Let’s do this in order. Going into day 4 (of what is expected to be a 20+ day leg) Dongfeng Race Team are leading the fleet by 17 nautical miles with 4,160 miles to go to Sanya, China. Going back to the fact this race is a one-design fleet, a 17 nautical mile lead on day 4 is a not a bad start, not that anyone particularly wants to admit it at this stage for fear of jinxing the situation.
© Sam Greenfield / Volvo Ocean Race
Sailors and sailing fans are a superstitious bunch – no green paint, no bananas, stick a coin under the mast when you first step it, keep a ‘lucky’ bit of wood onboard… the list goes on. But skipper Charles Caudrelier is happy with their progress: “This morning we discovered Pakistan. We were a little worried to go so close to the coast as we’re pretty sure it’s never seen a boat like ours! Hundreds of fishing boats everywhere. Time to decide as we gybed at the right moment resulting in a stronger lead and the positioning we wanted; to be furthest East of the fleet to bypass the high pressure system. Although now we’re pretty sure the wind will turn right 80 degrees. This will be a compromise between wind strength and direction, we’ll have to wait and see.”
The reality is, we wouldn’t normally put too much emphasis on Dongfeng’s lead because it’s almost too good to be true and too early to tell. But we’re going to talk about it anyway to give some perspective of wanting to do well from a sporting point of view and balancing that with the primary objective of Dongfeng Race Team.
Before embarking on this leg the decision was made to take a fourth Chinese sailor onboard. A risky decision that could upset the dynamics on the boat as once again, the double edged sword came into play for the team’s management and Skipper: continuing their long term sporting mission of bringing offshore sailing to China versus bringing yet another inexperienced Chinese sailor onboard? They could have picked two Chinese sailors who already had a leg of the race under their belts and give themselves a better chance of winning what is undoubtedly the most important leg of the race for the Chinese project? It was a difficult decision and even 24 hours before the final crew list was due, it could have tipped either way. The final decision was to take Cheng Ying Kit onboard for leg 3 alongside Liu Xue (Black), he would be the fourth Chinese sailor to sail a leg since the race began back in October.
Could this decision upset the dynamics onboard?
Yes.
Could it result effect the chance of winning the home leg?
Absolutely.
In fact, not only did Kit step onboard but so did Jack Bouttell and Sam Greenfield, neither of whom had raced on the Volvo Ocean 65 either. So just to re-cap, Skipper Charles Caudrelier set off for leg 3 with three crew who had never even raced onboard Dongfeng before and now four days in, this team are leading the fleet to China, against all odds.
Who knows how long it will last, who knows what will happen in the 20 odd days of racing to come? But what we do know is that the Dongfeng crew are determined. The more challenges thrown at this team, the more this team come out on top.
“We’ve got a good atmosphere onboard right now,” reported Charles this morning. “This is going to be a long leg so we’re getting ready for it. The new ones are happy, living their dream of the Volvo Ocean Race but, unfortunately, they won’t cross the Equator, that was the questions this morning met by disappointment as they realise we come close (60nm close) when we hit the Malacca Straits but it doesn’t quite cut it.”
There is currently 23 nautical miles separating the fleet between first and last position. Now past the Iranian exclusion zone they will stay north, close to the Pakistani coast to avoid a high pressure system to the south. Tonight they can expect more winds (15/16 knots) and less drifting as the higher winds mark a change from the light Gulf thermal conditions to the more established monsoon winds of India.
From Dongfeng
