Team Sanya led the fleet out of Auckland and into a likely battering from the weather en route to the Southern Ocean, as Leg 5 to Itajaí got underway with the second half of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 completely open.

Auckland skipper Mike Sanderson enjoyed a dream start to the leg as his underdog Sanya outfit led the fleet around the inshore course on his home waters.

Sanya smoked their five rivals off the start line, enjoying better breeze in a commanding position to round the first mark ahead of Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.

PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG followed them around the televised section, followed by Team Telefónica, CAMPER with Emirates Team Zealand and Groupama sailing team.

With 6,700 nautical miles of ocean racing ahead of them, no team will be placing any significance on the leaving positions, especially with such a trial by the elements in prospect.

According to race meteorologist Gonzalo Infante a low pressure system to the north east of Auckland is set to intensify as it moves towards the colder waters of the Southern Ocean.

“It’s a heat machine right now,” Infante said. “As it interacts with the cooler air off New Zealand it could generate some big winds — 30 knots up to maybe even 50 or 60 knots.”

PUMA skipper Ken Read said keeping the boat and the crew in one piece was the top priority, with gales likely in the first few days.

Read added: “It’s going to be boat-breaking and person-breaking weather, and I think the smart will prevail.”

As the leg goes on, the fleet will sail through the notorious Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties where the winds consistently blow above 40 knots and conditions are more than capable of breaking boats.

Three new sailors have been added to the crew lists in Auckland. Anthony Nossiter from Australia is joining Abu Dhabi to replace the outgoing Justin Ferris, while just for this leg Finnish Olympic gold medal winner Thomas Johanson takes over from injured Kelvin Harrap on PUMA and Danish Olympic gold medallist Martin Kirketerp steps in on Sanya for Ryan Houston who has a kidney infection.

 

With the weather forecast to batter the fleet in the opening day of the leg, it will be a baptism of fire for the new crewmembers.

“Right now all our focus is on the weather forecast, which looks absolutely diabolical for the first 36 hours,” said Ian Walker, skipper of fifth-placed Abu Dhabi. “We just have to prepare our boat and our people as best we can.”

Despite having three leg wins and two in-port victories under their belt, Iker Martínez’s Team Telefónica sit just 15 points clear at the top of the overall leaderboard, with less than 40 points separating the top four boats and fifth-placed Abu Dhabi still determined to fight their way back into the reckoning.

And as the 39,000 nautical mile race hits its mid-point with Leg 5 to Itajaí in Brazil, with more than half the points still to be awarded, it is anyone’s to win.

“The door has always been open for any team to win,” Martínez said. “The teams are very close and there will be some more boats winning legs for sure.”

CAMPER, currently ranked third overall behind Telefónica and Groupama, started the leg riding the high of victory on home waters in Saturday’s In-Port Race.

And with just 18 points separating them from the leaders, skipper Chris Nicholson said his team were still very much in the race.

“It’s still well and truly game on,” he said. “I see the future for the overall podium results for this leg as wide open — as wide open now as they were in Alicante.”

“I’ve been watching this race since 1981 and never before got this far and not really known what’s going to happen going forward,” added Sanderson whose sixth-placed Sanya are showing their best form of the race.

After second place finishes in Leg 4 and the Auckland In-Port Race, PUMA are also on a roll – but skipper Ken Read, who skippered PUMA to third place in the Southern Ocean leg of the 2008-09 event, said keeping the boat and the crew in one piece was the top priority.

“Quite frankly this is not a leg to be talking about wins and losses right now,” he said. “It’s pretty easy to talk tough but the reality is this is not the most hospitable part of the world and we have to make sure we’re smart.”

Leg 5 is expected to take around 18 days to complete.

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Local heroes CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand stormed to victory in front of tens of thousands of ecstatic home fans in the Auckland In-Port Race on Saturday, giving them a first Volvo Ocean Race victory and ‘flicking a switch’ on their campaign.

Chris Nicholson’s men produced a dominant performance on the waters of Waitemata Harbour, taking the lead on the sprint to the first mark thanks to their decision to tack way out to shore and out of the strongest current, and then refusing to let go.

Fifty-four seconds after they heard the gun – and huge cheers from the crowd — PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG crossed the line in second place ahead of Groupama sailing team following a terrific battle for the podium positions.

Behind them, Auckland-born skipper Mike Sanderson was also celebrating as Team Sanya finished the race in fourth, having out-manoeuvred Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in fifth and overall race leaders Team Telefónica in sixth.

Tens of thousands of people lined Auckland’s shoreline and packed hundreds of spectator boats to watch Auckland’s first Volvo Ocean Race action in 10 years – and a win for CAMPER, the Spanish-sponsored team who count Auckland as one of their two home ports, made the day all the more special.

“The one thing we said all week is how do we thank everyone who has supported us and I hope this goes a long way to doing it,” said CAMPER’s Australian skipper Chris Nicholson as his team moved back to within 18 points of the leaders. “It’s been a huge week of support and it’s helped.

“Now we’ve flicked the switch and we want this on the next leg.”

PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG got off to a flying start leading the boats over the line in 15-20 knots of easterly breeze but by the first turning mark CAMPER had snuck in front.

Groupama moved up into second but PUMA clawed their way back on the second upwind leg, overtaking Franck Cammas’ men to claim second and bank a vital five points.

“It was a lot of fun,” said PUMA skipper Ken Read. “We had a good start but CAMPER got the first shift and that’s all they needed.”

With Telefónica picking up just one point for sixth place, their stronghold on the overall leaderboard weakened.

“We had a pretty bad race,” said Telefónica skipper Iker Martínez. “We didn’t sail well, so it was a headache for us. It was pretty difficult. We didn’t have much room to play with out there.”

Groupama moved to within 15 points of the overall leaders as they took home four points from the in-port race.

“Third is not so bad,” said Cammas. “We had a problem with the keel which lost us the 20-second advantage which we had over PUMA and PUMA took advantage well to overtake us. But apart from that we are happy with the race.”

Team Sanya scored their best result since the Iberdrola In-Port Race in Alicante, the first competitive racing of the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race.

“That was awesome,” said Sanya’s local boy Sanderson. “We’re just so stoked to be in the race but that was one step better because we had a couple of boats behind us.”

The fleet now faces its biggest challenge yet when they set sail from Auckland at 1400 local time on Sunday – the Southern Ocean.

The 6,705 nautical mile sprint around Cape Horn and on to Itajaí in Brazil will see the teams dodging icebergs and huge storms.

“The Southern Ocean is a fearsome place and deserves a great deal of respect,” said Telefónica watch captain Neal McDonald. “Climbing Everest is not particularly risk free or glamorous but people want to do it for the challenge and it’s the same with the Southern Ocean.”

Waves of 12 metres and winds of up to 60 knots are forecast and teams will use night-vision goggles to try to spot icebergs at night.

Three new sailors join the fleet for Leg 5. Anthony Nossiter from Australia is joining Abu Dhabi to replace the outgoing trimmer/helmsman Justin Ferris, Finnish Olympic gold medal winner Thomas Johanson takes over for the leg from injured Kelvin Harrap on PUMA and Danish Olympic gold medallist Martin Kirketerp steps up for Leg 5 on Sanya for Ryan Houston who picked up a kidney infection.

The Leg 5 start will be broadcast live from 1400 local time (0100 UTC) on Sunday. The leg should take the fleet around 17 days to complete.

Watch the action live at www.volvooceanrace.com or at the race’s Livestream page HERE. Coverage starts 15 minutes prior to the leg start.

Auckland In-Port Race results:

CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand (60min 38sec) 6pts
PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG (+0:54) 5pts
Groupama sailing team (+1:26) 4pts
Team Sanya (+2:20) 3pts
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (+2:52) 2 pts
Team Telefónica (+3:27) 1 pts

 

 

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PUMA CLINCH SECOND PLACE AFTER MIGHTY THREE-WAY TUSSLE

PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG won an epic battle for second place on Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race on Sunday, clinching the runner’s up spot on a rainy morning in Auckland to complete a memorable comeback and secure their first offshore podium place in 2011-12.

Team Telefónica followed them in just under 50 minutes later for third after holding off CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand in a scrap that continued gybe-for-gybe all the way to the finish line.

Just around 93 seconds separated Telefónica, winners of the first three legs, and CAMPER — a tiny margin after a leg that took the teams over 5,220 nautical miles from Sanya in China to the sailing-mad city of Auckland in New Zealand.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing came in just under 34 minutes later for fifth, with Team Sanya the sixth boat in just over 35 minutes after that.

“I don’t really know what we could have done better to improve our position,” said Abu Dhabi skipper Ian Walker. “We got up to third place at one point. It was disappointing to finish fifth and now it’s time for some downwind sailing.”

Thousands of fans jammed into spectator craft to welcome the boats in and thousands more packed Auckland Viaduct Harbour after a drag race through the churning water completed a fantastic set of arrivals to mark the race’s return to the city after a gap of 10 years.

“My God, I feel good to be in Auckland,” said PUMA’s American skipper Ken Read after the team had received a traditional Maori welcome into the harbour.

“From day one of this leg, ever since we sailed into the South China Sea, it’s been tough. I know that’s what we signed up for but man this was a challenging leg. This result is something we can build on. We just wish we had a couple more weeks to hang around in Auckland.”

While Groupama sailing team were making a triumphant entry into the City of Sails on Saturday night, PUMA were nursing a slim advantage over the pack, with just 40 nautical miles separating the five boats as a tense, tactical race for the best way to play the currents and to avoid wind holes raged through the night.

PUMA managed to protect their lead, coming in at 10:33:47 UTC for a total elapsed time of 20 days 3 hours 57 minutes over the two stages of Leg 4, which began back on February 19 in Sanya, China with a short race around the bay and a delay to keep the fleet from the worst of the conditions in the South China Sea.

Telefónica now lead the overall standings with 121 points despite losing their perfect record offshore. Groupama have 103 points and take over second place from CAMPER, now back in third on 98, with PUMA fourth on 78.

“It’s a really good result,” said Telefónica skipper Iker Martínez. “The level is so high that to get on the podium is very difficult. The teams are so strong.”

CAMPER skipper Chris Nicholson was not too downhearted after just failing to overtake Telefónica in a race that was as close as their run in to the finish in the Maldives on Leg 2.

“It was a really close race but we just ran out of runway at the end,” said Nicholson, whose CAMPER team count Auckland as one of their two base ports. “It was the toughest leg so far. Now we’re really tired and we’re just looking forward to being home.”

Sunday’s result confirms that PUMA are back in business after the broken mast that saw them forced to retire from Leg 1, and gave them little time to prepare for Leg 2.

Second place into Auckland marks their first podium finish in an offshore leg and it came courtesy of a terrific comeback.

They started the leg with a 39 minute deficit after being hit by a windless patch while leading on Stage 1 and watching the fleet sail past them. It looked like ill luck was set to stay with them as they were forced on a more and more northerly course.

Their strategy worked, bringing them back in touch with the fleet after days of ever more lonely sailing towards Japan, before Groupama took control in a strong easterly position on day seven.

CAMPER hopes of challenging for the lead suffered a devastating blow when they tore their vital J2 headsail, losing 60 miles to Groupama in the process, and it became increasingly clear that this was all about the race for second.

The three boats behind Groupama stayed neck and neck all the way through to the finish, as behind them Abu Dhabi and Sanya closed the gap significantly.

Sanya, stranded 393 nm off the pace on day 17, were within 30 nm of PUMA by the final morning — not quite close enough to challenge for a podium place but satisfied to have been part of a terrific scrap.

“It’s very cool to be home and to have everyone out supporting us,” said New Zealand native Sanderson. “I couldn’t be any more proud of the leg we sailed. The fact that we kept up with and finished so close to the new boats just shows that we can be competitive.”

Leg 4
11/03/2012 0:57:25 UTC
DTL     DTLC     BS     DTF
1             GPMA     FIN     019d 15h 35m 54s
2             PUMA     FIN     020d 03h 57m 50s
3             TELE     FIN     020d 04h 45m 22s
4             CMPR     FIN     020d 04h 46m 55s
5             ADOR     FIN     020d 05h 20m 35s
6             SNYA     FIN     020d 05h 55m 43s
Overall         Leg 4     Total
1             Team Telefónica     20     121
2             Groupama Sailing Team     30     103
3             CAMPER with Emirates Team NZ     15     98
4             PUMA Ocean Racing by BERG     25     78
5             Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing     10     53
6             Team Sanya     5     22

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On crossing the finish line this Saturday at 1033 UTC, Groupama 4 secures victory in this fourth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. A very important result for Franck Cammas and his men after sailing over 6,500 miles between Sanya (China) and Auckland (New Zealand) in some tough weather conditions and one that came about thanks to a sound strategic option in the North Pacific.

It’s a very important win for the French team, who now have a chance of moving up a place in the overall standing (depending on Camper’s result). Most significantly though, Groupama 4 is the first boat to stand out on an oceanic leg after the three consecutive Spanish victories in Cape Town, Abu Dhabi and Sanya. Furthermore, Auckland is a city which is geared towards the sea and sailing is the national sport along with rugby. Indeed a number of Kiwi sailors are racing aboard the boats competing in the Volvo Ocean Race, including bowman Brad Marsh on Groupama 4. To take this win in New Zealand, Franck Cammas and his men have taken 19 days and 15 hours to sail the 5,220-mile great circle route, though in reality, the prevailing headwinds on this leg have forced them to sail a total of over 6,500 miles across the water!

A paying strategy
It’s in the middle of the North Pacific that Groupama 4 took control of a fleet which had spent nearly a week battling against the easterly wind, forcing the six VO-70s to steer a course over 800 miles away from the direct route, before they could finally slip down towards the Solomon Islands. On 26 February at 2200 UTC, Franck Cammas and his ten crew found themselves to windward of the leading pack with the Americans hot on their heels. Having acquired this placing through some judicious repositioning, they were able to begin to bend their trajectory around to the South-East with over 200 miles of East-West lateral separation over their two most dangerous rivals in the overall standing, the Spanish on Telefonica and the New Zealanders on Camper.

This strategic investment translated into a lead of a hundred miles over the chasing pack during the passage through the Solomons’ nerve centre: Groupama 4, with Puma and Abu Dhabi in her wake, were able to pass outside the Melanesian archipelago whilst Telefonica, Camper and Sanya were forced to traverse them. The equatorial Doldrums didn’t affect the hierarchy and the French boat was able to continue her descent due South in a favourable position. Franck Cammas, with his navigator Jean-Luc Nélias, then decided to cover their rivals by slipping along to the West of New Caledonia to reposition themselves in front of the ‘western’ trio. What remained at that point was the obstacle of a depression situated on the direct route towards New Zealand: Groupama 4 got around its western limit to finish up by sailing into a stiff breeze and a very difficult sea state as far as Cape Reinga, in the North of New Zealand.

The final battle
Despite a leak in the bow which the crew managed to stem the day before the finish, Groupama 4 had a lead of over a hundred miles in front of the remainder of the fleet, which was very tightly bunched as they rounded the extreme North of New Zealand. At that stage all Franck Cammas and his men had to do was to complete the remaining 180-mile course to Auckland in a breeze which, in the end, eased to just a dozen knots or so. Welcomed in by thousands of French and New Zealand supporters, the winning boat crossed the finish line at 2333 hours local time (1033 UTC), boosting her position on the podium in the overall standing to bag a total of 103 points since the start of the event.

This overall podium will evolve according to the order in which Groupama 4′s pursuers cross the finish line, since there’s virtually nothing separating the Americans, Spanish, New Zealanders and even the Emiratis and Chinese, who are expected to reach Auckland midday on Sunday (local time). Grouped within less than fifty miles of each other, these five pretenders to the leg podium will have to deal with a breeze which is set to fade the closer they get to Auckland. If Puma finishes second, Franck Cammas and his men are assured of second place in the overall standing and above all, will make up at least ten points on the Spanish leaders! As such this victory in New Zealand is a very important moment in the Volvo Ocean Race. At the midway mark, the French boat stands a chance of making up its deficit in relation to Telefonica, since there are still five oceanic legs and six In-Port races left to race…

Thierry Martel, Groupama CEO :
“In the name of the Group, I’d like to congratulate Franck Cammas and the whole crew aboard Groupama 4 for their superb victory in Auckland, a favourite land for international sailing.
We are very proud of this success which rewards the whole crew’s relentless work and determination and sets a fine example to Groupama’s 39,000 representatives, both in France and overseas.
We thank them for carrying Groupama’s colours so high on the other side of the world.”

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The final outcome of Leg 4 from China to New Zealand remained far from certain today as the fleet set up to round the island of New Caledonia while a complex and rapidly changing weather scenario raised prospects of a leaderboard shuffle on the final approach to Auckland.

The even spilt in the fleet which has prevailed for the past week began to diminish today as the leading pair, Groupama sailing team and PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG tried to translate their easterly separation into genuine distance ahead and Telefónica and CAMPER finally abandoned the west.

The fleet look most likely to round the 300 mile long land mass to the west before heading for Auckland and to avoid the huge wind shadow thrown by its mountainous terrain the teams will need to push well south before making the left turn.

Also driving the teams’ headlong rush to the south is a light wind zone developing close behind the fleet threatening to compress the standings if it overruns the fleet.

For Mike Sanderson’s six placed older generation boat Team Sanya, the unpredictable conditions could mean a chance to beat at least one of the new boats to Auckland — a scalp which Sanderson says the Sanya crew justly deserve.

“I think there are plenty of opportunities,” he said. “We are being chased down by light airs behind us so the whole fleet is racing south to try and escape its clutches. We are only just hanging on by the skin of our teeth.

“Until the Solomons we were pretty pleased how we were staying with the fleet,” he said. “Obviously Telefónica is on the march that’s for sure but in relation to CAMPER and Abu Dhabi we are in pretty similar shape as to when the fleet rotated south more than 2,500 miles ago.

“So we are quite pleased with ourselves over that. It’s been a great performance and the guys have done an awesome job of sailing the boat.

“In the back of my mind I really feel like we deserve to beat someone on this leg so I certainly hope that from New Caledonia to New Zealand can be our turn,” Sanderson concluded.

The battle royale for fourth place between Chris Nicholson’s CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand and Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing continued to be close despite the huge lateral separation between the teams.

“We are in there with those guys (Abu Dhabi) and to an extent PUMA trying to get south at the moment,” said CAMPER skipper Chris Nicholson today.

“We have got a huge separation east west on them and at the moment the way forward for us out in the west looks OK — but we are looking at it changing hourly.”

At 1300 UTC Abu Dhabi were ahead by just 0.2 nautical miles (nm) after CAMPER and Telefónica both tacked towards the east as their breeze dropped below 10 knots, prompting second placed PUMA to follow suit.

Nicholson cautioned that the potential effect of New Caledonia on the prevailing easterly wind should not be taken lightly.

“The land shadow will be big,” he said. “It’s amazing the effect these mountains have on the breeze in this part of the world. We went under an island yesterday and we were 60 miles away and we felt the wind shadow from that very hard on us. So we will be careful of that and continue on our journey south.”

Nicholson said he was keeping a very open mind about the final section from New Caledonia to Auckland where he reckoned absolutely anything could happen.

There’s opportunities here I think for every team at the moment — and that ranges between a first or a last in this leg,” he said. “Certainly nothing can be taken for granted at the moment.”

On Abu Dhabi Ian Walker admitted frustration over so far not getting the advantage he had anticipated after fighting for eastern leverage and losing ground to third placed overall race leaders, Iker Martínez’s Team Telefónica.

“It’s tough,” he said. “We are not making the gain in the east we might have expected and Telefónica seems to be moving forward.

“I think we are quite close with CAMPER and still ahead of Sanya so I hope our easterly position pays. Maybe the leaders will slow down in lighter winds towards the finish and maybe the whole fleet will compress.

“We will see — I guess Groupama will be hoping nothing changes,” he added.

Meanwhile, on Franck Cammas’ Groupama sailing team the long time leg leaders were trying to laugh off some of the more nightmarish scenarios their routing software threw up.

“When running the routing for the top three boats, you can see that the first one is still largely ahead with 500 miles to go till the finish,” said Media Crew Member (MCM) Yann Riou.

“Then it gets caught up in a windless zone which it can’t get out of whilst two pursuers calmly go around the zone and end up with a lead of 11 hours.

“Of course this routing, which almost had us laughing, shouldn’t be taken too seriously. It was a very special situation which the software had problems getting a handle on — the whole thing was based on GRIB files with a fairly weak percentage of confidence involved.

“But I suppose it goes some way to showing what we could be in store for at the end of the week.” Riou concluded.

With 1,400 nm still to go on Leg 4 the leading boats are currently expected to reach Auckland on the morning of March 10.kedown.”

05/03/2012 13:02:59 UTC
                          DTL         DTLC BS DTF
1   GPMA 0.00  0 11.3 1372.3
2   PUMA 70.10  16 7.3 1442.4
3   TELE 114.60  8 8.9 1486.9
4   ADOR 151.50  4 10.2 1523.8
5   CMPR 151.70  10 9.5 1524.0
6   SNYA 235.00  3 11.7 1607.3

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The very northerly course adopted by the Volvo Ocean Race fleet is somewhat surprising! Still in the wake of the New Zealanders, Groupama 4 is not closing on the goal: over 100° from the usual heading and 300 miles above the direct route… However, there’s no other way out just now: you have to gain ground to the North-East to latch back onto the normal monsoon system.

“We’re in a state of uncertainty because the weather models aren’t very clear! As such we’re having to make do with the wind we have. This Thursday morning for example, we’ve had 25-30 knots of south-westerly wind, which wasn’t forecast at all. It’s very complicated to form a strategy as it’s likely that the island of Taiwan, which has some sizeable land masses, has severely disrupted the monsoon. As such there is very little isobaric gradient right the way around. Gradually, between now and Friday evening, we’re going to shift our course round towards New Zealand, but prior to that, we’ll have to link back up with a steady air flow. We are beneath the tropics and fortunately the skies are overcast, which isn’t unpleasant as it’s very hot. However, we’re making the most of it to recover from the fatigue of the South China Sea, because it was very difficult to sleep with messy waves since we left Sanya,” explained Charles Caudrelier at noon this Thursday.

Letters from Iwo Jima

It’s towards this island lost in the middle of the North Pacific that the bows are currently heading: Iwo Jima was one of the last points of entrenchment of the Empire of the Rising Sun’s army back in February 1945 when battling against the American armada. This confetti of Japanese islands marks the western limit of the anticyclone responsible for dishing out easterly tradewinds… For the time being, it’s the islands of Ishigaki which the fleet will have to negotiate, followed by the Okinawa archipelago, which is sure to mark the breaking point in this rather atypical course. As such, there are still nearly 300 miles to go with the wind on the nose for Franck Cammas and his men. Groupama 4, which has really cut a dash through the tricky passage to the South of Taiwan, is managing to keep up with the steady pace set by Camper, which is the true leader given the route imposed by the weather.

“There was a lot of current in the South China Sea and I dread to think what it must be like when there’s 40 knots of wind! Right now, we’re not doing too badly as the boat hasn’t suffered any damage and we’re happy with our positioning as we prepare to launch into a long session of reaching in 24 to 30 hours’ time. Right now, to the great despair of our New Zealanders onboard, we’re distancing ourselves from Auckland… However, there’s no way out from the direct route which passes close to the Philippines as there’s very little wind in this zone: as such our goal is to latch onto the easterly tradewinds which are blowing a long way offshore of Taiwan and for now we’re still on a beat to the North-East on starboard tack.”

No man’s sea…

Around the Luzon Strait the situation is very complicated as the light southerly airs aren’t managing to hold their own, transforming the direct course into a no-through road. The Spanish tried to close on it last night, but quickly understood that this solitary option was going to hit a wall. Their move to reposition themselves in the North caused them to cross paths with the Americans, who have really made a great comeback after their delayed departure from China. However, just ten miles shy of Sanya and Abu Dhabi, Telefonica and Puma got trapped by a windless zone for a good hour. Ken Read managed to hotfoot it North but Iker Martinez took a lot longer to extract himself from the resulting gloop! As such nobody’s going to tempt fate with a course near the Philippines now so the routing is taking the crews towards Japan instead…

Taiwan has witnessed the fracturing of the fleet then and though the boats are heading roughly the same way, they’re now split into four groups: Camper is sticking to her guns in her position as true leader, very gradually extending her lead in relation to her direct rival, Groupama 4, which is proving to be a little less at ease sailing into the wind, but is still keeping her hand in thanks to her position to windward of the New Zealanders. Abu Dhabi and Sanya (polled as leaders because they’re closer to the finish) are in reality around fifty miles to the South-West of Camper, whilst Puma is continuing to strike out on her own along the coast of the Republic of China, formerly known as Nationalist China, but now commonly referred to as Taiwan. As for Telefonica, she’s in a rather difficult patch which could cost her very dearly for the next stage of the race… As such this is a very important stage of the race being played out this Thursday evening and we’ll have to wait till the weekend to have a clearer idea of the true hierarchy at the end of this Luzon lesson: there’s no Supreme Leader just a guiding line!

Position of the competitors in the Volvo Ocean Race on the fourth leg from Sanya – Auckland at 1600 UTC on 23/02/2012

1. Team Sanya 4,614 miles from the finish
2. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing – 3.5 miles astern of the leader
3. Groupama 4 – 11.4 miles astern of the leader
4. Camper – 20.2 miles astern of the leader
5. Telefonica – 40.4 miles astern of the leader
6. Puma – 107.5 miles astern of the leader

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Sea sickness and waves as high as five metres are making life difficult for all six teams on the first day of the second stage of Leg 4 from Sanya, China to Auckland, New Zealand.

Conditions on board have been brutal as the crews struggle to rein in their Volvo Open 70s to avoid teeth-rattling crash landings off the backs of the monster waves left over from several days of gale force winds.

A drifting start in the wind shadow of Sanya’s towering mountains belied the testing weather the crews found themselves in just hours later, after the wind and sea state quickly ramped powering them towards the Strait of Luzon at speeds up to 20 knots.

On Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Media Crew Member (MCM) Nick Dana said the unavoidable and relentless slamming made for a near impossible working environment on board.

“The airdrops we are experiencing off the backs of these sharp waves make it difficult to keep your feet below you let alone a sail or a steering wheel in your hands,” he said.

“We’re currently blasting along at around 18-20 knots with a J4 and reef in.

“Down below looks like a war zone. Several people have been sick already, and the rest just keep swallowing.”

Even Abu Dhabi skipper Ian Walker, a double Olympic medallist, confessed to feeling the effects of the punishing sea state.

“Today I had a hint of seasickness for the first time ever,” he said. “Fortunately I have kept the freeze dried roast chicken and mashed potato down so far unlike a few others onboard.”

Walker said the Abu Dhabi crew were not relishing the prospect of a fortnight-long battering but were settling into a normal offshore routine of grabbing sleep in between their four hourly watches.

“The snoring has started down below and the guys on deck are finding their rhythm,” he said. “Nobody is really looking forward to a week or two of upwind slog – especially in these waves, but we will cross off the miles and wait for better sailing somewhere further down the line.”

Race organisers split Leg 4 into two stages in order to prevent the fleet encountering conditions considered un-sailable in the South China Sea.

Conditions were light and fickle for the second stage start at 2300 UTC on Sunday (0700 today in Sanya), all but wiping out the effects of the staggered start sequence from the Stage 1 coastal race less than 24 hours previously.

Franck Cammas’ Groupama sailing team made the best of the early drifting to pick their way past overall race leaders Team Telefónica, skippered by Iker Martínez, and into the lead.

At 1300 UTC today Groupama had a lead of less than two miles over Chris Nicholson’s CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, with third and fourth placed Telefónica and Abu Dhabi positioned furthest north just over a mile and a half apart.

The near windless start had given CAMPER an immediate opportunity to sail round round the wallowing early starters.

“We had to wait nine long minutes and 13 arduous seconds as Telefónica, Groupama, Abu Dhabi & Sanya all started before us,” said CAMPER MCM Hamish Hooper.

“As it turned out it became a slight blessing in disguise for us,” he added. “We could see that they were all a bit parked up not long after the start so knew we didn’t want to go the way they did.”

CAMPER leave Sanya still second in the overall standings and Hooper says despite losing points to leaders Telefónica during the Chinese stopover the predominantly Kiwi crew have been re-energised by the prospect of a victorious arrival in New Zealand.

“At times you feel like a block of cheese being rubbed up against a cheese grater, slowly withering you away physically and mentally, but the guys are resilient and focused, and it feels fantastic to finally be heading for home to Auckland.

“Our short-term goal for sure is to be the first out of the Luzon Strait. No need to guess our long-term goal,” Hooper said.

Ken Read’s PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, who started almost 40 minutes after Telefónica, were still in sixth at 1300 UTC, 14.5 nm off the lead.

Mike Sanderson’s Team Sanya made a tactical break to the south of the main fleet and at 1300 UTC were fifth, 8.4 nm behind Groupama and averaging 11 knots.

The six-boat fleet will take around three days to cross the South China Sea to the Strait of Luzon and are expected to complete the 5,220 nm second stage of Leg 4 to Auckland around March 8.

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 Fierce conditions and the potential for more breakages will be on the minds of all six teams as they gear up for a return to competitive action with the Sanya Haitang Bay In-Port Race on February 18 and the start of Leg 4 to Auckland, New Zealand the next day. Saturday’s in-port starts at 1400 local time (0600 UTC) with near perfect winds and flat seas forecast for the 60 minute inshore course. The predicted conditions for Sunday’s Leg 4 start are in stark contrast with fierce monsoon winds kicking up a punishing sea state likely to give the fleet its toughest test to date as they funnel their way between Taiwan and the Philippine island of Luzon on the way to New Zealand. Race leaders Team Telefónica opted to miss today’s practice race to swap out their rigging after a routine check revealed a problem. The Spanish team’s decision ultimately cost them little in lost training time when light winds forced the abandonment of the practice race. Telefónica skipper Iker Martínez said the team were being cautious because of the forecast of strong winds and the fact that two boats lost their masts during Leg 1. “We want to be super safe,” he said. “We found something that we didn’t like much so we’ve decided to replace the rigging for the next leg, and we have a spare rig here that we’ve used already and we’re very confident with.” Race meteorologist Gonzalo Infante is forecasting a monsoon to develop to the north of Taiwan resulting in north easterly winds of between 35 and 40 knots across the South China Sea over the weekend. Infante says Sanya Bay’s protection from the north east monsoon by mountains should mean conditions for the in-port race will be perfect with moderate winds and flat seas. Offshore it will be a very different story when the fleet sets off for Auckland the following day, potentially requiring the teams to resort to survival techniques to protect their boats from the huge waves. “Now only a very small area in the centre of the South China Sea is affected by big waves – from six to eight metres,” he said. “However, as we get closer to the start date, the affected area will grow until by Saturday the whole South China Sea will be affected by this sea state.” Team Telefónica take a 15-point lead over Chris Nicholson’s CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand into this weekend’s resumption of racing and will be keen to consolidate this with a repeat of their in-port race winning form in Cape Town before the start of Leg 2. Second placed CAMPER are yet to register a victory but according to team managing director Grant Dalton a strong performance on Saturday is vital if they are to close the gap on Telefónica. “First of all, we have to stop bleeding points inshore,” Dalton said. “We’ve bled enough offshore, we have to stop bleeding them inshore. “If Telefónica keep on going the way they are, we’re not going to beat them, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work that out.” Dalton, who won the race himself in 1981-82 and 1993-94, said the fourth leg to Auckland, which the Spanish-sponsored team counts as one of two bases, was also providing motivation. “Auckland is important for two reasons,” he said. “It’s important because there’s so much history of titanic struggles into Auckland — the last three races I did we were never more than a couple of minutes apart the whole way – and it’s important for some of the guys because they’re coming home. “It’s both pressure and motivation. You’re motivated to sit on the rail for the last two and a half days if you have to.”

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