VOLVO OCEAN RACE
While the shore teams beaver away in the never-ending heat, preparing the race boats for the next leg of the Volvo Ocean Race to Miami, the race crews have been resting and relaxing. Some have returned home, but those remaining in the city of Rio de Janeiro have been out and about and making the most of this lively (...)
VOLVO OCEAN RACE / Leg 4
illbruck has won leg four of the Volvo Ocean Race into Rio de Janeiro, finishing at 05:58:42 GMT. The wind had died and left the fleet to claw their way to the finish line in a frustrating stop start fashion. ETAs were pushed further back as the wind shut off.
Volvo Ocean Race / Leg 4
Jean Yves Bernot, Arve Roass and Grant Wharington sporting the unshaven look. It’s possible to see that we have been out sailing for a while. Onboard photo / djuice team.
No other team relies so heavily on French sailing expertise. World-renowned weather router and navigator Jean Yves Bernot plots the boat’s course, while Thomas Coville and Jaques Vincent support the team with trimming and driving. Building 25% of the total crew of 12, they a major force on deck of the pink (...)
VOLVO OCEAN RACE / Leg 4
Photo Rick Thomlinson
John Kostecki deserved to win this leg perhaps more than any other - it is hard to see where they put a foot wrong. And yet at one point a couple of days ago in the fickle wind conditions off the Brazilian coast, it looked as though victory could be cruelly snatched away from them. They led all the way up the South American coast, always the (...)
VOLVO OCEAN RACE / leg 4
After almost 7000 miles of racing, the five leading boats in the Volvo Ocean Race fleet are locked into the tightest of battles. It could almost be likened to a Wild West Shoot Out. The action of the strategy, weather and boat to boat tactics is awe-inspiring and to the dedicated followers it will no doubt, now be bordering on addiction to (...)
VOLVO OCEAN RACE / Leg 4
As the V.O.60s have headed further north towards Rio de Janeiro and the temperatures have started to soar, the crew have been experiencing excruciating pain as their chilblains and minor frostbite injuries have warmed up. Some of the teams‚ helmsmen have experienced repetitive strain injury from the rigours of steering their boats in (...)
VOLVO OCEAN RACE / Leg 4
The heat is on in the Volvo Ocean Race in more ways than one. Concentration, analysis and making the right moves, is paramount and the navigators and tacticians are working overtime, to make sure that they do not let the rest of the team down. As the boats head north towards Rio de Janeiro air and water temperatures are improving by the (...)
VOLVO OCEAN RACE / Leg 4
News’ Corp new helm. Onboard photo.
Depression, stress and exhaustion are likely to be setting in for some of the crews of the Volvo Ocean Race, along with the ups and downs and day to day grind of yacht racing. The highs are extreme and can provide an adrenaline buzz second to none and the lows can be the worst thing that has ever happened to you in your life at that (...)
VOLVO OCEAN RACE / Leg 4
But it’s a round the world yacht race! Neal McDonald, skipper of ASSA ABLOY gave a vivid analogy of the boat being ’tossed around like a cork’ from his ’white water rafting trip from hell’ through very strong current, in a near gale. Meanwhile his wife Lisa, skipper of Amer Sports Too, was fighting the end of (...)
VOLVO OCEAN RACE / Leg 4
The conditions that the crews of the Volvo Ocean Race have faced on this leg four from Auckland to Rio de Janeiro have been extreme to say the least. They started the race in Auckland in hot Summer conditions, went through the freezer of the Southern Ocean and now having rounded Cape Horn are on their way to hot and tropical Rio. The (...)