Definitely up for the challenge

Ultimately, it is quite clear from anyone watching that we are a little off the pace. Everbody makes mistakes but it is a lot easier to make good tactical decisions when you have a fast boat.

On a positive note we seem to be very good downwind but we have not seen much downwind sailing in this race, we hardly had a spinnaker up for the last two legs. I am sure when we get some breezy downwind conditions, we will be very strong. The reality is that so far in this race, Telefonica have been faster than anyone, they have a big speed edge on everybody, which is impressive to be honest. But when we start going downwind, things could change very quickly. Obviously not scoring in Leg One put us in a bad position but we also missed all the performance data from that leg. Having said that we will be remoding the boat as much as we can for the next leg but the race rules have now outlawed significant changes to appendages like rudders and dagger boards so there is less that we can do this time but we will be making certain changes, within the rules.

Keeping morale up is a lot more difficult when you are not challenging for the lead but we will concentrate on getting the boat to sail as fast as possible, there is nothing we can really do about the opposition, so we have to stay focused on our own boat speed and performance and make sure that we put in 100%. Looking forward, we are going to see more fast downwind conditions with boats racing in really close quarters, the racing is far more intense than it has ever been and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing are definitely up for the challenge.

All the best,

Robert

5 minutes with Robert

With less than 48 hours before the start of a difficult leg to Sanya. Robert Greenhalgh talks about the days ahead.

Putting the wheels back on

To be honest, the first few months of the Volvo Ocean Race have been hard to take. The dismast out of Alicante was a terrible start and the poor results in Leg 2 was difficult to swallow. However, the team has dug deep and been very positive about how to put things right. The whole team has put in a tremendous amount of effort and thought and scoring maximum points for the inshore race in Abu Dhabi and the sprint to Sharjah were tremendously satisfying and we feel that although we are effectively a leg behind the lead, the wheels are back on.

The pressure was on for the in port race, especially with a downwind light airs start. We had made a decision to go left away from the shore and when we saw that there were a lot of VIP boats to the right of the course causing a few potential problems, we committed to the left and made it to the top mark first. We didn’t sail a perfect race, far from it and there is much room for improvement but it was great to win inshore in our homeport and give the locals something to cheer about.

23,000 people turned out at the prize giving in the event village and the racing got huge exposure on TV and newspapers. Our sponsors want to put Abu Dhabi on the world map and hopefully last week we did just that. It is fascinating for me to see sailing develop in Abu Dhabi. The country have all the raw ingredients; great sailing conditions, super facilities and the means and determination to stage world events.

The start of Leg 3 was a 100-mile sprint to Sharjah and we knew the start would be crucial. After the initial course around the buoys there would be little opportunity for passing lanes on the reach up to the finish. The start looked good but with just a few boats lengths to the line, the decision was taken that we would scrub speed as we were too early. Telefonica came in with speed and were in a dominant position. But we fought back and managed to claw our way up to second, making good gains on mark roundings with slick work and intelligent lines and as we headed off for the sprint, we were right on the heels of Telefonica with the rest of the boats some distance behind. The northwesterly kicked in and the fast running conditions suited us more than Telefonica and we managed to pass them and hold the lead for the win.

We are not kidding ourselves, we are still way behind the leaders and we need to improve our performance for the race to Sanya. We have won a couple of battles that is all but I have to say that we were delighted to give Abu Dhabi something to cheer about. There is plenty more racing before we get to Galway in July.

All the best

Rob

Horses for Courses

Leg 2 was very different to what people were expecting. Early on we all got stuck against a weather front, which were bumping into for five or six days and we didn’t come out to well because of it.

We nearly got through the front a few times but the wind died and the front just sucked us back up again. If we had stopped trying to get through to the north and headed south, the further east we would have got but every time we tried to get through we were just coughing up miles. In the end south paid, Groupama got round it there and it also disintegrated there, so being the most northerly boat, we fell into everybody else’s line. Also, the breeze died on us as the rest of the fleet got through. We had no breeze for about six hours, while the fleet sailed away in the new pressure and that kind of sealed our fate. It’s what happens and we have learnt from it.

We are starting to see the variation in performance from sail design; everybody has their sweet spots at certain angles. I don’t think we are as powerful as other teams in power reaching but we already knew that. Groupama are exceptionally fast close reaching, in the short sprint finish they sailed from the back of the fleet to the front in a 80º True drag race but everything is a trade and I suspect we are a bit more optimized than others for downwind. In the short run to the finish we made significant gains, which was very encouraging. Everyone will have their day, what it will boil down to is who has the most days.

Having said all of that I think that we are strong at many different angles and wind speeds and I certainly wouldn’t say the winner of Leg 2 did it on boat speed, not at all. Leg 2 was all about tactics and strategy.

Leg 3 to Sanya could be a feisty leg, hopefully it will be a bit benign passed Singapore but going along the coast of Vietnam, historically it can get very rough with a big sea state for a good few days. It is too far away to predict, we will just have to see what comes.

Right now, Abu Dhabi is buzzing. The whole city is talking about the Volvo Ocean Race and it is all over the TV and Radio, which is great. The Race Village is amazing, it is the best one I have seen over the last three races, Abu Dhabi are putting on a really good show.

All the best

Robert

Leaving Lisbon

Azzam is now leaving Lisbon and on the way to Cape Town, all be it by ship. The Volvo Ocean Race is a test of endurance and in the build up to the race, the team have done very little racing. That is just how it is. So it is even more frustrating when we finally get to go racing and get a set back like this.

But the mood in the team is still up beat and personally I have been taking my frustration out in the gym! All of the Abu Dhabi Racing Team is determined to get back on track and can't wait for the next leg to Abu Dhabi, we didn't really need any more motivation but we ceratinly have it now.

What has been interesting is to see how the other teams have been performing in this leg, as the leg to Cape Town has a variety of sailing angles and wind speeds, it has been painful to watch and not participate but it has been very educational.

best,

Robert

Gutted

Well, we are back in Alicante.

It was a rough night big seas plenty of wind, probably more than we have had in training but the Fastnet and the delivery to Alicante were both rough, so this has come as a huge surprise.

The rig snapped coming off a big wave, something must have given but as yet we don't know the reasons.

The replacement rig arrived in Alicante and it is going to be full on for the team for the next few days.

Credit to the sailing crew especially Wade Morgan who went in the water to save the main sail.

We are going to step the rig and get it fully tuned, that is priority but our overall plans are not full decided. We are just concentrating on putting the boat back together.

Rob

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Yacht with Broken Mast

Video of the mast being recovered.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Yacht with Broken Mast