It's Time: Volvo Ocean Race Back to Origins

VOLVO Ocean Race 2017-2018: Southern Ocean

It's here...the wait has been worth it...it wont be easy...but that's not what we signed up for. For some it's Christmas time for others it's time for a deep down and dirty Southern Ocean Ride.  

On December 9 Volvo Ocean Race assured that it is time to go back to “our roots”. “And the boats are ready to tackle the Southern Ocean…”

This years´ edition is unique, the Southern Ocean routes of the Volvo Ocean Race have been traced through waters which have not been chartered by Volvo Ocean Teams for decades. Leg 3 is just the initial kiss of a Southern Ocean travel. It draws a crazy line through the dangerous Southern Ocean from Cape Town to Melbourne. Leg 4 will go up to China, Leg 5 will go from Hong Kong to Auckland then the final flight of the Southern Ocean will end in the legendary mysterious Auckland to Itajai through the Cape Horn and its furious gate. It will be a rollercoaster ride...bucke up...or risk your life.

This is what most have been waiting for, for Teams to embark into the Southern Ocean. Why? Waves beyond believe, skies changing strange, temperatures dropping to freeze points, winds not restricted to the Ice Exclusion Zone….what more could you ask for right?

The start of the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race through the Southern Ocean promised to be epic and it delivered just that. It was fast and furious with winds gusting through the sails at over 40 knots...seas choppy and strategy and tactics at once. It was brutal but just an introduction.

Teams showed their teeth from the start of it...battling for positions. Virtual flyers, real sailors they drew blood.

Sailing Scuttlebutt News assured that with just less than 14 miles of difference between each Team -all looking to double the points, they were up for “Two Weeks of Terror”.

“Charles Caudrelier’s Dongfeng Race Team and the Spanish MAPFRE squad were neck and neck leading the Volvo Ocean Race fleet out of Cape Town and towards the southernmost point of the African continent today,” press reported.

This was the 11th time in history that the Fleet of the Volvo Ocean Race stormed out of Cape Town with 6.5 thousand miles in front of them naked awaiting but challenging their way to Melbourne Australia.

This route has been vacant for the past three editions of the Volvo Ocean Race...some say because it is just too dangerous. The last time Volvo Ocean Teams were sawn sailing hard these longitudes was in the 2005-2006.

“epic and full throttle ride with huge waves, freezing storms, biblical winds and crazy storms…” the media went poetic, the sailors went into Game Mode.

ETA for arrival and end of Leg 3 is set for December 24 to December 26.

Positions by Monday 11 13.00 UTC were set to shift for sure and ranked...leading Sun Hun Kai / Scallywag, followed in Second AkzoNobel, mythical MAPFRE in third, Dongfeng Race Team breathing into 4th, Brunel experienced into 5th followed by Vestas and in final position Turn the Tide on Plastic.

“Volvo Ocean Race game players are not constricted by an ice exclusion zone. This will allow them to dive further south, effectively shortening the distance to the Leg 3 finish line in Melbourne, Australia, while profiting from better breeze,” media reported. However going into deep means being 24 hs on the look out for Icebergs and massive and small pieces of detaching ice. A deadly view unfolds in sailors view.

It was 24 hs of a fast and furious opening day which was followed by some time to breathe it all in as the team crossed a high-pressure ridge. The crossing of the ridge is the doorway to another crazy slingshot which is expected to be even faster and more dangerous than the start of the race.

“Over the coming two weeks the 63 sailors and seven embedded onboard reporters will face some of the world's worst weather as they charge east through the Southern Ocean, the only ocean in the world uninhibited by land. It is notorious for its monstrous waves and howling winds, brought about by an endless stream of violent depressions that circle the bottom of the planet without restriction.Feared and respected in equal measure, the Southern Ocean is also an intrinsic part of the Volvo Ocean Race, having featured heavily in each of its 12 editions thus far,” International Press report echoed the Volvo Ocean heartbeat.

The lighter winds are a welcome relief to the crews after an exhausting first day to Leg 3, allowing them to check over their boats for damage, dry their soaked wet weather gear - and prepare mentally and physically for what lies ahead.

“We have to cross a ridge, and they're always difficult to cross because it's a transition between two areas of wind in a high pressure system,” Dongfeng skipper Charles Caudrelier said. “We're trying to leave the high pressure at its southern end to catch the low pressure below but these conditions are always difficult. The wind is very shifty, very light. We are lucky though because the system is moving in the opposite direction to us.”

An enormous low pressure system is currently developing to the west of the fleet, and in a few days will engulf the teams with winds of up to 60 knots.

“There's a lot of hype about what's going to happen in a few days' time,” said Bleddyn Mon, making his debut for Turn the Tide on Plastic in this leg. “We're all waiting for that to happen, basically. I'm looking forward to a bit of breeze and some big waves.”

Juan Vila, navigator on MAPFRE, added: “Short term we're expecting the breeze to build to around 20 knots but the big one will be on Thursday or Friday when the first front comes through. The current forecast has winds of well over 40 knots. The main goal will be keeping the boat in one piece.”

In one piece...safe but gone through hell...it's that time again...Volvo Ocean Race across the Southern Ocean...