Volvo Ocean Race - Team Brunel is sailing their own race

by Stefan Coppers, Team Brunel on 5 Nov 2014 While Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Dongfeng Race Team are battling for the lead in the Volvo Ocean Race, Team Brunel is sailing their own race. 'We are still sailing in third place but we pushing hard to grab an opportunity to improve on that,' says Gerd-Jan Poortman.

Besides winning the first leg and the Volvo Ocean Race in general, ‘See a whale’ has been high on my bucket list for some time now. A bucket list is a list of things that you really want to do in your life! And if you make a few slight adjustments to your life, your dreams stand a good chance of coming true. Well, in view of my 50-year student loan, a Ferrari was not really do-able, so it became ‘see a whale’.

But for a few years even that seemed to be aiming too high – in spite of holidays that were entirely planned around ‘seeing whales’. After all, they are animals and 'They were still here yesterday' was an excuse that I often heard from various tour operators.

And then I was approached by yet another shady tour operator. His name was Bouwe Bekking. 'If you don’t see whales on this trip, I’ll eat my hat,' he told me. And, still suspicious, I joined him on board. 'In the Southern Ocean, you’ll see at least three a day.'

So as to be allowed to sail with them, I put myself forward as media man – shooting short films and writing articles about the sailors on board Team Brunel. A really fanatical bunch of guys and nice too! So many times, the boss of the group – Bouwe – would called me up on deck with the words, 'Stefan! A whale!' I would rush from my media desk to see a few white bubbles in the water. And it went on like that for weeks.

Until yesterday, just before our final destination in Cape Town. The entire group of sailors – by now thoroughly fed up with my love of whales – called me up on deck with the familiar words 'Stefan! A whale!' And this time I arrived on deck just in time. A gigantic humpback leapt out of the water and landed on its back in the ocean with a huge splash. And that’s when it happened. Lying on its back in the water, the whale waved at us with its immense fin. Even the seasoned sailors could not believe their eyes. A waving whale! It seemed to be saying 'The best of luck in your battle with the other little boats, Team Brunel'. Capey whispered to me, 'Let’s hope that the next time this whale decides to wave to someone it isn’t a Japanese whaler'. 'Yes,' I agreed, Team Brunel website