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.
“That start was some of the hairiest sailing we’ve seen,” wrote Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Matt Knighton.
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
Nearing the southern edge of the African Continent they hit the Agulhas Current, the notorious bully boy of the Indian Ocean.
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.”
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 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.”
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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
|
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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I was having flashbacks while reading this one! Some awesome photos too!
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