RACING TO RESUME IN SANYA WITH IDEAL IN-SHORE CONDITIONS
The Volvo Ocean Race is set to make a spectacular return to action on Saturday with near-perfect conditions forecast for the Sanya Haitang Bay In-Port Race (starting 0600 UTC).
Flat seas and a breeze of around 20 knots are set to combine in the protected waters of Sanya Bay to create ideal inshore racing conditions, in stark contrast to the battering that awaits the fleet in the early part of Leg 4 to Auckland, starting on Sunday.
The 50-minute inshore course will see the teams blast past the race village before turning and heading back towards the start line. They will then head north to another turning mark before racing back.
With a record of two wins in three in-port races, all eyes will be on Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing as the six teams enter battle at 1400 local time. But with little success offshore, the pressure is on Walker’s team to pick up much-needed points if they are to start to ascend the overall rankings from their current fifth position.
“We certainly had two good wins in the in-port races,” Walker said. “I don’t know quite why that is, maybe it’s the boat or what. We definitely have good crew work and we’ve made some good starts. It looks like it will be flat water and quite shifty here, and hopefully that will suit us. Let’s see if we can make it three out of four.”
It’s the opposite story for current leaders Team Telefónica who have set the bar in the offshore legs winning all three so far but have posted inconsistent results inshore. Although they won in Cape Town, Iker Martínez’s team finished last in Alicante and fifth in Abu Dhabi.
Telefónica missed the Practice Race on Thursday and Friday’s Pro-Am Race after deciding to change their rigging.
“We couldn’t pin down exactly what the problem was with the old rigging,” said Martínez. “We spent today settling it in to place and we’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
Telefónica lead the overall standings with 95 points, followed by CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand on 80 and Groupama sailing team on 71. PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG have 48, followed by Abu Dhabi on 39 and Team Sanya on 16.
The winners of the in-port race will take six points, with five for second place and so on down to one point for sixth place.
CAMPER skipper Chris Nicholson will look for clear improvement after enlisting the help of two coaches from the team’s America’s Cup programme to help with their technique in the in-port races.
“We’ve done a lot of starting practice and manoeuvres, but above that we’ve been focusing on communication,” said Nicholson.
Race director Jack Lloyd said he expected near-perfect racing conditions for Saturday with about 20 knots of breeze and flat waters. The boats are expected to reach speeds of up to 25 knots downwind.
While conditions look set to be ideal for inshore racing, the teams will face terrible conditions early in Leg 4. A monsoon has developed in the South China Sea, which, combined with waves of up to 10 metres, could result in incredibly dangerous and challenging conditions.
“Are we racing or are we surviving?” said PUMA skipper Ken Read. “That’s one of the big questions that a skipper of the boat has to answer. At one point or another you switch from racing to surviving — that’s the big thing about sailing these boats. They are extremely high powered and they can get out of control pretty quick.”
Race organisers are monitoring weather forecasts closely and will make a late decision on whether they need to make any changes to the route to protect the fleet.
