Den fjärde etappen av Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 inleddes i söndags med gasen i botten. Efter att ha lämnat Sanya och rundat Buddhastatyn vid Guan Yin vände båtarna österut med siktet inställt på sundet mellan Taiwan och den filippinska ön Luzon. Med mötande vind hela vägen dit blir resan skakig, blöt och långt från bekväm. Många lag har rapporterat om sjösjuka.
– De senaste timmarna har utan tvekan varit de tuffaste i tävlingen hittills, rapporterade Dongfengs Onboard Reporter Sam Greenfield under måndagen.
– Efter att rundat Buddhastatyn i söndags har den mötande vinden förvandlats från mild och behaglig till elak och hänsynslös. Hänsynslös i den meningen att oförutsägbarheten i vad som ligger framför oss är överväldigande. Det finns ingen rytm i vågorna.
Martin Strömberg på Dongfeng Race Team tvingades under måndagen laga revor i ett försegel som gått sönder i ett segelbyte. Laget har annars fått en bra start på etappen och leder nu knappt över tvåan Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. Det är fortfarande långt kvar till etappmålet i Auckland och det skiljer inte mycket mellan ettan och Team SCA på sjätte plats.
– Trots den tuffa tillvaron tävlar vi 100 procent hela tiden ombord på Team SCA, säger svenskbåtens skeppare Sam Davies.
Men vindriktningen är ändå mer gynsam än väntat och troligtvis klarar sig båtarna till Luzon utan att behöva göra några slag. Inom ett dygn kommer de att sikta norra Filipinerna och när de lämnat Sydkinesiska sjön bakom sig väntas det blir något lättare förhållanden. Men då måste också avgörande beslut fattas. Antingen fortsätter man segla mot öst eller nordöst i jakt på mer vind. Eller så väljer man en mer direkt väg och styr söderut mot Salomonöarna.
“We’re off and on our way to sunny Auckland. The good news is we have wind (always useful when trying to get somewhere fast on a sailing boat), the bad news is there are waves, and lots of them. The sea temperature is relatively warm, (when it hits you in the face, repetitively), and we’re all in one piece, just! The bad news is there are waves, lots of them, short and sharp ones. So as we sail along upwind at 11-12 knots it’s a bit like driving my old Fiat panda (with no suspension) on an un-made road with lots of pot holes. Only as we’re sailing on an upwind course the boat is very heeled over, meaning not only are we slamming up and down in the chop but we’re also living at 25-30 degrees of heel (I never tried this in my Fiat Panda but I’m sure it’d be about as comfortable as it is in a Volvo Ocean 65).
Life at 25 degrees of heel whilst pitching up and down is pretty is hard, comical at times but mainly just unpleasant. I’m one of the lucky ones and as yet have not felt sea sick (although starring at a lit screen trying to hit the right key on the keyboard whilst writing this blog, might push me over the edge).
You will be pleased to hear that if you get sick on ferries and boats, you are not alone. Even the toughest and most experienced sailors can get sea-sick. I think there are probably some conditions the human body just isn’t quite equipped to deal with.
I fear tonight could be one of those conditions. We’re currently sailing along on our J2 with a reef in the mainsail. This is sailor talk which basically means we have quite small sails up ready for some high winds. The sensor at the top of our mast is reading 26 knots as I type, we’re expecting this to build to 30 knots through the night (like in all good horror films, the hard stuff always happens at night in the dark).
So it looks like one more night of slamming up and down, hanging onto whatever you can whilst trying to get dressed so as to not fall over and trying not to decorate the inside of the boat with yor dinner as you scoop it as fast as possible, from the dog bowls we eat from, into your mouth.
I can smell tonights freeze dried meal wafting over as the hot water is being poured into the powdered mixture a few feet away, it smells like roast chicken. This is a personal favourite, although not at all like the real thing, but we are far too early in this leg to start dreaming about real food yet! The longing for some fresh fruit, real meat and I have to admit a good glass of wine and some cheese, normally kicks in hard after about 18 days at sea. The charm of living on powdered food and cereal bars has worn off by then, especially as we’ll be on about our 5th cycle of the same meals.
Luckily we’re heading to New Zealand where we hear the food (and wine) is excellent. More importantly I just stuck my head out of the hatch to check on my watch-mates on deck and I could see three mast lights of other Volvo 65’s. We’re in the middle of the fleet, gaining on our competitors and pushing hard. We have 5 000 miles of racing, slamming, stacking, sleep deprivation, changing sails and freeze dried food to go, but it will all be worth it if we arrive into Auckland with a few of those Volvo Ocean 65 mast lights (and a few, probably grumpy, male sailors) behind us. Now it’s time to wedge myself into my bunk for I hope at least an hours sleep before I’m called on deck for our next maneuver.“