Countdown to Volvo Ocean Race Leg 2 start

by Riath Al-Samarrai on 15 Nov 2008
The countdown to the second leg is well within its final 24 hours and the early sub-plots to this race have been unavoidable.

Can Torben Grael deliver on the huge expectations created by Ericsson 4’s first leg showing? Is Bouwe Bekking feeling the heat after a mid-fleet finish? Is Andreas Hanakamp happy to perform with the owner onboard?

If the conviction of those asking the questions is to be believed, those answering them should have a million doubts swirling inside their brains. It seems they do not.

'Pressure?' asked Torben Grael. 'No pressure. Now we know what we are capable of doing and that gives us more confidence.'

Likewise, Bekking carries the vibe of a man without a concern in the world. 'The crew is very confident,' he says. 'I think we are one of the only boats that did not make changes. That says something about how we are feeling as a team.'

And Hanakamp? 'If you saw our team, you wouldn’t recognise him as the owner,' he said. 'We are very happy that he is back. He’s a strong team member, more than just the owner.'

There are, however, concerns. This next leg, as has been well documented, is a step into the unknown. In fact, there are so many grey areas concerning the 4,450 nautical miles separating Cochin from Cape Town that Ken Read believes luck – or lack of it - could render all the finite planning useless.

'I have never before gone into a race hoping so much for some good luck,' the PUMA Ocean racing skipper said. 'We have been prepared for things like pirates and even though it is a small chance it is in the back of your mind. We know there are thousands of small unlit boats, thousands of nets waiting to wrap around a keel. There’s a lot of stuff in the water which we could hit. More than any other race I have ever sailed, you are going to have to be a little lucky.'

For Ian Walker, the Green Dragon skipper, the concern is above the water – and the deck for that matter. 'Hopefully the problem with the J4 won’t reoccur,' he said. Yesterday, just like in Alicante, it did. Now he has to spend the remaining hours fixing a spreader broken when the sail came down. 'Not ideal,' he said. 'But we’ll be ready for racing on Saturday.'

'We are a strong team and improving'

Fernando Echavarri is springing around the place as if he won the last leg. His Telefonica Black team, crippled by damage, actually finished last into Cape Town. Echavarri, however, has high hopes.

'For the first days it looks like it will be hard to keep with all the boats but then we will have our conditions for sure,' he said. 'There are a lot of miles in light and medium winds and we are fast in those conditions. We struggled in heavy weather downwind in the first leg, but I think we have improved in that area by changing some sails and the set-up of the boats.

'In the last leg, before the damage, we spent a lot of time fighting for first position. We are a strong team and improving.'

It was a similar message from Bekking, whose Telefonica Blue team also suffered losses when running in heavy wind.

'We feel very comfortable in the light and medium and the tight reaching in the breeze which should help for a lot of this leg,' he said. 'We weren’t very quick in the running, but we have done some good work in that area.'

Roberto Bermudez, meanwhile, cannot stop smiling. He is the product of this race’s first skipper swap and will lead Team Delta Lloyd. 'I am very excited,' he said. 'I think it’s a good opportunity for me. It’s a new role for me in this race and like everyone, I’ve never sailed from here to India which is another new factor. But I think we have a very good group, very motivated and now we have to start working.'

In summary, it’s all rather jovial. 'That’s Cape Town,' said Ericsson 3’s Anders Lewander. 'Makes people happy.'

Of course, there are tactical pressures. One of the dilemmas exists around the scoring waypoint and where to cross the line at longitude 58 east. Walker explained: 'There may well be decisions to make as to how well you want to do at the gate versus how well you want to do at the finish. But until we see the weather closer to the time we won’t know whether getting to the gate first is also the best way of getting to India first. I can see different teams taking different strategies.

'I can see a team that’s maybe not doing so well at the gate head more directly to India. It will be hard for the viewers as well as distance to finish may not indicate how well we’re doing on this leg.'

Have any teams got an early idea about which way they’ll go? 'If they did, I’m sure they wouldn’t say,' said Grael. He was right. They wouldn’t. We are, after all, still in the mind game phase of this race. Soon it will be game-time and the real pressure will be on.

Leg one prizes
Best 24 hour run – 602 miles, Ericsson 4
Inmarsat Media Prize – Guy Salter, Ericsson 4
Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Seamanship Award – Martin Watts, Delta Lloyd
Leg One, 3rd place – Green Dragon
Leg One, 2nd place – PUMA Ocean Racing
Leg One, 1st place – Ericsson 4

Overall Leaderboard
1. Ericsson 4: 14 points
2. PUMA: 13 points
3. Green Dragon: 11 points
4. Telefónica Blue: 10 points
5. Telefónica Black: 7 points
6. Ericsson 3: 5 points*
7. Delta Lloyd: 4 points*
8. Team Russia: 4 points *

*leg one scoring http://volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2008/november/scoring-explained/

The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 is the 10th running of this ocean marathon. It started from Alicante in Spain, on 4 October 2008 with an in-port race and will finish in St Petersburg, Russia for the first time in the history of the race. Spanning some 37,000 nautical miles, stopping at 11 ports and taking nine months to complete, the Volvo Ocean Race is the world’s premier yacht race for professional racing crews.