VOR : Go east

“The sail came falling out of the sky onto the deck!” recalls Liz Wardley, onboard Team SCA.

It’s Day 4 of Leg 4, and her team is currently sailing east into the vast, North Pacific Ocean.

“We were sailing along next to Brunel with our J1 jib up, and the lock for the halyard broke – luckily we managed to get it back in the boat pretty quickly.”

They say these things come in threes. A broken lock today, a tear in their sail yesterday – does this all seem a bit ominous for the all-female team?

 

Anna-Lena Elled / Team SCA / Volvo Ocean Race

 

Well if so, you wouldn’t know it – there are no frowns on this boat. They’re the most northernmost boat in the fleet, which leaves them the furthest away from the next waypoint, way down south, and as such, in last place.

But all that could change very quickly. The girls, along with Team Brunel, are in pole position to pick up the trade winds – and that could slingshot them towards their destination.

As their bold strategy begins to pay, this magenta boat is certainly a glass half full place to be.

“We lost a few miles to Brunel, and we have to go up the mast to check that there’s no chafing or rubbing on our makeshift system, but we’re back up and running again,” smiles Liz.

Some 132 nm separates the northern pack of two from the southern pack of four – but the difference in attitudes is much more stark.

And there’s no one more frustrated than Dongfeng Race Team, as their navigator, Erwan Israël points out, on deck.

“It’s not stressful, it’s a lot of frustration,” he admits. “We are where we didn’t want to go.

 

Sam Greenfield/Dongfeng Race Team/Volvo Ocean Race

“We have three boats near us, we can see them, we have to fight and make the best of it. I feel that Brunel and SCA will smash us, but I don’t want to see it.”

But as always, this is a race of many phases, of many faces. For much of the last two days, the fleet has been sailing in the wrong direction.

Although the two northernmost boats have completed over 1,600nm since leaving Sanya, they’re only just over 800nm closer to their destination.

And whilst Brunel and SCA might have stolen an advantage right now, there’s another race on – and that’s to the trade winds. We won’t know for sure how that works out, until it pans out.

“The first guys to touch the trade winds will probably create a big gap,” shrugs Erwan’s team mate, Eric Peron. “That’s why it’s so important to be first.”

Over on MAPFRE, who sit in second place at the 1540 UTC position report, Antonio Cuervas-Mons is examining a white board below deck.

“This is where we are, this is the drawing that Jean Luc does on a weekly basis,” he gestures.

“We have to go east cause there’s a low pressure here, and afterwards we should catch the trade winds of the northern hemisphere.

“Our bearing should be 90° so that we can progressively head south. Now we have 10 days on port tack with winds between 15 to 20 knots. So that’s it, we are 2,700 nm away from the Solomon Islands.”

 

 

Just a stone’s throw away, Team Alvimedica’s Will Oxley stares out onto the horizon – right at the Spanish boat, who are neck and neck with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.

“The last time we had a situation like this where the breeze was coming in from the north, the models all show it coming to you quickly, but the reality is that it’s often slower, in the way that we were slow to lose the breeze,” he explains.

“We probably have to go to it, and so gybing indicates that we’re being proactive.

“We’re crossing behind these boats in front but ultimately we’ll be to the north and west of them, although I think you’ll see them gybe shortly.”

Despite being more southerly, and therefore closer to the Soloman Islands waypoint, which means that they’re actually ranking as the top four teams, the quartet know that those placings could change very quickly.

“I like it a lot because you’re continuing to learn actually,” says Charlie Enright.

“You know how to read things and make more confident decisions based on what you see. It’s tricky but it makes you a better sailor, for sure.”

Team Brunel might rank in fifth – but they’re chalking up the miles in fast and furious conditions, and they know that at the moment, they’re the team to beat.

“Are you breaking the boat?” asks Onboard Reporter Stefan Coppers.

Pablo Arrarte laughs. “We’re trying to, but it’s quite hard!” he replies, as the wind whistles past his hood.

“It’s a bit wet, but very fast – 20 knots. This is what we want, and hopefully it’s like this all the way to Auckland.”

 

Stefan Coppers / Team Brunel / Volvo Ocean Race

Rokas Milevicius gasps for air as a huge wave crashes onto the deck, drenching him from head to toe.

“It’s super dangerous!” he admits. “It looks like it’s just water but the water is so powerful that it smashes you.

“You always have to be clipped on and wear your harness or you’ll slide all over the place, over the back.”

Luckily for the Lithuanian, it looks like, just maybe, his team will only be moving forwards from now on.

Source: http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/news/8448_Go-east.html

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