Volvo Ocean Race- Call to Alvimedica - Two days out from Cape Horn

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com NZL on 28 Mar 2015 Team Alvimedica watch captain, Ryan Houston says the Southern Ocean Leg of the Volvo Ocean Race has had racing as close as you would expect in a Coastal Race.

All the top group are within sight of each other, and there have been some close passing maneuvers with the boats sailing at 25-30kts.

It remains to be seen how long that situation continues as the fleet is expecting to be hit with a series of fronts with winds gusting to 45-50kts in some areas to the west of Cape Horn, about two and a half days away.

Sail-World.com’s NZ Editor Richard Gladwell spoke to Houston as Team Alvimedica headed once again towards the Ice Limit as the lead group of yachts swapped places just over two days out from rounding Cape Horn, and then striking out for the finish at Itajai, Brazil.

Houston expects the fleet to stay closely grouped until about 2000nm from the Leg 5 finish then the serious sprint will begin.

“At present we have 23 kts with a water temperature of 10 degrees and an air temperature of 5 degrees. There is just a small sea state running, and we are sailing at 23-27kts. We’ve had a busy day gybing and working our way down the Ice Gate.

“We are on the front edge of a Low that is coming through, so the seaway isn’t too bad.

“Obviously when we left New Zealand, with Cyclone Pam around conditions were bad for the first couple of days, but then things settled down. We were reefed down and taking it carefully. But in the last couple of days it has been nice sailing, and at the moment we have a 2-3 metre swell running.



While four of the competitors have experienced the thrill of Chinese Gybing in the Volvo 65, Houston says they have had no issues with boat handling. “We have had a reef in and taken it a little more carefully during the night, and pushed it harder during the day. We haven’t been pushing too hard as we have a long way to go once we reach Cape Horn. We just want to keep in touch with the others, and not take any silly risks at the moment.”

Houston reports that the top speed so far on the Leg is 31kts – being speed over the ground as the speedo breaks clear of the water when surfing. Alvimedica’s best average over 24 hours is 500nm in a straight line, so far.

Volvo Ocean Race control expects a series of fronts to hit the race fleet with winds of 30-40kts with gusts in one on Sunday maybe reaching 50kts – the classic Cape Horn greeting.

“In the next 24 hours we will head south and hook onto a front/low that is coming through and get down to the latitude of Cape Horn and then start heading east. We expect 25-30kts in the initial part of the front and then 40-45kts.

Houston says they saw winds of 40kts in the first couple of days out of Auckland, but in the second front coming through, they will see the most wind of the leg.

Alvimedica expects to round the Cape in two and a half days, then stay to the west of the Falklands and have a quick trip up the coast of South America.

When questioned on whether Alvimedica has seen any other boats deep in the Southern Ocean, Houston laughs.

“It’s been like an inshore race. We have seen the other top four boats and have been gybing inside Mapfre and Dongfeng all day. There was a cross this afternoon when we crossed them by two boat lengths. It’s spectacular stuff when you are doing 26kts, and there are two boats coming together.



“We’ve seen a lot of each other. One evening it was a bit light, and there was a conversation going on between the boats about trading meals for the day as they crossed, but it didn’t eventuate.”

Houston says they don’t get down to the point if hailing right of way on the other boat. “It is more of a Gentlemen’s Agreement, the guy on Port will usually give way, but if it gets tight then the boat on Starboard will give way. With these boats and the way the sails are stacked it takes us 40 minutes to shift the stack and do a maneuver. With AIS it is easy to keep track of the other boats, so we don’t run into that situation very often.

“We’ve had all five boats in sight at the one time. Since the Ice Gate we have been able to see everyone – it bought us all together. Everyone sailed to the tip of the Ice Gate and then we have all tried to work South to get into the Front. It’s all long board, short board to get down the side of the Ice Gate.

“At night we can see their navigation lights, and during the day the other boats are usually in clear view. Usually they are only two or three miles away – the group has been together for the last 48 hours. They are so close that we can see what sails the others have on – even where they have positioned their stack. You wouldn’t see much closer racing than this in a coastal race. It is amazing that we have sailed so far, yet are so close together.”

Houston says the effect of the Ice Gate has forced the fleet together. “If it wasn’t there we would just blast south and hook onto a Low and then start heading east to Cape Horn. Everyone is trying to get South, and the Gate has kept people together.”

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Alvimedica has not sighted any ice floes and Houston says the Ice Gate has been properly set – with the ice limit being a further three degrees South. Twice moving the Ice Gates north was also a good move, he adds.

The control problems on four of the competitors have been the subject of a lot of comment, as the Volvo 65’s have Chinese Gybed and been caught with their keels canted to leeward, sail stack also to leeward and ballast tanks full on the same side.

“The boats are controllable sailing at 30kts. You are a bit gun-shy in the first 30kt burst. But as you start to sail for days on end in a lot of breeze your confidence builds. We hadn’t seen a lot of wind before this leg. Now we have been sailing for ten days often at speeds of over 25kts – and you become more confident.

“Compared to a Volvo 70, they are quite nice downwind, apart from the keel pin that lifts up. They are drier and a little more manageable.”

Damage aboard Alvimedica has been confined to wear on sheets and running rigging. “Nothing major,” says Houston. “We’ve done a good job of protecting our assets and staying in touch until we get the other side of the Horn, and making a play.

“We want to stay in touch and then make a move with one or two thousand miles left to sail. It will be all to play for in the coming days.”

Houston says there is a lot of interest in the outcome of the World Cricket Cup – with three Kiwis and one Australian in the nine man crew.

“The Cricket World Cup has been the biggest talking point of the trip so far.”

The ANZAC’s have persuaded the Volvo Ocean Race control to keep feeding them progress scores. ‘We get the first Innings score and then the Final result – so there is not much detail.”

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