VOR: Classic one design battle

(January 22, 2015; Day 20) – Five boats, all on starboard, all together, grinding out to the left side of the course. Classic one design battle, except this battle is in the South China Sea, the left side of the course is Vietnam, and the boats are Volvo Ocean 65s.

Welcome to the Volvo Ocean Race.

Dongfeng, holding a handy lead, just needs to cover the pack for 800nm. Whether the pack remains together will be the remaining story to the finish in Sanya. The propensity for the teams to follow conservative tactics have kept them in close proximity. But there hasn’t yet been an upwind leg like this one.

It is long for starters, to take about five days, with an assortment of obstacles in its path. Maneuvering around oil rigs and all forms of islands remain, along with the hazards of hitting floating objects that get flushed out of the adjacent rivers.

And then there could be breakdowns.

Dongfeng suffered a major scare today when a tack line on their J1 headsail broke, sending the 132m² sail shooting up the forestay. A temporary replacement strop was formed, allowing the team to rehoist the J1 after a 30 minute delay.

“Of course we are happy to have a healthy lead, but that lead can disappear very easily through mechanical failure like this and lots of other kinds of problems,” acknowledged Dongfeng skipper Charles Caudrelier.

The storybook ending to the leg will come with a Dongfeng victory, giving the first Chinese-backed team a leg win in the 41-year-old race. Their leg three victory would also give them the outright lead in the nine-month event after three of the nine stages.

Auction: Team Alvimedica has raised more than $30,000 for pediatric heart health since the Volvo Ocean Race started, offering coveted onboard guest positions through an online auction. Bidding has started on the seven Pro-Am Race spots and the “Jump Seat” positon when Team Alvimedica competes in Sanya in early February. Click here to submit a bid. Here’s a video of the jumper from the Leg 2 start in Abu Dhabi: http://youtu.be/U7iZc3v9TdU

Vestas Update: The Volvo Ocean Race launched an independent inquiry into the cause of the Team Vestas Wind accident on November 29, and this report is to be made public by late February/early March. Now available is a review by eNav International, which has collected the facts and views of various experts, and gives you their impressions in their report: click here

Leg 3 (4,642 nm) Position Report (as of 21:40 UTC)
1. Dongfeng Race Team, Charles Caudrelier (FRA), 834.0 nm Distance to Finish
2. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Ian Walker (GBR), 49.0 nm Distance to Lead
3. Team Alvimedica, Charlie Enright (USA), 54.3 nm DTL
4. Team Brunel, Bouwe Bekking (NED), 55.9 nm DTL
5. MAPFRE, Iker Martinez (ESP), 59.2 nm DTL
6. Team SCA, Sam Davies (GBR), 132.2 DTL
7. Team Vestas Wind, Chris Nicholson (AUS), Did not start

Race website – Tracking – Scoreboard – Videos

Background: The fleet is now on Leg 3 from Abu Dhabi, UAE to Sanya, China (4,642 nm), which started Jan. 3 with an ETA on or after Jan. 19. 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.