Strong winds are forecast for the start of Leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race on Sunday afternoon in Cape Town as the famous ‘Cape Doctor’ – a strong southeasterly wind - pays a visit over the weekend.
Credit : P Martinez
On Saturday morning the doctor made a house call bringing a steady 40 knots of wind, and at least one gust of over 60 knots was recorded. This is expected to moderate somewhat for Sunday’s race start, but winds are forecast to remain in the 25 to 35 knot range, with some gusts significantly stronger.
“It’s going to be full-on for the start,” says Vestas 11th Hour Racing navigator Simon Fisher. “Very strong southeasterlies and then when we get offshore it will be a decent sea-state we’re banging into as well. It will soften a bit but then we’re quickly into the westerlies and it’s the proper Southern Ocean. It’s going to be an intense leg in general.”
“It could be very windy for the first week and very high speed,” agreed Charles Caudrelier, skipper of Dongfeng Race Team. “I think it’s going to be a fantastic leg.”
Leg 3, from Cape Town to Melbourne, Australia is a nominal 6,500 nautical miles. The routing takes the teams down into the ‘Roaring Forties’, the area south of 40-degrees latitude where storm systems circle Antarctica, unimpeded by any land mass. Towering waves, steady gale and storm force winds, and ice-cold temperatures are a daily feature here.
“We should remember it’s late spring, just the beginning of summer and the winter has just passed in the Southern Hemisphere so the water is still bloody cold,” said race veteran Bouwe Bekking, the skipper of Team Brunel.
“I think the most frightening thing is that the depressions are still so strong… the amount of pressure that is in the air is just humongous. And of course, the water temperatures – hopefully with the ice limits we don’t encounter any ice -- but if the water is just a few degrees above freezing and you get a southerly breeze, you might be having icicles off the mast some times. We’ve experienced it in the past… When we did this leg in the old days, this was the leg when the most damage appeared. The boats today are stronger than before, but still things can break.”
Deciding when to push for speed and when to throttle back to protect crew and equipment is a delicate balance. The stakes are even higher as this is the first double-point leg. The winner of Leg 3 will collect 15 points (7 x 2 = 14 plus a 1 point win bonus).
“I think we have a lot of experience on our boat and we have to trust that experience in the Southern Ocean,” explained Charlie Enright, skipper of Vestas 11th Hour Racing talking about finding the balance of how hard to push. “It not just about the points, it’s the fact we don’t haul-out in Melbourne, it’s the heavy conditions in the Southern Ocean, because you don’t want to break anything…To finish first, you must first finish.”
For Xabi Fernández, the skipper of MAPFRE, the race leader, the stopover in Cape Town provided a much needed opportunity to recharge.
“After the first long leg (Lisbon to Cape Town), it’s always important to be in the front,” he said. “We’re happy as a team. We had a good stopover. The boat is in great shape and the team is as well, so we’re ready to go.”
The start of Leg 3 is scheduled for 2pm in Cape Town, 12:00 UTC. With the strong winds forecast, the departure from Cape Town will be quick and live links from the race course may be compromised. We will endeavour to bring the best coverage possible for as long as practical.
In Port Results, here
MAPFRE
Skipper - Xabi Fernández
Navigator - Juan Vila
Watch Captain - Pablo Arrarte
Watch Captain - Rob Greenhalgh
Crew - Louis Sinclair
Crew - Blair Tuke
Crew - Willy Altadill
Crew - Sophie Ciszek
Crew - Tamara Echegoyen
OBR - Jen Edney
Vestas 11th Hour Racing
Skipper - Charlie Enright
Navigator - Simon Fisher
Crew - Mark Towill
Crew- Roberto 'Chuny' Bermúdez de Castro Muñoz
Crew - Nick Dana
Crew - Tom Johnson
Crew - Tony Mutter
Crew - Stacey Jackson
Crew - Jena Hansen
OBR - Sam Greenfield
Dongfeng Race Team
Skipper - Charles Caudrelier
Navigator - Pascal Bidégorry
Watch Captain - Stuart Bannatyne
Watch Captain - Kevin Escoffier
Watch Captain - Daryl Wislang
Crew - Marie Riou
Crew - Carolijn Brouwer
Crew - Jackson Bouttell
Crew - Xue (Black) Liu
OBR - Martin Keruzore
team AkzoNobel
Skipper - Simeon Tienpont
Navigator - Jules Salter
Watch Captain - Chris Nicholson
Crew - Alex Pella
Crew - Brad Farrand
Crew - Nicolai Sehested
Crew - Emily Nagel
Crew - Martine Grael
Crew - Justin Ferris
OBR - James Blake
Team Brunel
Skipper - Bouwe Bekking
Bowman - Carlo Huisman
Helm-trimmer - Alberto Bolzan
Helm-trimmer - Kyle Langford
Navigator - Andrew Cape
Helm-trimmer - Louis Balcaen
Helm-trimmer - Peter Burling
Helm-trimmer - Annie Lush
Helm-trimmer - Abby Ehler
OBR - Ugo Fonolla
Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag
Skipper - David Witt
Navigator - Antonio Fontes
Watch Captain - Luke Parkinson
Crew - Alex Gough
Crew - Annemieka Bes
Crew - Benjamin Piggott
Crew - John Fisher
Crew - Tom Clout
OBR - Konrad Frost
Turn the Tide on Plastic
Skipper - Dee Caffari
Navigator - Nico Lunven
Watch Captain - Martin Strömberg
Watch Captain - Liz Wardley
Crew - Elodie Mettraux
Crew - Francesca Clapcich
Crew - Bianca Cook
Crew - Lucas Chapman
Crew - Bleddyn Mon
Crew - Frederico Melo
OBR - Jeremie Lecaudey
From Volvo Ocean Race
