Ever heard of that phrase? It’s something that your mum might tell you if you’d just fallen off your bike.
Credit : S Greenfield
Comforting words to soften the blow of a bad grade, a bruised ego, or mend a broken heart.
The Dongfeng sailors’ mums aren’t on the boat, but if they were, you can bet that those words would have been ringing around the galley over the last few days.
“It’s real tough,” wrote skipper Charles Caudrelier on Thursday. “For the very first time, we’re in a tough position.”
A tough position emotionally, and a tough position physically. In fact, the red boat which scored a perfect hat-trick in their home port of Sanya had fallen to last place in the fleet.
“I know we’ve made some mistakes,” continued Charles. “We could have negotiated some situations better, and we aren’t the only ones with issues – but success left us.”
Onboard Reporter Sam Greenfield further captured the black mood blanketing the boat.
“Today feels like we’re strapped in the back seat of a family wagon on a road trip to the bottom of the world,” he blogged, miserably.
It’s not easy sailing the Volvo Ocean Race. It’s even harder when you’re not sailing fast.
And to top that off, try being the person who makes the decisions which could leave your team tens, hundreds of miles behind the competition.
“It’s much, much harder for me [than solo sailing] as everyone onboard has to deal with the consequences in terms of choosing a route, a mode, how we sail against other boats,” admits Sam Davies, skipper of Team SCA.
“We have to work together as a team but Libby and I take the final decision as to where we want to go. If that pays off then great, we’re all happy."
She continues. “But if we make a mistake it’s hard, as the whole crew has worked hard to make the boat fast and then we’ve let everyone down.
“At least when I’m sailing on my own, it’s only me who has to deal with the consequences of getting something wrong.”
That’s the reality of this race. When it’s going good, you celebrate together. When it’s going wrong, you commiserate together.
But you always – always – continue together. Convince each other that things will improve.
“We will fight for every point,” signed off Charles emphatically yesterday. Then he pressed ‘send’, closed his laptop, and went up on deck.
And fight his team did. They passed Team SCA at 1840 UTC on Thursday. Then, before the stroke of midnight, Team Alvimedica.
Patience. Persistance. Progress. The French-Chinese boat sailed in fourth place for over 22 hours with third placed MAPFRE in their sights. Then, at 2200 UTC last night, they finally pounced.
“The fight with Dongfeng is going badly for us,” explains Rob Greenhalgh, on the Spanish boat.
“They’ve come from pretty much directly behind us to in front of the leeward beam.
“We’ve tried everything. They just seem to be a tiny but faster all the time which is a shame. It’s been a struggle.”
The sailors on Dongfeng had hit the bottom, licked their wounds – and then dragged themselves to their feet.
With near 2000nm left to go, this race is not over. Especially when you’re blasting 180° at a smooth 16.7kts, a massive 0.8kts higher than anyone else in the fleet.
At 0640 UTC this morning, they screamed, full speed, past Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, into second place.
“I won’t lie, the mood on board wasn’t very good these last few days,” says Kevin Escoffier.
“We weren’t used to being in that place, but it was also good to push us to be better, to focus more on performance.
“And it’s worked - because we’ve been faster in the last 48 hours. We were also on the right side compared to the other boats who are more westerly.”
Leaders Team Brunel were sweating. And not just because they had the French-Chinese boat breathing down their necks.
An outbreak of flu on the Dutch team has left them with just half of their eight sailors fighting fit.
“Pablo had a small virus and now Jens had it, Capey has it a little and I have it a little,” splutters Louis Balcaen. “Hopefully it isn’t going to spread more than that.”
Then, at 0930 UTC on Day 13 of Leg 4, the sweat paid off. The switch happened.
But there are no parties here. Not yet.
“There is no relief, we’re not happy,” adds Kevin, his boat having completed an incredible climb from last to first in just two days.
“We’ve done a good job the last 48 hours, we’ve been quite fast, we’ve been working on a few issues with the mast track, but we’re focused because we’re in the Doldrums and anything can still happen.”
Behind them, MAPFRE in second, and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in third.
"I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up with us and Dongfeng match racing all the way to New Zealand," says Ian Walker, onboard Azzam.
Kevin smiles. After the last couple of days, no challenge is too big.
“We’re trying our best to be the first boat out of the Doldrums," he says.
“And then we will have three or four days of downwind - we’re quite confident in our speed downwind. I think we’ve been sailing quite well, much better than the beginning for sure.”
Now that's the real meaning of 'c’est en se trompant qu’on apprend.'
You learn from your mistakes.
From Volvo Ocean Race
