Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7: the plan, keep it simple

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 from Auckland to Itajai, day 1 on board Turn the Tide on Plastic. 18 March © Sam Greenfield / Volvo Ocean Race

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 from Auckland to Itajai, day 1 on board Turn the Tide on Plastic. Fred Melo. 18 March © Sam Greenfield / Volvo Ocean Race

Race veteran Tony Rae (Trae) has supported the team throughout their journey, from the start in Cascais, Portugal and since rejoining the crew for the Auckland stopover. He has worked with Skipper Dee Caffari to mentor and help with the team’s development.

Trae sent a message to the shore team Whats App group after the In-Port section to say: “Pretty happy with how the team is going so far. The plan is working. Keep it simple. That was the plan.”

Trae has observed very steep learning by the team since sailing with them in Cascais and he’s impressed by what he’s seen. “They were all very disappointed when they got to Auckland because they didn’t finish where they were on the podium earlier in the leg and as they got closer to New Zealand. But they have learnt so much and they can take this onto the next leg,” said Trae.

The biggest challenges Skipper Dee Caffari sees the team facing are the heavy weather, big winds and big seas, conditions in which the team isn’t the strongest at driving. However, Caffari always looks to the positive and quickly puts aside any such thoughts: “I guess that from spending 3 weeks down there in Leg 3, we come in to this Leg much better equipped.”

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7, Auckland to Itajai, around East Cape. 19 March – photo © Ainhoa Sanchez / Volvo Ocean Race

The first team blog to come off the boat said:
‘We have said goodbye to New Zealand. After a long beat upwind we cleared East Cape and cracked sheets and are heading South.

Conditions were great. We had an amazing send off and we sailed a clean in port section, which made us happy. We stayed with the fleet tacking towards East Cape overnight, watching mast lights and reviewing the AIS to see what everyone was up to.

As dawn broke we were still in some windy conditions with a bouncy sea state and all of us were together tacking into the coastline as far as we dared before heading out again.

Now we have changed sails and are heading south watching masthead lights ahead and astern to keep an eye on the fleet as we travel around the edge of the high pressure. The wind has dropped and it is lifting fast, we just have to keep pace with everyone.’

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 from Auckland to Itajai, day 2 on board Turn the Tide on Plastic. The fleet says goodbye to New Zealand. 19 March – photo © Sam Greenfield / Volvo Ocean Race

At 1900 UTC 19 March Team Vestas 11th Hour Racing were in the lead and Turn the Tide on Plastic had dropped out of the top 3 as they positon themselves further west of MAPFRE and Team Brunel – further from the next waypoint. They are still travelling in 20-25 knots of wind.

It’s a long race, with lots of miles to go but the first 45 hours show the team’s progress that Trae talked about. So, cross your fingers tight, ask the weather gods for a blessing on TTTOP and that we again do battle at the front of the fleet.

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 from Auckland to Itajai, day 1 on board Turn the Tide on Plastic. 18 March – photo © Sam Greenfield / Volvo Ocean Race

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 from Auckland to Itajai, day 2 on board Turn the Tide on Plastic. The fleet says goodbye to New Zealand. 19 March – photo © Sam Greenfield / Volvo Ocean Race

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7, Auckland to Itajai, around East Cape. 19 March – photo © Ainhoa Sanchez / Volvo Ocean Race

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7, Auckland to Itajai, start day. 18 March – photo © Jesus Renedo / Volvo Ocean Race

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 from Auckland to Itajai, day 1 on board Turn the Tide on Plastic. 18 March – photo © Sam Greenfield / Volvo Ocean Race

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7, Auckland to Itajai, around East Cape. 18 March – photo © Ainhoa Sanchez / Volvo Ocean Race

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 from Auckland to Itajai, day 2 on board Turn the Tide on Plastic. The fleet says goodbye to New Zealand. 19 March – photo © Sam Greenfield / Volvo Ocean Race

This story is from Sail-World.