SAILING VOLVO OCEAN RACE:AND THEN there were three. It's incredible to think that barely one week ago we were getting used to a substantially reduced fleet after Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Team Sanya retired from this leg due to damage. It was becoming a race not to be left off the winner's podium in Cape Town.
Now here we are, pretty much halfway between Brazil and South Africa, and – wham! – another boat is out. This time it’s Ken Read’s Puma with a broken mast that has wrecked their careful preparations and shattered their morale.
None of us would wish this fate on another boat, not least because it could happen to any of us. It was just such a shock.
Franck (Cammas, skipper) had just come on deck to give us a run-through on our strategy to close our 275-mile deficit from fourth to the front of the fleet. We had no option other than try to claw back the miles.
Then Jean-Luc (Nelias, our navigator) rushed out from the cabin and announced that an email from the race office had just arrived. Puma had dismasted and, as we would most likely be the nearest boat to them if they declared an emergency, we may be needed.
But unlike the break that befell Walker’s Abu Dhabi team, they at least have the consolation of their boat being shipped to Cape Town with a new mast ready to go so they’ll be in good shape for the in-port race in just over two weeks.
Same goes for Mike Sanderson’s Team Sanya; they’ll be back in action with a new bow section to fix their delaminated hull.
Read and the lads have an entirely different path towards re-entering the race. They have now formally retired from this leg, so no points for them. But to start scoring again, the in-port is their first hope and a slim one at that.
Starting the next leg is the real target because any delay here could mean missing the secret shipping port mid-day through leg two to avoid the pirates of the Indian Ocean.
To do this, they have to sail under jury-rig and a little engine power for more than 2,000 miles to Cape Town. With their storm jib rigged from the stump of their mast, they might – just – manage 10 knots best speed, but it’ll be difficult to keep that up. They have limited fuel on board and even less food, less than a week’s worth for the planned period of racing.
They can stop in at Tristan da Cunha, but that’s still three days away minimum, and possibly collect more fuel and food for the rest of their trip. Perhaps supplies could be flown there to meet them.
It must be completely cutting for those guys and its going to be a tough feat. But they can do it, as they’re a serious competitors.
The other side of the sword is that we’re now in third place, though not the way we’d like to do it; it’s bittersweet.
As for our chances of improving on third, Franck and Jean-Luc have outlined two scenarios, with a cold front coming through any time now. We now have consistently 20 knots of wind, and we’re expecting significant breeze. But we think the boats in the lead will get the best of this long enough to get a record run and reach most of the way into Cape Town.
Iker Martinez and Telefonica are looking sweet. They modified their route just after Fernando de Noronha and got ahead of Puma late last week and have been watching their backs until yesterday. Now they have a nice 100-mile cushion to Chris Nicholson and the Kiwis on Camper, which hasn’t made much in-roads.
Nevertheless, we remain very happy with our boat even though we’re dealing with a frustrating soldiers’ race for the past two weeks. Our passing lane options have dried up.
But life on board is positive and there’s a good atmosphere, even though conditions on deck are very wet and tricky.
We had our “crossing the line” ceremony at the Equator when Neptune “came aboard” to demand retribution for the sin of not paying homage by those of us who have not paid proper respect within his dominion.
Neptune bore an uncanny resemblance to Martin Krite, one of our two Swedish crew, and he was especially fearsome. As these ceremonies go, this was probably the least pleasant I’ve witnessed – one of the lads now sports a fine reverse Mohican haircut – and I’m very glad this wasn’t my first time over the Equator.
This single distraction aside, we are fully focused on staying in good shape and gaining ground with any possible opportunity. Apart from watching the weather developments, we’re watching our own mast carefully as we skirt around the St Helena high-pressure system and the left-turn for Cape Town.
We have 2,000 miles left to sail, a full transatlantic race, so this leg is far from over.
* In conversation with David Branigan
DETAILSwere announced last night of plans to send a ship to meet Puma mid-Ocean to crane the 70-foot yacht onto its own cradle where its shore-team can commence repair work to be ready on arrival in Cape Town. The team's spare mast is also being air-freighted from the USA for stepping in the port.
