Race Report

A Critical 24 Hours

a stomach-churning 36 hours for the Volvo Ocean Race navigators and skippers as the light, fluky conditions of the Doldrums take their toll on the fleet. The leaderboard is a minefield, with boats moving up and down as if on an elevator. Team Russia, for example, vaulted up to third place on the 0700 GMT report, but had slid to seventh by 1300 GMT. It seems as though if you're a navigator who is unhappy with his position, you just need to wait until the next position sked.

Unfortunately for some, despite appearances, the leg standings are far from completely random. Ian Walker's Green Dragon crew made a concerted effort to get to the west to cross the doldrums and are currently reaping the rewards of that strategy in a big way. That being said, this is a long way from being over.

Out to the west with the Dragons are Ericsson 4 and PUMA. Both have paid a high price to get there, sailing at right angles to the next waypoint and thus bleeding miles and places off the leaderboard. But both clearly see the west as the place to be, and will look at their fall down the leaderboard as a necessary sacrifice.

One hint of what could have caused the two previous leg leaders to take such drastic action can be found on the leaderboard on the homepage. The PTTL column (Predicted Time to Leader) runs each boat's position through weather routing software to see how much time it would take to get into the lead. The answer for both PUMA and Ericsson 4 is favourable compared to the rest of the fleet.

Simon Fisher on Telefonica Blue is one who is counting his blessings today. Left for dead at Gibraltar when they undertook a twelve hour pit-stop, his team has clawed back up to fifth on the leaderboard, and is right back in the thick of the action.

"It's been good, obviously we were down the back end after the pit-stop and we've just had to sit and wait," he said during an interview this morning. "The last 24 hours have been pretty good for us, the boat has been going nicely and we've found good winds, so we've really improved on things.

"All the boats have gone light and we've all had a park-up so now it's just a question of who is going to get out and get into the wind and into the south. Once you get down to this latitude, there's not much you can do to outrun the clouds. So our plan is just heading south and getting out as fast as possible. I think the next 24 hours will be critical. It's a bit about luck and who gets the breeze first. Everyone's working hard to get the speed up to get out of here."

It may surprise some readers to learn that the Doldrums isn't characterised by uniform calm conditions. Instead, large quiet spots are broken by thunderstorms, squalls, and heavy showers. Frequent sail changes are the norm and the heat is unbearable. The rain can be an occasion to shower and get clean, but in general, it's an unpleasant place to be. Sometimes, however, the wind Gods do smile on you, as the guys on Telefonica Black found out.

"With a massive (squall) on the radar in front of us, we all got prepared: the trimmers preparing sails for peelings, the helmsman pointing the boat to where the watch on duty said, and everyone on deck putting harnesses on. Even the media crew member prepared his 'arms' as if on pre-war notice: still cameras, handheld camcorder and the infrared stern cam!" wrote Mikel Pasabant.

"Then, as we were approaching the huge target on radar, it started to split up in two as if letting us go by without disturbing us. As it happened, we crossed exactly through a 'gate' which opened as if on purpose, with massive storm clouds on each side! Thanks, Neptune. It seems as if you are with the 'Blackies' on Telefonica Black!"

Telefonica Black represents just about the middle of the fleet in terms of the west to east spread. Out furthest to the right is Team Russia, and out at the edge of the course, Delta Lloyd.

"We did a good job getting south and going into yesterday evening we were actually furthest south which was our goal, to get out of the Doldrums as quickly as possible and to get back into the trade winds," said Matthew Gregory this morning.

"But the guys behind have compressed and now we're in a big string (spread out from west to east). I think the guys who come out first and get going will put some miles together really quick. Hopefully, we're that guy. There's a lot of suspense right now and the next 24 hours should be pretty exciting for everybody watching."