Volvo Ocean Race - Team Alvimedica is Cape Town bound

by Team Alvimedica on 12 Oct 2014 Team Alvimedica and their six rivals began the 39,000-mile circumnavigation of the globe today as the Volvo Ocean Race got underway in Alicante, Spain.

The battle to Cape Town has begun, and for Charlie Enright and his crew the moment couldn’t come soon enough. After all the crowds, the press conferences, the hand shaking, the meetings, the festival atmosphere of the Volvo Ocean Race village, it’s now time to get down to business. Enright was relieved to be sailing, although admitted to mixed emotions earlier.

'There’s a part of me that's ready to get going, another part that's a little sad to leave. I’ve had my friends, my family here with me. Alicante has been a great home for the last month, but this is what we do it for, and it's great to be starting at last.'

At 2pm the gun fired and the seven-boat fleet launched off the line, with Team Brunel winning the start and taking the lead. The same could not be said of Team Vestas Wind who pushed over the line too early, forcing the Danish boat to turn back and restart correctly. Team Alvimedica made a solid start, placing Charlie Enright’s crew in fourth place at the first turning mark but battling closely with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing just ahead. With multiple turns to execute, the crews battled with their unwieldy furled headsails, and they will have breathed a collective sigh of relief to get out on the open sea where they can at last open up the throttle on these ocean-going 65-foot speed machines.

What we saw in the first hour of the race today off the coast of Alicante is unlikely to have much bearing on the outcome of leg one to Cape Town. There are many meteorological hurdles and traps along the way, as navigator Will Oxley knows only too well having competed in the Volvo Ocean Race twice before.

'I’ll be treating the leg as a series of smaller races,' he said. 'The first race is to Gibraltar and that itself is going to be tricky with a lot of different options, the way the weather forecast is shaping up.'

Enright echoed Oxley’s need to be on their game from the moment the start gun fired. 'Getting out of the Med is going to be very uncertain, so we'll need everyone really sharp for the first 48 hours. But finding time for people to sleep is valuable too, so the earlier we can get people into a watch system, the better.'Come what may, the young crew on Team Alvimedica is just relieved that all the waiting is over, and the action is beginning.

Watch captain Mark Towill said: 'We've put a lot into it, 15,000 miles of training, a ton of planning, just a lot that's gone into it. Not only from the sailing team but from our shore team. We're really excited, really looking forward to the race to Cape Town.'