Nu svänger det ordentligt i Volvo Ocean Race. Med drygt 4 500 Nm kvar till etappmålet i Kapstaden ligger nu Puma först och den förra ledaren, franka Groupama, ligger sist. Men mycket kan fortfarande hända i den nyckfulla vindområdena kring ekvatorn där erfarenhet av liknande seglingar och vägval betyder allt.
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Foto: Amory Ross/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race
The tables are turning in the Volvo Ocean Race as the pack hunting leg leaders Groupama sailing team close in on their prey.
After five days of watching helplessly as Groupama sailing team extended their lead, Team Telefónica, PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG and CAMPER with Emirates New Zealand have finally started to claw back miles.
The French frontrunners, led by offshore expert Franck Cammas, bit chunks out of their rivals in the first week of Leg 1 from Alicante, Spain, to Cape Town, South Africa, opting for a slower but more direct route along the African shoreline. Meanwhile Telefónica, PUMA and CAMPER punched west in search of stronger wind and higher speeds.
At its largest the distance between Groupama and the chasing fleet was almost 700 nautical miles. But today, exactly one week after the starting gun fired in Alicante, PUMA and Telefónica turned south hooking into a weather system they hope will catapult them through the Atlantic. CAMPER were expected to make the turn later today.
Finally able to sail a straight line towards the Leg 1 turning mark at Fernando de Noronha off the Brazilian coast, the teams were today hitting speeds of up to 25 knots. With decent breeze and a favourable angle, they quickly began to chew up Groupama’s lead and at the 1300 UTC position report the gap had been reduced to just 92 nautical miles.
“The French are battling light winds on the African shore, and at this stage my guess is that they are not pleased when they see our speeds in the 20s for the last couple of scheds,” said PUMA skipper Ken Read.
“We actually have a downwind sail on and are going at wide angles and at high speeds. This is the reward for beating our brains out for almost a week. We hope that our choice of unpleasant climate starts coming good for us now.”
Groupama, who have spent the last few days sailing consistent but relatively low speeds, broke away from the African coast last night in search of better breeze. Media crew member Yann Riou, himself an accomplished sailor, said the team felt “powerless” to the gains made by their rivals but reasserted that, with around 5,000 nautical miles still to go, “the race is far from over”.
All four boats must now line up to cross the dreaded Doldrums, a dynamic, moving band of high pressure lying either side of the Equator characterised by light winds but notorious for sudden squalls. Groupama may further pay the price for their easterly route as they could face having to cross the Doldrums at its widest point.
After announcing their retirement from Leg 1 on Friday, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing were today en route to Lisbon, Portugal, where they will put their Volvo Open 70 yacht Azzam onto a ship bound for Cape Town. Abu Dhabi were forced to pull out of the leg six hours into racing when their 31-metre mast broke into three pieces in violent seas.
Team Sanya’s yacht, another casualty of the testing weather conditions on the first night, was today being trucked to Gibraltar to meet a ship to Cape Town. The boat was holed shortly after Azzam was dismasted, leaving the team no option but to forfeit the leg.
Both teams aim to be back in action for the second In-Port Race on December 10 and the start of Leg 2 to Abu Dhabi on December 11.
Info: www.volvooceanrace.com
