Volvo Ocean Race- Leg 4 finishes at night after a tense day

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com NZL on 1 Mar 2015 The finish was more like that of a short 100nm race around the Hauraki Gulf.

Instead, the first three boats to cross the finish line at the end of Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race arrived mid-evening and crossed within six minutes of each other.

First came the red boat, Mapfre, crossing the finish line off the Volvo Ocean Race village at 9.30pm, followed four and a half minutes later by Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, with the French - Sino entry, Dongfeng Race Team crossing about four minutes later.

It was hard to believe that these three boats, pursued by another three, had just raced 5200nm from Sanya in China.

All day we had followed the fleet on the tracker as they nipped and tucked down the Northland coast.

They were chasing a sea breeze which could have built, but failed to deliver.

Instead, a sea breeze did build on the other, or west coast of New Zealand which flowed over the narrow isthmus and spilled over to the side of the Volvo Ocean Racers.

In a race that has a history of being dominated by Kiwi crews, the breed seems to be headed for extinction like its flightless namesake.

Just three Kiwis are still racing in the current edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. They were spread across two of the four boats in the lead pack. All Kiwi sailors know the tricks of the Northland Coast

If the sea breeze isn’t starting to build on the east coast, then check the west coast.

Saturday it was building and spreading. Holding back the sea breeze the Volvo boats were experiencing.

The crucial mistake is not go out to sea, but rather take a dig into the land, and hope for the first sniff of the rail-down breeze.

Long story short is that Mapfre, without any Kiwis aboard, hung out to sea, picked up more breeze, and then had the wit to cut across the front of the fleet as they ran downwind and hit the front as they closed into Cape Brett at the entrance to the Bay of Islands around 8.00am local time.

The four boats in the lead group chased each other down the coast, staying close to shore. The winner out of the chase was Alvimedica who chopped 9nm out of Mapfre, the lead boat.

In the last 20nm, it appeared that Mapfre had made a fatal mistake running out to sea with the dying breeze while inshore the new breeze beckoned.

A gybe and Mapfre covered the inshore option sailing in a NW breeze.

Just off Tiritiri Island, which marked the northern extremity of the 2000/2003 America’s Cup Course, Mapfre hooked into the new SW breeze cracking in at 13kts before easing back to 10kts.

Mapfre was now in a position where she could not be overtaken at 8.30pm local time with the light fading fast.

A couple more tacks and she led the fleet up the Waitemata Harbour to finish an hour later, with a crowd of 10,000 lining the shore and hundreds of boats afloat.

'We woke up this morning and saw Abu Dhabi very close, and we managed to pass them, and we managed to keep them there and led for the rest of the race, ' explained skipper Xabi Fernandez. The result was a big turnaround from the finish of Leg 1 where Mapfre finished seventh and last.

'On Leg 2 and Leg 3 we improved a lot, but we were still doing small mistakes, and on this leg we sailed very well, and I hope we can keep going like this.'

While two of the other boats had Kiwis aboard. Xabi revealed that Mapfre too had a local knowledge secret weapon in the form of Rafa Trujillo, a top Finn sailor for his native Spain, but who now resides in New Zealand, and is a frequent sight sailing off Auckland’s North Shore.

Second placed Abu Dhabi, looked to have the Leg win in the sail-bag and all but zipped shut, with a day to go. But it was not to be. 'It has been such a tense few days,' said skipper Ian Walker. 'We had Dongfeng gaining and gaining. I have never spent so much time staring at a computer screen hoping that a number would increase and not decrease. But we managed to hold them off. It was hugely important overall (Abu Dhabi is the overall leader after four legs).

I’m really pleased for Mapfre. Xabi and his team have had a tough race so far. They didn’t deserve that. They are great guys and great sailors and congratulations to them.

'Today there was about a mile between us and Mapfre and a mile between us and Dongfeng – so just a few minutes. You know that one mistake, a bad sail change or tactical decision, or sailing odd the pace for half and hour to an hour can cost you the Leg

'The race has been a bit brutal in that sense – and knowing that the wind was going to shut down in the Hauraki Gulf…' Walker's voice tailed off.

'We’re very happy to be leading the race. Last time I was in Auckland we had turned around after we’d ripped a bulkhead out of the boat and left here about 1,000nm after the race fleet. So I don’t have great memories of Auckland, but I do have great memories from the America’s Cup when it was here.

'Coming in today, it feels great. This place loves the Volvo Ocean Race, and we’re looking forward to spending two weeks here.'.

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