11/22/2011 02:34 pm

Volvo Ocean Race Report – Day 18

Drama on the high seas have seen half of the boats that departed Alicante, Spain drop out of the race, while the remaining three vessels draw closer to their goal of Cape Town, South Africa.

The first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race is into its third week and the remnants of the pack are well defined, though the winners are not yet completely assured. The leader Team Telefónica is now less than 2,000 nautical miles (NM) – 3,700 km – from Cape Town, but the sailors will soon turn to the East and strong westerly winds will drive them in a mad, multi-day sprint to the South African coast.

Telefónica has commanded the lead since day 13, though PUMA Ocean Racing was nipping at its heels until late yesterday when calamity struck and its mast broke without warning. PUMA has since withdrawn from the race and is slowly making its way, under jury rigged sails and engine power, to the tiny island of Tristan de Cunha. A new mast is en route from Boston to Cape Town and a ship is being dispatched by DHL to pick up the marooned vessel and try to get it seaworthy for the next leg.

The new second place team CAMPER is now within 100 NM of the leader, and gaining, but will it be enough to challenge the Spanish team? Bringing up the rear, and still paying for an early gamble south along the coast of Africa that gave them an early 700-NM lead but ultimately left them behind, Groupama Sailing Team is 270 NM behind Telefónica.

In recent days the sailors have been getting as much rest as they could during the placid crossing of the doldrums and the Equator, but a new low pressure area shattered the relative calm. At the same time as PUMA lost its mast, CAMPER crewmember Mike Pammenter suffered a broken tooth and gash to the face after being thrown to the boat’s shrouds during a sail change. What’s more, once the vessels make their eastward turn, the winds will be more forceful and skippers anticipate speeds of up to 25 knots as they approach Cape Town.

CAMPER’s Hamish Hooper reported from second place, “These are the days which are a stern reality check of just what we are doing, and how on the edge it is. The conditions have slowly been getting stronger and the boat speed has been increasing along with it.”

These recent events are just the latest in what has been a thrilling and dangerous Leg One of the Volvo Ocean Race. It all began with a fleet of six, but the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing vessel broke a mast in 34 knot winds on the first night of sailing, and Team Sanya was also forced to limp in to harbor with a damaged hull. The early retirements also made for an exciting start for DHL. The company sprang into action and ensured Abu Dhabi’s spare mast met them back in Alicante. As a result the team was back in the race within 24 hours only to withdraw from the leg for lack of wind. With luck all the teams will be ready for the next in-port race at Cape Town on December 10, followed by Leg Two, to Abu Dhabi the following day.

CLOSE