Never a Dull Moment

Never let it be said that this year’s edition of the Volvo Ocean Race has been dull. It began with boats breaking, and the current leg is ending with boats limping into Itajai, Brazil.

Team Sanya and Abu Dhabi Racing quit the leg with damage to their boats. Camper and Telefonica had to stop and make repairs before continuing. That left a match race between Groupama and Puma, and with only days to go to the finish, Groupama inexplicably broke their mast and had to suspend racing. So with Puma the last boat standing, it looked like an easy win. But Telefonica’s crew were able to make repairs and resume sailing — within 12 hours — in perfect catch-up conditions, charged back and threatened to pass Puma. In the end Puma was able to hold off Telefonica to finish first by only 23 minutes. But don’t count the French out, as the Groupama team jury-rigged the boat and were able to finish on the podium in third.

The brutal Leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race is drawing to a close as Camper has passed Cape Horn and is a little more than 1,000 miles from the finish at Itajai. And while grumbling about the fragility of the boats continues, it seems the boats would probably fare better if this edition of the race didn’t have the most talent so far. “The race has become so competitive," said Puma’s skipper Ken Read, "that it forces us to push harder in conditions which we would traditionally not normally have pushed.” See www.volvooceanrace.com.

In America’s Cup news . . . well, it’s not really the America’s Cup, but in AC World Series news, the AC45s are back racin’ and rubbin’ in Naples, Italy. Day one of fleet racing saw very San Francisco-like conditions with 20-25 knots of wind and choppy water. The weather has calmed down, and after three days of racing Team New Zealand is in first with Oracle Racing Spithill close behind in second. To follow the action, go to www.americascup.com.