pristato
Finišas atrodo ranka pasiekiamas, tačiau likusioms jachtoms tiesiog pasibaigė vėjas. Alvimedica plaukia lygiai 0.00 mazgų greičiu. Taip dar reikia sugebėti! Maisto klausimas vis dar išlieka. Vieni jau svajoja apie šiltą maistą krante, kiti skaičiuoja paskutinius maisto likučius, kad tik liktų vėjo finišui. O jis nepaprastas. Laukia 30 mazgų vėjas, kad jį pasigavę vis turėtų tiesiog parlėkti. Tik laikykis!
Team Alvimedica
It’s not easy going 0.00 knots. It’s also not easy to go 0.00 knots. But we’re doing it, and we’re only 250 miles away from the finish of a 7,000 mile leg. Full glass off—not even an albatross could fly right now. It is a cruel injustice, knowing that boats have already finished and are waking up in Cape Town to a proper rest and perhaps more appealing: a continental breakfast. By contrast, I gave everyone bars this morning so as to preserve yet another freeze dried meal (which brings us to 3 in stock, allowing for a full day’s extra food should we require it).
It is what it is and the guys are being surprisingly chipper. The skies are clear, the layers are off, Dave’s singing again on the helm; we’re doing what we can to patiently wait it out! Supposed to have 35 knots by tonight so everyone’s getting themselves ready to experience both extremes within 24 hours. Tidying up the yacht, prepping the gear, going through the systems, making sure when it comes we’re not caught off guard. Pretty bizarre way to approach a leg finish, actually. Famine or feast.
That’s it really. Just waiting for the wind to take us home, hopefully by days end… 247 miles to go.
Amory Ross, OBR
Team Alvimedica
Go to team website
Team SCA
In less than 48 hours, after sailing over 6,450 nautical miles, we will reach Cape Town, South Africa. The concept seems too strange wrap our heads around—it only feels like yesterday we left Alicante. It’s then even stranger to think that this is only the beginning and we are sailing around the world. Time has a funny way of playing with your head.
We’re all incredibly focused—we are still in the fight against MAPFRE—and it’s all about eking the most out of the boat in the remaining miles. Each extra half a knot is a possible mile gained against the Spanish team.
Our focus to catch MAPFRE is helping the miles pass by quickly, but even then, the miles seem to tick by at a snail’s pace despite us racing at 20 knots! We’re also trying really hard to not think about the want for a hot shower and need for fresh food but it is becoming stronger and stronger by the minute.
Corinna Halloran/Team SCA/Volvo Ocean Race
We’re also “waiting patiently” to be reunited with the rest of our team. Dee Caffari and Elodie Mettraux took the drier and cleaner route (and perhaps the more sane route) to Cape Town. In the last three weeks, the two women have been in the gym, getting bigger and stronger so we will probably not recognizable them when we arrive. Dee and Elodie have been in touch with us over the last few weeks, but emails are not the same as the real sailor—their smiles were seriously missed. Regardless, their E-encouragement has been monumental in getting us through the good times and the bad.
And then there’s the shore team (who are easily the best shore team in the race) not only because of their track records (most of them, from our boat builder to our chef, have been apart of winning teams) but also with their support. The shore team will be the first to greet us on the dock; they will be the first hugs and wishes of congratulations. Each and everyone of them know how hard we’ve worked these last three weeks, and to make them proud to be a part of Team SCA is something worth focusing and fighting for these last 48 hours.
That’s the unique thing about Team SCA: we’re all fighting for this together, it’s not just the 12 sailors on board at the moment. It’s a unique project that has us all intrigued about how far it can go off the water. What if we can change the world through sailing? What if we can make a global impact through our jobs and our passions? Despite the fact that the last 48 hours are easily becoming the longest of the leg, they are, hands down, becoming the most important part. The last 48 hours are becoming not just about fighting for 6th but also about fighting for what it means, on a global scale, to be a part of Team SCA.
One more sleep!
Corinna Halloran, OBR
Team SCA
Go to team website
Team Vestas Wind
Well sports fans - this is Salty, and I've been asked to do a guest blog for the day as Alan (formally known as Brian Carlin) has writers block (I think that’s what they call it).
So I will start by apologising for my grammar and spelling which was never a strong point, especially after 26 days at sea.
With the finish of leg 1 drawing ever closer to completion, and not helped by the lack of wind from any favorable quarter I might add, I’ve been thinking of the journey so far for Team Vestas Wind.
It is still less than 3 months ago that I met my new team mates in the sheds at Green Marine, UK to help pull this project together - and compete in this years race.
But yet here we are close to the end of Leg 1 which is pretty gratifying, I’m sure, to all involved.
Along the way there have been some great milestones and great friendships that have started developing. Nico has done a great job in selecting our three Under 30’s and they have come with a great attitude and willingness to learn and develop.
To say they were green to this type of sailing would have been a big understatement, especially for our two Danes. Their first overnight experience was the first night of our trip to Alicante and from there on in they have been soaking up every little aspect of offshore yachting whilst trying to enjoy it at the same time.
Some of Pete’s comments to date have summed that up, such as "I thought they were just clouds but now I understand much more what they mean" and "what’s a good or bad cloud".
One of his best comments though was after sailing at pace on the helm for an hour or so one day - "you’ve wrecked the rest of my sailing now, how can I go back to sailing those slower boats ever again?"
The three boys have been a pleasure to work with and have developed and picked things up really quickly from day one, and this in itself will put us in a good place for the rest of the race.
So as a team we have started to come together and gel as one as Leg 1 has progressed, for sure we still have lots to learn both about ourselves and our boat but I think we are in a great place to do this in a quick manner.
We have had some very strong points in leg 1 and have given ourselves many opportunities to mix it with the favorites and have a crack at them and to let them know that we are definitely in this race.
This is very pleasing given the timeframe and sailing time we’ve had in these boats compared to our competitors - at the end of this leg we'll have tripled the number of sailing miles we have done onboard. The learning curve has been short and steep over this period and I’m sure there is lot’s more we can get out of the boat yet to close the gap on our friends in front of us.
Onboard, we're certainly looking forward to getting to Cape Town - hopefully sometime today! - and catching up with family, enjoying a cold well-deserved beer, but I think mostly I am looking forward to my first day off since start with the team at the beginning of August, a sleep-in followed with a lazy lunch and some time to just chill recharge the batteries.
Then it will be back to business. There's lots to do, lots to learn and plenty of fire and passion to hit Leg 2 with the desire and burn to be first into Abu Dhabi.
Thanks for reading this.
Salty
Rob Salthouse, Sailor
Team Vestas Wind
Go to team website
MAPFRE
It's a very difficult time - many things have been tested. The race makes you understand many of the mistakes and realise that, here, preparation is everything - and every strategic decision weighs a ton.
Our arrival in Cape Town will be a clean slate. The race will start again for us but without forgetting that this first stage has cost us dearly. The arrival in Cape Town remains for all 7 of us something that we're sincerely looking forward to. Back to enjoying a meal, the affection of a loved one, the heat and smell of coffee, a warm shower, to sleep more than 3 hours, going to the bathroom without moving in all directions, writing an email without have the computer jumping everywhere (even writing this blog is an adventure!)
Francisco Vignale, OBR
MAPFRE
Go to team website