Volvo Ocean Race: A Game of Experience

If there is any question that the Volvo Ocean Race is a game of experience, one need only look at the scoreboard. The top three teams – tied on points – know the race well and how the boats are to be sailed. The two teams with the least experience – Alvimedica and SCA – have just completed the second leg as the final two finishers. With seven more offshore legs to go, here are their comments stepping off the boats in Abu Dhabi

Team Alvimedica
“This leg has had its ups and downs and we definitely need to work on our consistency. But we’ve got a good plan in place and we’ll work on the best way to achieve it. Part of us want to start Leg 3 tomorrow but it will be good to have some time to rest and reflect. We’re excited about where we are. It’s just a matter of refining some small things.” – Charlie Enright, skipper

“We’ve had a lot of time together and conversations naturally evolved from the fun things to our performance. We’re happy about boat speed. We know we’re competitive in a straight line; we just need to know where to point the bow. It’s not a personal problem or a chemistry issue. Our greatest attribute is we’re a young group of guys looking to improve.” – Amory Ross, Onboard Reporter

Team SCA
“It’s still a learning process. We’re all learning together, applying what we learned from Leg 1 and putting that into practice for Leg 2. Every condition is a good opportunity to keep learning and keep making the boat go a bit faster. We made a navigational mistake which put us behind and then it became a procession. That was hard. We’re focusing on everything. It’s all new to us. Our debriefs are packed with everything you can think of. The hard bits (as a skipper) are the communications; maybe that’s because I come from single-handed sailing. There are a lot of things I’m trying to learn and trying to do better.” – Sam Davies, skipper

“We are here to race not to watch. We are here to lead not to follow. Yes, we are paving a road for the future of everyday women who dare to dream big, but we are also competitive athletes and coming in last, regardless, is always tough. This debrief might possibly be the most important debrief to date, as we now fully understand the complexities of the race and the other teams. We will analyze, in detail, our strengths and weakness in order to capitalize on our strengths and remedy our weaknesses for future legs.” – Corinna Halloran, Onboard Reporter

Background: The 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race began in Alicante, Spain on Oct. 11 with the final finish on June 27 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Racing the new one design Volvo Ocean 65, seven teams will be scoring points in 9 offshore legs to determine the overall Volvo Ocean Race winner. Additionally, the teams will compete in 10 In-Port races at each stopover for a separate competition – the Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Series. The third offshore leg from Abu Dhabi, UAE to Sanya, China is 4,670 nm, with the start on Jan. 3 and the ETA on Jan. 23-31.