Volvo Ocean Race - Challenging conditions ahead for race leader

by Sail-World.com on 17 May 2015 Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR) could have to deal with boat breaking conditions during the opening 48hours of the seventh leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, which starts on Sunday and sees the yachts race from Newport, Rhode Island in the USAto Lisbon, Portugal.

The Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi)-backed team’s skipper, British double Olympic silver medallist, Ian Walker, said the Abu Dhabi team expected to take a severe pounding from big seas thrown up by strong winds blowing against the flow of the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.

“Wind against current can be a nasty combination,” Walker said. “The two opposing forces drive up large steep waves which can act as take-off ramps for the yachts. Get the landing wrong and you can easily break the boat.”

ADOR takes a six-point lead into leg seven and UAE under-30 sailor Adil Khalid said the priority for the opening section of the 2,800 nautical-mile Atlantic crossing would be to get Azzam through the turbulent Gulf Stream waters unscathed.

“It’s a delicate balance between sailing fast without risking serious damage that could put you out of the leg,” Khalid explained. “We need to be cautious but we are also need to keep in touch with the rest of the fleet.”

Leg seven - the shortest so far - sees the fleet return to Europe for the first time since leaving from Alicante, Spain last October and is expected to take between eight and ten days to complete – meaning little or no time to recover ground in the event of a breakdown.

ADOR navigator Simon Fisher said he was expecting a complex weather scenario for the Atlantic crossing, during which, as well as negotiating the Gulf Stream, ADOR will also have to find the fastest way around the Azores High – a persistent but unpredictable vast mid-ocean area of light winds blocking the way to Lisbon.

“The Azores High can change shape, move about, or even split in two,” Fisher said. “Timing is going to be key as the weather routing shows a wide range of very different options depending on how things play out.

“The truth is, we can only plan ahead so much and we will need to think on our feet a lot on this leg.”

Having been narrowly beaten to the USA on the previous leg from Brazil by their closest rivals Dongfeng Race Team, Fisher said he and Walker would likely try to stay close to the Chinese/French crew again to minimise the risk of losing points.

“The maths works in our favour if we can finish ahead or right behind them,” Fisher said. “However, when you are racing across oceans that’s not an easy thing to do.”

Australian film actor and heartthrob Ryan Kwantenwill sail with the Azzam crew for the preliminary one-hour inshore section and will jump from the Abu Dhabi yacht’s stern at the Newport leaving marker.

Kwanten first found fame playing Vinnie Patterson in the Australian soap opera Home and Away but is best known in the role of Jason Stackhouse – a human turned ‘werepanther’ - in the smash hit HBO series True Blood.

A fitness fanatic and keen triathlete Kwanten said he could not wait to meet the ADOR sailors and to race aboard Azzam.

“I have huge respect for what the crew go through to compete in the Volvo Ocean Race,” Kwanten said. “I’m thrilled to get the chance to sail on Azzam as they set off for Lisbon and I will do my best to pull off a spectacular jump when my time comes.”

For ADOR bowman and helmsman Justin Slattery, the jump from the star might not be enough. “We are looking forward to Ryan sailing with us,” he said. “I hear he is quite an athlete - so maybe we will try to get him up the mast for super-selfie photo.”

Leg seven of the Volvo Ocean Race from Newport, USA to Lisbon, Portugal is scheduled to start at 14:00 ET (22:00 UAE) and ADOR fans can watch all the action live online at website.