The dry-erase board on the photo posted by the Team SCA boat told the tale.
“Total food for the 6th and 7th!
– “2 single-serve meals each
– “½ desert (sic) each
– “1 bag of mash to share
– “4 bags of muesli to share
– “1 bag trail mix to share”
The 12 women aboard the Volvo Ocean Race boat may have been heartened to learn they still had “lots of energy bars” – and “as much jerky as you like”.
The rationing came as the first female VOR team since 2001/02 fought a spirited battle at the back of the fleet with the Spanish team Mapfre, lying just a mile or two behind, while the two boats were nearly becalmed on Thursday.
Each arrived in Cape Town on Friday after 27 days at sea, with SCA beating Mapfre for sixth place to conclude the nearly 6,500-nautical-mile Leg 1, almost two days behind Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Azzam, the first boat to finish.
The day after the leaders reached port, and fresh food and beds, SCA’s onboard reporter Corinna Halloran wrote: “Trying really hard not to think about the want for a hot shower and need for fresh food, but it is becoming stronger and stronger by the minute.”
She said SCA were anything but despondent.
“We’re all fighting this together,” she wrote.
“It is a unique project that has us all intrigued about how far it can go off the water. What if we can change the world through sailing?”
The team are likely to swap out two sailors while in Cape Town, and the rest can regroup ahead of Leg 2, the race to Abu Dhabi, which begins on November 19.
poberjuerge@thenational.ae
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