Portimao Global Ocean Race - Leg 2 in review

by Oliver Dewar on 23 Jan 2009
As the Portimão Global Ocean Race fleet celebrate the safe arrival of four boats and seven sailors in Wellington, New Zealand, and draw breath as preparation for Leg 3 across the Pacific Ocean and into the South Atlantic begins, we can take a look at the action in the past leg.

From a spectator’s perspective, Leg 2 from Cape Town, South Africa, to New Zealand, supplied drama and tension throughout the fleet’s voyage across the high latitudes of the Indian Ocean. Continuous – and familiar – levels of competition between Beluga Racer and Desafio Cabo de Hornos culminating in ‘The Battler of The Tasman Sea’; stoic endurance from Team Mowgli as a string of low pressure systems struck the British Class 40; the crisis of Nico Budel’s keel failure on Hayai and his subsequent rescue; Michel Kleinjans’ resolve to continue pushing hard on Roaring Forty without Budel as a sparring partner and the enforced retirement of the South African brothers on Kazimir Partners.

In the first of two instalments, there follows a timeline of the offshore action, the tactics and carnage as the fleet taste the Southern Ocean for the first time and some priceless quotes from the boats:

Week 1: 14-20 December 2008. Plummeting South
Shortly after Cape Town’s Deputy Mayor, Councillor Grant Haskin, fired the start gun in Table Bay at 10:30GMT on 14th December, three boats – Belugar Racer, Desafio Cabo de Hornos and Roaring Forty – made a marked feint to the east, before the German and Chilean Class 40s regrouped with the main pack, leaving Michel Kleinjans on his own. As the fleet swung eastwards in unison, Kazimir Partners turned north-west, 210 miles SSE from the Cape of Good Hope on 17th December and Lenjohn and Peter van der Wel announced their return to Cape Town with mast problems the following day and were unable to rejoin the race after assessing the situation ashore. By 19th December, Roaring Forty was 180 miles north of the fleet, averaging the highest speeds but remaining the only boat north of 40°S. The following day, Team Mowgli – furthest to the south – takes the lead from Beluga Racer as the fleet continue to dive south-east into the Southern Ocean with the first low pressure system approaching.

Week 2: 21-27 December 2008. Christmas is cancelled
Having led the fleet, Roaring Forty drops to third place and edges south into the Roaring Forties, hunting for wind, while Team Mowgli and Hayai – furthest south – are making the fastest speeds in the biggest breeze with Budel suffering a devastating knock down on Hayai in a 60 knot gust. On 22 December, Team Mowgli still lead as Salvesen and Thomson pass 30 miles north of Prince Edward Island and a second low pressure system rolls towards the fleet. The following day, the fleet are spread over 189 miles with Team Mowgli leading Desafio Cabo de Hornos in second place by 62 miles with Beluga Racer eight miles behind the Chileans. Fleet back marker, Budel, slows dramatically, passing very close to Prince Edward Island reporting mainsail car damage and reduced sail. As the fleet splits either side of the Crozet Islands there is hardly a pause between low pressure systems and a new depression slams into the boats on Christmas Eve with the British Class 40 leading and taking the southern route, 90 miles south of the Isle of Pigs, reporting 80 knot winds, and Beluga Racer in second place, 120 miles north of the island. On Christmas Day, the low pressure is south of the fleet and has left two of the boats damaged: Beluga Racer reports a destroyed spinnaker and broken mainsail battens and Boris Herrmann and Felix Oehme are forced to drop the mainsail twice; Team Mowgli, furthest south, fare worst with a huge following wave removing their pushpin and damaging the onboard electrical systems. By Boxing Day, the lead held by Team Mowgli over Beluga Racer is reduced to 39 miles and Felipe Cubillos and José Muñoz on third place Desafio Cabo de Hornos report a personal best speed record of 25 knots, averaging just over 15 knots for three hours. By the end of the week, The British boat’s lead is down to 33 miles, with the German and Chilean Class 40s separated by only two miles. With a steep climb to reach the Kerguelan Scoring Gate and a broken spinnaker halyard adding to the damage inventory, Team Mowgli relinquish their lead to Beluga Racer, dropping to third place in the double-handed division as the German team cross the Kerguelan Scoring Gate in first place late on 27th December with Desafio Cabo de Hornos in second place, just 20 miles behind Herrmann and Oehme. Meanwhile, Nico Budel is becoming increasingly isolated on Hayai, trailing his fellow solo sailor, Michel Kleinjans on Roaring Forty, by 380 miles.

Quotes from the first two weeks: Nico Budel, Hayai 21/12/08 following his knock down in a 60 knot gust.
'I can tell you, they were some of the longest seconds of my life! I was seriously thinking that the boat was falling apart! What I have noticed is that the forecast was 20 knots more than they predicted. So, the Roaring Forties is just like a woman. It does exactly as it wants to do!'

Lenjohn van der Wel, Kazimir Partners 22/12/08 explaining the retirement, I have had to make a very difficult decision. We will be heading out into some of the roughest waters on the planet without the safety net of the rest of the fleet. It feels very exposed and I think based simply on good seamanship it will be best if we withdraw from this race and regroup for the 2010 race.'

Michel Kleinjans, Roaring Forty 22/12/08 On staying north of the fleet. 'I think it’s better to be safe and prepared and even a little slow, but I want to emerge after Christmas unscathed so we can fight again. Right now, I’m sitting having some coffee like a soldier in the trenches just waiting to get out there.'

Boris Herrmann, Beluga Racer 24/12/08 during the Christmas Eve gale, 'I let my guard down a little as the wind seemed to moderate and I didn’t see a huge wall of water coming my way. It hit the boat and we rounded up as I rolled the jib away, grinding like a madman. Unfortunately, it took an eternity and the bottom of the sail got ripped, but it’s not too bad.'

Jeremy Salvesen, Team Mowgli 24/12/08 during the Christmas Eve gale. 'During the morning, the wind continued to build, reaching a peak of 80 knots….well into hurricane territory. The sea state was quite incredible, monstrous rollers you could easily hide a house behind and spray so thick you could easily hide a house behind it and spray so thick and heavy it was like fog.'

Felipe Cubillos, Desafio Cabo de Hornos 26/12/08 Following the Christmas gale. 'I was down below, trying to sleep, when suddenly there was a deafening noise. The boat had turned into a submarine! There was water everywhere!'

In the next instalment: Nico Budel activates his emergency beacon and a rescue mission is the highest priority; Michel Kleinjans races to Budel’s aid; war breaks out at the front of the fleet and Team Mowgli battles against further damage.

www.portimaorace.com