SAILING. VOR2012, Leg One Day 7 – Groupama 4 and Franck Cammas/FRA, the leading team in leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race, have two choices: move west quickly and take a big loss to do it, or hold their nerve and sail towards the triangle of doom, the no-go windless area that begins south of the Cape Verde Islands 600 nautical miles ahead, and then make the turn west.

Either way, the African Triangle, to give it its correct name, must be avoided at all costs. It is the windless area at the eastern end of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), better known as the Doldrums, and Groupama 4 is heading straight for it.

The ITCZ is a band of low pressure where the northeast trade winds of the northern hemisphere meet the southeast trade winds of the southern. Here the typical weather consists of squalls and thunderstorms interspersed by flat calms, where boats can be left wallowing for days. To avoid this, the fleet must cross the ITCZ at its western and narrowest point, before being set free into the southeast trades.

As the fleet converges, it will begin to compress as the first boat sails into the wall and the chasing pack is still benefiting from good breeze. The further to the west the fleet makes its Doldrums crossing, the less effect they usually have, allowing the yachts usually slip from one trade wind system to the other reasonably easily. However, this leg has not played out as expected.

At 1000 UTC today, Groupama 4 had a lead of 242 nm, but is 573 nm to the east of the fleet, 92 nautical miles nm off the coast, while the boats in the west lost out again.

Telefónica (Iker Martinez/ESP) lost 15 nm, PUMA’s Mar Mostro (Ken Read/USA) 14 nm and CAMPER (Chris Nicholson/AUS) 35 nm. All three have to endure the pain of watching Groupama 4 from a distance, clocking up a massive lead, but, at the same time, facing a big decision which could open the door for those who decided west was best early on.

“Are we there yet?” “Are we tacking south yet?” The waiting game is interminable. The heading still reads 240 degrees and the crews feel as if they have been heading west, with Cape Town 90 degrees to their left, ever since they left Alicante. “We just can’t seem to get there from here,” writes the crew from PUMA’s Mar Mostro who continue their private battle with Telefónica nine nm ahead.

If only it were as simple as turning the bow south, but unfortunately it isn’t. The weather has proved far more complicated than predicted and the drag race west looks set to continue for at least another 24 hours.

Overnight, when the long awaited tack came onboard Chris Nicholson’s CAMPER, the pleasure was short lived. CAMPER picked up her skirts and flew for a brief moment or two, before sailing into a hole, so not quite the ‘escalator to redemption,’ as the crew put it. Back to heading west with a lot of miles to claw back and still a minefield of bizarre breeze to negotiate.

However, the anticipation remains and wind speeds should improve to 20 – 25 knots today. The all-important gybe south, when it comes, say the crew of CAMPER, “will be like turning off a slow country road and onto an empty motorway – with no police to slow us down.”

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing retired from Leg 1 this morning after deciding their best option going forward in the race would be to ship the boat to Cape Town from Lisbon. The team said that the decision would give them more time to fine-tune the rig in time for the second in-port race on December 10 in Cape Town.

Volvo Ocean Race 2011 - 2012
www.volvooceanrace.com
November 11, 2011 - 1000 UTC

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's Azzam Retires From Leg 1

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing retired from Leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race on Friday having returned to racing early on Thursday following a dismasting on the first night.

Skipper Ian Walker and the crew of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing retire from leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Alicante, Spain to Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo Credit: Nick Dana/Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing)

The decision leaves four of the fleet of six still racing the first stage, the 6,500-nautical mile leg from Alicante, Spain to Cape Town. Team Sanya also pulled out after suffering substantial damage to the boat's hull on Sunday.

An Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing spokesperson said: "Despite the heroics performed by the shore crew in getting our yacht Azzam re-masted after it was damaged last week in high seas and strong winds, the team believes that the estimated arrival time in Cape Town would be counter-productive for its preparations for Leg 2, especially given the almost windless prevailing weather conditions in the Mediterranean.

"Azzam's mast and rigging system have not been compromised and the decision is purely one of time management."

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing will now sail to Lisbon, Portugal with an expected arrival time of Saturday evening. Azzam will then be shipped to Cape Town to arrive around November 28.

The decision will give the team suitable time to ensure the boat and the team are 100 percent ready for the Cape Town In-Port Race on December 10.

"Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing is steadfast in its commitment to return to the race from Cape Town," the spokesperson said.

Abu Dhabi's shore crew worked around the clock to replace a mast broken in three places on Saturday night, around six hours after the leg start, when the boat crashed into a huge wave while sailing in the Mediterranean towards Gibraltar.

Skipper Ian Walker explained: "Since dismasting shortly after the start on Saturday our team and Future Masts have worked tirelessly to fit our spare mast and examine the cause of the original mast failure.

"We need time to make modifications to our rigging system in Cape Town and the only way we can gain that time is to travel to Cape Town by ship. This has been one of the hardest decisions of my life to make but I have to consider not only the safety of the crew but the long term interests of the project."

The British double Olympic silver medallist continued: "This is only the first leg of a long race and with this decision and a lot of hard work we can be race ready for Leg 2.

"I am particularly sad as this is my favourite leg of the race and the whole crew had been looking forward so much to it. I wish all the teams left in the leg fair winds and we will be there to greet them in Cape Town."

Volvo Ocean Race 2011 - 2012
www.volvooceanrace.com
November 11, 2011 - 11:30 CET

Abu Dhabi Sacrifice Leg 1 Points For Long-Term Gain

Ian Walker stifled his competitive instincts and retired his Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team from Leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race on Friday, while ahead of him a fleet now reduced to four boats prepared for crunch time in the Atlantic.

The decision to pull out of the leg was a wrench for the British skipper, who will now forfeit the 10 points he would have scored for finishing fifth – Team Sanya had already pulled out from the six-boat starting fleet – but can look forward to getting the boat in optimum condition for Leg 2.

Instead of pursuing the boats ahead of him, Walker will now take his racing yacht Azzam, which was dismasted on Saturday and returned to the water on Wednesday, to Lisbon. It will be loaded on to a ship on Monday and taken to Cape Town, where rigging modifications can be carried out in time for Leg 2.

"It's been an agonising period but on balance today we made the call that we needed enough time in Cape Town to make some modifications to our rigging," Walker said from the boat.

"We have been checking [the weather] almost hourly and right now I am more confident than ever that we have made the right decision."

The points for the first leg will be decided among Groupama sailing team, whose decision to take the road less travelled near the coast of Africa looks increasingly smart, and their three rivals out in the west – Team Telefónica, PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, and CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, who briefly flirted with the coast before siding with the majority.

Groupama appear to be sitting pretty with a lead of 237 nautical miles over Telefónica as of the 1300 UTC position report, but they are aware that their lead could yet disappear if they do not manage to avoid a long spell in the windless area at the eastern end of the Doldrums – a so-called triangle of doom for any boat that gets trapped there.

The top three teams were travelling at roughly similar speeds around 14 knots at 1300 on Friday but those in the west were just waiting for a high pressure ridge that will let them turn south at speeds of 20-25 knots and start clawing back the miles.

"I think it's going to end up being a closer run thing," said CAMPER's navigator Will Oxley. "This afternoon it looks like the trades will collapse for Groupama and conversely we will have plenty of wind, but 200 miles ahead of us is a long way.

"It's on the tipping point at the moment I guess."

Looking forward to the much stronger wind now expected, the team's MCM was more graphic. "It will be like turning off a slow country road and onto an empty motorway – with no police to slow us down," said Hamish Hooper.

That could not come soon enough for PUMA, whose MCM Amory Ross described the growing tension on board: "Some day soon (hopefully before we reach Antigua) we'll be able to aim this darn boat towards Brazil and eat up some miles. Of course nobody likes waiting, so anxiety builds. But we're all feeling a little more rested after a good night's sleep, and that helps."

While the four boats still at sea are playing a waiting game, Abu Dhabi will now be racing against time yet again. After crossing the start line twice, this time it is all about reaching Lisbon in time to get everything loaded.

"Once we arrive in Lisbon we have 36 hours for the sailing team to take the mast out, load everything up and put the boat on a cradle," said Walker. "Then we have to load it on to the deck of a cargo ship which will leave on Monday afternoon.

"It's pretty tight but it's an achievable timeframe which gets us to Cape Town before the end of the month."

Volvo Ocean Race 2011 - 2012
www.volvooceanrace.com
November 11, 2011 - 1430 UTC

CAMPER scorches as game begins

At 1900 UTC it was all about CAMPER with Australian Chris Nicholson in charge as he takes on the two boats ahead of him, cruising nicely at 23 knots plus in a strong north-westerly breeze.

Nicholson has elected to take inside track 41 nautical miles (nm) to leeward of her two opponents in the west. PUMA’s Mar Mostro has upped her performance and taken 18 nm out of the leader, relegating Telefónica (Iker Martinez/ESP) to third place, three miles astern.

Tonight, CAMPER gained 28 nm in the period 1600 – 1900 and snatched back another 28 nm in the three hours leading up to the 2200 UTC report.

But it’s not looking quite so sweet for Franck Cammas and his team on Groupama 4 as they continue creeping along the shore towards the Cape Verde Islands at around 12 knots, sailing dead downwind. However, they are still 212 nm ahead of the chasing pack, 28 nm off the southernmost tip of Western Sahara and 486 nm from the Cape Verde Islands, which they will leave to port. Beyond the Cape Verdes is a vast windless zone, which they will need to avoid at all costs.

For the first time in this 6,500 nautical mile to Cape Town, we are starting to see some improved 24-hour runs after days of light airs and very little progress. Groupama 4 has achieved the highest 24-hour run of 272 nm, followed by PUMA’s Mar Mostro (268), Telefónica (246) and CAMPER (246).

Volvo Ocean Race 2011 - 2012
www.volvooceanrace.com
November 11, 2011 - 1900 UTC