Cruel and unusual punishment is how the youngest Volvo Ocean Race sailor Rome Kirby described the conditions that sapped about 10 kg of his body weight during the race from the Maldives to China.
Credit : A.Ross/Puma/VOR
Minutes after stepping off the boat, the physical signs of a body pushed to the extreme are obvious.
The 22-year-old American's lips are chapped and his ears are crisp from the sun. His eyes are bloodshot from just three hours' decent sleep in the past two days and his clothes are hanging off his frame because of the all too obvious weight loss.
"How do I recover from this,'' he says repeating the question. "I eat and sleep, that's all I'm going to do." His lips then crack as they stretch into a smile at the sight of a cold can of beer. "Oh, now this is recovery."
The teams endured roasting heat with temperatures below deck reaching in excess of 40 degrees Celsius, fuelled by the equatorial sun and soaring sea temperatures of more than 30 degrees.
Sure, they had tiny wall mounted fans that they moved from bunk to bunk with each tack, but there was no iced water or even a cool breeze to give any relief Kirby said.
"It was definitely really draining,'' he said. "I started the race at 92 kg, now I'm probably 83 or 82 kg; I've probably lost 10 kg.
"I eat tonnes, it's just you can't keep up with what you're burning. Then there's the water weight, you're always dehydrated no matter how much you drink, you're just tired and you just can't keep up with it.
"I feel weaker than I did in Alicante. I felt pretty fit in Alicante, now I'm like, I can't lift anything."
Returning home for some rest and recuperation, Kirby said he was unlikely to be having a typical action packed homecoming of surfing or ice hockey. Instead, he would be forced to "put his feet up" in preparation for the Sanya In-Port Race on February 18 and the 5,220 nautical mile race from Sanya to Auckland, which starts on February 19.
From : Volvo Ocean Race
Minutes after stepping off the boat, the physical signs of a body pushed to the extreme are obvious.
The 22-year-old American's lips are chapped and his ears are crisp from the sun. His eyes are bloodshot from just three hours' decent sleep in the past two days and his clothes are hanging off his frame because of the all too obvious weight loss.
"How do I recover from this,'' he says repeating the question. "I eat and sleep, that's all I'm going to do." His lips then crack as they stretch into a smile at the sight of a cold can of beer. "Oh, now this is recovery."
The teams endured roasting heat with temperatures below deck reaching in excess of 40 degrees Celsius, fuelled by the equatorial sun and soaring sea temperatures of more than 30 degrees.
P.Todd/VOR
Sure, they had tiny wall mounted fans that they moved from bunk to bunk with each tack, but there was no iced water or even a cool breeze to give any relief Kirby said.
"It was definitely really draining,'' he said. "I started the race at 92 kg, now I'm probably 83 or 82 kg; I've probably lost 10 kg.
"I eat tonnes, it's just you can't keep up with what you're burning. Then there's the water weight, you're always dehydrated no matter how much you drink, you're just tired and you just can't keep up with it.
"I feel weaker than I did in Alicante. I felt pretty fit in Alicante, now I'm like, I can't lift anything."
Returning home for some rest and recuperation, Kirby said he was unlikely to be having a typical action packed homecoming of surfing or ice hockey. Instead, he would be forced to "put his feet up" in preparation for the Sanya In-Port Race on February 18 and the 5,220 nautical mile race from Sanya to Auckland, which starts on February 19.
From : Volvo Ocean Race
