After 24 hours of relatively calm seas and caressing the coast of New Zealand, the Volvo Ocean Race fleet are now into the thick of leg five.
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After passing East Cape yesterday, the country’s easternmost point, the six ships will finally start to hook into the tail of the ex-cyclone Pam, which has now become a tropical storm running across the Southern Ocean.
Winds will pick up and after days of cyclonic activity in the area, the sea state will be rough.
“We’re in a sprint to East Cape where we fully expect the wind and sea state to rear their ugly heads,” said Matt Knighton, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s on-board reporter (OBR).
“It will take us about a day to reach the ocean but once we get into the southerly wind, we will have 20-25 knots, which is what is left from Cyclone Pam,” warned returning Mapfre skipper Iker Martínez.
After leaving Auckland, the crews entered the Hauraki Gulf, crossing the Bay of Plenty, heading towards the East Cape, which signals the start of the leg proper to Itajai.
The sailors are easing themselves into the watch systems by now and the sooner they get into their routines the better they will feel.
After a difficult start which saw ADOR slowed down by seaweed, Ian Walker’s men were back in the mix at 23:00 UAE time last night. Walker, 45, confirmed that after a good start and finding themselves in second, they quickly drifted to the back of the fleet.
“We have been fighting poor performance numbers all day,” said the British skipper yesterday. “Initially we found weed on the prop leg, which we cleared. Next we had to clear the rudders and finally we had to do a full stop to clear weed off the keel.
“Finally we seem to be sailing at our targets but already have over a five-mile deficit to catch up. Far from ideal but at least we know why.”
First video in from onboard Dongfeng after a good start. What next? @StrombergMartin tells us more: https://t.co/cJqnTPGswQ #VOR
— Dongfeng Race Team (@DongfengRacing) March 18, 2015
Azzam’s on-board reporter Knighton added later: “We noticeably were off the pace for over an hour and finally discovered significant amounts of seaweed on the foils below.
“Each manoeuvre became more elaborate than the previous. First Parko (Luke Parkinson) leaned over the side with his feet held to clear the rudder, then Juddy (Justin Slattery) was lowered with a halyard to clean the keel, and finally, we stopped the boat and Louis (Sinclair) dove under and found debris on the keel, prop, and rudder…again.
“We’ve made strong gains on the leaders since and the pack is back together as daylight is starting to fade.”
After the 67-hour delay departing the City of Sails, the sailors are just thankful to be out on the open water again, even if they might be dreaming of dry, warm beds in a few day’s time.
“Everyone agrees waiting was the right call, but we all wanted to be here, onboard, earlier,” said Team Alvimedica’s American on-board reporter Amory Ross.
“I think most of us have been in the offshore frame of mind all week, checked out from ordinary life on land.
“We’ve been thinking about this leg for the last year (at least) and nobody has used the additional time in New Zealand to relax; it was impossible.
“Like a kid before Christmas, I personally found sleep hard knowing we were on the eve of something so special.”
Team SCA OBR Anna-Lena Elled added: “It was a relief for all of us when the new start time was announced. Sure, it was nice to have some extra time off and be able to really enjoy and celebrate Saturday’s in-port race, but the waiting in general is not as fun.
“It’s just waiting. It’s a good feeling to be back on the boat and in race mode again.”
It’s still extremely early days in the leg, with just over three nautical miles blanketing the fleet last night. Leg four winners Mapfre led from Dongfeng Race Team, Alvimedica, Team Brunel, ADOR and SCA.
