Volvo Ocean Race: Brunel impresses in stormy Cape Horn Passage

Many experts had already written off Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel in the battle for victory in the 13th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. The boat was too slow, the results of the record eight-time participant and his crew too inconsistent. Top results have been in short supply on the legs so far. But now the crew on the yellow boat seems to have found fifth gear. For the first time, Bekking's team has dominated the fleet over a longer period of time and on Monday morning on course for Cape Horn still had a 31 nautical mile lead over the second-placed team Vestas 11th Hour Racing and 37 nautical miles ahead of Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team, with the highest speed in the fleet of seven boats at around 24 knots on average. All the other boats had fallen behind Team Brunel by between 5.5 (Mapfre) and 44.6 nautical miles (Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag) in the six hours between the last and the current position report. During the front that has now passed, Team Brunel had planned and executed its gybe perfectly in 35 knots of wind, allowing it to extend its lead on the inside lane of the fleet.

Bekking himself had already reported on sailing along the ice edge the day before: "We are experiencing great sailing, but also extremely stressful times. This applies in particular to the need to gybe. They always bring with them the worry of losing a sail or injuring a crew member in these situations. The people are not all on a lead. At night, you can't see what the waves are doing. Do you stick your nose into one of them at 30 knots of speed or do you just get over it?"

In view of the sometimes close boat-to-boat battles, Bekking also described the concern about collisions: "The boats are so close together and sometimes sailing on different courses that you have to be really careful. This is especially true for us because our AIS doesn't work. If you're sailing on starboard bow, you have to give the boat on port bow room because it has right of way. At night, it's very difficult to judge whether you're ahead or behind. Of course, you'll always go round the back because it's the safer option. Sometimes it looks like you're well behind, but then suddenly you're sailing at 30 knots for a minute. That's where good old-fashioned seamanship comes into play."

Bekking describes the sailing conditions impressively: "We have already experienced 40 to 45 knots of wind. That's no fun any more. These are pure survival conditions, while you're still travelling at 22 to top speeds of 39 knots. It's crazy. But you know the others aren't holding back either. So people are getting tired and there are still 4 days (currently only about three, ed.) to Cape Horn. After that, the fleet will probably experience another compression and a restart. So it's out of the question for us to hold back at the moment. Everyone is doing what we are doing. That's the way we sail."