Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012

[mpowlison]

Groupama, PUMA enjoy light-hearted pro-am tussle

October 30, 2011

Prince Carl Philip was brushing sea-spray from his face when he returned to the dock after reaching speeds in excess of 22 knots on PUMA’s Mar Mostro.

“I like the speed, I like that it’s pure wind that makes the boat go really quick, as fast as 40 knots. It’s an incredible atmosphere, just super,’’ he said.

It’s the third time the 32-year-old royal has taken part in the Volvo Ocean Race in-port racing, but the chance of seeing him compete in an off-shore leg is slim he reckons.

“I think going on the big legs I will leave to the guys,’’ he said. “They know what they’re doing and they’re great at. It would be fun, but maybe not for that long.’’

The Pro-Ams are designed to give sponsors and guests an experience as close to that of true professional sailing. There are no points for the official Volvo Ocean Race leaderboard, meaning Groupama sailing board were celebrating an honorary victory.

Skipper Franck Cammas lead his team to two victories out of the three quickfire inshore races around Alicante Bay in a consistent 18-knot easterly breeze.

The PUMA crew won race two and finished second in race one and three behind Groupama 4 to place second overall.

CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand finished third, followed by Team Telefónica, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Team Sanya.

Guests get the chance to trim sails, navigate a route and even take the helm along ide sailing’s elite including Olympic gold medallists, America’s Cup competitors and world champions.

Volvo Cars sponsorship director Karin Bäcklund said the Pro-Am Race at each of the 10 Host Ports was an important event for participants and race organisers alike.

“It’s huge because it is an experience that money can’t buy and I know that these guys are coming back to shore super exhilarated and super happy after a great experience, so that’s very unique for our customers, sponsors and supporters,’’ she said.

The six teams now have less than one week to make the final tweaks to their yachts before they set off from Alicante bound for Cape Town, South Africa, the first of nine offshore legs. Leg one starts at 1300 UTC (1400 local time) on November 5 and is expected to take around 21 days to complete.

Results:

Race one: 1. Groupama, 2. PUMA , 3. CAMPER, 4. Abu Dhabi, 5. Sanya. Telefónica disqualified.

Race two: 1. PUMA, 2. Groupama, 3. Telefónica, 4. CAMPER, 5. Abu Dhabi. Sanya disqualified.

Race three: 1. Groupama, 2. PUMA, 3. Sanya, 4. Telefónica, 5. Abu Dhabi 6. CAMPER

Overall: 1. Groupama, 2. PUMA, 3. CAMPER, 4. Telefónica, 5. Abu Dhabi, 6. Sanya

Follow along at the race website.

[mpowlison]

November 4, 2011

VOLVO OCEAN RACE FLEET HEADING FOR FIRST NIGHT ORDEAL



Alicante, Spain - The Volvo Ocean Race fleet is set for an early battering as the six teams head straight into what could be boat-breaking conditions on the first of nine ocean legs starting tomorrow.

The weather forecast is for winds of 25 knots just hours after the starting gun fires in Alicante, Spain at 1300 UTC (1400 local). The combination of those winds with a choppy sea state will make it a tough first night on the Volvo Open 70 boats as they begin the 6,500 nautical mile first leg to Cape Town.

“The conditions at first will be ideal for these boats – fast sailing in fresh breeze,” said Gonzalo Infante, the Volvo Ocean Race’s chief meteorologist. “But within about 12 hours, as the boats race into the night, they will have to punch upwind into winds around 25 knots and confused seas. These boats will be slamming around and it will be very wet on deck.”

Ken Read, skipper of PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, put it bluntly: “It looks like we could get the crap kicked out of us getting out of the Med.”

Leg 1 sees the teams take on the unpredictable Mediterranean, the tidal bottleneck of the Straits of Gibraltar and the strong northeasterly trade winds of the North Atlantic before facing the Doldrums, a constantly-moving area of high pressure found a few hundred miles either side of the Equator, notorious for being one of the toughest regions on the planet to sail through.

Once through the Doldrums the teams will search out the southeasterly trade winds close to the Brazilian shore, hoping to pick up the meteorological slingshot effect that will fire them through the South Atlantic to Cape Town.

Assuming they emerge unscathed from the rough ride early in the leg, the teams will have an eye on breaking the 24-hour distance record of 596.6 nautical miles, set by Ericsson 4 on leg one in the last race.

Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing go into the first offshore leg at the top of the leaderboard with six points after victory in the Iberdrola In-Port Race. PUMA finished second, followed by CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, Team Sanya, Groupama sailing team and Team Telefónica.

Walker, a two-time Olympic silver medallist, said the first 24 hours of the leg could prove crucial to the end result.

“The big question will be whether we can get out of the Med quick enough to connect with the trade winds,” the Briton said. “We’ll see over 20 knots upwind and that’s enough to break these boats. It could be that the most decisive point of this leg is the first 24 hours.”

Mike Sanderson, skipper of Chinese entry Team Sanya, knows all too well about sailing into heavy weather. He led ANB AMRO ONE to victory in the 2005-06 race when a storm ravaged the fleet hours after the start from the Spanish port of Vigo.

“There’s nothing that starts quite as quickly as a Volvo Ocean Race -- you’re into it straight away,” the New Zealander said. “We’re going to see some action pretty quickly. It’s looking like it could be pretty churned up out there.”

Despite the forecast, CAMPER’s Australian skipper Chris Nicholson said his team were keen to get started on leg 1, which is expected to keep the 11-man teams, including one embedded Media Crew Member, at sea for an exhausting 21 days.

“We are all over that kind of weather,” Nicholson said. “We have had it since day one of the launch. It’s not a problem for us. We may well see 30 knots on the nose before we get to the Gibraltar Straits and that’s OK. We had 45 knots on the way down to Alicante from the UK so we’re up for 30 knots for sure.”

Franck Cammas, charged with leading France’s first entry in 18 years, said his team were in “the racing frame of mind” as the clock ticked down to the start.

“We are ready,” the Groupama 4 skipper said. “We are looking at the weather and it’s as if we are already racing. We have been preparing for a long time and we are happy to be leaving on Groupama 4 which has shown its potential and looks promising offshore.”

Iker Martínez said Telefónica would be looking to show what his crew is capable of in the offshore legs, which offer five times as many points as the in-port races.

“I’m feeling good but a little bit nervous, not because I’m worried about anything in particular but because we have spent a long time preparing and we want to have a good race,” said Martínez, who has gold and silver Olympic medals to his credit. “We didn’t have a very good inshore race and that’s given us even more determination to prove ourselves.”

Ever since the Volvo Ocean Race became a single-class event in 1997-98 the winners of the first leg have gone on to take overall victory.

“I’ve heard it several times this great tradition that you have to win leg one to win the race, but I’m not so sure about that this time,” said Read. “I think this is setting up to be too close.”

Before the teams leave Alicante, fans will get a final chance to see the fleet up close, as they complete a short course along the Alicante shoreline starting near the port, heading to Albufereta then up to Cabo de Huertas and back before setting sail for the open sea. The leg start will be shown live through the New Livestream platform, which includes video, photos, audio and text updates at http://new.livestream.com/volvooceanrace.

[mpowlison]

November 6, 2011

Fleet Battered By Elements in First 24 Hours



Alicante, Spain – Two of the six boats in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 were forced to suspend racing inside the first 24 hours offshore as the teams were beset by brutal sea conditions while still in the Mediterranean.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing came back into Alicante under engine this morning after the mast on the team’s racing yacht Azzam had broken in five-metre waves and 30 knots of wind the previous night, just six hours and 85 nautical miles from the start of Leg 1, a 6,500-nm haul to Cape Town.

While Ian Walker’s team were on their way back to the start port, rivals Team Sanya were reporting damage to their hull while sailing upwind in 35-38 knots.

The boat was approximately 30nm southeast of Motril, on the coast of Spain. The wind was blowing 43 knots and the waves were around 10.5 metres, the team reported. They suspended racing and made their way to the port of Motril to assess the damage.

In a graphic demonstration of the problems all the boats were facing, an interview filmed on board CAMPER with Roberto “Chuny” Bermúdez resulted in the Spaniard being blown to the ground and slammed across deck.

“The Mediterranean sometimes gets like this … but the boat is going fine,” the video shows him saying to camera, just as he is knocked off his feet. Unscathed, he continues the interview below deck.

Abu Dhabi had left Alicante at the top of the leaderboard having won the opening In-Port Race and they were challenging for the lead in Leg 1 when disaster struck at 1915 UTC on Saturday, around 30 miles southwest of Cartagena.

The crew recovered the rig and came back to Alicante before launching into a round-the-clock repair effort this morning. The replacement mast arrived in Alicante at around 1400 UTC.

“I think it is too early to start making judgments but certainly we believe we can [win the race],” said Walker, his voice full of emotion.

“We have put so much work into this project – everybody, and you just don’t… don’t want to let anyone down. When you have worked so hard every day for 18 months you are desperate to do well. We still are desperate to do well – the race isn’t lost.”

Describing the moments leading up to the loss of the mast, Walker said his “heart was in his mouth” as Azzam leapt off the back of a steep wave at around 12 knots before crashing back down.

“I was steering and we just came off a big wave,” he said. “I know it’s a big wave when my feet leave the ground. You always have your heart in your mouth when that happens. When we landed the mast just kept going. We immediately numbered off which is our safety drill to make sure we haven’t lost anyone over the side. Then we set about trying to retrieve whatever we could.”

Mike Sanderson, skipper of Team Sanya, the first sole Chinese entry in the race, also promised to bounce back from the setback in a message from the boat written while they were an hour away from port.

“Right now we have no idea how major the damage is,” Sanderson said. “We are all safe though.

“The guys are doing a fantastic job, all very positive and working incredibly hard even though you can see the bitter disappointment on all there faces.

“Be under no illusion though, we will be back with vengeance.”

Sanderson and the team were still assessing the damage to Sanya, the only one of the six boats that is not brand new, in Motril on Sunday. It was not immediately clear what had caused the incident.

“We are fighters and our goal remains to take some scalps and get ourselves on the podium a couple of times and get in everyone’s way and see how many points we can earn,” said Sanderson. “We can do that – there’s no doubt about it.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad, who competed in the race four times himself, twice as skipper.

“These are some of the toughest conditions boats can run into in the Volvo Ocean Race but the teams and their shore crews are fully prepared for these types of incidents and they will be working around the clock to get the boats back racing as soon as possible.”

On the racecourse, CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand led the fleet towards the Strait of Gibraltar, with Team Telefónica and PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG hard on her heels near the Spanish coast. Groupama sailing team were approaching the Strait via the African coast in what was a tight race.

Teams are set to receive some relief from the battering, with the westerly winds and short, choppy sea state due to ease.

Chief meteorologist Gonzalo Infante said a high-pressure system west of Gibraltar would see winds drop to about 15 knots in the strait, and again to about 10 knots on the other side.

However, the teams will be pushing against two knots of tide through the natural bottleneck, which they are expected to reach at 2000 UTC.

Infante said the fleet may well split once entering the Atlantic, with some opting for the immediate boost of heavier air in the south, while others may hunt the benefit of a distant low in the west that won’t kick in for several hours.

“If we have a split of the fleet tomorrow, some in the south and some in the west, we will see the pay-off in 48 hours,’’ he said. “It looks like west is best, but this is still a bit risky.’’

[MLovett]

Adil: “It was the scariest day of my life”

Emirati sailor Adil Khalid has described the moment Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s rig came crashing down as the scariest moment of his life.

"When you are faced with a situation like this, you really see what you are made of. We handled it very well and I think that says a lot about the crew that has been put together"

Khalid, who at 23 years old is one of the Volvo Ocean Race’s youngest sailors, said his “heart was beating really fast” as the 31-metre mast broke into three pieces just six hours into Leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race.

"When you are faced with a situation like this, you really see what you are made of. We handled it very well and I think that says a lot about the crew that has been put together"

Khalid, who at 23 years old is one of the Volvo Ocean Race’s youngest sailors, said his “heart was beating really fast” as the 31-metre mast broke into three pieces just six hours into Leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race.

“It was the scariest day of my life for sure,” said Khalid, who was chosen from more than 120 hopefuls to be the first ever Emirati to compete in the Volvo Ocean Race with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.

“Being out at sea, in the dead of night, and having that happen... We were well drilled for the situation and behaved so calmly and professionally. However, your heart is beating really fast and you thank god everyone is safe.”

Disaster struck for the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team at 1915 UTC on Saturday when their Volvo Open 70 yacht Azzam fell off the back of a wave in violent seas around 30 miles southwest of Cartegena. They were just six hours and 84 nautical miles into the 6,500 nautical mile leg from Alicante to Cape Town.

During the recovery, carried out in total darkness, boat captain Wade Morgan had to jump into the sea to release the locks that keep the mainsail attached to the mast.

“Everyone was really inspirational, especially Wade,” Khalid said. “Getting in the water to cut away the rigging was very brave; I have a lot of respect for him. When you are faced with a situation like this, you really see what you are made of. We handled it very well and I think that says a lot about the crew that has been put together.”

The crew, led by British skipper Ian Walker, managed to recover the rig and motor back to Alicante before launching into a round-the-clock repair effort.

“The name of our yacht, Azzam, means determination, and that is what we all feel right now,” Khalid said. “We want to get back out on the water and give it 110 per cent. Of course, it is scary to think about it, so I try not to. What will happen will happen and we still want to win this race.”

Abu Dhabi’s replacement mast arrived in Alicante last night where a team of specialist riggers set about preparing it for racing. The team will also carry out a complete check of the boat’s hull, which was damaged during the recovery of the rig.

Walker told a press conference yesterday he hoped to be back in the race within three days.

[MLovett]

Decision time: is west best?

At last, after a difficult couple of days, the fleet racing in Leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race has flooded through the Straits of Gibraltar and has been set free into the Atlantic, led by Chris Nicholson’s CAMPER at 2100 GMT last night.

At 1000 GMT today CAMPER had clung onto her slim lead from Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP), PUMA’s Mar Mostro (Ken Read/USA) and Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas/FRA).

As the fleet made its escape from the fearsome Mediterranean, conditions became far more manageable with the breeze dropping to 10 knots maximum. CAMPER’s navigator Will Oxley described the change in conditions as going “from the sublime to the ridiculous – 38 knots to five knots.”

“The next challenge for the fleet is the big area or light winds ahead and how best to negotiate through these to hook into the favourable trade winds and remain in the lead,” he added.

Now that conditions have eased, the crews will be able to get some rest and clear up the inevitable mess down below. Ken Read’s team on board PUMA’s Mar Mostro says below decks on the black boat is something of an obstacle course of food bags, personal kit, sails and people. Finding anything has been nearly impossible.

Today will be all about tactics and could be the day that we might expect to see one of the fleet make its break to the west, where better winds are forecast in the next 24 hours. Will the first boat to make this move take the rest of the fleet with it? Perhaps this question will be answered in the next 12 hours. Meanwhile, the fleet continues to broad reach 70 nautical miles off coast at around 12 knots.