Volvo Ocean Race - Day 19 on board Team Brunel

by Stefan Coppers, Team Brunel on 31 Oct 2014 Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15. Stefan Coppers reports from on board Team Brunel on day 19.

Position: Second - Distance to Cape Town: 2276 nm

'Make ready to gybe,' a voice shouts down the hatchway. Rokas Milevicius (27) and Louis Balcaen (26) jump from their beds. Within seconds, the men are busy throwing large bags of equipment to the luff side for the fourth time that night. Team Brunel tried to sail close around the high pressure system, but had to deal with low winds yesterday. The Dutch Volvo Ocean Race boat had to wait until 1330 UTC, when the wind moved to the northwest from northeast, before it could gybe south. Team Brunel is now sailing in second place, just 2.8 nm behind Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.

The young lads are eager to learn, fit and, most of all, extremely keen. But they could just as easily have been lounging on the sofa back home. It is difficult for young sailors to find work at the highest level. Prestige sailing teams tend to prefer experienced men to rookies, which is why the Volvo Ocean Race introduced the under-thirty rule. This obliges teams to select a minimum of two men under the age of thirty.

'This is the experience of my lifetime,' says Balcaen. The Belgian has been summoned to take the helm by Pablo Arrarte. 'It’s your turn to steer,' says the man from Santander in his weird Spanish-English accent. But before he relinquishes the wheel, the Spaniard briefly explains how the waves are running tonight. Two races ago, Arrarte himself was the rookie in the Spanish Telefonica team. 'That’s how experienced ocean sailors are born,' says Milevicius.

'We’re stuffed full of information every day,' says Balcaen, as he takes over the wheel from Pablo Arrarte. 'Navigator Andrew Cape often explains how the weather works, like which clouds produce the most wind. I’m only 26 years old but this is worth much more to me than partying in Ibiza.'

'Sometimes when I’m standing on deck I suddenly realise that a couple of years ago I was still surfing the Internet to follow the Volvo Ocean Race,' continues Milevicius. 'I used to think, what a great time those guys must be having. And now I’m doing it Team Brunel website