Volvo Ocean Race- Onboard - Day 25 - Land ho! Cape Town in sight!
by Richard Gladwell on 6 Nov 2014
November 04, 2014. Leg 1 onboard Team Vestas Wind. Tony Rae trimming. Day 24 at Sea - a time to reflect Brian Carlin - Team Vestas Wind
The On Board Reporters write, shoot and video about their experiences and view from Leg 1, Day 25 of the Volvo Ocean race as the boats get their second dose of the edge of the Roaring Forties. Fast times and and a damaged broken boat.
Here's Inside Track from Day 25 - for the latest update from the boats
Here's the OBR's blogs from November 5, 2014 - last day of Leg 1, for some
We’re currently a little over 100 nm away from Cape Town and doing about 13 knots! Last sked, Dongfeng are around 8 nm behind us and we’ve made some gains since then. Their mast light is no longer visible to us but I’m sure once the sun pops up we’ll be able to see their sail shape in the distance.
While we’re strategically positioned between them and the finish, there’s still too much race track left. Anything can happen. Everyone is prepared for a bit of a match race into the finish, especially with the winds die down and there’s a sudden compression.
There’s also the chance that they dive away when we can’t see them, get a split, and then work in under us.
Matt Knighton, OBR
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing
Such an incredibly tight finish was unexpected for Dongfeng only a couple of days ago. A couple of inspired decisions, a team that manages to keep a high level of performance, no matter what the conditions are, and here we are. Less than 24 hours to the finish, we’re fighting for the first place, with the boat who’s been leading the fleet since we lost the lead to them two weeks ago.
So – let’s not put pressure on ourselves. We’re leaving this to Abu Dhabi, if they want to. After all, we don’t have much to lose!
A little bit more than 100 miles to go. And it’s daytime again. We’ve lost it all again. But there are 100 miles left. Everything is still possible.
Yann Riou, OBR
Dongfeng Race Team
Three days ago Team Brunel suffered a bad loss. In that night we lost 50 miles to the leader. We ran away from the other teams and seemed to be heading for a sensational finish. However our southerly tactics didn’t pay off. We were supposed to reach Cape Town faster through a 'detour', thanks to a better wind.
But nothing was further from the truth. Abu Dhabi Racing Team and especially Dongfeng cut the corner, and got a lot more wind.
Stefan Coppers, OBR
Team Brunel
On reflection it’s hard to think we left Alicante 25 days ago yet at the same time it feels longer. We have encountered the highs and the lows, we have learned so much about the boat and about us as individuals. I personally found the closest thing to breaking point and on the same flip of the coin found why I wanted to do this race so badly. It’s about finding the balance and for the majority this has been both rewarding and challenging in a good way. We only become stronger, we only learn more by total of the sum of experiences.
I think Tom said it best that 'I think I’ve learned to appreciate things, simple stuff like food and a bed'
So for now we have currently less than 24 hours left in Leg 1 of 9 races. We can’t predict a finish, those of us that have sailed to Cape Town before know all to well it’s way too early to count the chickens. A lead of three or four hours can be lost on the approach so we wait, we wait patiently and keep the eggs from hatching…
I wish I had more to add but its very much a game face on now, we are all pushing. I too am preparing, we will be broadcasting the finish live so please stay tuned to volvooceanrace.com for timings on this.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for watching, reading, playing etc… We know we have so many avid followers so thank you all from the crew of Team Vestas Wind.
Brian Carlin, OBR
Team Vestas Wind
We've been hemorrhaging valuable miles to Mapfre and SCA all night. Like falling off the back of a beautiful wave that your four friends nailed, only to turn around in time to see the next one crashing down on top you. Double whammy!
But nobody has given up the ship. A pre-dawn sail change from the bigger MHO (Masthead Zero) to the smaller FRO (Fractional Zero) to accommodate the quickly building breeze has got us back up to speed and hopefully we can stop the bleeding soon. We’re still hanging on to a precious 100-mile lead over the Spaniards and it’s a lead we’re more confident in keeping now that we’re riding the front edge of the system that’s been carrying them east.
The difference between us has been wind and that should be negated, now. Fingers crossed, pray to the weather model gods.
Amory Ross, OBR
Team Alvimedica
Today we’ve seen plenty of albatross, it’s incredible how they fly without even moving their wings.
We don’t have much food left. Let’s hope we make it on November 7, for after that we’ll only have peanuts, cereal bars and water from the watermaker available. We won’t have any more gas either.
Team SCA is 80 miles behind us and we feel the pressure. The worst thing that could happen to us is to have them leaving us behind. We can’t afford a single mistake. Who knows if we could even catch Team Alvimedica by surprise… Yesterday we cut the distance down by 60 miles…Let’s hope today we cut down some more…
Francisco Vignale, OBR
MAPFRE
Thinking too far into the future does not help the present. What helps the present is enjoying it—enjoying the wind, the Southern Ocean, and the four Albatross flying around us. Furthermore, living in the present simply allows us to be grateful to be exposed to this part of the world.
What’s been learned out here can only be learned from experience, and that includes the deepened need and want to fight for a team we all so wholeheartedly believe in: Team SCA. We’re bummed out because we know we have a fair chance on this playing field—this is not a race against men, it’s a race against other offshore sailors.
So, a big massive congratulations to our offshore competitors finishing leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race tomorrow, we look forward to seeing you in a couple of days. We wish we could be in Cape Town sooner to enjoy the burgers with you tomorrow night, but trust me when I say: next time, the time difference will be considerably less.
Corinna Halloran, OBR
Team SCA
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