Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 - Tales from the extreme

by Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 on 14 Sep 2014 Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 - The best of today's blogs from the boats. It's Leg 0, and all seven boats compete against each other for the first time. Here's what's happening on board...

Updated - September 14, 2014
We were wondering where the other boats were or which way they went through Ibiza. We choose the slowest one and know we are last, far at the back of the fleet and still with no wind.

After a very hard night and realising we are the last team, moral is a little bit down. It’s something good to experience, now this team knows the taste of being far at the end of the fleet. 'A mistake like this on a long leg can make you lose 300 nautical miles' Ñeti tells me.
- Francisco Vignale, Team España

The current cycle of telling stories is about to end, and a new period of making our own is about to begin.
We are less than a month away from the start of this race, with this crew, on this boat. We are fifty miles away from the end of our offshore training, and though these final miles are still valuable for our training—everyone acknowledges there is still much to learn—their significance is in steady decline.
With every mile’s conclusion we get another mile closer to the starting line, and of course the beginning of the next 40,000.
- Amory Ross, Team Alvimedica

Major sport athletes always like to remark that the hardest part of their sport is the 'challenge of getting there', i.e. that the months and months of hard work, training, and passion amount to a greater sum than the competition itself.
Most of those sports only compete for one day.

In a Volvo Ocean Race the challenge of getting there is followed by the challenge of winning a nine-month race around the world.
- Matt Knighton, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing

September 13, 2014
'This start is not really good for our confidence', sighs Balcaen. His confidence took a major boost as Team Brunel took the lead in no time.
'That’s the beauty of one-design,' laughs Bekking, as he turns to look at the other teams. 'The team that sails the best sails the fastest.'
'Of course we will win this race', joke Milevicius and Balcaen at the bow. 'Otherwise we wouldn’t be taking part in it'.
- Stefan Coppers, Team Brunel

There is no shortage of work to be done to the boats, to the bodies, and to the brains. But getting a handle on what’s feasible and most valuable during that time is easiest done at sea. It’s impossible not to focus on anything but the most pressing of processes: sailing this boat as a team, together.

This will be the youngest crew in the race. As Ryan Houston suggests, 'we probably have the most to gain.' Leg zero is our last chance to observe the other teams up close, to emulate, test, and experiment to our hearts content. In that sense, we are approaching these 400 some-odd miles to Palma with a very open mind.

But as Ryan continues, 'maybe though, we also have the most to lose.' And it’s a valid point; we are built of ambitious, competitive individuals who are keen to prove themselves. We have the tools and we have the talent and there’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to perform; expectations are high.
- Amory Ross, Team Alvimedica

Old friends in new boats. You could sense that’s what was running through the mind of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Navigator Simon Fisher as he carefully eyed Team Vestas Wind just off the port quarter of Azzam as a beautiful sunset was getting ready to explode this past evening.

With their Volvo Ocean 65 crewed by several sailors from prior Volvo races, the competition in the air was ripe.
It has become increasingly obvious that on a team made up of Volvo Ocean Race veterans with over 20 races between them, the history of competition between rivals quickly takes over and it doesn’t matter that this Leg isn’t for points…it’s still a race.

Still a chance for Ian and the boys to see whether all their training the past eight months and all their dreams from the last three years will pay off.
- Matt Knighton, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing

So, when we accidentally missed one of our final marks in Alicante bay we had to turn around to complete the course - otherwise we would be disqualified. This set us back a fair distance and we spent most of yesterday playing catch up as we sailed towards Palma de Mallorca on our own.

'There were three routes you could take to get around Ibiza: top, middle, or bottom—like the famous game show—basically, north, middle, or South. At this point there was a pretty big split in the fleet.' Long story short: we went north and it’s paid off — big time. We are currently in an awesome position on our way to Palma Bay just within miles of Team Brunel and Vestas Wind.

It's almost like sprinting a 10 km course when your main objective is a marathon.

'This is only two nights out, and you can pretty much do that without sleeping if you had to, so everyone knows they can pretty much give it their all until the finish. The Volvo Ocean Race, you’ve got to keep going for a lot longer, you can’t treat it like that otherwise you won’t survive,' Sam explained.
- Corinna Halloran, Team Event website