Justin Slattery: Volvo Ocean Race Log

If the Iranian Naval Patrol had any issues with us, we certainly never saw sight nor sound of them at the weekend as we departed on leg three of the Volvo Ocean Race from Abu Dhabi to China.

We never actually crossed into their territorial waters as these form part of an exclusion zone for the race as well but we pushed as close as we could as we crisscrossed our way eastwards towards the Straits of Hormuz.

With thick fog and light airs, our departure from our home port was a fairly cloaked affair but pretty soon it was just our six-boat fleet, neck and neck as we tried to shake off the calm conditions.

Just the six of us – reduced by one since the loss of Team Vestas after her grounding in the last leg – and dozens of large oil tankers that we must dodge in this narrow stretch of water.

Vestas skipper Chris Nicholson has announced that they plan to re-enter the race with a rebuilt boat but we won’t see them again until May at least for the final legs.

It’s hard to say what state the race will be in at that point as the leaderboard is completely tied between ourselves on Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Dutch entry Brunel and the Chinese Team on Dongfeng.

Unknown waters

This is what the switch to one-design racing is all about and there’s little prospect of any one of us delivering a knock-out performance much before the end of the race in Gothenburg less than six months from now.

But for now, the focus is on this 4,600 nautical mile stage to Sanya which is likely to be one of the trickiest.

Certainly it's in relatively unknown waters in ocean racing terms as this is only the third time the route has taken us this far north into the Far East and Asia.

Even so, I never expected to be racing off the rugged coast of Pakistan as we gybed steadily out past Musandam over towards Karachi. Close to any shore, added hazards include fishing-nets and boats and we passed one fleet of around 45 dhows in a line with nets out.

But the next week is likely to bring us back into deeper, less congested waters as we sail southwards towards Sri Lanka and the eventual turn that will line us up for the Strais of Malacca.

All hands

The turn south cannot come soon enough though. Since leaving last weekend, we haven’t really followed a proper watch routine as the breeze has been more or less north-westerly so we’ve been gybing almost constantly.

That means that, even though you might be “off-watch”, as we only have eight crew members on these boats all hands are needed on deck to perform the manoeuvre. From being asleep in your bunk, once the call comes from up top – “Gybing” – you literally have seconds to be on deck to help out.

Typically, one crew member steers while another handles the control sheets and one or two others are on the winch grinders.

But the real workload comes with the “stacking”.

To maximise weight distribution, we keep most sails on deck on the windward or high-side which changes when we gybe or tack. These weigh around 600kgs in total and much more when they’re soaked by waves and wet.

Serious workout

Below decks, another 600kgs of food and equipment also need to be moved with each manoeuvre so it becomes a serious workout and there would typically be three of these needed every hour regardless of whether you’re on or off-watch.

We usually take around ten to 12 minutes to moved the stack, slightly longer in rough conditions before being released back to rest again so it’s a case of grabbing whatever sleep is possible between calls.

And that’s the way it’s been for days now so I’m relishing a change in course and wind-direction. We should soon be into the North-East Monsoon so that should give us the needed break from the relentless pattern of gybing.

Perhaps it’ll also allow us to find a passing lane as we’re currently bunched together with most of the pack with the exception of Charles Caudrelier’s Dongfeng that has managed to open up a small lead on us.

He beat us into our home port last month where we placed third behind him while seven-times race veteran Bouwe Bekking took the leg win. No doubt Caudrelier would like to deliver his sponsors a win in home waters in a few weeks time when we reach Sanya.

We, of course, have every intention of returning the compliment in their home port as our 39,000 mile game of nip and tuck stretches towards the halfway mark.