In just 24 hours six brand new points will be up for grabs in the Volvo Ocean Race. The fourth in-port race of the competition will take place in the Bay of Haitang (Sanya, China) tomorrow (Saturday) from 14:00 local time (06:00 UTC) and it's looking like the fleet will be getting some of “Telefónica”'s favourite conditions: medium airs.
“Forecasts look like there's going to be northeasterly breeze for the in-port, the same breeze that we are expecting for the leg start, of medium intensity. We would love that to be the case for this in-shore race, and even stronger winds would be great as we feel much more at ease in them”, said skipper Iker Martínez this morning.
Jordi Calafat, helmsman on “Telefónica” as well as the team's sail inventory coordinator, was more specific, and even went into the numbers: some 10 to 15 knots of breeze said the sailor from Mallorca although he was keen to add that many other elements make up an in-shore race: “The in-shores depend on a lot of other factors too, especially on the start and on making as few errors as possible in terms of manoeuvres, where I don't think we've done so well in the past.”, he said.
According to the available information it looks like this in-port will be more like the Cape Town race (where “Telefónica” won) than the races at Alicante and Abu Dhabi where the Spanish boat had to make do with the bottom spot, with light airs being the order of the day on both occasions.
For navigator Andrew Cape, who works closely alongside the team's meteorologists to get the most reliable forecasts possible says that this could be: “one of the best yet. Looking at the direction of the breeze we are going to get, we'll have an upwind start with some good air.”. Once again for him the start will be crucial: “it all depends on the start and after that we'll just have to see, because anything can happen. We are looking forward to doing this well”, says the experienced round the world sailor.
An “unusual” racecourse
This is the first time that “Telefónica” and the rest of the Volvo Open 70s will compete in Haitang Bay, a racecourse that Iker Martínez has described as “unusual” and which the “Telefónica” boat captain Pepe Ribes spoke about today, saying: “It looks like we are going to get some northeasterly breeze, which is the monsoon wind starting to move in. It's usually very strong to the West of the island, but here there's a lot of dirty air, especially where the buoys are going to be as they'll be very close to an island in front of the marina and also exactly opposite the marina”. As a consequence, “the breeze will be somewhat distorted by the mountains behind the marina and those beside the city”, although despite this the sailor from Alicante says that tomorrow's regatta could be “spectacular”.
Once the Racing Committee is on the water and depending on the wind conditions that materialise in the bay, the length of the coastal course that the fleet will have to complete opposite the marina at Sanya, host to the Volvo Ocean Race fleet, will be set out.
Aim: to reach the podium
Opinion is unanimous across the board on the boat currently leading the rankings in this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race: a podium finish would be a good result. “I think that the aim in the in-port should be to get to the podium and to try to avoid a bad finish like we had in Abu Dhabi and Alicante. Perhaps being a bit more conservative and sailing a good in-shore would make us more relaxed about the start of the leg the next day to New Zealand”, says Basque trimmer Xabi Fernández.
With some pretty extreme results in the previous in-shore races, this is one of the areas the team wants to improve on: “Of course we had the win in South Africa, but in Alicante and Abu Dhabi we had a few issues and with the light airs it was a real struggle for us”, said Iker Martínez. Despite this and with three victories in three legs the Olympic champion says: “We can't complain as we've got what we wanted and we' prepared well for the long haul legs, which is probably why we find the shorter racing more tricky”.
“If I could choose, which I can't, I'd like some medium to strong breeze and to aim for a podium spot would be good and a top spot would be incredible, but in any case, the podium is a good aim”, he added.
Today a day of checks
At 10:00 this morning in Sanya “Telefónica” was already casting off her line to head out to carry out the necessary checks and tests on the water following a change of rigging yesterday to step up safety on board ahead of the next leg between the ports of Sanya and Auckland.
“We don't know exactly where the problem was but there was some tension loss with the rigging”, said Martínez himself in today's skipper's press conference in China.
These important checks meant that the Spanish team did not end up taking part in today's ProAm race. Fortunately everything is in its place and the tests didn't prevent the team's guests from enjoying a sail on “Telefónica” today: “We spent the day sailing today to check that everything was working well and that we'd be able to take part in the race tomorrow. It was frustrating to see the other boats out racing and having a good time of it, but we had to check that everything was ok for us to race tomorrow. Our guests were out there with us today and they had a great time, so all's well”, concluded the Basque skipper.
From : Team Telefonica
Credit : M. Muina/Team Telefonica
“Forecasts look like there's going to be northeasterly breeze for the in-port, the same breeze that we are expecting for the leg start, of medium intensity. We would love that to be the case for this in-shore race, and even stronger winds would be great as we feel much more at ease in them”, said skipper Iker Martínez this morning.
Jordi Calafat, helmsman on “Telefónica” as well as the team's sail inventory coordinator, was more specific, and even went into the numbers: some 10 to 15 knots of breeze said the sailor from Mallorca although he was keen to add that many other elements make up an in-shore race: “The in-shores depend on a lot of other factors too, especially on the start and on making as few errors as possible in terms of manoeuvres, where I don't think we've done so well in the past.”, he said.
According to the available information it looks like this in-port will be more like the Cape Town race (where “Telefónica” won) than the races at Alicante and Abu Dhabi where the Spanish boat had to make do with the bottom spot, with light airs being the order of the day on both occasions.
For navigator Andrew Cape, who works closely alongside the team's meteorologists to get the most reliable forecasts possible says that this could be: “one of the best yet. Looking at the direction of the breeze we are going to get, we'll have an upwind start with some good air.”. Once again for him the start will be crucial: “it all depends on the start and after that we'll just have to see, because anything can happen. We are looking forward to doing this well”, says the experienced round the world sailor.
An “unusual” racecourse
This is the first time that “Telefónica” and the rest of the Volvo Open 70s will compete in Haitang Bay, a racecourse that Iker Martínez has described as “unusual” and which the “Telefónica” boat captain Pepe Ribes spoke about today, saying: “It looks like we are going to get some northeasterly breeze, which is the monsoon wind starting to move in. It's usually very strong to the West of the island, but here there's a lot of dirty air, especially where the buoys are going to be as they'll be very close to an island in front of the marina and also exactly opposite the marina”. As a consequence, “the breeze will be somewhat distorted by the mountains behind the marina and those beside the city”, although despite this the sailor from Alicante says that tomorrow's regatta could be “spectacular”.
Once the Racing Committee is on the water and depending on the wind conditions that materialise in the bay, the length of the coastal course that the fleet will have to complete opposite the marina at Sanya, host to the Volvo Ocean Race fleet, will be set out.
Aim: to reach the podium
Opinion is unanimous across the board on the boat currently leading the rankings in this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race: a podium finish would be a good result. “I think that the aim in the in-port should be to get to the podium and to try to avoid a bad finish like we had in Abu Dhabi and Alicante. Perhaps being a bit more conservative and sailing a good in-shore would make us more relaxed about the start of the leg the next day to New Zealand”, says Basque trimmer Xabi Fernández.
With some pretty extreme results in the previous in-shore races, this is one of the areas the team wants to improve on: “Of course we had the win in South Africa, but in Alicante and Abu Dhabi we had a few issues and with the light airs it was a real struggle for us”, said Iker Martínez. Despite this and with three victories in three legs the Olympic champion says: “We can't complain as we've got what we wanted and we' prepared well for the long haul legs, which is probably why we find the shorter racing more tricky”.
“If I could choose, which I can't, I'd like some medium to strong breeze and to aim for a podium spot would be good and a top spot would be incredible, but in any case, the podium is a good aim”, he added.
Today a day of checks
At 10:00 this morning in Sanya “Telefónica” was already casting off her line to head out to carry out the necessary checks and tests on the water following a change of rigging yesterday to step up safety on board ahead of the next leg between the ports of Sanya and Auckland.
“We don't know exactly where the problem was but there was some tension loss with the rigging”, said Martínez himself in today's skipper's press conference in China.
These important checks meant that the Spanish team did not end up taking part in today's ProAm race. Fortunately everything is in its place and the tests didn't prevent the team's guests from enjoying a sail on “Telefónica” today: “We spent the day sailing today to check that everything was working well and that we'd be able to take part in the race tomorrow. It was frustrating to see the other boats out racing and having a good time of it, but we had to check that everything was ok for us to race tomorrow. Our guests were out there with us today and they had a great time, so all's well”, concluded the Basque skipper.
From : Team Telefonica
