Relief all round at the end of leg one

Less than 24 hours separated the first and second placed boats at the end of the first leg. It was Team Telefónica who ultimately claimed victory in a time of 21 days 5 hours and 14 minutes.

They were followed a day later by Camper. In winds gusting over 45 knots and bright sunshine, the New Zealanders were just relieved to finish safely. After all, three of the original six boats that started in Alicante on 5 November had failed to reach Cape Town in one piece.

Navigation error
Skipper Chris Nicholson commentated that after a small navigational mistake at the beginning of the leg, they had played catch-up for the next 18 days – an error they’ll not want to make again.

I caught up with Camper’s media crew member Hamish Hooper as he hung over the rail greeting friends and family. I asked him how it went and what the worst moments were for him.

Worst times
His reply was simply: “Amazing! It was awesome! It was great - the first and the last nights were the worse!”

When I asked him how he got on with all the Inmarsat equipment he just looked back at the dome and the FleetBroadband 500 and said: “That big dome at the back does some wonderful things.”

Looking happy
Hamish just couldn’t stop smiling and looking around, happy to have leg one under his belt. You can see full interview on YouTube shortly.

Groupama’s story was a lot more painful. They came in three days behind the winner after succumbing to light winds. The wind door had slammed shut behind Camper, leaving the French to sit in the ocean, wallowing in frustration.

Sense of relief
When they did get within spitting distance of the finish line, the wind shadow from Table Mountain then stopped them in their tracks. Speaking to their MCM Yann Riou on the dock later that day, the sense of relief on his face was clear.

Now there’s only a brief period for the boats and crews to recover, to receive some love and attention, before they prepare once again for the next in-port race and the start of leg two on the 11 December.

Mark Covell

Team Telefonica arrives in Cape Town

Team Telefonica finishes first on leg 1 in Cape Town
Photo: Ian Roman/Volvo Ocean Race.

Sometimes Mother Nature reminds sailors who is boss. This was no exception at the finish line of leg one in Cape Town.

Assembled journalists, race organisers and spectators eagerly gathered on the dock to see Team Telefonica arrive victorious into Cape Town.

Blowing hard

The sailors had been battling the conditions for the past 20 days, but the motley crew on the dock had stood there for just an hour and were grumbling about the wind. It was blowing hard. When it blows in Cape Town, it really blows.

After sailing 6,500nm, for skipper Iker Martinez it was all about bringing the yacht into port safely. The 47-knot winds just added to the drama of this extreme race.

With cameras flashing and the crowd cheering Team Telefonica pulled into the dock.

Well-earned celebrations

I caught up with the team’s very happy media crew member, Diego Fructuoso, for a quick chat before he began his well-earned celebrations.

While he fought to kick off his sea boots and soaking foul-weather gear, I asked him that classic question: what was his hardest moment?

He a simply replied, “Sunday! That first Sunday, the first night of the race - it was difficult, very difficult”. Racing into the storm that so battered the boats during the first 24 hours that two of the six competitors were forced to limp ashore was a baptism of fire indeed.

Extreme conditions

Naturally I wanted to ask him how all the Inmarsat equipment coped with the extreme conditions. Almost as if shaking off the question as if it wasn’t worth asking, he just shrugged and said, “Yes, it just worked”.

After going into this race with so much to be concerned and worried about. It seams that the Inmarsat satellite communications on board are not on his worry list.

Congratulations from all at Inmarsat to Telefonica for a well-earned leg one win!

Mark Covell

The mad dash to Cape Town

It’s all on for young and old! They’ve skirted round the St Helena high that blocks the more direct route across the Atlantic. Now they can hook into the rolling cold fronts that blast through the Southern Ocean.

In the last Volvo Ocean Race, in 2008-09, I can remember the temperature plummeting as we shot south. After the warm trade winds the boat hits the cold water and damp air, and everything starts streaming with condensation, even in areas of the boat that don’t normally get wet.

Thermal shirt

If you haven’t kept your last clean dry thermal shirt for now you’re going to get cold, because nothing will dry in these dank conditions.

It was on leg one that Torben Greal on Ericsson 4 set a world record of 696.8nm covered in just 24 hours. They hit the cold front perfectly. The sea was still relatively flat as the storm enveloped them. They averaged 24.84 knots. By the time the rest of the fleet got there the sea was already too big to break records.

Record breaking

This time the three boats are pushing hard in favourable winds sailing at speeds creeping up into the low 30s. The fleet is now in record-breaking territory.

The leader Telefonica has just reported that they are flying and continuing to push the boat to the max. The big question that must be on their minds is, how hard do they push it?

Camper was reminded that there are still pitfalls out there, after they ran into a fishing net at full speed. The only way to free it was to stop and reverse back down to free the net before pushing on.

The ETA into Cape Town for Team Telefonica is looking like late Saturday night.

Mark Covell

Inmarsat helps solve Puma's logistical nightmare

Floating city: Puma re-fuels alongside Zim Monaco

Photo - Amory Ross

Puma Ocean Racing experienced a harrowing few hours hovering next to what Ken Read described as a floating city.

After some smooth communication with captain Bondar of the super-freighter Zim Monaco, skipper Ken positioned the tiny 70-foot carbon race boat just metres away from the huge ship, with it drifting towards them at 3 knots.

Lines were hurled on to the yacht and the precious diesel fuel was lowered down.

Safety status
Satellite communications played an essential part in the rendezvous. In fact, the team on board the race boat must feel they are permanently using Inmarsat systems. 

Only days earlier they'd had to report the loss of the rig and their safety status in the race. The video and photographic coverage of the incident was then sent by the media crew member Amory Ross using the boat's FleetBroadband 500.

Then a huge logistical nightmare was carefully dealt with - starting with the mid-ocean hook-up with the tanker to transfer the fuel.

Replacement mast
Puma's support team is now airfreighting the replacement mast down to Cape Town.

And in the meantime the shore crew are leaving on a ship to meet with up the yacht on the island of Tristan. They will then work on the boat while it sits on the deck of the rescue vessel.

With 400 nautical miles to go, the yacht is now motoring slowly to the tiny island.

It’s not surprising that Amory, in his Thanksgiving blog, lists Inmarsat as one to thank.

Mark Covell

Not just a sitcom from the sea

Shattered: PUMA skipper Ken Read slumps over the broken mast
Photo - Amory Ross

Since the action of the first night when both Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Team Sanya suffered damage that put them out of leg 1, the crew communications have settled into a relaxed daily routine - of amusing tails of life on board and race commentary reacting to every three hourly position report.

And the teams were beginning see the end of the leg and the final push for Cape Town. The lead was still up for grabs - it was looking like a battle royal between Telefonica and PUMA with Camper. It was all playing out like it should.

It’s so easy to sit back with a cup of tea in a comfortable chair and view all the fantastic footage coming off the boats, thinking how wonderful it is to be almost there, looking over the shoulders of the crew as they sail through the warm trade winds.

Real problems
Then bang! Sit up, spill your tea and realise that the Inmarsat satellite communication isn’t just bringing you another sitcom from the sea. It’s solving real problems and saving real lives.

Last night’s shocking news that PUMA had lost their rig over the side came with an almighty jolt. The communication traffic turned from talk of freeze-dried food and smelly crew kit to saving lives and logistics.

The shock of loosing the rig in only 23 knots of wind in broad daylight has shattered the team.

Safe port
Devastated that they have had to retire from the leg, they now have the long and arduous mission of getting to a safe port and start to recover and regroup.

They have set course for the small Island of Tristan de Cunha, 700 nm away. There is no airport as the Island is serviced by boat alone, but I guess this is a real case of any port in a storm.

It will be up to PUMA’s logistics team to solve the next problem and join that other race led by Team Sanya and Abu Dhabi - the race for leg 2.

Mark Covell

From lazy days to crazy days

Slop is caked over Neptune's inductees on Camper.

Hamish Hooper/CAMPER ETNZ/Volvo Ocean Race

The lazy days of the Doldrums seem far behind the fleet now. The last week has been a frenetic checklist of milestones and to-do lists.

Such as:

• Get the hell out of the erratic Doldrums
• Prepare for the royal visit that comes to those that have not crossed the equator before
• Welcome King Neptune and Queen Codfish to reside over the sinners, confessions, punishments and absolutions
• Take a brief moment to realise exactly how much hair the poor sinners have lost and how much fish head slop they were made to eat.
• Fly by the Island of Fernando de Noronha - the only mark of Leg 1
• Start looking forward to the southerly trade winds and hauling south for those westerly cold fronts that roll around the Southern Ocean
• Check over the whole boat for any signs of damage before the mad ride starts in the high winds and big waves of the Southern Ocean.

Telefonica managed to get the right side of a great shift and a little more wind than their leg nemesis Puma. They are now enjoying a 17nm lead as the tables continue to turn.

Camper is still very much in the picture as they trail Puma by 130nm.

Groupama deficit
Groupama has a lot more to do with a deficit of 422nm from the leader.

The teams are bracing themselves as the water and wind gets colder by the day and the “slay” ride to Cape Town gets closer by the hour.

Lazy days will soon become crazy days.

Mark Covell

Media reporting from a floating sauna in the Doldrums

Ken Read watches weather forming behind PUMA Ocean Racing
Amory Ross/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race

The fleet has now navigated through the tricky conditions of the Doldrums, and crossed the equator and past the turning mark of Fernando de Noronha, a small Island just off Brazil. When a Spaniard says it’s too hot then you know it’s hot.

Diego Fructuoso from Team Telefonica commented that it was too hot to use his laptop during the day because of the sweat on his fingers.

It’s not the temperature; it’s the humidity he said. “At 95 per cent, it melts everything down to an uncomfortable salty sticky mess.

Hot and sticky
"It’s a wonder that all this electrical equipment still functions, but it does! It’s times like this that I thank Inmarsat that the connection is fast and efficient, so I don’t spend any more time down below decks in what’s become a floating steam room."

For a land lubber traveling through this area, it's just hot and sticky, with annoying thundershowers. For a sailor it’s a minefield of stop/start passing lanes.

Each thunderhead that forms from the hot air rising is watched very carefully by the sailing crews. They are looking for any signs that will tell them if the wind under it sucks or blows.

Darkening energy
The difference could mean a helping hand down the track from a stiff breeze or a slow drift in a torrential downpour. From a small dot on the radar, the humid air grows larger over just a few hours.

The mass of darkening energy can move miles forward, and sometimes even back again - like an aerial game of bumper cars.

If the outcome is no wind but torrential rain at least the pay-back is a fresh shower. Life on board resembles a laundry with the crew taking every chance to use the fresh water falling from the heavens to wash both body and clothes.

Limited squalls
If the outcome is wind then sails are rapidly changed and the equipment is stacked to eke every inch of boat speed and mileage from the limited squalls. 

Puma’s media crew member, Amory Ross said: "Since we entered this region of 'lost days' progress hasn’t been without its drama.

"Naturally, unpredictable weather has done its best to keep us busy, and tonight has been one of squall dodging and sail changing. Everyone’s tired.

Less relaxed
"It has also become uncomfortably hot below deck.  We smell bad enough as it is, but we now have the equatorial heat and humidity to make things worse," he explained.

"Clothes won’t dry, sleeping is hard, and life is generally less relaxed. The fans are on and the shirts are off!"

When I crossed this region last, we fell between the cracks every time. We didn’t get any rain or wind squalls.

Tapping fingers
We just drifted for days looking for a door out of the windless walled garden.  At least the fleet has had an eventful crossing and will be back in the southerly trade winds very soon.

With the front three boats so close together, the sailing action will come thick and fast. Diego’s laptop will be just as hot as before, but this time it will be from tapping fingers, reporting, blogging on the action, and sending us the news video and stills.