By the time they reached the third gate they led movistar and Pirates with a small advantage.

A great start for Ericsson Racing Team but they still have over 6000 nautical miles ahead and anything could change. The teams will be keen to reach Fernando de Noronha as quickly as possible, where they can pick up points from this first scoring gate. The northerly winds are expected to build steadily overnight Saturday and into Sunday, so the first 24 hours could be very fast!

Quote:

Magnus Olsson, Technical Director, for the Ericsson Racing Team and five times veteran of the Volvo / Whitbread race, gave his report on the start: "Ericsson, Pirates and movistar all had a fantastic start and showed great boat handling. On their way to the first mark, the Ericsson crewmembers were very smart to avoid windless patches, get closer to the leading boats and finally take the lead. This will be a big battle. I guess that the three leading boats will stay ahead for the next 12 hours, then everything is open."

TEAM ABN AMRO set sail for Cape Town in spectacular exit from Spain

Eighteen months of hard work and preparation finally came to an end today as the two ABN AMRO boats slipped their lines in Spain for the last time and started the first offshore leg of the 2005/6 Volvo Ocean Race. The wind, which is predicted to reach up to 30 knots this evening, gave the crews a hint of things to come when gusts reached around 15 knots. This also gave the ABN AMRO boats an opportunity to show the assembled masses a small glimpse of the raw power that these boats will reach in the right conditions.

After the final goodbyes from family and friends, for TEAM ABN AMRO thoughts quickly turned to what lay ahead – for ABN AMRO ONE they have an opportunity to prove how much they have learnt from the meticulous preparation and hard work and for ABN AMRO TWO it is their chance to show that they are not just the ‘young’ team but are indeed a force to be reckoned with in this race.

Mike Sanderson, Skipper of ABN AMRO ONE said, as he left the dock: “This is it. This is our chance to show what we have created and I am looking forward to it. I would like to thank everyone who has helped us get to this point where we have two such fantastic boats on the start line – it is now our turn to go out there and do what we can to win this race. It will not be easy and there are a lot of miles to go but we are all up for it. ”

Seb Josse, skipper of ABN AMRO TWO said: “We have a great team here - we are not the most experienced of crews but I think that with these new boats and in this race anything can happen. All the guys are ready to go and we just want to get out and show what we can do – for many of ABN AMRO TWO this is their first round the world race and we are ready for the challenge. I think it is going to be an exciting ride.”

As the boats sailed the first lap around the bay before heading out to the open sea, it was tight and tactical racing for all the teams, none of whom wanted to give anything away in this early stage. It was once again first blood to Ericsson who have already shown that these conditions suit them however, ABN AMRO ONE and TWO both accelerated as the wind picked up and started the 6,500 miles to Cape Town.

During his race commentary, Guy Swindells said, "It wasn't the quickest of starts for the TEAM ABN AMRO boats but just now and again when the breeze picks up you see signs of powerful acceleration from these two boats. It is also clear that the double rudder is giving the boats an advantage. One rudder is always fully submegrged, keeping these powerful boats on course".

Thank you Vigo & Spain from movistar skipper

What a great day!!!!! It was good that it was raining, a nice cover up for the teardrops in ours eyes. It didn't look very promising windwise, but just in time the breeze picked up to get us at least sailing over the start line. An unbelievable site from our perspective, the thousands of spectators boats and not to forget all the people on the shore.

A bit of cat & mouse and some position changes, but we left the heads in close second, and soon rolled over the top of Ericsson, getting out in the deep blue ocean. Had our first squall, winds up to 30 knots. Did our first difficult sail change , the guys up front covered under water, but it went perfect, big grins on our faces.

We still can still see all the boats, except the Australian boat. ABN1 is to leeward and having the biggest headsail up, they are slipping along nicely, but they are not in the direction we want to go.

Another sail change, have to run, love to al the family and friends we left behind us.

cheers,

Bouwe
[Bouwe Bekking skipper movistar]