The B&G Report- Volvo Ocean Race - Leg 2 Preview
by Mark Chisnell for B&G on 19 Nov 2014
October, 2014. Leg 1 onboard Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. Navigator Simon Fisher controlling the fleet. Matt Knighton/Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing
Top Volvo Ocean Race correspondent and analyst, Mark Chisnell writes a regular report for B&G on the current race and trends he sees developing. Here's his preview of Leg 2.
Prize Winner
First up; congratulations to Pascal Bidegorry of Dongfeng Race Team who wins the B&G Volvo Ocean Race Navigator’s Prize for Leg 1. He was voted the top performing navigator of the first leg by the best possible judging panel – his peer group, the navigators themselves.
And, of course, we should also give a nod to Ian Walker and his team aboard Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing for winning both the first leg, and the Cape Town In-Port race. Nice work, boys.
The Race Track
No time for Pascal, Ian or anyone else to rest on their laurels though as Leg 2 gets underway on Wednesday afternoon. This is a tough one, it’s both long and strategically tricky, crossing from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, from the Southern Hemisphere to the North. And it will be different to any previous race. This route to Abu Dhabi was only introduced in 2011-12, and on that occasion the boats were shipped part of the way – this time they will race every mile.
The course heads south out of Cape Town to go around the Cape of Good Hope, before turning to head north-east into the Indian Ocean. There are two exclusion zones on this leg, and the first one is almost immediately relevant. It is defined by a great circle line between Maputo on the east coast of South Africa, then Madagascar, Mauritius and a point at the eastern edge of Oman. The idea of this zone is to keep boats out of the pirate territory that lies off the coast of East Africa and to the south of the Arabian Peninsula.
So once around the Cape the fleet must head north-east rather than north, to stay out of the East Africa exclusion zone. Only when they have cleared it, can they turn due north for the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman and so to the finish in Abu Dhabi. The second exclusion zone will only be relevant on the run in to the line – an exclusion zone to keep them out of Iranian waters. No prizes for guessing why.
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