Volvo Ocean Race

Well the doldrums have brought with them NO WIND!!!
Abu Dhabi, Brunel and Dongfeng are all within 10NM of each other, with Brunel and Dongfeng having been stern to stern for the last 3 days
The chasing group (Mapfre, SCA and Alvimedica) were at one point +160NM from the leaders but have closed the gap to +/- 60NM
Mapfre went searching for wind in the East, not much luck there
Alvimedica rejoined the fleet after helping in the rescue of Vestas and are more westerly
SCA is currently 4th and going fastest of all the boats

ETA is 13 Dec for the first boats
 
I ended up going for the official race start on the wednesday but missed the race in the bay which is a bit more exciting.

Wind was hectic but we had good fun out on the boats.

My money is on Abu Dhabi but SCA winning would be very cool as well. SCA's support boat was cruising with us and they were having a moerse party on board.
 
They are predicting further compression in the fleet....so everyone will prob be within 10NM of each other soon. No new wind is forecast at least until end of tomorrow

VOR 03 Dec.jpg
 
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Team Vestas is safely back on land. They managed to recover a lot of their kit and strip the boat of essential equipment. The skipper has stated that human error is to blame for the grounding and he takes *full responsibility* for it. Will be interesting to hear the facts as they played out.
 
Leading pack (Abu Dhabi, Brunel and Dongfeng) finally have some wind in their sails and are moving forward faster than the trailing pack (SCA, Alvimedica and Mapfre) are catching them. Gap between first and last is approx 140NM.

SCA is the most westerly of the fleet with Mapfre on the East. Lateral distance between SCA and Mapfre is 320+ NM

Vor0412.jpg
 
excellent. didnt manage to get onto myBB due to work.

damn. looks like things are not going SCA's way.

glad Vestas made it back safely to land.
 
je$$ie_jame$ said:
ok now they dropped back to last position, sigh.
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Yeah....Definitely not getting the rub of the green. They actually crossed Alvimedica ' s path a few days ago when they were ahead but it seems they then sailed directly into no wind.

Hindsight is 20-20 but if they had stayed on their course they would be in 4th ahead of Mapfre and Alvimedica (check the dates and positions on the attached images)
 

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powermzii said:
Hindsight is 20-20 but if they had stayed on their course they would be in 4th ahead of Mapfre and Alvimedica (check the dates and positions on the attached images)
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I agree.

Or maybe there could be other problems we're not aware of. If they sailed into no wind then it should've affected Alvimedica as well. Looks like they went offcourse and then tried to get back and went in the opposite direction, without gaining any ground i.e. lateral movement. But that's just speculating.

Wouldn't it be nice if SCA discovered the missing wreckage of MH370? Think they'll be crowned the victors immediately if that had to happen.
 
je$$ie_jame$ said:
I agree.

Or maybe there could be other problems we're not aware of. If they sailed into no wind then it should've affected Alvimedica as well. Looks like they went offcourse and then tried to get back and went in the opposite direction, without gaining any ground i.e. lateral movement. But that's just speculating.

Wouldn't it be nice if SCA discovered the missing wreckage of MH370? Think they'll be crowned the victors immediately if that had to happen.
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It's actually quite fascinating watching the positions change. They do say the weather is very localised so its easy to be caught in no wind while your competitor who is 1NM away has wind...crazy

That would be a great story, hopefully when they are on the leg from Sanya to Auckland they can come across something. Would also be great if Vestas could return to the race...
 
Press Conference and Update from Team Vestas Wind

Text from the press conference held today by the team + sponsor

On 8th December 2014, Team Vestas Wind commercial and sailing teams, together with Vestas CMO Morten Albæk and CEO of Volvo Ocean Race, Knut Frostad, hosted a joint press conference in Abu Dhabi to discuss the implications of the grounding of the Vestas Wind on a reef in the Indian Ocean on 29th November past.
Skipper Chris Nicholson and navigator Wouter Verbraak joined the conference on behalf of the crew. Whilst Nicholson (Nico) detailed the precariousness of the situation experienced, he highlighted the outstanding composure shown by his crew throughout the process and praised the level of assistance received from all involved.

“The culture we have in this Team is really open and honest”, Nico confirmed. “It was a stressful time, but we need to back up and remember that this was bought on by a simple human error…we didn’t look at the chart and we didn’t zoom in enough.”

When asked about the future of Team Vestas Wind in the Volvo Ocean Race, Vestas Chief Marketing Office, Morten Albæk stated: “It’s Vestas’ clear mission to get Team Vestas Wind back into the Volvo Ocean Race. It’s going to be a joint effort with our close partners at Powerhouse, led by Vestas as the primary sponsor of the boat.”

Regarding a status on the grounded boat, Albæk debated the future of the Vestas Wind and outlined options currently available to sponsors.

“The expectation is that the boat cannot be repaired…(but) it’s a complex process to get a boat back into the race. We’ll do everything we can to investigate the possibility of a new boat and will communicate our intentions at the beginning of the next leg.”
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Full text and other info can be found on http://teamvestaswind.vestas.com/
 
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