Please select your home edition
Edition
Mackay Boats 728x90 TOP

Volvo Ocean Race - Newsletter- Leg 9 and the Finish - 18 July 2012

by . on 17 Jul 2012
Groupama Sailing Team, skipper Franck Cammas from France, celebrates winning the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, after securing second place on Leg 9 Ian Roman/Volvo Ocean Race http://www.volvooceanrace.com
Welcome to Sail-World.com's Volvo Ocean Race Newsletter for 16 July 2012

In this final newsletter for the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race, we cover the final leg from Lorient to Galway, the finish celebrations, the return home, and where to from here for the 12th edition of the round the world classic.

The Whitbread and now Volvo Ocean Race has undergone some major changes since its inception in 1973-74 when 17 entries set off on an adventure race around the world.

Without wishing to recap history, the Volvo 70 phase has ended, in favour of a one-design projected to reduce costs significantly, while maintaining performance. Whether in fact costs are reduced, of course remains to be seen - often a shrink in one area is accompanied by a blow out in another.

But clearly the race has to lift its entry level to at least eight boats, and more importantly they have to finish each leg. The situation at the end of Leg 5 where only one of the six competitors had not suspended racing on that leg, verges on the bizarre.


Most involved in the present race have spoken favourably of the changes - quite how many back that with boat deposits is another matter. We'll be closely following the development of the next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race on Sail-World.com - so stay tuned.

One of the many changes from the original four legged Whitbread course has been the introduction of the two sprint ocean legs - from Lisbon to Lorient and Lorient to Galway. Certainly Leg 8 provided more than its fair share of the action - and really the course of the race was decided in just two minutes - when Telefonica broke two rudders - and the Race became Groupama's to lose.


In the post race analysis, it was surprising just how many failures beset the race winner Groupama. In fact they probably had more damage than most but fortuitously their issues all happened within reasonable reach of land. Her hull de-lamination, occurred just over a day out of finishing in Auckland. The dismasting off the Brazillian coast was fixed with a trip to a nearby port.

The mainsail jam on Leg 8, on the day of the finish, freed up after the third attempt and before real damage was done.

The tactical/navigation snafu of Leg 1 saw her finish third, thanks to two dismastings and a hull fracture amongst her competitors.

In the end it was the experience of Franck Cammas, coupled with a very good design that pulled Groupama through.

Cammas and his crew had a strong understanding of trans-oceanic racing developed from many round the world speed record attempts, plus numerous other trans-oceanic races. This knowledge told them when to button off, and when to push hard. That factor gave Groupama the race winning edge.


The final Leg was close - for once fate dealt Camper a fair hand and the history of the finish at the Maldives, and Lisbon, where she was pipped at the post was not repeated. That, plus what happened astern for Chris Nicholson and his crew, was sufficient to place Camper into second place - and that in turn was hers to lose going in the final InPort Race - where she only had to finish and extract a single point to beat Puma for the second spot in the overall prize.


Ken Read and crew and Puma pulled off a remarkable recovery from their dismasting in one of the most remote spots in the planet. Read was obviously disappointed not to have been able to cement second place on the final two Legs.

But had he looked back to mid-November as he was teeing off in the Tristan da Cunha Open, waiting for a ship to arrive to pick up the dismasted Puma, anchored in the bay. That was when three of his competitors had already finished in Cape Town. Right then, the notion of finishing third, and running a very close second - and being at the point where he could have won after leg 7 - would have been filed under 'D' for Dreams.

Puma's was a remarkable story in so many ways. If we had to pick a Sailor of the Race, it would have been Ken Read. A superb sailor, a tremendous ambassador for his country, boat and sponsor. Always with a smile on his face, and ready laconic comment - in public at least, although the lows must have seemed very deep at times.


Telefonica looked to have the race in the bag by the end of Leg 5, when she had to suspend racing for 17 hours, and then pulled up to within an hour of Puma at Itajai. From there, the race unraveled for the winner of the first three legs. Uncharacteristic errors from an a top crew marred their InPort racing, and that in turn framed up their subsequent trans-oceanic performance. This was race of two halves, and those that performed best in the latter half or even third, came through on the final podium.


Abu Dhabi started the campaign brilliantly with her performance in the Rolex Fastnet Race - setting a new monohull record. But despite a leg win, she struggled to recover from her dismasting on the opening night of Leg 1, and had similar upsets on Leg 5, with a return to Auckland for repairs and then another trip on a freighter from Chile to Itajai. The snagging of a lobster pot on the final leg was the last straw for a boat who had more than her share of bad luck.


Team Sanya had their moments in the 39,270nm race, but they were few and far between. They didn't need the collision with a submerged object on the opening night of Leg 1. The way things turned out they could have got a third on that Leg. The next with a rig fracture and the stop in Madagascar - was again unfortunate. So too was the snapping of a rudder when leading on Leg 5 in the Southern Ocean. However Mike Sanderson and his plucky crew had bitten off a big mouthful, in taking on the five new boats with the former Telefonica Blue from the previous race. They only achieved their goal of beating one of the new boats, on the last leg, after Abu Dhabi's misfortune. Otherwise they were limited to grabbing some better than minimum points from the InPort races.

Team Sanya's skipper Mike Sanderson is the first of the six in the current race to come out with a strong statement about wanting to go again in the 12th edition in the Volvo 65.


In this edition we cover the prizegivings for the final leg and race overall, as well as taking a look at those who won the selected trophies for Race Rookie, Shore Crew, Media Crew Member, Seamanship and Designer, and where available have videos of their exploits.

And what now that the race has finished and a two or more year program is over? We have the story of Camper's return to Spain, with a delivery crew - and yes, still more sponsor activities. Indeed, why not?

Although the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race is over, the next has already begun. We will continue our coverage in the regular Sail-World.com newsletters and website stories.

Hope you enjoyed the ride.

Good sailing!

Richard Gladwell
Editor@Large

To subscribe a friend to Sail-World's FREE newsletter http://www.sail-world.com/nz/newsletter_subscribe.cfm!click_here

If you wish to come off our mailing list please click the unsubscribe button on this newsletter, or drop a line to deletesailworld@gmail.com or call (+649) 489 9267

Stay up with the latest sailing news, as it happens, on our website www.sail-world.com

PredictWind - GPS 728x90 BOTTOMSelden 2020 - FOOTERSea Sure 2025

Related Articles

The oldest video footage of Moth sailing
A look back into our video archive, to when the name of this class first settled down We delve into our video archive to find the oldest possible videos that show Moth racing. Are these International Moths, British Moths... or was the name still Olive, Inverloch 11ft, National Moth or Brent One-Design?!
Posted today at 11:00 am
The power of tech
What is the cost of safety? How do you measure it? More importantly, how do you appreciate it? What is the cost of safety? How do you measure it? More importantly, how do you appreciate it?
Posted on 2 Jul
Some thoughts on provisioning for distance sailing
A new perspective on provisioning and time spent at sea One of the great joys of distance racing unfurls the moment that the dock lines are untied. Suddenly, the myriad packing lists that inevitably define most trip-planning efforts become about as relevant as a tax return from eight years ago.
Posted on 1 Jul
Bill Guilfoyle on the 2025 Transpacific Yacht Race
Bill Guilfoyle discusses the 2025 Transpacific Yacht Race When it comes to offshore sailing in the United States, the biennial Transpacific Yacht Race reigns supreme for its distance and promise of off-the-breeze sailing angles.
Posted on 1 Jul
Jazz Turner completes Project FEAR
Drama right to the end in her non-stop, solo, unassisted navigation of the British Isles Jazz Turner has completed Project FEAR, her non-stop, solo, unassisted navigation of the British Isles in her Albin 27 yacht. A flotilla of supporters met her in Seaford Bay, which grew and grew the closer they came to Brighton Marina.
Posted on 1 Jul
One thing. One big, very fast boat
One thing that opened the door, another made us enquire some more - 50 knots! Yes. It was one thing that opened the door, as it were. One thing that piqued the curiosity enough to go, ‘I'll take a look at that!' One thing that when you're trying to crack in excess of 50 knots...
Posted on 30 Jun
A brief history of marine instrument networks
Hugh Agnew has been involved since the outset, and continues to develop at the cutting edge One man who has been involved since the outset, and continues to develop at the cutting edge, is Hugh Agnew, the Cambridge-educated mathematician who is one of the founders of A+T Instruments in Lymington, so I spoke to him to find out more...
Posted on 25 Jun
Harald Findlay on the 2025 Edgartown Race Weekend
A Q&A with Harald Findlay on the 2025 Edgartown Race Weekend When it comes to racing sailboats on the East Coast of the United States in the summer months, few places are as classic as the waters surrounding Martha's Vineyard's northwestern flank.
Posted on 18 Jun
Sailing and the summer solstice
Celebrating sailing and the longest day of the year If you love long evenings and early mornings, this is one of the best times of the whole year, as the summer solstice (Friday, June 20) and the entire rich expanse of summer are about to burst into bloom.
Posted on 17 Jun
Video Review: The Amazing Cure 55
Composite Construction meets Cruising Convenience It was two years ago at the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show that I talked to Dave Biggar about his ideas and plans for the Cure 55. At the 2025 show I got to step on board the yacht and see how his ideas became reality.
Posted on 17 Jun