Volvo Ocean Race - 24 Jan the battle against the weather
It’s been as tough as predicted - in fact, the waves experienced by some crews have been far higher (up to 14 metres) and real boat-breakers.
Green Dragon, with spinnaker halyards doing duty for her broken forestay, must have had another problem because as I write this the race viewer shows her reaching off to join the rest of the fleet in the shelter of the island.
Bouwe Bekking in Telefonica Blue headed out of shelter earlier than anyone else, and his gutsy move is paying off handsomely so far. Telefonica Black tried the same thing a bit later, but is now reaching off - something must have gone wrong.
The two Ericsson boats are still tacking up the shore, playing safe and probably hoping Bekking will break something, but he’s nearly 80 miles ahead and half way to Taiwan now.
Ken Read sounded exhausted as well as disappointed in his latest audio report. They were well placed, pounding steadily through big seas, when the boom broke - not something you’d expect on a beat. They’ve limped into a sheltered cove to assess the damage and see what they can do in the way of a jury rig, but are still racing.
There’s no news about what damage Delta Lloyd has suffered, but she has suspended racing for this leg and is now moored in a sheltered place.
The crews are going to remember this leg for quite a while.
