Volvo Ocean Race - Team Brunel ducking Southern Ocean waves
by Stefan Coppers, Team Brunel on 4 Nov 2014
Waves crash over the boat as the team head further south. Stefan Coppers/Team Brunel
It’s quarter to eight somewhere in the Southern Ocean, slightly more than 1,000 nautical miles from Cape Town in the Volvo Ocean Race. In a quarter of an hour, Gerd-Jan 'Johnny' Poortman will start his shift on deck, which is completely awash. Icy water is streaming through the cockpit. The men who are still on shift and will shortly disappear below are wearing fireman’s helmets on deck. 'That’s really something to look forward to – four hours of playing outside,' grumbles the usually so positive Johnny.
He sits with his back braced against the hatchway in the middle of the boat. If you don’t do that, you can be thrown into the forward part of the boat if Team Brunel nose-dives into a big wave. 'You know, maybe we don’t deserve to beat Abu Dhabi. We’ve been losing quite some ground for 24 hours.' He swallows the last mouthful of his freeze-dried noodles.
He pulls on his wet sailing suit and zips his life-line shut. 'But we’re still going to try and beat them! And now back to work and duck freezing waves for another four hours.'
Team Brunel website
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