Volvo Ocean Race notebook: Watch out for whales; Brunel crew take new approach to commute

Steve Elling recounts how one Volvo Ocean Race yacht just missed striking a whale in the last race and the unusual ways the Dutch team have been getting to work.

Team New Zealand narrowly avoided a collision with a surfacing whale during the last Volvo Ocean Race. Luis Robayo / AFP

Knocking on wood

The sailors might ply their trade on the waves but, when in port, they commute to work like the rest of us. Only the mode is different. With most of the crews in the Volvo Ocean Race in Spain for only a few weeks, many ride bicycles from hotels to the docks. Skateboards also are popular, as are foot-powered scooters. A few crewmen have tried a hybrid of the two, called a scootboard. Rollerblades were popular at past races. “It’s like the personal-transport world championships,” said Neal McDonald of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s (ADOR) onshore crew. The most impressive entries are the wheels being piloted by members of the Dutch boat, Team Brunel. The Netherlands, the country that made clunky wooden clogs famous, produced a handful of bicycles made almost entirely of hardwood – including the frame, handlebars and fenders.

Cracking the code

If the term “unidentified object” is used to describe something hit during the nine-month race, that often is sailing code for striking a whale with the keel. Understandably, environmentalists take a dim view of collisions with wildlife, but there is not much skippers can do to avoid what they cannot see. In the last Volvo race, a video of Chuny Bermudez of the Emirates-sponsored Team New Zealand yacht taking last-second evasive action to avoid a surfacing whale was circulated worldwide on television. Bermudez is now a member of the ADOR crew.

Piracy seminar

All seven boat crews will attend a seminar on piracy on Tuesday, in Alicante. Three years ago, instances of boats being taken by pirates led organisers to alter the leg from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi to avoid the eastern coast of Africa. The piracy threat is not as high this time, raising hopes of an uninterrupted leg from South Africa to the UAE, but one major incident could change the sailing orders. Race officials are in contact with security agencies from several countries to monitor the threat.

So near, so far

The Strait of Gibraltar is 300 nautical miles from Alicante, seemingly a quick jaunt around the south-east corner of Spain. If it were only that simple. Winds this week in the Mediterranean have been light, and that is not unusual. When the first leg begins on Saturday, with a destination set for Cape Town some three weeks ahead, it is anybody’s guess how long it will take to clear Gibraltar. One or two days is typical but it can take three, ADOR’s McDonald said.

Forecast: unknown

It is never too soon to eye the weather forecast, even in a region where storms can materialise in an instant. With the race five days away, navigators were studying the long-range weekend forecast and comparing it to historical trends for this region at this time of year. As is often the case in seaside locales, it could all change by tomorrow.

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