Volvo Ocean Race: Far from ideal

(March 30, 2018; Day 13) – The overall race leader, MAPFRE, resumed racing this morning (UTC) following a Cape Horn pit-stop to make repairs to a torn mainsail, as well as a damaged mast track and boom.

The move, which cost MAPFRE nearly 13-hours when they suspended racing, leaves the Spanish team 260-miles behind the fleet, with the leader, Team Brunel, just over 1,600 miles from the finish line in Itajaí, Brazil.

While the team had prepared for the possibility of a stop to repair the mast track by having shore support on stand-by near Cape Horn, the pit-stop became mandatory when the mainsail split into two pieces, torn from luff to leech, just before the Horn.

“We’ve been lucky in a way that we broke it so close by and that we can repair it now with the shore team,” said watch captain Pablo Arrarte.

“The repairs always take longer than you would like,” acknowledged skipper Xabi Fernández. “It is not so easy because the repair of the mainsail has to dry well, but we will start sailing towards Brazil, not at 100% but working as hard as we can to lose the shortest time possible.”

Up ahead, the fleet charges on, pushing east-northeast, and passing just south of the Falkland Islands, where conditions remain fierce.

“The Southern Ocean just doesn’t want to let us off the hook and keeps us fully in its grip,” said Brunel skipper Bouwe Bekking.

“The wind direction is such that we are still not really heading north, we’re tight reaching in 28-35 knots in very cold water.

“It is also painful to see we will lose in every position report, with the boats behind getting better breeze. There is one routing forecast where MAPFRE would even win this this leg! But that is yacht racing, not always fun, never predictable and that is what makes it special.”

Team AkzoNobel navigator Jules Salter agreed the weather was far from ideal.

“Not great for tired people and boats,” Salter said. “But we can use these conditions for some quick miles to the northeast as we await the low pressure that chased us down into the Horn to cross Patagonia and eventually catch us as we sail past the Falklands.

“That will give us downwind conditions again, probably with a tricky sea state but at least warming up for each mile north.”

Also making progress is Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag who continue to make miles towards the Chilean coast, following the loss of crew member John Fisher.

COURSE: Starting on March 18, Leg 7 takes the teams from Auckland, New Zealand to Itajaí, Brazil. Race organizers choose to estimate the tactical distance for each leg rather than list the actual distance, an unusual decision that’s revealed once the race starts and the tracker lists the actual distance to finish. The VOR says Leg 7 is 7600 nm whereas the truth is more like 6623 nm with an ETA in Itajaí between April 4 and 6.

For crew lists … click here.

Race details – Tracker – Scoreboard – Race route – Facebook – YouTube

Leg 7 – Position Report (13:00 UTC)
1. Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED), 1609.1 nm DTF
2. Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA), 30.9 nm DTL
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA), 32.3 nm DTL
4. Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED), 51.8 nm DTL
5. Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR), 69.6 nm DTL
6. MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP), 264.6 nm DTL
* Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS)
DTF – Distance to Finish; DTL – Distance to Lead; SR – Suspended
* Team is re-routing to Chilean port following loss of crew John Fisher

Overall Results (after 6 of 11 legs)
1. MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP), 39 points
2. Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA), 34
3. Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS), 26
4. Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED), 23
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA), 23
6. Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED), 20
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR), 12

2017-18 Edition: Entered Teams – Skippers
• Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED)
• Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA)
• MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP)
• Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA)
• Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS)
• Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR)
• Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED)

Background: Racing the one design Volvo Ocean 65, the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race begins in Alicante, Spain on October 22 2017 with the final finish in The Hague, Netherlands on June 30 2018. In total, the 11-leg race will visit 12 cities in six continents: Alicante, Lisbon, Cape Town, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Auckland, Itajaí, Newport, Cardiff, Gothenburg, and The Hague. A maximum of eight teams will compete.

Source: Volvo Ocean Race