Volvo Ocean Race - Team Brunel start on tough Leg 3

by Robbert-Jan Metselaar on 3 Jan 2015 This afternoon Team Brunel started in the third leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15. The 4670 miles (8648 km) long route takes the fleet from Abu Dhabi to the Chinese coastal resort of Sanya. This city can be found on the most southerly point of the tropical island of Hainan, in the South China Sea. According to Bouwe Bekking it will take 22 days to sail from the Middle East to China. 'It promises to be a really tough and extremely hot leg.'

The route takes the fleet via the Arabian Sea, past the southernmost point of India and through the Bay of Bengal. The teams must then find their way through the Strait of Malacca, which connects the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. This narrow passageway is known as one of the world's busiest shipping routes. After passing the busy Singapore Strait, the fleet will set sail to Sanya.

'This will be one of the toughest legs of this race', says navigator Andrew Cape. 'The start is difficult. If we are lucky and there is wind, within 24 hours we will sail through the Strait of Oman in to the Arabian Sea. But if the wind is light, it can take much longer. Maybe two days. Once on the Indian Ocean we'll be encountering narrow waterways, small islands, pirates, debris, floating containers and enormous ocean-going vessels, but also fishing nets and many fishing boats with neither lighting or communication equipment.' An important problem is that this section of the Indian Ocean has never been properly charted. Another area of attention is that the seabed is unstable here. The depth shown on the maps need not necessarily make sense, therefore. In order to avoid sailing into any of these obstacles, we use our radar a great deal, along with the Automatic Identification System (AIS) and of course the watchful eyes of the crew.'

'It will also be an unpredictable leg,' adds Bouwe Bekking. 'Anything can happen, especially when it comes to the weather, which is even more difficult to predict during this leg than during the past stage. I'm expecting very high temperatures and plenty of rain. We don't always have tailwinds either. Some sections will even be very close to the wind. The last bit just before Sanya will be rough. We'll be fighting the strong prevailing winds from the north-east. I believe anyone can win. The cards have been completely reshuffled, it is a one-design class after all.'

The yachts are expected to reach Sanya sometime around 19 January. The twelfth edition of the former Whitbread Round the World Race counts ten legs and one so-called 24-hour pit stop in the Dutch city of Scheveningen. The fleet of seven VO65 yachts will finish the race in the Swedish city of Gothenburg at the end of June, after having covered around 38,739 nautical miles (68,500 kilometres).