Sri Lanka approach will be crucial to Leg 3 fortunes for Azzam

Ian Walker, the captain of Azzam, has acknowledged that the crews in the Volvo Ocean Race face a tricky decision, to reach island nation from the western or eastern route.

Ian Walker plots the strategy in the navigation station below the Azzam deck. Matt Knighton / ADOR

Ian Walker, the captain of Azzam, has acknowledged that the crews in the Volvo Ocean Race face a tricky decision, which could decide the winner of Leg 3.

The Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing vessel is in contention as the six competing boats sailed yesterday with less than 40 nautical miles covering first to last.

Azzam, who are joint leaders with Team Brunel and Team Dongfeng on four points after two legs, won Leg 1 from Alicante to Cape Town thanks to good tactics, and Walker said a critical time in this leg from Abu Dhabi to Sanya, China, looms.

He said in a blog post on the VOR website yesterday: “Skippers and navigators in the Volvo Ocean Race make small decisions all day long, but every now and again they have to make big tactical decisions that could win or lose the leg.

“Choosing which way to pass the Cape Verde Islands on Leg 1 was one such momentous decision and now we are about to make another potentially epic call.

“To reach Sri Lanka we have a choice of sailing outside the reach of India’s wind shadow and only turning towards Sri Lanka at the very end – let’s call this the western route. Alternatively we can gybe over and sail down the Indian coast – the easterly route.

“The easterly route could offer good breezes both from the sea and from the land at various times, but there is also the threat of long calm patches occurring during the transition phases between the two. Added to that risk, close in to the shore there are likely to also be an abundance of fishing nets to avoid.

“In contrast, the western route is cleaner, but it’s longer and leaves you downwind of Sri Lanka at the end. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that there will be a middle route and that means a big decision has to be made.”

Azzam are third in the middle of the pack, behind Dongfeng and Brunel, but ahead of Team Alvimedica, Team Mapfre and Team SCA.

Walker said there is an advantage, in scenarios such as this, to being further back in the pack to be able to assess how the strategic moves of any rivals are panning out.

“This is exactly the situation you hope for when behind, but, of course, it is only any good if you make the right call yourself,” he said.

“As long as they are close enough to see what boats behind are doing, the leaders will cover the strategies of the guys behind.

“In six sets of nav stations right now, six pairs of skippers and navigators are deciding on their preferred route and asking themselves whether they are brave enough to separate from the fleet.

“The big question is, do you stay with your opposition, or do you do what you think is right? If you are lucky, the boats behind go the way you wish to go and those ahead do not.

“This gives you a split with less risk of losing everything. If you are unlucky, every boat goes the opposite way to what you think is right and you have to either compromise your plans in the name of risk management or take the big leg-winning, or losing, risk.”

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