Green Dragon prepares for 'Epic' leg of Volvo Ocean Race

by Lucy Harwood on 14 Feb 2009
There are less than 24 hours remaining until the fleet departs for Leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race. A 12,500 mile race to Rio, which will take in two scoring gates, one of the most famous landmarks in sailing history, an equator crossing, the tradewinds and the doldrums, sailing through two oceans (the Pacific and Southern Ocean), and all for the opportunity to consolidate bumper points.

In a word Leg 5 is epic, it is the longest ever crewed leg in the history of this race. The crews will face the heat, the cold, as well as upwind and downwind sailing conditions as they battle for a podium position in Rio.

The boats will pull out of Qingdao into the Yellow sea, as they head out of the Yellow Sea they face the first big decision, do you head out east towards Hawaii or south to Australia? Either one could prove to be a winning move but it will be interesting to see if the fleet splits at this point. The navigator will face a huge test as he is faced with so many crucial decisions during this leg. It is also worth remembering that the teams all receive the weather at the same time, but only up to five days ahead. On previous legs this would have been enough of a prediction to get them through. But these crews need to try and plan where they would like to be in a week’s time – which is going to make things complicated.

Speaking at the skippers press conference this morning skipper Ian Walker said, 'I’m quite excited about this leg, it is going to be long but it is going to be very varied. There will be lots of tactical opportunities. But in terms of our biggest challenge I’d say just like the last leg, we have to finish this leg. If you don’t finish this leg than the race can leave you behind. So certainly a lot of time has been spent trying to prepare the boat and prepare the people so that we are ready to finish this leg. Hopefully ahead of some or a lot of the boats, because that is the key to the Volvo Ocean Race – of getting to the end and doing as well as you can.'

Q: How will keep the crew motivated on such a long leg?
'Take lots of chocolate? So far my crew hasn’t needed much motivation, they are all very self motivating. We had a chat this morning and we talked about how we would react if things went wrong or if things went really well for us. Everybody on the boat trusts each other and respects each other. We are just going to concentrate on doing the same thing we have done the whole race.'

Leg 5 is the longest of the legs on the race, and takes in a monumental landmark in the world of sailing. Many sailors refer to rounding Cape Horn, as a right of passage, but the voyage down to the Horn has its share of dangers in store. The first one is the presence of icebergs reaching into the fairly northerly latitudes. This means a stressful watch for the crew, who although able to detect the larger icebergs on the radar, cannot spot growlers, which are small blocks of drifting ice sometimes less than a metre above the surface of the water, but which can weigh thirty or forty tonne!

Approaching Cape Horn, needs to be done with extreme care. The area is a 200-mile wide bottleneck between Latin America and Antarctica, which will see all the weather systems rolling around the Southern Ocean coming together as they pass through this gap. From sailing downwind in strong conditions, the fleet will then turn the corner and sail up the east coast of Argentina and Brazil, where they will see many changes in conditions. Rounding the Horn marks the way out, but the journey is far form over as the boats enter the South Atlantic. Many boats have found themselves in difficulty in this ocean. The boats have been through a lot and the South Atlantic can offer its fair share of challenges. One is the 'The Pamperos', these are gales which blow off the Argentinean coast, and on occasion can be exceptionally violent. The stretch is often a difficult one to sail, with the majority of this section done upwind, it may slow the fleet down as they face the final slog to Rio.

For several members of the Green Dragon crew it will be their first time around Cape Horn, when asked about it this morning Ian Walker replied, 'Certainly growing up as a little boy my grandfather always talked about his father sailing ships around Cape Horn. So I have heard about it since I was a little boy, I think everybody has a lot of respect for Cape Horn and I will be very glad when I am on the other side and I can be part of the club of sailors who have done it.'

For Green Dragon Leg 5 means lots of points on offer which is crucial to closing the gap down on the boats ahead of them, Ian Walker commented, 'Overall, my target is to win a leg and get a top-three spot at the end. I think it’s possible. We are in fourth, there’s a big margin (third-placed Puma are 11 points ahead), but that margin can totally disappear in this leg. I think it is very achievable. It’s a good challenge to have.'

The 12,500 mile leg will mean up to 40 days at sea for the crews, this has meant taking over double the amount of food and supplies that they would normally load onto the boats for previous legs.

Green Dragon Crew List Leg 5

IAN WALKER (GBR)
WOUTER VERBRAAK (NED)
GUO CHUAN (CHN)
NEAL McDONALD (GBR)
DAMIAN FOXALL (IRL)
TOM BRAIDWOOD (AUS)
PHIL HARMER (AUS)
ANDREW MCLEAN (NZL)
CHRIS MAIN (NZL)
JUSTIN SLATTERY (IRL)
FREDDIE SHANKS (GBR)

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