Volvo Ocean Race- Boat Blogs - A wild Southern Ocean shake-up + Video

by Sail-World.com on 25 Mar 2015 After a wild day in the Southern Ocean, the On Board Reporters filed these stories and images of Chinese Gybes, broken gear, staying safe, and plenty of fast sailing in 30-35kts winds:

Anna-Lena Elled, Onboard Reporter, Team SCA

In 24 hours we got it all. The most spectacular sailing you can imagine and a total wipe out with shredded sails, broken bits and pieces and a boat in a complete mess as a consequence.

Fortunately the crew is safe and didn’t suffer any major injuries. It seems like we also were lucky with both the boat and the rig, and Stacey, our on board sail maker, is confident that she can repair the sail damages. We are now up and running again. The girls are back on their watches but everyone is exhausted from last night's events.

So what happened? Let’s start with the good part. We had one of the most spectacular days of sailing you can imagine. It was wet, brutal and cold but who cares when you are surfing down the swell in 20 to 25 knots. The girls were dancing on deck with big smiles - that says it all. This is how Dee Caffari describes the feeling behind the helm:

'As the driver you stand out from the crowd. In fact on the steering platform that is angled to keep you standing almost upright while the boat is heeled you are more exposed than anyone else on the boat. As a result you often feel the full force of the wave hit you square in the face and the chest either with a potential for whiplash or feeling winded.

You feel the acceleration of the boat beneath your feet and the control is in your hands at the wheel. Your aim is to try never to go slowly. You want to ride the waves and use the surf while remaining in control. In the drivers position you are in the best place to see the full overall picture and are responsible for the rest of the crew on deck. You are constantly analysing numbers from the instruments onboard and you are assessing them all the time. It is physically and mentally tiring especially when the conditions are in strong winds and big waves.'

The wind decreased in the evening and I was as usual below deck cooking dinner around 04:30. I was a little bit late since I had so much great footage from the day to go through. We were sailing when suddenly we had a few smaller wipe outs. You could hear that the tension on deck. The girls were struggling up there. The call; all hands on deck came, and before the rest of the crew managed to put their gear on and get out to give a helping hand, the squall hit us and pressed us down on starboard side.

Everything happened very quickly. It took a few minutes before the crew could sort out the situation and get the boat on the right heel again. It´s been a long night inspecting the damage, organizing the boat, and make a recovery plan. Stacey has already started to work with the sail. There is a lot to be done until we are completely back on track again, at the same time the boat is supposed to be sailed. It´s crucial now that everybody manages to recover strength, get some rest and as always eat and drink. It´s cold out here. It does not rain anymore, we get hail. Liz even found the energy to make a snowball and throw it at Sam. Once again I had to press the crash button!

Stefan Coppers - Onboard Reporter, Team Brunel

“25, 26, 27, 28, 29 knots!” Rokas Milevicius shouts in the cockpit. Time and time again, the bow of the Dutch Volvo Ocean Race boat bursts through a gigantic wave, temporarily slowing the boat. Thousands of litres of icy water drench the men in the cockpit. “Yes, 29 knots!' Rokas has set the daily record!

The Southern Ocean has shown the ugly side of its character today, with the anemometer registering no less than 36 knots of wind last night. The carbon boat is creaking all over.

None of my recordings or photos can even begin to show the power of this rough ocean. The extreme sailing speed is also almost impossible to film. It's a miracle that we still have a functioning mast. 'They build in a safety factor,' explains Gerd-Jan Poortman. 'They measure the strength of stays needed for the ultimate storm. And then they make them seven times stronger.'

Pablo Arrarte still reckons these are boat breaking conditions however. The Spaniard is doing his best to spoon food into stainless steel bowls in the galley, but his spoon has a life of its own. 'Every time we ram the boat into a wave, it comes out of the water, keel and all, followed by a free fall of four meters back into the ocean. If you do that often enough, the rump will quite simply break.'

Arrarte explains that the boat is therefore not pushed to the full one hundred percent. “We try to find the balance between sailing as fast as possible and keeping the boat in one piece. How do we do that? By not fighting every single wave, for example.'

Gerd-Jan Poortman agrees that incurring damage would be bad news at the moment. 'We're currently close to Point Nemo,' says Gerd-Jan Poortman. The Dutch bowman is alluding to the fact that we're now sailing close to the most remote area of the world.

The closest dry land - in any direction - is 2688 kilometres away from this remote stretch of ocean. Point Nemo was named after Captain Nemo, who played a leading role in the famous Jules Verne book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea.
Nemo is the Latin word for nobody. 'If we suffer damage, we need to rely on ourselves and the other boats,' Poortman continues. 'So keeping the boat in one piece is a must.'

Francisco Vignale Onboard Reporter, Mapfre

A shift in the wind of over 40 degrees made us gybe; but after that we continued with a good gust of wind. Until then, we were in the back end of the fleet and with nothing to lose... our purpose was to sail fast and get miles.

Two hours later, Jean-Luc warned us about the gybe so we returned to starboard. The wind got up to around 25 to 35 knots and the boat began to fly thanks to our combination of J2 + J3 + FRO.

The conditions were extremely dangerous so I decided to go on deck to film what was happening. You have to focus on not being hit by the waves when you sail over 25 knots.

The water is very cold so when we hit a wave we feel like we're taking a thousand needles in the face. We have to wear gloves because the cold is unbearable.

With this speed and due to a big wave, our boat was completely lying on its side.

We were on deck and it was I who was closest to the water. Xabi grabbed my jacket and helped me get out of this terrible situation.

Inside the boat the situation was not very good either. The members of the crew who were sleeping were crushed between their bunk and the deck. A situation quite uncomfortable for those people with claustrophobia.

On deck, Carlos and Xabi were struggling to arrange the boat. All they could do was save time and struggle to put it right again. A stressful and very dangerous situation. Our J2 and the mainsail were damaged but were repaired.

Once again, and with our sails repaired, we set sail. At that point we realised we are third - so we're happy!

Vamos MAPFRE!





Kevin Escoffier Sailor, Dongfeng Race Team

Rough night. Broaching in 40 knots. It was Verdun!

My life jacket inflated because I was under the water, but I was attached, don’t worry :) Then, another gybe (a good one this time), and a lot of manoeuvres. A full day! Some wind, but it's not too cold yet. We’re soaked because of the water that got everywhere with our broach. And all of this at night, of course!

Black Sailor, Dongfeng Race Team

This is the first Chinese gybe experience in my life, I can still feel the fear when I think about! We were about to do a manoeuvre, but before we managed to start it, we were attacked by 2 huge waves.

Holy crap, the waves were so huge and we were suddenly pushed right over on to our side. My brain went blank when that happened. I grabbed hold of the first thing I could – the sailor’s instinct. It felt like I was on the Titanic when that happened, I kept thinking 'no, it’s going to be bad.'

But I calmed down quickly. I knew we have to avoid going overboard when a Chinese gybe happens, and that would be the scariest thing. But luckily we had only just come up on deck, and the boom didn’t hit any one when it crashed across the boat, otherwise there would have been blood onboard now.

Wolf and I were quite astonished, firstly because we’ve never experienced this before, and second it was happening during the night. But everyone was quite calm, no one was screaming or yelling. We tried to find the highest point (to stay on the boat), to make sure we were safe and then to find the solution to get out of it.

We didn’t talk about it too much afterwards, the wind will be strong in the next few days, we rather save some energy to fight with the wind and the waves than keep talking.

Wolf and I had a chat today, we both agree that the Chinese gybe that happened to the boat is a valuable experience for us. But hopefully it’s not going to happen that often, otherwise I’m not sure if my heart is strong enough!

The wind and waves are very strong now, and I couldn’t help throwing up again. People don’t have much appetite when they don’t feel comfortable. However, it’s way too cold now and I had to force myself to eat something. At worse, I can still throw up after eating, but we really need calories and energy to fight against the horrible weather. It’s freezing cold on the deck now, I keep trembling. It feels better when you go back to the cabin.

Despite the fact that is super bumpy, we sleep very deep, so you understand how tired we are. When we are off duty, we fall asleep in no time. I remember there was once when I was sleeping, my body was lifted up by the waves, then smashed back on to the bunk, but I fell asleep in no time again. No matter how bumpy it is, it doesn’t affect us at all, we don’t have any problem to fall asleep.

We haven’t reached the Cape Horn yet, but it has already brought us so many challenges. Yesterday we were saying it’s not as difficult as we thought, and then this all happened. How many challenges we will have to overcome in the future is unpredictable. Come on Southern Ocean, bring it on!

Yann Riou Onboard Reporter, Dongfeng Race Team

I open an eye, noticing that the guys have started stacking already. It’s coming up. Time to put my boots on and wet weather trousers, and I quickly hear shouts on deck.

Then the boat starts heeling on the wrong side, and a little bit more, nicely rotating until it’s reaching its new balance point – on its side.

I’m moving across the bags and other objects that are flying around the boat. And then, silence. I’m struggling to climb up towards the “crash button”, the one that will allow us to recover images from the incident.

I look on deck quickly. It’s pitch black, I can see some guys hanging onto the winch handles. But no sign of panic. Some have already started to work to get out of this situation.

I go back to my work space to get a camera. Once there, I spot some unusual reflections. There is water in the boat! A lot… I look for its source.

Meanwhile I can also see my media bag half floating. I finally find the guilty party. It’s an air vent that’s still open. A small fight follows to shut it down despite the pressure of the cold water that’s still entering the boat. After a couple of long minutes, it’s a victory. Things are looking better outside, too.

Two hours later, the deck is in order, there is no breakage or injury. The interior of the boat is emptied of water, and we’re tidying up the things that got spread all around.

I’ve lost quite a bit of gear, including my favourite photo camera. Annoying… it wasn’t really part of the plan. It’s a little bit like leaving for a transatlantic crossing and tearing your big spinnaker up the first week…

I just check outside quickly. It’s magnificent…


Charles Caudrelier Skipper, Dongfeng Race Team

It had to have waited until I was on a Chinese boat for me to experience my first 'Chinese gybe'!

That will be a great and amusing story to share over a beer in Itajai, or to my grandchildren in a few years time - but last night it was hell.

Laid flat on the water [boat heeled at 90 degrees] at 48 degrees South, with 40 knots of wind and 5 metre seas is really not fun at all.

Bizarrely however in this position its very calm and quiet onboard, no more noise from the speed of the boat, its wake or the waves. A silence that allowed us to easily communicate between us to get out of it.

We paid a heavy price in terms of miles lost to our competitors [about 30], but I confess that despite that I am a happy skipper even after the incident. Why?

All my men are onboard, the crew did an extraordinary job, and we haven't broken anything, or damaged any sails.
A miracle.

So we really have started this leg badly, and we're making way too many errors. To win you have to make less errors than the others, and we've already used up our allowance in the first 6 days - there is still a long way to go!

Now we are going to concentrate on doing a better job - promise!

Amory Ross Onboard Reporter, Team Alvimedica

By my judgment today we officially entered the elusive Southern Ocean!

The temperature has dropped to eight degrees Celsius (about 45 Fahrenheit), winds have steadied around 30 knots with sustained periods of 35-40, and the seas have been growing ever since our first jibe late last night. Living has gone from comfortable and manageable to difficult and challenging, and even the simple things such as brushing your teeth in the hatch now take tremendous effort and focus while we careen downwind.

The boat is lurching around so unpredictably and so aggressively that every move is carefully planned and cautiously executed. But with the tough sailing comes a noticeable rise in morale. This is exactly what we expected and furthermore, what we came looking for, and now that we’re here everyone seems to be at their happiest (especially the newbies), even in discomfort. A boyish glee emanates from all of the exhausted faces, a deep breath of cold ocean air and a wayward glance towards the towering waves we’re now amongst.

It’s easy to understand why this place is so addicting, why for as painful and miserable as it can be and as tough as it is to get here, so many make the sacrifice to return time and time again. It’s cold, it’s wet, everything starts to hurt and the living is tough, but we’re going fast, having fun, and everyone’s excited for a week of it to Cape Horn!

Matt Knighton Onboard Reporter, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing

Ask any one of us what few words describe today and the reply is sure to be the same as Ian’s: fresh to frightening.
The Southern Ocean debuted the huge waves and strong winds it’s been keeping under wraps for the past several days and we took full advantage of it – sometimes taking perhaps too much.

As the day neared it’s end there was a huge wave that broke next to the boat, a wave that tubed and showed it’s greenish blue color as the light shone thru it. Everyone couldn’t believe the size of it.

Parko bluntly remarked, “Yeah…I would not have surfed that wave”.

With the fleet now spread out over a hundred miles, the tactical battle for the quickest route to Cape Horn has heated up. We’ve put two gybes in over the past 24 hours to protect the southerly route along the ice gates – gybes that down here took close to an hour to execute.

Ambition bites you back hard at these latitudes. We’ve been pushing the boat hard, admittedly on the verge of “out of control” all-day, attempting to thread the needle between speed and keeping the boat together.

“It’s a double edged sword”, explained Ian. “On the one hand if you push it hard and get away with it you can take big miles – you can’t take 10 miles a sked in light winds but you can in strong winds. Then again, if you push it too hard you can’t finish the leg so the stakes are high.”

On our first gybe last night we wiped out – broached in the darkness trying to gybe with the spinnaker up. Our second gybe during the day we didn’t make that mistake again. Gradually we’ve reined it all in and now we’re on rails taking waves overhead.

Top speed today: 37.1 knots.