Bekking explains Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race

by Bouwe Bekking on 29 Jan 2009 Race historians are already referring to Leg 4 as the toughest one in the history of the Volvo Ocean Race, certainly within recent times. Winds of over 40 knots consistently on the nose and gusts of up to 60 knots, monster waves and full fury of the South China Sea has caused serious damage to four boats - and the retirement of three of them.

The casualty list includes hull delamination, a broken boom, broken bulkheads, holes in hulls, shredded sails, destroyed navigation gear quite apart from several, nasty injuries to the crew made all the more serious and painful by the sailing condition.

Bouwe Bekking is part of the 'collateral damage', and explains what happened: 'I was shifting gear inside the boat. I was angry because we'd missed a windshift, so I was extra aggressive with the stacking (moving the weight from side to side) and without warning something snapped. The consequences were bad; I nearly fainted and just managed to crawl on deck to get some fresh air. I had to lie down in the cockpit. Then, once the fainting passed, I went straight down below and got into the nearest bunk. From that point on, I've pretty well stayed in a bunk.'

The worst part of Leg 4 started on Saturday, 24th of January. The reason for the atrocious situation was the fight between the Kuroshio Current, which moves warm water to the north and a big storm blowing to the South. The scenario created is a sailor's nightmare, big, steep waves and strong winds.

The 7:00 GMT position report that day showed deep red wind arrows indicating the 'horror storm' - in words of Bouwe - was aimed directly at the fleet, coming from the north. Exactly the direction the fleet was sailing having past the waypoint; ironically located by the race organisation to force the yachts to avoid part of the storm. The RaceViewer on Volvo Ocean Race website showed Telefonica Blue as the only boat prepared to enter the hell of the Luzon Strait, while the rest of the contenders preferred to wait for better conditions.

The question in the air: Mad or masterful? 'Masterful', answers Bouwe. 'Every time we approached the coast, more breeze came and we could see a complete white wash approaching the top of the Philippines. We made the call to stay out and go for it. If it became too much for us, we always could turn back. I was very happy with the decision, as I hate to be close to shore in case something goes wrong. You have less room to manoeuvre and resolve problems.'

'The decision-making process, involved Jordi (Calafat), who was on deck observing the actual situation, Tom (Addis), who was providing the theoretical backup on the situation making by weather calls, and SiFi (Simon Fisher) who directed the navigation, telling us where the shallows were, etc.'

From that moment onwards, the situation became not only tough, but truly dangerous. 'It will be survival for the next 36 hours, and we are going to take it easy, too much at stake', Bouwe wrote that day in one of his exclusive reports for www.bouwebekking.com

'Being onboard in these conditions is like being in a washing machine, which is being hit continuously by a large sledge hammer. It's very, very noisy,' Bouwe explains. All the while, the skipper of Telefonica Blue was lying downstairs in his bunk, the waves outside were up to 14 metres and the wind was decimating the wind gear at the top of the mast, shortly after recording 55 knots, 'the only thing I could do was stay awake and give my input and advice, which above all was: BOYS, KEEP IT IN ONE PIECE'!

'We sailed most of the time with three reefs and the storm jib. The (canting) keel was locked in the middle and we kept all the sails downstairs, just to make sure we could sail as slowly as possible, but with enough steerage to avoid big waves.'

All storms abate in the end. But, for the crew of Telefonica Blue, surviving the Strait of Luzon was not the end of their problems. 'The worst sailing conditions were actually at the top of Taiwan. The waves there were just a madhouse; remember, Ericsson 3 smashed their boat up there', Bouwe explains. That was on Monday, 26th of January, at the same point Bekking was writing from on board that: 'we have a collision with an object and there is chunk out of our bow.' That sounded really serious, but 'luckily it is in our so-called 'crashbow', which is about 40 cm thick, and especially designed with this in mind. The real structural bow is further back, so we aren't taking on water.' Sighs of relief all round.

In normal conditions that would have been just a fright, but in the situation was anything but 'normal', according to Bouwe, who wrote: 'the other bad news is we are in a storm again, with gusts up to 45 knots. The main is lashed down to the boom, and we just have a small headsail up. The waves are even more confused than 48 hours ago, so we are taking it very easy - full survival mode again.'

Right now Bekking and his crewmates have another set of problems to contend with. Light winds, rapidly cooling temperatures and two competitors breathing down their necks. Telefonica Blue may be sailing the last few miles of the worst Leg in history, but it is far from over.

To be continued...

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