Volvo Ocean Race- Lifting the lid off the Southern Ocean dogfight

by Louay Habib on 9 Apr 2015 On the morning of March 18, 2015, 66 sailors started leg five, 6776 nautical miles from Auckland, New Zealand to Itajaí, Brazil and it would be a safe bet that all of them were nervous and many a little scared.

Due to the development of Cyclone Pam, the start had been delayed. Just crossing the Southern Ocean is a huge undertaking but racing across with a frightening weather scenario is a massive task. The race that unfolded was one of the most astonishing events in yacht racing history.

The first organised yacht race around the world was the 1968 Golden Globe. The single-handed race was coined The Voyage for Madmen (A great read by author Peter Nichols) and many would still agree, racing around the world is still madness because of the Southern Ocean. The cold wastelands, further south than New Zealand, are no place for the faint-hearted.

Huge seas, cyclones and icebergs are common. No one ventures there without good reason, the Southern Ocean has virtually no ships, not even aeroplanes. Apart from seasoned explorers, racing yachts are the only sailing vessels to traverse the Southern Ocean. It is said that more people have been into space than have raced through it. It is the Holy Grail - the Everest of Ocean Racing.



Leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race started in relatively calm seas but a significant sea state left in the wake of Cyclone Pam. The early tactics were all about staying on the 'coat-tails' of the cyclone and catching a ride on another low-pressure system developing to slingshot the boat towards Cape Horn. The normal weather patterns of the Southern Ocean had been disturbed by the cyclone, receiving weather information was even more crucial to safety as well as tactics.

The teams in the Volvo Ocean Race all receive the same weather data from the organisers. This information is received exclusively via Cobham SATCOM equipment. Either SAILOR 500 FleetBroadband or SAILOR 250 FleetBroadband or on another satellite network via SAILOR mini-C. During the early stages of the race, Volvo Ocean Race HQ used the Cobham SATCOM communication systems to change the course, moving the ice gate further north after iceberg activity was reported.

The racing was extraordinary, five teams shared the lead during the race, often in the sight of each other, blasting through ice cold seas. The crew, the boat and the equipment were constantly taking a pounding and occasionally as the yachts were wiping out of control, you could literally feel the fear and terror on board. This high-speed Southern Ocean dog-fight, between five teams, has never occurred before, but the conditions in the Southern Ocean have not changed.

The big difference for race fans was that the communications systems on board, supplied by Cobham SATCOM, showed the amazing action. In high-resolution pictures and HD video, sailors were transmitting live interviews and sending back a thrilling account of the incredible race. Volvo Ocean Race calculate that the race has now attracted a cumulative TV audience of over one billion people around the world.



The teams were racing in very close proximity, hurtling down waves in a thirst for boat speed, the navigators were looking at the big weather picture but also looking at the boat and boat situation via a cunning use of Cobham SATCOM equipment. The SAILOR 6280 AIS System, shows the position, heading and speed of the competition around them, even if they are just over the horizon and also at night. AIS is designed to avoid collisions at sea but the teams are open about using it tactically.

On a lighter note, all of the Volvo Ocean 65s are also fitted with SAILOR 6217 VHF and a rich and colourful radio chat was started up between several teams. Joking about swapping food supplies and bidding for bars of chocolate was the banter, the under-lying message was to psych-out the opposition. Communicating that moral on board was good, sending out the message - 'We are handling the pressure.'

March 30 was a day to remember. 12 days into the punishing leg, there was a disaster for Team Dongfeng and elation for Team Alvimedica and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. Pushing hard, just 250 miles from Cape Horn, the top of Dongfeng's rig snapped sending the sails crashing down along with their hopes of winning the leg. Thankfully none of the crew were injured and Team Dongfeng limped into Ushuaia, Argentina unaided. The Cobham SATCOM equipment was used extensively to communicate the well-being of the crew and to assist the race organisers and the Dongfeng shore team in the logistics of getting the team back in the race for the next leg.



Meanwhile, on the same day as Dongfeng limped out, Team Alvimedica was the first yacht to round Cape Horn but the young team from America had no time to celebrate. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing only 22 minutes behind, and gaining fast, having set a new 24-hour speed record for this race, tearing through 551 miles in one day. Team Brunel and Mapfre were only one hour behind the leaders.

The amazing action at Cape Horn was captured live by Cobham SATCOM equipment on board and also at Cape Horn, where the Volvo Ocean Race media team used the Cobham EXPLORER 710 for a live show beamed around the world via the internet.As the teams passed the infamous cape, a four boat race was on. There was still a week of racing ahead of them and the racing was incredibly tight.

On the 5th April, after 19 days of gruelling racing, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, skippered by Ian Walker, crossed the finish line. Less than half an hour later, the Spanish team, Mapfre, skippered by Iker Martinez, claimed second and astonishingly, the battle for the last podium place was decided by less than two minutes. Team Alvimedica, skippered by Charlie Enright just holding off Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel. All the girl Team SCA finished two days behind the leading pack, becoming the first all-women crew to round Cape Horn since 2002.



Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing is now the outright leader of the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race, the only team to have won two legs now has a seven point lead from Team Dongfeng. Team Brunel and Mapfre are tied on points for third with Team

Alvimedica just a point behind in fourth.

The In-Port Race series continues in Itajaí, Brazil on April 18 with leg six of the Volvo Ocean Race to Newport, Rhode Island starting on April 19.