Volvo Ocean Race: The race amps up with 24 hours to sail
by Richard Gladwell 23 Jun 2018 11:18 BST
23 June 2018
MAPFRE - Leg 11, from Gothenburg to The Hague, Day 02. 22 June, 2018 © Ainhoa Sanchez / Volvo Ocean Race
At 1100UTC The first real strategic split of the final leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, with two boats, Team Brunel and Team AkzoNobel passing inside of an Exclusion Zone, leaving the three lead boats to pass on the eastern side.
The move seems to be triggered by the presence of stronger winds on the western, or inshore (close to Norwegian coast) side of the Exclusion Zone
The two Dutch yachts did not make their move known until the very last minute, diverting sharply to pass the NW corner of the Zone.
The three frontrunners responded with a gybe to meet the two Dutch boats as the came up the inside.
But is a telling statistic, the Dutch pair were making 8.3kts VMG, while the front trio were down to 3.5kts VMG - which will quickly spend their lead. At 1330hrs UTC the distance between Team Brunel and the race leader was just 5nm - the closest it has been in 24 hours.
Interestingly the two Dutch yachts - which should have superior local knowledge - made the move together - and it could be a normal racing strategy in the area. Volvo Ocean Race claimed it was due to an unexpected wind change. But regardless of the reason, if the margin reduces to 5nm - that will be very good news on Team Brunel.
Earlier, at 0930hrs UTC, the Volvo Ocean Race fleet has compressed further with Team Brunel moving into fourth place on the water, less that 10nm behind the two leading boats, Dongfeng and MAPFRE. The race has about 24 hours left to run as of 1200 UTC
The front runners have rounded a virtual mark off the coast of Norway, as the breeze softened to 10kts. They are now headed for the finish at The Hague, Netherlands, by way of a light bouy NAM 22, which they must leave to starboard.
A key decision to be made is which how they handle a complex TSS zone (Traffic Separation Scheme) off the northern Dutch coast.
The yachts are required to pass one side or the other, and cannot cross over the scheme once they are committed to a side.
The leg is still open to be won by one of three competitors - Team Brunel, MAPFRE or Dongfeng. It is the latter two which have been conrolling the race and each other. However at 8nm astern Team Brunel is in a position which is so far back to make a close cover difficult. But is well positioned if she is well behind at the approaches to the TSS to pick the opposite channel to the first two, and then take her chances on the final stage of the leg and race.
Team Brunel's best weapon is America's Cup champion helmsman and double Olympic medalist, Peter Burling who through very accurate sailing was able to wear down MAPFRE on the final stages of Leg 10, staging an impressive come from behind win.
Day 2 - The two red boats continue to dominate the final leg of the Volvo Ocean Race which still has 36 hours to run. The race is targeted to finish around mid-day Sunday, UTC, in The Hague, the Netherlands.
After rounding the mark off Norway, the fleet were then sent to a laid mark close to the shore off Aarhus, Denmark, rounding that about 1200UTC. The final section of that leg required the fleet to sail to windward, and then gybe several times on the downwind portion before heading once again for Norway.
As the fleet made the approach to Aarhus, the margins reduced from 25nm down to 8nm at one point between the two red boats who are in close contact - effectively match racing less than half a mile apart - and with the lead swapping. The third boat capable of taking out the race win and overall race win, Team Brunel - the local favourite - has improved to be only 12.5nm behind at midnight UTC. But the off the boat comment is not particularly positive. Brunel is doing most of the reporting from the fleet and it would seem they are attempting to do the three day race in inshore race-mode, and that tiredness is a big factor and is affecting decision making.
The breeze appears to be holding up well and currently the fleet is beam reaching, matching wind speed of 11kts. The wind direction and strength essentially mean there are no passing lanes. If the wind eases, as it did going into Aarhus, then there is the opportunity for the back of the fleet to try something different.
Otherwise the race could come down to the route followed to get through the Exclusion Zone in the final approach to the Hague, with boats having to commit to one path or the other, which will not permit covering of competitors in the other lane. A task made doubly difficult if the wind drops or there is adverse tide, or both.
Reports from Brunel:
First update from skipper Bouwe Bekking onboard Team Brunel:
Last night was the extreme case the rich got richer, or as we say as well, we missed the train. We didn't sail too smart yesterday afternoon and that has become expensive. At the rounding mark in Norway still in good contention, but then it went backwards. Always less breeze then the two red boats.
Vestas just managed to hang on to the pressure. Not that we sailed a bad downwind leg, sneaking around the other Dutch boat, gives a tiny bit of good feeling. Just crossing our fingers that the high pressure comes in a bit sooner, so that the two red boats park up approaching Holland, we keep fighting until the the end.
Update from OBR Sam Greenfield onboard Team Brunel at 2200UTC on June 22, 2018:
Shortly after leaving Arhaus we were rolled by Akzonobel to windward on a bad sail deploy. It was a bitter sight on top of an already frustrating day for the crew. We were just coming up on a passing mark that required both crews to harden up or hit rocks, so we were forced to fall in line to their stern. We're now tight running back to Norway, with boat speeds above 20kts in 22kts of breeze. Right now the entire crew is thinking about potential for passing lanes as this already short leg ticks away with the leads far ahead.
"I'm trying to remain positive," said Abby,"but it's hard."
Carlo is literally nodding off to sleep at the main pedestal, despite the wind and spray.The entire crew is exhausted. For sheer intensity and volume of peels and maneuvers, this might be the tiring leg yet of the entire race.
Further updates to follow.