I'd Really Rather Be Sailing

The Volvo Ocean Race has arrived in the US. The fleet is now sitting in Baltimore with the crews resting and the shore teams busy with routine maintenance.

It didn't come down to the wire, but it was close. ABN AMRO One, which at one point had more than an 80 mile lead on Movistar, ran out of wind nine miles from the finish. At one point they actually set an anchor because their forward speed was not enough to overcome the current flowing in the opposite direction. They did manage to win the leg though by a good dozen miles, but those last few hours had to be frustrating. Video

Pirates of the Caribbean took third.

The current overall point standings are:

ABN AMRO ONE 62.5

movistar 40.5

ABN AMRO TWO 39.5

Pirates of the Caribbean 39.0

Brasil 1 34.0

Ericsson Racing Team 28.5

Brunel 11.5

It's is going to be extremely tough to unseat ABN AMRO One from the top spot, though it is mathematically possible. The race is between the Movistar, ABN AMRO Two, and Pirates for second and third. It poses an interesting strategic question for the three crews as they look at the upcoming in-port race. Do they go for the win, or do they concentrate on just beating the other two. The scoring for the in-port race is:

boats receive points equal to half the number of entries, less half the number of boats placed above her in that race. For example, the winner of the Sanxenxo In Port race (7 boats) will get three and a half points, and the third boat will get two and a half points, the fifth boat will get one and a half points

If Pirates can beat both Movistar and AMBRO Two, they would gain half a point on one boat and a full point on the other.

The big unknown is Brunnel. They skipped the last three legs to do some major work on the boat to try to make it more competitive and will be re-joining the fleet for the in-port race. On points they are a long shot to finish better than last and a top three overall finish is all but impossible. But they could manage to take valuable points away from other boats, making the race for second and third more interesting.

The in-port race is scheduled for April 29. On May 7 the fleet starts out on a sprint to New York. A mere 400 miles. If the conditions are right these boats can easily do that in a day. Alas, New York is just a brief stop and there will be no in-port race for me to go and watch. On May 11, the fleet starts out for a 3,200 mile Atlantic crossing as they race to Portsmouth, England.

Yes, I want to go.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 01:05 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment