Volvo Ocean and Rolex Middle Sea Races
Leg 1 of the 13th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race began on Sunday in Alicante, Spain, when the fleet of seven Volvo 65 monohulls set off for the lengthened 1,600-plus-mile leg to Lisbon, Portugal. For many, including the embattled Team AkzoNobel, it was surely a relief to finally leave the dock after months of anticipation. Poor management of the start saw countless spectator boats littered throughout the course, causing some downright terrifying (and extremely dangerous) moments for many as the fleet flew downwind, oftentimes within a meter or less of packed spectator boats. Once the fleet finished a quick inshore course in Alicante, they sped off downwind toward Gibraltar in a breeze that built to 35+ knots, propelling the boats to speeds well into the 20s as they jibed their way toward the Strait of Gibraltar.
The American/Danish entry Vestas/11th Hour Racing, skippered by Charlie Enright of Newport, RI, played the southern coast of Spain to find better pressure than her rivals and jump out to a commanding lead exiting the Mediterranean and entering the North Atlantic Ocean. Just over three days into the race as of this morning, Vestas/11th Hour still holds on to a lead of just a few miles, having gone back and forth with Spanish entry MAPFRE, on the official ranking at least. The AkzoNobel crew, surely happy to be far away from land at the moment, are currently in third place and round out the group of boats that have gotten an early jump on the fleet, as the remaining four teams (Dongfeng, Brunel, Scallywag and Turn the Tide on Plastic) are in a tight pack some 30 miles off the pace.
Beating into a light southerly now, the teams are expected to round the tiny island of Porto Santo in the Madeira archipelago in a building breeze that will allow them solid running conditions. The conditions will be short-lived however, as another transition zone and then light to moderate headwinds are forecast to fill in for the teams as they make their way around a recently added waypoint north of Porto Santo and then on to the finish in Lisbon. The fleet is expected to finish Leg 1 on Sunday. Check back in with ‘Lectronic Latitude for continuing coverage of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Elsewhere in the Med, the American maxi-yacht Rambler 88, skippered by George David, stormed to a decisive line-honors victory in the Rolex Middle Sea Race. While the biggest boats were able to make it around the course, fully sending it in strong downwind conditions to the finish, roughly half of the fleet chose to retire as the Mistral breeze filled in and whipped up an atrocious sea state.
The Bay Area’s Hartwell Jordan was sailing on Jens Kellinghusen’s Ker 56 Varuna and texted us the following message in regard to how bad the sea state was: "We were 40-50 minutes from turning down at Trapani, and were ready to let the beast hunt… The boat dropped off two or four really big, short waves and fully delaminated a big section between ring frames in the bow, or we hit something… Very bummed, but glad all of us, and the boat, are safe." Recent offshore convert and renowned Melges 20 sailor Igor Rytov and his Russian-crewed JPK 1080 Bogatyr claimed the overall victory on corrected time.