It’s only been a few days since we left, but there has been lots of action on board Dongfeng
The start was quite busy and upwind and, I imagine for the people following the fleet on the Tracker, it was a bit strange to see us heading northeast to go to New Zealand and increasing the distance between us and the finish line.
But since then we have been running fast towards Auckland and once again we have the other red boat – MAPFRE - a few metres from us.
After the first 24 hours of the leg we lost all internet connection on board and we were sailing blind without any new weather forecasts. Our forecast was too old to trust, so we made a tactical choice to stay close to our big opponents, MAPFRE.
Unfortunately for the first time in this race their routing choice was not the best, even very bad. They sailed a bit too far east and the two boats that were last made a big gain, especially Team AkzoNobel whose routing was exactly where we were aiming to go with our old weather forecast.
Now we have fixed the internet connection problem and we are working hard to leave MAPFRE behind.
But over the last 24 hours the maximum distance between us has been 500 metres - less distance between us than on our last excellent inshore race in China!
I tried to call them on the radio but they were probably not in good mood just after we had passed them this morning and there was no answer.
Now all the fleet is running in the same direction and looking for the best passage towards the terrible Doldrums ahead of us and we are using this time to have a rest after the first tough days.
The ambiance is really good on board but a few of my crew are a bit jealous of my food.
On board Dongfeng each sailor has his own menu. This means principally that we have a choice of freeze dried meals and snacks.
But I have a problem. On my third Volvo Ocean Race, I can’t face freeze dried food anymore so I have a few privileges on this leg that, as a good Frenchman, I have achieved by going on hunger strike for two legs.
So my menu now is cassoulet and gratin dauphinois…fresh traditional meals from France! There are a few advantages to being skipper…sometimes…
Charles
