An oddball start and some novel woe for the overall leader Telefonica marked on Sunday as the six Volvo Ocean Race boats left the Maldives for their 3,051-nautical-mile Leg 3 slog to Sanya, China.
With the Maldives the "secret" port to which the yachts hitched a ride on a ship because of piracy worries, the Indian Ocean island nation could construct no elaborate stopover such as the recent one in Abu Dhabi.
Amory Ross, the Puma media crew member, labelled it a "strange start", reporting: "The line was between one flag on one shore and a radio tower on another; there were virtually no spectators, tons of ferries, fishing boats and more obstacles to dodge leading up to the gun."
The boats left at noon UAE time, 1pm in the Maldives, and as they angled south in a tight bunch, Telefonica lapsed as it strained to repair a breakage in a headsail, the largest sail in its stash. By 5pm UAE time, Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand led narrowly over Puma, followed closely by Groupama, Team Sanya, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Telefonica, which trailed Abu Dhabi by 1.3 nautical miles.
"The first 1,000 miles or so isn't too bad," Chris Nicholson, the Camper skipper, told the Volvo Ocean Race website.
"There's just the lighter trade winds, they get up to 15 knots at one stage."
Later come the ship-and-debris-ridden chaos of the Malacca Straits, after which, he said: "It looks like we're in for a rough time all the way to China."
Said Ian Walker, skipper of the Abu Dhabi boat running fifth overall but hot off two short-course wins: "It's going to be a lot of upwind sailing, so I think we'll learn a lot about the relative boat speeds of the boats upwind, certainly in the first four days."
The estimated arrival at the Chinese resort island of Sanya is February 5.
cculpepper@thenational.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE Premiership
Results
Dubai Exiles 24-28 Jebel Ali Dragons
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 43-27 Dubai Hurricanes
Final
Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Jebel Ali Dragons, Friday, March 29, 5pm at The Sevens, Dubai
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
RESULTS
West Asia Premiership
Thursday
Jebel Ali Dragons 13-34 Dubai Exiles
Friday
Dubai Knights Eagles 16-27 Dubai Tigers
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
