Damage Takes Toll on Volvo Fleet

After a great start on Saturday, conditions ravaged the fleet in the Volvo Ocean Race, reducing the number of boats still sailing by a third, no more than 115 miles into the 6,500-mile first leg. As they proceeded toward the Strait of Gibraltar, beating into big breeze and big seas, the six boats in the fleet showed that the cutting edge of modern race boat technology cuts both ways.

The first victim was the winner of the first in-port race, Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Azzam, which broke its rig in three places just 85 miles into the leg while flying its number four headsail and a double-reefed main in 35 knots of breeze and 12-ft seas. The dismasting didn’t cause any injuries and the crew reported that they were able to recover all their gear. Although there was still no explanation for the cause of the dismasting, Azzam has already returned to Alicante, where its shore team is preparing the team’s spare mast.

The second effort to suffer significant damage was ’05-’06 race winning skipper Mike Sanderson and his Team Sanya. The Chinese entry was experiencing breeze of 43 knots and 30-ft seas when the boat — the only one that sailed the last race, and of the few to survive that edition’s bash fest through the Luzon Strait — suffered hull damage forward of the mast, when unidirectional carbon tapes started peeling off the outer hull skin.

Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand led the remaining four boats out of the Mediterranean, followed by Telefónica, Groupama sailing team and Puma Ocean Racing powered by Berg. Although they survived unscathed, those four teams have another challenge in front of them now — a discouraging breeze forecast all the way down the North Atlantic.

"The next few days will be a big mess," Groupama navigator Jean-Luc Nélias said. "The winds are sure to be light, there are no tradewinds and it will be very painful to reach the doldrums."

This is mixed news for Walker and the Azzam crew, who plan on rejoining the race shortly. On one hand, it might give them a chance to catch up; on the other, they might be plagued by the same conditions the rest of the fleet is experiencing. For Team Sanya, the only option for rejoining the race is to ship the boat to the leg one finish in Cape Town, and hopefully have her repaired before the Cape Town in-port race.