The one-design Volvo 65 boat was meant to limit costs for the round-the-world race and put the competition on a more equal footing.
But it seems safe to say no one anticipated just how even it would become.
As the leaders of the seven-boat fleet prepared yesterday for a Roaring 40s-driven sprint to the finish line of Leg 1 in Cape Town, they found themselves within sight of each other – after more than 4,000 nautical miles of sailing.
“It’s amazing to be together after 19 days racing,” Laurent Pages of Team Brunel said. “We knew the one-design would bring a new dimension – close, compact sailing.
“But there’s been different strategy, different options and we’re all still meeting in the middle of the South Atlantic.”
At 3.30pm Greenwich Mean Time on Friday, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's Azzam was again the leader, but with Brunel only 8.4nm behind, with Dongfeng and Team Vestas 11 and 25 back, respectively, with more than 1,900 to go.
As Azzam set a course east and slightly north for Cape Town, there was surprise among the crew to see the blue Vestas boat on the horizon.
Ian Walker, Azzam’s skipper, said: “Are we sure that’s Vestas and not just a family out cruising? They look like they’re about four miles behind us. I’d rather have them there than out front.”
Simon Fisher, the Abu Dhabi team’s navigator, said: “I always knew it was going to be a bit of a showdown today. There’s been a big squash-up in the fleet.
“The game’s on for the last week in the south.”
The other big change on Friday was the strong winds and heavy seas of the Roaring 40s, referring to degrees of latitude.
Amory Ross, the on-board reporter for Team Alvimedica, described the shift in conditions.
“Like flipping a light switch. ‘Off’ to ‘on’ in so much as an instant,” he wrote for the Volvo Ocean Race website.
“One minute you’re enjoying a nice, casual sleep, 12 knots of wind and comfortable in your sleeping bag …
“Something wakes you and you open your eyes and ears to a very different, very alarming setting. It’s pretty chaotic. As the boat careens through the night like an out-of-control freight train … it is loud. Constant loud, like the rumble of distant thunder.
“You can actually hear the speed, feel the speed. Like accelerating in a sports car with your eyes closed, off-road, in the rain.”
He portrayed the sea and the speed as leading to difficult footing, as well as cold blasts of seawater coming over the side.
Wrote Matt Knighton, Azzam’s on-board reporter: “I knew it was blowing hard when ‘Chuny’ [Roberto Bermudez] came back and, out of breath, says, ‘This is OK, no?’ And before I can answer he starts throwing all the heavy stacking gear both under and in my bunk because we were nosediving into the waves and needed the weight aft.”
The teams have another five or six sailing days and, if the race so far is any indication, the leaders look as though they will finish within minutes of each other.
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