Leg 7, Day 8: “Gybing in these conditions is just a nightmare”

The Chinese entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18, Dongfeng Race Team, is now taking on the toughest conditions of the entire eight-month race as it crosses the most remote and dangerous seas on the planet in the south Pacific Ocean.

Dongfeng Race Team, which lies second overall in the race behind the Spanish crew on MAPFRE, is currently less than 2,000 miles from Cape Horn, mid-way through Leg 7 from Auckland in New Zealand to Itajai in Brazil.

Right now the focus on board is all about the balance between going fast and staying safe as Charles Caudrelier and his crew encounter big following seas and wind speeds of 30-40 knots.

The red and white Volvo Ocean 65, sponsored by the Chinese car and truck manufacturer Dongfeng Motor Corporation, is lying in second place for the leg, 24 miles behind the leg leader, Team Brunel, on their eighth day at sea.

“In 30 hours time we are going to have a very strong wind,” said Caudrelier from the chartable on Dongfeng. “So you have to find a good limit and there will probably be some big differences in speed between the boats. Gybing in these conditions is not easy – the goal is not to break the boat or the guys on board.”

Caudrelier summed up why this leg, which has just taken the fleet south of Point Nemo – the most remote place on the earth’s oceans - is so challenging. “It is a tough leg; tough because it is south; tough because it’s strong wind; tough because we are full-on downwind and we have many, many gybes. This is the hardest part because gybing in these conditions is a just a nightmare.”

And the Breton skipper, who is leading Dongfeng for the second successive Volvo Ocean Race, admits the burden on his shoulders in these conditions is considerable. “You have stress of course,” he said, “because you have the responsibility of the boat and you don’t want to break anything but still you have to fight for first place. So it’s a balance between speed and safety which is not easy.”

Throughout this leg the boats have been sailing close to the Antarctic Exclusion Zone, a southerly limit to the racecourse imposed by the race organisation to prevent the fleet straying into areas where there are icebergs. This has led to navigators sailing very close to the Zone – because the shortest course is the furthest south - and gybing along it.

This means hard physical work for the crew in cold conditions with all hands required on deck to manage the course changes. In addition to foul weather gear, they are adding all the extra layers they can find with gloves and helmets with visors to protect themselves from the water cascading off Dongfeng’s bow.

The key has been to execute these dangerous downwind manoeuvres without damaging the rig and already on MAPFRE, Dongfeng’s main rival for overall honours in this race, there has been some minor damage to the mast track which attaches the mainsail to the rig. In the last 24 hours the Spanish boat, skippered by Xabi Fernandez, has dropped from the head of the fleet to fifth place and is currently 17 miles behind Dongfeng.

Ahead of the crews over the next two days is a fast and potentially dangerous passage – heading slightly south of east towards Cape Horn where windspeeds funneling down the coast of Chile could touch 40 knots.

“The problem is not the average wind speed but the clouds and the gusts,” explained Caudrelier whose team had to deal with a broken rig in this area in the last race in 2014-15 when it finished third overall.

“When you have 40 knots you know what sail to use but if you have a gust of 55 knots then you have too much sail and you have to react. But to react in these conditions is just complicated but that is part of the Volvo Ocean Race – the legend of the Volvo Ocean Race – if it was too easy, it would not be so interesting,” he added with a smile.

Dongfeng Race Team is a multinational crew from six nations made up of some of the world’s best ocean racing sailors. It includes one sailor from China on this leg – Chen Jinhao, also known as Horace - and two female crew members in Carolijn Brouwer of the Netherlands and Marie Riou of France.

In addition to trying to win the race, Dongfeng Race Team is also committed to helping to grow the sport of offshore ocean racing in China.

Latest position report:

1. Team Brunel. DTF: 3,816nm
2. Dongfeng Race Team. DTL: 24nm
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing. DTL: 25.1nm
4. Turn the Tide on Plastic. DTL: 26.6nm
5. MAPFRE. DTL: 41.4nm
6. Team AkzoNobel. DTL: 51.9nm
7. Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag. DTL: 139.1nm