Volvo Ocean Race - Hard lessons learned by the youngest Volvo crew

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com on 29 Jun 2015 “It has been a great experience for Team Alvimedica. I think we have gone from strength to strength in an upward trend, which is quite nice,” says Dave Swete, reflecting on the performance of the youngest team in the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race.

He spoke with Sail-World.com from Gothenburg, Sweden, after the USA/Turkish flagged entry Team Alvimedica won the final Leg of the Volvo Ocean Race.

“The feeling I get with the race is that it was a little easier than previous years. I don’t think we got the dust-up we all expected.”

“It has been quite nice really”, he says allowing the luxury of a quiet chuckle now the 40,000nm circumnavigation is complete, and he is not tempting fate.

The 2009 world match racing world champion and New Zealand Sailor of the Year winner in that year, Swete was on board the recycled Volvo 70, Sanya in the last Volvo Ocean Race. They failed to finish two legs – one with a flooded bow, and the second with rig issues.

The small Volvo 65 seems to have performed to expectations – even though conditions have not allowed world sailing records to be set.

“I think the new boats are more reliable, which is very nice, and are quite a bit stronger and more comfortable than the old boats. Maybe that is the difference. I can’t remember feeling too stressed or in danger. I have really enjoyed sailing with this group. Weatherwise it was easier. It has been a really good experience.”

Even the beat across the notorious Bay of Biscay on Leg 8 into 40kt plus headwinds for three days did not faze the former world match racing champion.

“The boats are probably the difference We perfectly safe and absolutely fine. It was certainly rough, and there were a few green faces onboard. But I never felt as though anything was about to break. We had full faith in the boat.

“It was a short leg, so we knew we would be coming out of it in a few days, and would probably be in a hotel bed soon. It was rough, and a tough part of the race – but it wasn’t like we were doing 25 days upwind into a gale.”

Swete says Alvimedica found a healthy medium as to how far they should push the boat. “It’s always in the back of our minds not to break things, but at the same time we have pushed as hard as we can. I think the boats can handle it.”

“When you look at the guys who finished first and second – they didn’t break a lot of gear,” he notes.

Interestingly for boats, rigs and sails that were one design there was a lot to be learned in the way the boats could be sailed in different wind conditions and angles.

“We lacked boat speed at a certain point of sail – which was our big Achilles heel in this race. That was just a time on the water thing. Looking back we don’t regret how hard we pushed because we pushed very hard at times. It was just that one little point of sail, which we hadn’t and probably still haven’t figured out.”

‘I don’t think it was out boat that was the issue with point of sail, which was J2 reaching, which you would think is quite easy – because it is what we do a lot of in Auckland when we go Rum racing on Friday afternoons. Abu Dhabi, Brunel, and Dongfeng have an edge over everyone when we are two-sail reaching. We are figuring it out slowly and are getting better – at one stage we were a knot slower – losing a mile an hour on that point of sailing!

“That was pretty evident on the leg to Brazil, where we just bled miles, and coming into Auckland where we reached on the J1 for a week We tried everything and just couldn’t quite figure it out. That was our major issue in this race.”

Swete says they got to a point where they were a lot happier with their reaching speed.

“We have finished this Leg 9 in first place – and now we feel like we are ready to start the Volvo,’ he quips. “That is the preparation we needed.”

“For sure if I came back into a campaign now, J1 reaching is something I would concentrate on straight away!”

To most Alvimedica fans, the Leg 9 win was the highlight of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Swete says the break point for Alvimedica was getting through the 6kts of current as they headed up the Brittany coast. He says they came though the first gate in third place with a masthead Code Zero.

“Will (Oxley – navigator) popped his head up and said “OK boys, we’re going to head into the coast.” We were the inside boat and gybed and peeled onto the A3. A minute or two later, Mapfre and Brunel did the same and followed. From then on we just extended as we gybed down the coast. Our strength was VMG running. Our maneuvers are good, and we gybed about fifteen times going down the coast with the tide. The other guys followed, but they were a bit too late, and we just extended from there.

“We had a big enough lead to be able to make a call that side of the TSS (Traffic Separation Scheme) we were going to pass. It was a big Exclusion Zone (longer than the Coastal Classic in NZ). Once you are on the French side of the English side, you are stuck there for the next 120nm. We made the call thinking we had the tide right and were the only team out of the southern (French coast) group to do well out of that.

“I think it was just that gybe inshore which gave us enough of a jump on the other guys. We gained 10-15nm out of the gybing duel. It all happened very quickly, and we just extended.”

‘We had two decisions to make and they both worked out well. I think it would have been good to have been on our own a bit more in making decisions!”

On the other legs of the race boats would often get out in front but would be caught in the end, but would still win the Leg by a couple miles. Swete says that unlike Leg 9, it was never a case of doing a couple of things right and getting a big lead. ‘Boats would get a lead, and then the others would catch up – but there were no passing lanes. So if they did things right, they would be able to finish it off and go on to win by a couple of miles.”

“There were a lot of tight finishes, but normally the guys who had led went on to win by a smaller margin.”

Although the Volvo OR has a reputation for being very physically draining on crew, Swete says that the latest edition has not been that bad, pointing out the OBR (and cook) Amory Ross has a lot of experience with the food requirements and sailor nutrition, along with trainer Paul Wilson.

Swete says that the short answer is he has lost muscle and put on fat over the course of the race, but stayed about the same weight. “I feel a lot better than I did last time, he says.

Like his fellow Kiwi, Ryan Houston on Alvimedica, Swete says his highlight of the race was leading the fleet around Cape Horn, along with the Leg 9 win in Gothenburg. “They are obvious answers, but they are absolutely true. The pinnacle of offshore sailing is to go around Cape Horn. To do it with this group, on a pretty cool day, and with Stu Bannatyne (three times winner of the VOR) – cigar in his mouth – saying that it is the best Cape Horn rounding that he has ever done, with the young fellas. That is pretty cool and very special.

“The low point came pretty soon after rounding Cape Horn when we let ourselves down a bit and went from first to third. We had to there, and let it slip.”

“Our result into Newport wasn’t that great. We wanted to a good job for Charlie and the boys – being the local team. We were on an upward trend and then let ourselves down a bit going into Newport.”

From Gothenburg, Dave Swete is headed back to England to be a Dad for a month, before hitting the Grand Prix regatta circuits again. First up is Copa del Rey in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, sailing on the 72ft Shockwave ex RAN. ‘I’m doing their program for the year – easing back into IRC racing.”

“I’d love to do an America’s Cup,” says Swete. ‘The Volvo Ocean Race and the America’s Cup are polar opposites from a physical perspective. Once you finish the Volvo, there is a lot of work to be done in the gym to get the body back into shape after the lack of sleep and lack of proper food.

“But for sure the America’s Cup is something I have always wanted to do. I committed to match racing early on with Adam (Minoprio) and won the world match racing championship. Things changed a bit since then, but I have sailed the final event of the ACWS in 2013 in the AC45 and have a taste for it. I’m looking forward to getting into shape for the Cup or another Volvo Ocean Race.”