If ever a reminder was needed of the vagaries of sailing conditions in the Southern Ocean, the havoc Cyclone Pam has wreaked has provided it.
The tropical cyclone has devastated the remote Pacific island chain of Vanuatu, and the human toll there could prove to be catastrophic.
Farther south in New Zealand, the damage has been nowhere near as extreme, though it has delayed the start of the 6,776-nautical mile fifth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) from Auckland to Itajai, Brazil.
In race folklore, it is a notorious crossing of the tumult of the Southern Ocean to South America – the high gales, low temperatures, unpredictable waves and icebergs – that can and often have taken a heavy toll on sailor and vessel.
There can be cyclonic conditions and so, if any of the six boats needed reminding, here was Cyclone Pam wrecking the leg start.
As it was, the cyclone was expected to have struck the fleet as they made their way out of Auckland.
Originally scheduled to begin on Sunday, the leg will begin early Tuesday morning UAE time at the earliest.
“This weather is very rare for the race, and for New Zealand,” race chief executive Knut Frostad said. “We will not start the leg until Tuesday and will probably look at an afternoon start or in the evening.
“That’s our current plan.”
It has added a further complication to a leg that is complicated enough already.
For sailors, the Southern Ocean has an inescapable, central duality.
“It’s the best sailing we can get – the waves, the nature,” Team Brunel’s veteran skipper Bouwe Bekking said. “There will be moments when you hate to your guts being out there, but it’s the highlight for most of the sailors in the race.”
No preview of a VOR leg can confidently assign a favourite, but as overall race leaders Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Azzam will be among those on whom to keep an eye.
The crew have just suffered their first real blip, finishing last in the in-port race over the weekend, the first time they failed to finish on the podium in either a leg or an in-port race.
They will also be without Adil Khalid for a second leg running, as the Emirati sailor has not fully regained maximum fitness from the stomach bug that forced him to miss the fourth leg. Captain Ian Walker has targeted podium finishes throughout the race, but this leg has long been earmarked as the one that may determine the entire event.
Last time around, Azzam were one of two boats that did not finish the leg – only one did without stopping for repairs.
“This will be quite important and it’ll be interesting to follow,” Azzam navigator Simon Fisher said. “It might be the first time the fleet, as a whole, will have been tested by strong winds.
“You might see some different boats doing well, or a slight reshuffling of the pack. Also, it’ll be interesting to see how people manage not breaking their boats while going fast as well.”
It is expected to be a fast leg.
Boats are expecting to get to Cape Horn – a fabled and dangerous landmark for sailors that marks the end of the Southern Ocean – in just less than two weeks. From there, they head north in more sedate conditions in the Atlantic Ocean.
Some teams have called in a bit more experience. Team Alvimedica have called on Stu Bannatyne, a pre-race mentor who has competed in six VORs.
Dongfeng Race Team will have the Irishman Damian Foxall on board this leg. Bannatyne and Foxall were teammates on the victorious Groupama in the 2011/12 race.
osamiuddin@thenational.ae
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