Team Brunel passes Amsterdam

Team Brunel passed Amsterdam on Sunday at the beginning of the afternoon. Team Brunel of the Dutch skipper Bouwe Bekking is on its way to Melbourne in Leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race. The team is expected to arrive in Australia around Christmas.

Île Amsterdam
On Sunday afternoon, exactly one week after leaving Capetown, Team Brunel passed Île Amsterdam, an island located in the South Indian Ocean northeast of Kerguelen. The French island is 56 km” in size and is considered one of the most remote areas in the world.

Conditions in Southern Ocean devastating
The conditions in this part of the Southern Ocean are debilitating and require the extreme of the crew. With a water temperature below zero and wind speeds of 30 knots on average in the past few days, it consumes energy.

Volvo Ocean Race rookie Kyle Langford (AUS): “You dress as well and warmly as possible. But even when you’re fully covered up you still get wet. The worst thing is putting on a wet balaclava over your head and putting on wet gloves. But you know that if you don’t do it, then these parts will freeze, and you certainly don’t want to risk that. So you have no choice.”