Four boats over in Volvo Ocean Race

[RECESS]

I have been watching this almost everyday via youtube. My wife emailed me today and asked if I had seen what happened? The Southern Ocean can be a big bad place.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/spor...ver-in-southern-ocean-mayhem/article23593275/

Four boats in the Volvo Ocean Race fleet keeled over in the Southern Ocean on Tuesday as the fleet experienced its roughest conditions since the event started last October.

The all-women’s crew of Team SCA (Sweden), Dongfeng Race Team (China) and MAPFRE (Spain) all suffered ‘Chinese gybes’ – with the boats briefly tipped on their sides – during 12 hours of drama as they headed towards Cape Horn.

Another competitor, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, also endured a drama-filled night, reporting “a massive wipe-out”, although it was not pitched on its side in the same way as the other three.

No injuries from any of the crews were reported although the boats were assessing how much damage had been done in the incidents after they were returned upright.

“Due to a big wave, our boat was completely lying on its side,” MAPFRE’s onboard reporter Francisco Vignale wrote in a message to shore.

“We were on deck and it was I who was closest to the water. Xabi (Fernandez) grabbed my jacket and helped me get out of this terrible situation.”

Charles Caudrelier, the French skipper of Dongfeng, also gave a graphic description of the toppling of his boat.

“This will be a great and amusing story to share over a beer or to my grandchildren in a few years’ time – but last night it was hell,” he wrote.

A Volvo Ocean Race spokesman said: “For a while, it was real mayhem but fortunately, none of the sailors was hurt. All four boats were later able to return to sailing through the most treacherous waves encountered since the six-strong fleet set off in Alicante last October.”

They have now covered more than 2,000 nautical miles (nm) of the 6,776nm fifth leg. Team Brunel (Netherlands), which avoided any major problems, led at 1255 GMT by 11.1nm from overall race leaders, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.

Team Alvimedica (Turkey/U.S.), another boat to stay upright throughout, were third, 28.8nm adrift of Brunel, with MAPFRE, Dongfeng Race Team and Team SCA trailing them.

The boats are still expected to arrive in their leg five destination, Itajaí, Brazil, around April 4, having left Auckland, New Zealand, on March 18.

In all, they will cover 38,739nm, visiting 11 ports and every continent. There are nine legs in all.

 

[shemandr]

Thanks for the update. I lost daily interest somewhere off of Singapore. I'll tune back in.

 

[Joe]

Why didn't they just use the sailing terms "knock down" or "broach", instead of the lubberly and ambiguous "keeled over"?

When you say "keeling over" it's more akin to passing out and not getting back up... which could, in some remote way, describe what happens when a sailboat loses it's underwater ballast and capsizes... and is unable to right itself.

The events described in the piece were nowhere near that serious..... knockdowns can result in damage to the boat, of course, but the boat itself will quickly right itself.

Slow night.... just being picky, I guess.

 

[RECESS]

I watched the video last night, it wasn't that violent at all. When a 65' boat goes on its side, it is never good but the boats handled it well.

http://youtu.be/_Ogg1aCuAXc

 

[jibes138]

28 knots of boat speed in a mono hull. Amazing. 32.22 mph. They should do the Americas cup in these boats instead of the cats. They could sail in any kind of weather and wouldn't need the wing sail to still be really exciting given the speeds.

 

[thinwater]

"28 knots of boat speed in a mono hull. Amazing. 32.22 mph. They should do the Americas cup in these boats instead of the cats. They could sail in any kind of weather and wouldn't need the wing sail to still be really exciting given the speeds."

In how much wind, surfing what size waves? While these are certainly amazing boats, and they do crank even in lesser winds, they are perhaps 1/2 the speed of the AC cats under the same conditions. Hell, my 20 year old Stiletto saw 24 knots in 20 knots true with my 12 year old as my crew, which is all they could do in harbor conditions, on a good day. Volvo boats would be a yawn in harbor conditions by comparison. And while it's great that they can sail in any conditions... that is what they are doing now! Horses for courses.

"Chinese Jibe"

That's an accidental jibe, unless the boom is on one side and the top on the other, which is not what I saw.

----

And that is why you keep the hatch shut. I once saw a J24 sink in less than a minute due to a knock-down with the companion way open. Blub, blub, blub.... Fortunately there were chase boats.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

I like that idea ...

28 knots of boat speed in a mono hull. Amazing. 32.22 mph. They should do the Americas cup in these boats instead of the cats. They could sail in any kind of weather and wouldn't need the wing sail to still be really exciting given the speeds.

Going further with it ... why not a sort of Tour of America style race?!?! This Volvo Ocean Race is interesting to a point. It goes on far too long and the distances are too great to hold my attention. The time periods are long where there isn't anything of interest.

Think of an ocean race with much shorter legs, from port-to-port, up and down the west coast or the east coast. Sailors don't get to rest in port and re-group. They have to get up and start the next day, like the bicycle races. It goes on for a month, like the Tour de France. The routes would criss-cross, possibly hitting some ports more than once. Not a giant circle. Possibly start and finish in San Francisco, for instance. Throw in some buoy racing for variety.

Logistics would be incredibly hard, but think of the potential.

 

[weinie]

Since it seems the best action is in the Southern Ocean, what about a race around Antarctica?

 

[Benny17441]

Joe the reporter is probably a British lubby working from Spain.

 

[weinie]

Why didn't they just use the sailing terms "knock down" or "broach", instead of the lubberly and ambiguous "keeled over"?

When you say "keeling over" it's more akin to passing out and not getting back up... which could, in some remote way, describe what happens when a sailboat loses it's underwater ballast and capsizes... and is unable to right itself.

The events described in the piece were nowhere near that serious..... knockdowns can result in damage to the boat, of course, but the boat itself will quickly right itself.

Slow night.... just being picky, I guess.

I think the problem is the keel is still canted to the wrong side which makes righting the boat longer and more difficult.

 

[shemandr]

I think the problem is the keel is still canted to the wrong side which makes righting the boat longer and more difficult.

I think I read that they have to start the engine to center the keel. That wouldn't make me feel safe. But I guess if you are surfing down big waves, in a breeze, with squalls, in one of the most remote areas of the world feeling safe isn't on the agenda.