Volvo Ocean Race - Dull day, crazy night for Dongfeng Race Team
by Dongfeng Race Team on 22 Oct 2014
Eric Peron at the helm during a difficult night with lots of clouds. Yann Riou / Dongfeng Race Team
It’s the dawn of a complicated day in the Volvo Ocean Race. Let’s face it: we’re not having a very good time on Dongfeng. We lost distance last night, and our leading position. The day got dull afterwards. Sailing straight ahead, with the spinnaker up, in light winds. Not very interesting…
At least, we made the most of it, eating and sleeping… Charging the batteries, waiting for what’s next.
And the next thing is the International Tropical Convergence Zone, also known as 'Doldrums'. We started to feel its effects in the evening.
At 2230 UTC, the trade winds we had since Cape Verde stopped. All at once. Since then, we’re going from downwind sailing in light airs to upwind sailing in medium breeze, in a ridiculously short time. And we sheet the sails in, and we ease…. It’s just the beginning.
'It’s good on the east, on the west, but it’s blocked for us.' (Charles)
Sadly, the beginning doesn’t look very good for us. Reading our latest ranking, it looks like we have had a lot to deal with, compared to our competitors. It’s not much fun sailing in these conditions, so if we feel alone on top of that…
It’s not much fun, but we’re not down. The day will be complex, we know that, but we are resourceful.
Have a good Dongfeng Race Team
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