Volvo Ocean Race - Tricky In-Port Race for Team Alvimedica

by Team Alvimedica on 16 Nov 2014 Team Alvimedica placed sixth in today's Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Race, on a tricky race track on Table Bay.

The team’s on board reporter, Amory Ross, said: 'That was a whole Volvo Ocean Race leg, all rolled into an hour’s racing.' Skipper Charlie Enright agreed: 'We had enough sail changes, wind shifts, velocity changes, there was a lot going on.'

For all that, the outcome of the race was pretty much decided within the first minute of the race. It was a downwind start, not far off the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, making the approach to the line more challenging than usual. The two boats closest to the line were Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Team Vestas Wind, who started off opposite ends and went opposite ways.

Abu Dhabi hooked into the strongest breeze first, while Vestas and the boats on their side of the track were left behind. Unfortunately this was the side that Alvimedica had also chosen, and there was little that they could do as they saw boats on the far side of the course roll away from them in better breeze.

Enright was frustrated but philosophical about their choice at the start. 'We were monitoring the wind before the start, talking to the weather team. It looked to us that the wind was coming off the beach all day. Occasionally those righties [right-hand wind shifts] would wrap around the mountain, but the one that we saw at the start was the biggest we saw all day. It went light and right, which was not really the trend prior to that. You could see that a lot of people wanted to do the same as us and bailed at the last second. I thought, is it a persistent wind shift, or is it oscillating? We consciously decided to hit the beach, so did two others boats, and there was no real passing after that. The race was decided at the start, and that's rare for a race that had so much going on.'

Skipper Charlie Enright and the Team Alvimedica crew sailed a solid race from then onwards, although at one point a rip opened up in the back of their J1 headsail during a hoist. 'It happened when we were hoisting a Code sail,' said Enright. 'The headfurler clipped the leech and took a chunk out of it. We got the sail out of the sky, got a J2 [smaller sail] up, which was unfortunate because the J1 was probably the right sail for most of the day.'

At the front, Abu Dhabi was briefly threatened by Team Brunel and Team SCA, although Ian Walker's crew held on to win. While sixth place was disappointing for Enright, there’s probably not too much to be gained from over-analyzing the day. 'Unfortunately in situations like that, you can't really take a bunch away from it. The other side of the course paid on the other two laps, so it seemed to be the trend of the day, but it wasn't when we started.'

After two In-Port Races, the overall In Port standings put Abu Dhabi in the lead, with Brunel second and Team Alvimedica in third place.

The team gets back on the water tomorrow to take part in the Pro-Am races on Table Bay.

Results Cape Town In-Port Race:

1. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing - 15:06:57 -1pt
2. Team Brunel 15:08:00 - 2pts
3. Team SCA 15:09:04 - 3pts
4. Dongfeng Race Team 15:09:22 - 4pts
5. Team Vestas Wind 15:11:25 - 5pts
6. Team Alvimedica 15:16:14 - 6pts
7. MAPFRE 15:18:32 - 7pts

In-Port Race Overall standings:

1. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing - 3pts
2. Team Brunel - 6pts
3. Team Alvimedica - 7pts
4. Team SCA - 9pts
5. Dongfeng Race Team - 9pts
6. MAPFRE - 10pts
7. Team Vestas Wind - Team Alvimedica website