Southern Ocean fun, BWR, AC news—Sailing news from the U.S. and beyond

by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 21 Mar 2015 As winter cycles into the first days of spring, and as snow banks recede to mere slush piles, thoughts rather naturally turn to spring commissioning, race-entry forms, crew practices, distance races and beer-can chases, and fun times on the water with friends and family. And while this is a golden thought, the reality for most of us is that real spring sailing weather is still a few precious weeks removed, making this the perfect time to get wrapped up in the drama of the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR), where the fleet is engaging Leg Five, which takes teams from Auckland, New Zealand, to Itajaí, Brazil, via the much-feared Southern Ocean and Cape Horn.

According to onboard reports, the sea state was sloppy and disgusting for the first few days out of Auckland, but the real danger (tactically speaking) comes from a lurking high-pressure that’s following on the heals of Cyclone Pam, which caused the start of the leg to be delayed by three days. Fortunately, the awful ride seems to be abating, but so too are the winds and-vis-à-vis-velocity made good.

'The wind has died to 20 knots and downwind that means we can do between 10-15 knots of boatspeed,” said Matt Knighton, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Onboard Reporter. “The sea state has decreased dramatically and is making the ride relatively comfortable–there aren’t big waves crashing over the deck like yesterday. Still, at night the temperatures are dropping further and you can feel it, we’ve all got layers on and the Gore-tex socks just started to make an appearance.'

Also VOR-related, Team Vestas Wind has been making great progress in their race to repair their stricken Volvo Ocean 65, which they impaled on the Cargados Carajos Shoals, off of Mauritius, while sailing at 19 knots on November 28, 2014. Since then, the boat was moved to Persico Marine, in Italy, and new sections have been fabricated and are now being fitted, with the goal of rejoining the fleet for the final European legs.

“Some of these structural components are brand new and have been built in the background by all corners of the VOR consortium,” said Neil Cox, Team Vestas Wind’s shore manager. “We received the new aft section of cockpit late last week from Multiplast and now have it positioned on the jig with the rest of our original deck, being correctly positioned and aligned to be signed off by Race Management.”

Be sure to get the full VOR multimedia report, inside this issue.

Meanwhile, in the double-handed Barcelona World Race (BWR), longtime leaders Bernard Stamm and Jean Le Cam, sailing aboard 'Cheminees Poujoulat', have (at the time of this writing) only 988 miles separating their bow from the fishing line off of the iconic W Hotel in Barcelona. Their second-placed rivals, Guillermo Alatadill and José Munoz, sailing aboard 'Neutrogena', have an additional 1,128 miles to go, and third-placed Anna Corbella and Gerard Marin, sailing aboard 'GAES Centros Auditivos', are only 140 miles astern of 'Neutrogena'.

'It's a bit hectic, hard work but it is not going too badly,” reports Le Cam, who is on pace for his second consecutive IMOCA 60 win. “The wind was a little gusty, we are in a kind of Portuguese trade winds with lots of squalls. The wind in the squalls can get up to 40kts, but usually we have 20-25kts so it's a bit hard. We are going into the seas and so as soon as you push too hard, get a bit faster than boat starts to slam and jump.”

More from the BWR, inside.

And in keeping with our offshore theme, the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race has revealed the list of 12 skippers who will lead their amateur crews on an around-the-world adventure which, much like the ongoing VOR, is contested in a series of legs starting on August 30, 2015. According to reports, inside, this year’s class of skippers represents the most diverse group of race leaders that the event has ever welcomed, including two female skippers who hail from Australia and Canada.

'This is the first time we’ve had two women skippers in one race and I very much hope they will inspire future female participation,” said Sir Robin Knox-Johnson, the founder and chairman of the Clipper Race. “I’m also delighted to see the Clipper Race broadening its professional appeal as we welcome our first French and first Ukrainian/German skippers.”

And in America’s Cup news, Oracle Team USA’s “Turbo 45” has been released from judicial custody following a judge’s orders that disgruntled (and now very much unemployed) grinder Joe Spooner settle his termination dispute with Oracle. It will certainly be interesting to see how this strange situation unfurls.

Also AC-related, Sir Ben Ainslie’s BAR team has already been foiling on the waters off of Bermuda in preparation for their challenge for the 35th America’s Cup, which is set to be contested in 2017.

'We turned up in Bermuda with preconceived ideas about how big the race course was going to be, where it was going to be, the wind directions and strengths,” said BAR’s sailing manager, Jono Macbeth. “It's not until you're there on the ground that you really get a good feel for what's going on. And one thing we learned was that the race course is going to be pretty small, it's going to be tight, and there's going to be a lot of maneuvering. This is a sailor's race course, and we knew that we had to get back there as soon as we could for more detailed analysis.'

Get the full AC download, inside.

Also inside, get the latest news from the Edgartown Race Weekend and the ISCA International Masters Championship, and learn more about Bayview Yacht Club’s 100-year milestone.

May the four winds blow you safely home,