Volvo Ocean Race - It is like the last day of school!

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com/NZL on 29 Jun 2015 Team Alvimedica watch captain, Ryan Houston told Sail-World.com that the team was very nervous as they defended a tenuous lead heading to the finish of Leg 9 in the Volvo Ocean Race, in Gothenburg, Sweden.

“There was a lighthouse about 15nm from the finish. As you sail down the so-called river into Gothenburg, there were a choice of eight different finish lines. We didn’t know where the officials were going to call finish line, or shorten the course. Originally we were supposed to sail right up to a finish line off the race village.

“About half way down we received an email where the Volvo Race Control advised they had decided to shorten the race. Once we were past they 15nm point we were fairly confident we could win the Leg, as it was just follow the leader.

“Once we finished - we didn’t actually know we’d finished - there wasn’t a lot of hoop-la aboard. But everyone was very happy. It was a long morning for Charlie (Enright – skipper) I think he was fairly stressed.”

“Will (Oxley – navigator) didn’t have a lot of time to think about it with all the rocks and things you can hit, so he was a bit pre-occupied. He did a fantastic job from Lorient to The Hague stopover, and then to Gothenburg. He put a lot of time and effort into leg 9 – and it paid off for us.”

Leg 9 was definitely a navigator’s leg as the fleet had to negotiate rocks, tidal gates, tidal flows of up to 6kts, and then work their way through a maze of Exclusion Zones – both before the Stopover in The Hague and then onto the finish in Gothenburg.

The key issue for Team Alvimedica was the distance they finished ahead of the second placed boat going in the Stopover at The Hague. Normally a lead of 26nm would have been most welcome.

But the Mark Foy start, meant that the Turkish/USA flagged entry started over one hundred minutes ahead of the second-placed Team Brunel.

Houston says they had four choices to get through the maze of Exclusion Zones immediately after leaving The Hague.

“There was always more wind in the NE, so we were trying to get there. We were watching the other boats, but we were committed to Option 4 (which was to pass on the outside of all the Exclusion Zones), the others took Option 3 (to weave through a narrower channel, without having to sail the extra distance to get to the outside of the Exclusion Zones).

“When we left The Hague, our lead was cut from 26nm at the finish to 12nm when the second boat started.

“We had a true upwind beat to the outside of the Exclusion Zones, while the others laid through the narrower channel in the centre of the Zones, on just a single tack They did it in one tack – we did it in four or five.

“We had probably already lost an hour by the time we got to the Exclusion Zones.”

“We went into a watch system about two hours after the start – this stage was a bit easier than the stage into The Hague. Most of the guys were quite shattered after that first stage.”

Even when off watch, the crew remained in their wet weather gear and all kitted up ready to go on deck if called. ‘It was more like a coastal race than an offshore race,” he added.

This is the third Volvo Ocean Race for Ryan Houston and his fellow New Zealander on board Team Alvimedica, Dave Swete. For both, it is the first on which they have finished all legs.

“I tell people this is my first Volvo – the other two were a taste of what it was like. Good experience – but doing the whole race is completely different. It is much more of a mental challenge – sailing for 160 days.

“I feel Team Alvimedica was really well put together. Our results later in the legs showed that we were getting better relative to the rest of the fleet.

As would be expected, with the 2014-15 edition concluded, the Volvo fleet has entered a state of suspended animation as they wind down from the current race and look ahead to the next. The Volvo 65 was built to be sailed in two editions of the race. Many of the naming sponsors are expected to return, and some interim racing programs are expected to be announced for the Volvo 65 fleet ahead of the next Round the World race.

“As far as the boat is concerned, the shore crew have been working on her for nine months – so they are itching to go for a proper sail back to Alicante, where she will be stored, and then a program will come about from there,” he adds.

Houston can’t shed much light on the prospects of a New Zealand team entering the next Volvo Ocean Race. “It is cheaper than it was. Our budget was one of the lowest – and you could win the race on that. The teams with a little extra money have spent it on getting out before the start and getting some extra practice – like Abu Dhabi and Dongfeng. They stormed out of the blocks, and the rest of the fleet has been catching up.”

Houston pinpoints that factor as being the key difference in the outcome of the race, with the top teams making their mark early on in the race, and the others closing the gap in the latter stages.

Dongfeng, Abu Dhabi and probably Brunel did a lot of sailing before everyone else. Alvimedica and Mapfre have caught up. The racing itself has also got a lot closer with many being decided in the last ten miles.

‘That is how I reckon the sailing will go next time.”

“You don’t have to win by margins of a day – just a second will do the job. The boats cover each other a lot more – and particularly at the Leg end.

“As the race progressed I think the boats became a lot faster and definitely a lot more even. Since we left Newport, we were confident that if the shift went our way we could lead by 2-3nm.”

Even with the closeness of the racing from the one design fleet, there are still the performance differences that have been a feature of past races when the design of the boats was option, within the relevant design rule.

“On the first leg we had some modes where we were very good – sailing upwind and reaching. But we weren’t very good when we got onto the A3 (jib). The guys who had been doing the sailing before the start were very fast and would just clear out. Now we are just as fast on the A3,” he says.

Houston says the boats have all sorted their moding out as the race has progressed. ‘If the wind increased, and we had to change a headsail, you will see all the boats do the same within five minutes. There’s none of “what’s that guy got on?” it is all pre-empted.”

He adds that racing has turned more into what would be expected in one designs – “a little but of leverage – a little extra wind – makes quite a difference, and you aren’t looking for the big splits like previous races in Volvo 70’s.”

Houston says his personal highlights from the race were being first to round Cape Horn. ‘I also really enjoyed Leg 5, the Southern Ocean leg. And winning into Gothenburg was a nice way to finish off the race. They say you are only as good as your last race – so we can live out on that one for a long while.

“The two In-Port races we won were pretty special. You couldn’t sail any better than we did in Lorient. It was great to win by that margin and still do a superb job around the track on these boats that are quite hard to sail, without making a mistake.”

The low-points were the times when Alvimedica got into a good position and then lost places very quickly.

“We were in third going into Lorient, we sailed well and then in the final 3-4 miles we got passed, dropping back to sixth.

“Sitting on Leg 3 for five days with no wind, is probably another low-point.

“When I look back on the race, I have really enjoyed it, and never really had a particular low-point. Certainly not like previous races where we have had to suspend racing and pull out of Legs.”

Houston describes the feeling in the fleet in Gothenburg, as being like the last day of school.

“”Everyone is a bit more social. There is no stress from weather briefings. Or trying to see what other teams are doing. It is more a carnival atmosphere.

“There are four teams staying in out hotel, and there is some inter-mingling going on and stories being told. It is quite a nice way to finish nine months of sailing.

“It is more like an IRC Regatta when everyone is in the yacht club and having a bit of a chat.”