Volvo Ocean Race- On board with Abu Dhabi - torn sail and where to go?

by Matt Knighton, OBR, Abu Dhabi OR on 23 Nov 2014 Overall race leader, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker) has had an eventful few days since the start in Cape Town on Wednesday.

Their goal is to be first home in their home port of Abu Dhabi - six other boats willing.

Here are the blogs (unedited) from On Board Reporter Matt Knighton, along with a couple of videos - the first showing the sail repair of the torn A3, with navigator Simon Fisher ('Si-Fi') explaining the consequences of the A3 repair not working.

In the second skipper Ian Walker and Si Fi, give us a below decks tutorial on the navigator's dilemma on how to be first to finish in Abu Dhabi after traversing the meteorological obstacle course that lies ahead.



Day 4 - November 22 - 0500hrs:

Waking up and stepping out onto the deck onboard Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing this morning, the sharp, bright blue waves of the Southern Ocean had noticeably given way to large rolling swells carrying 'Azzam' North towards Abu Dhabi. At the helm, a slight grin on Ian’s face hinted at a change in position that occurred with the latest sked—we had jumped from fifth to first overnight.

The rest of the fleet who have opted to sail further East did not match our gybe to the North in the middle of the night. We’re all trying to sail to the Northeast and place our bets for the best crossing of a developing high pressure. However, in the Nav Station Ian points out that there’s a circle of red on the routing giving him optimism.

'I think that what’s happened is the currents are playing a major factor in what type of wind everyone’s got.'

The red circle he points at is strong eddy in the Agulhas Current and it’s pushing us Northeast at 3 knots. Continuing Ian explains further, 'We’re getting this massive header and practically pointing at Abu Dhabi.' On the flip side, the rest of the fleet is getting the opposite effect—they can’t gybe north.

The longer this trend holds over the next few hours, the longer we’ll have a slight edge on the other six teams.

The sunlight in the morning sky and the idea of finally heading towards our homeport has been revitalizing. From the stern of 'Azzam' Justin remarked, 'Finally pointing at Abu Dhabi for the first time on this trip, just a small matter of a few thousand miles to go.'



Day 3 - November 21 - 0500hrs

There has been an endless scramble of bodies on deck and down below for the past 12 hours. Those on deck are pushing the boat harder and harder trying to pull bearing on the other boats on the horizon. Those down below are trying to keep 'Azzam' in fighting shape—fixing breakages that we were void of in Leg 1 now occurring in the opening salvos of Leg 2.

At any point of time overnight Ian would be running between the nav station and the deck calling out headings and targets while passing him in the narrow bulkheads Parko, Wendy, and Daryl would squeeze by grabbing spares and bonding materials from bags under bunks.

Massive amounts of wet, yellow foul weather gear wearing head torches have been darting everywhere.

The damage was to two crucial pieces of Azzam whose repair was vital to our strategy overnight. The massive A3 kite had a 1.5m tear along the luff about halfway up; a sail that was predicted to see over 25 knots of breeze in heavy seas all night. Then the steering cable block had snapped off rattling everyone out of their bunks. Quite appropriately, we needed that to steer the boat.

With the broken A3 illuminated like a lantern in the dark, Wendy commented, 'I’m sure this isn’t the worst repair anyone on this boat has had to make'. Between the thick glue on his hands and the smell of carbon fiber being ground down in the stern, one can only hope we don’t break anything else.



Day 2 - November 20 - 0400hrs

Whoever predicted we’d only have a few hours of intense weather at the start of the leg and that then it would abate should’ve extended their forecast. For the past 24 hours we’ve had the pedal to the floor getting thrashed about in 25-30 knots of wind. It’s the kind of thrashing that has left almost all the bags of food uneaten and the bowls of food that had been made have now spilled their orange contents on the floorboards.

To start out the slugfest yesterday, we crossed through the Agulas current; a nasty bit of water South of Africa that pushed 3 knots of waves into us creating a sloppy sea state.

According to Ian, 'The Agulas Current is one of the most treacherous parts of this race. We’ve probably carried a bit too much sail and lost a few miles so that’s a bit frustrating.'

Having three other boats within visual range has given us a reference to gauge our performance relative to the other teams, however it’s also adding stress to the decision-making. There is an unfamiliar lack of chatter onboard at the moment. Missing the sail change has reminded all the guys that each mile gained is not guaranteed.

Everything is wet already, the boat stinks of indescribable smells—we weren’t at this point in Leg 1 until day 20! And yet, the guys push forward happy to point out that this isn’t as bad as it can be.

'It’s one of those places you look forward to getting out of. It’s been relatively sedate this time', said Justin to which Ian adds, 'The first time I went through here we couldn’t reef so Justin spent the entire time at the top of the mast getting beaten up trying to free the main sail.'

If this is sedate, you’d hate to see normal.

Day 1 November 19

Two weeks ago, when Cape Town welcomed us with open arms, we would’ve had no idea it would send us away with such a fierce goodbye. With winds gusting in Table Bay up to 40 knots, the splash around the in-port portion of the Leg 2 start was some of the hairiest sailing we’ve seen yet. Juxtapose those conditions with a magnificent view of Table Mountain at dusk and the scene was surreal—even if we were getting sandblasted in the face with cold water every wave.

Starting another 25+ day leg isn’t easy for the guys, especially when you’re the last boat around the course looking at everyone’s stern. However, Ian was more than happy to play such a wicked start conservatively so as not to break anything.

'You didn’t hear anyone in Cape Town talking about the start in Alicante', said Ian. 'We kind of knew the start was going to be pretty irrelevant so we decided to save our gear and cruise around. We saw two boats gybe onto their runners so I wouldn’t be surprised if they broke their main sail battens. Another might have damaged their J2.

As the sun set, the towering coastline of South Africa lit up into colors of pink and orange as clouds fell over the cliffs. We began picking off boats slowly as our position at the back of the fleet enabled us to view the breeze down course as it played off the sails of the other boats ahead.

Perhaps a bit of prophecy, but before the start of the race, our guest on-board, Francois Pienaar, ex-Captain of the South African Springbok Rugby Team, had reminded Ian, 'Remember, the only thing better than winning, is coming from behind to win.'