Volvo Ocean Race- Big spread in fleet as Abu Dhabi leads

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com/nz on 26 Nov 2014 Abu Dhabi (Ian Walker) continues to lead the Volvo Ocean Race. She is the most westerly of the fleet as they approach the coast of Madagascar.

The Spanish entry Mapfre is being called as second overall by Volvo Ocean Race Control, she is the most easterly of the fleet, however the rest of the fleet are reasonably close to her in terms of lateral separation.

Wind speeds are reported to be 17-22kts from a northerly direction - having settled down from being lighter and with a greater variance in direction from the previous report. The lead boat is sailing at speeds of 10-13kts.

The official report from Volvo Ocean Race Control as of 1600hrs UTC on November 25, 2014 reads:

The fleet currently finds itself south east of Madagascar. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing is enjoying being in pole position after grabbing the lead last night at around 2200 UTC.

Meanwhile, second placed Mapfre spent the morning tacking - first onto port at around 0700 UTC, and then again at 0900 UTC to cover Alvimedica, Dongfeng and Brunel, and cement their position at the front of that pack.

Abu Dhabi skipper Ian Walker admitted that it was not necessarily his team's intention to go it alone, but they have continued to trust in their decision to be the most westerly boat, and that has meant that they have gotten the most out of the high winds from the low pressure system, as well as avoiding the ridge that the rest of the teams have had to negotiate.

Indeed, it seems to be working for them - and all the other teams have lost miles to the Emirati boat in the most recent position report.

There could be trouble ahead though. There are signs of a tropical storm forming to the north east of Mauritius, and it could well roll right into the paths of the fleet. It's not yet known how much this could affect their sailing, but no doubt it will be on the respective navigators' radars, and we could see differences in how they approach the danger zone.

The question is, do they position themselves to play the storm, or avoid it? It could make all the difference in what has been a tight leg.

Volvo Ocean Race Control's report at 0700UTC on November 25, 2014 reads:

Abu Dhabi’s bold move a few days ago to set up as the most westerly boat has been uncovered as a unintentional reaction to reconnect with the fleet.

In some communications off the boat, Ian Walker was not happy being so far on one side of the fleet in what was looking like unstable conditions. They had underestimated how far the fleet sailed east. That then left them the most westerly boat. Since then it’s been a case of, make your bed, better lie in it, or in simple terms do your best with what you now have.

Well, that mission may be a little easier than they originally thought yesterday. There is more wind to the left and as the fleet try to cross an area of less stable conditions, there is more left shift. As this report goes out, Mapfre have tacked onto port, shortly followed by ADOR, DFRT and ALVI. Very soon the rest of the fleet should follow.


SCA had a interesting eight minutes at 03:23 this morning. They were hit by a rainsquall that forced them to sail south not north. It’s the cruel fate of unstable short-term rain storms that force a boat to react to funky wind directions and go with it for a few minutes rather then tack and move a few tons of sails, food bags and re-stack.

At 300nm south of Madagascar, Mapfre is leading the charge east hoping that a better angle north to the waypoint.

Right now the leaders are in 28 to 30 knots on the nose. It’s up wind uncomfortable conditions that should moderate throughout the day bringing lighter but more fickle condition.