THE VOLVO OCEAN RACE – Leg 2

Volvo Ocean Race 19 comments

                                                             Ainhoa Sanchez-VOR

            Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, a 6,125-mile slog from South Africa to Abu Dhabi, was a treacherous sail for everyone involved.

                                                                          Maria Muina – MAPFRE

            The fleet of seven boats left Cape Town with Table Mountain wrapped in a fog hat and 40-knot winds creating utter chaos.

                                                Ainhoa Sanchez-VOR

            “That start was some of the hairiest sailing we’ve seen,” wrote Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Matt Knighton.

                                            Ainhoa Sanchez-VOR

            As the first night descended, the crews strapped in and hunkered down for a wild ride as they sailed along the southwest coast of Africa and into the jaws of a nasty storm. This was not racing, it was surviving.

                                                       Brian Carlin – Team Vestas Wind

                                                       Corinna Halloran – Team SCA

            Nearing the southern edge of the African Continent they hit the Agulhas Current, the notorious bully boy of the Indian Ocean.

                                          Armory Ross – Team Alvimedica

Corinna Halloran – Team SCA
            “It’s one of the three strongest western boundaries in the world,” explained Team Alvimedica’s Will Oxley. “We can see five knots of wind flowing towards the south. And the wind is coming from the south, which creates standing waves. It’s only about 80 miles wide, but it’s still boat breaking conditions, so we really have to be careful.”

                                          Corinna Halloran – Team SCA

Matt Knighton – Abu Dhabi
            One of the big adventures under such ferocious conditions involves a trip to the bathroom. No one wants to do it and some sailors will try and wait for days if they can because it is so difficult and messy. You have to peel off layers of foul weather gear while riding a mechanical bull inside a small closet with rough edges.

                                                                          Stefan Coppers – Team Brunel

                                         Brian Carlin – Team Vestas Wind

            Stefan Coppers aboard Team Brunel described the fire hose excitement. “Every ten seconds, the boat drills into a tower high wave. Not only is the deck wet – in the hull it’s like an aquarium. Constantly splishing and sploshing around in ankle-high sea water, it’s impossible to get dry. In fact, it’s almost impossible to perform even the most basic and mundane tasks.”

                                             Yann Riou – Dongfeng

                                                          Matt Knighton – Abu Dhabi

            Just trying to eat can become a bone-breaking experience according to Yann Riou on Dongfeng. “I wanted to make myself something to eat – and at the precise moment I had poured the yogurt powder into my bowl, the boat plowed into a wave. I had to let the bowl go and hold on to whatever I could to avoid becoming part of the forward bulkhead.”

                                                      Brian Carlin – Team Vestas Wind

                                         Stefan Coppers – Team Brunel

            Up on deck, the threats would come when least expected. Blue Nose jellyfish (Portuguese Man O’War) often washed onto the decks, their long tentacles snagging in the sheets and inflicting painful stings for anyone unfortunate enough to touch the burning remnants.

                                           Stefan Coppers – Team Brunel

                                                         Matt Knighton – Abu Dhabi

            Heading north across the Indian Ocean the crews encountered lighter winds and a chance to fix their broken boats and bodies. But even calm conditions brought dangers, like having to climb the mast to sew a ripped sail with a Leatherman, needle and thread while trying not to drop anything onto those below. 
  
Matt Knighton – Abu Dhabi
Matt Knighton – Abu Dhabi 

Matt Knighton – Abu Dhabi 

  Yann Riou – Dongfeng
 

            And then there was the sun. Sunburn was a constant threat because there was no shade on deck and no place to hide except down below where it was like an oven. The sailors spent each day slathering every inch of exposed skin with sunscreen that invariably dripped into their eyes when they sweat. They all looked like ghosts and even with sunglasses, sun blindness often robbed the sailors of their sight.
  Matt Knighton – Abu Dhabi
 Francisco Vignale – MAPFRE

                                                           Matt Knighton – Abu Dhabi

                                          Stefan Coppers – Team Brunel   

            On November 29th, ten days into the race, disaster struck when the Danish boat Team Vestas Wind ran aground on a coral reef in the Cargodas Shoals about 400 miles northeast of Mauritius, going19 knots in the pitch dark. They came to a crashing stop, throwing the crew around like rag dolls, the Volvo 65 spinning like a toy top toward the open sea, with water pouring over the sides. The crew stayed onboard the healing vessel as it was lashed by waves until the stern began to tear apart. 

                                       Brian Carlin – Team Vestas Wind

                                                                       Brian Carlin – Team Vestas Wind

                                                          Brian Carlin – Team Vestas Wind

            At midnight, in shark-infested waters, Australian skipper Chris Nicholson issued a Mayday call on his sat phone and gave the order for the crew to abandon ship. They sought refuge upon a dry spot on the reef until they were rescued at daybreak by the local Coast Guard and transported to the tiny islet of Íle du Sud.

                                       Brian Carlin – Team Vestas Wind

                                      Brian Carlin – Team Vestas Wind

                                      Brian Carlin – Team Vestas Wind

 
Brian Carlin – Team Vestas Wind 

            In true Corinthian spirit, Team Alvimedica came to the rescue of their sailing mates and anchored just off the reef to provide welcome support until the rescuers arrived, at which time they continued racing.

                                       Armory Ross – Team Alvimedica

                                                     Gilles Martin-Roget – Team Alvimedica

            For Team Vestas, their Volvo race quickly became a salvage operation, retrieving diesel, oil, hydraulics and any valuable equipment from their hopelessly damaged boat perched atop the sundrenched reef like a monument to what can happen in an unguarded instant when sailing the world’s oceans – even with modern technology.
Brian Carlin – Team Vestas Wind
 Shane Smart – VOR

                                               Shane Smart – VOR

            Far to the north the race continued in all of its risky business glory as the Volvos navigated the two no-wind Doldrum zones blocking their path to the Arab Emirates.

                                             Yann Riou – Dongfeng

Stefan Coppers – Team Brunel

            On board Abu Dhabi, Justin Slattery needed an emergency filling administered by a crew member with the guidance of Dr. Wendy Harmer at Race Central in Spain.

                                        Matt Knighton – Abu Dhabi

            Sleeping bags were spread from the rigging as makeshift shelters from the oppressive heat that reached well over a hundred degrees for days on end.

                                          Corinna Halloran – Team SCA

Armory Ross – Team Alvimedica
 
            And then, like straight out of a Hitchcock horror movie, came the birds. As night descended upon Team Alvimedica, so did a flock of at least a thousand black noddies, clinging to every possible perch, incessantly dive-bombing the crew who were blowing horns and banging on pots to keep their unwanted guests at bay. By morning, the birds were gone, leaving the boat completely covered in poo.

                                       Armory Ross – Team Alvimedica

                                                    Armory Ross – Team Alvimedica

            As the fleet neared the Straits of Hormuz, it was so hot that everything metal was burning hot to the touch and staying hydrated became the major goal as the Volvos dodged super tankers laden with oil in one of the world’s busiest and narrowest shipping channels.

                                             Yann Riou – Dongfeng

                                                                          Francisco Vignale – MAPFRE

                                                           Francisco Vignale – MAPFRE

            In the end, Team Brunel, Dongfeng, and hometown favorite Abu Dhabi battled the last hundred miles within earshot of one another, and the old master Bouwe Bekking, Team Brunel’s wily skipper, conjured up a miraculous victory, finishing the leg in a little over 23 days, and a mere 16 minutes ahead of Dongfeng.
Yann Riou – Dongfeng 
Ainhoa Sanchez-VOR
Stefan Coppers – Team Brunel



Nest stop: Sanya, China

                                                    LEADER BOARD
 
   Leg 1
Leg 2
Overall
Team Brunel
      3
    1
    4
Abu Dhabi
      1
    3
    4
Dongfeng
      2
    2
    4
Alvimedica
      5
    4
    9
MAPFRE
      7
    4
   11
SCA
      6
    6
   12
Team Vestas Wind
      4
    8
   12
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