In light to medium winds and without any of the usual fuss, the six boats crossed the improvised starting line in Male. Everyone is happy to be sailing properly again for a change, without freighters, pirates and other distractions. "A strange start," commented Puma's media man Amory Ross. "The line was laid out between a flag and a transmission mast. There were virtually no spectators, but there were tonnes of ferries, fishing boats and other obstacles we had to avoid..."
After finishing last in the opening sprint in Abu Dhabi, the New Zealand camper took the lead for the time being on this 3,000-mile leg, which ends in Sanya in the south of the Chinese island of Hainan. At 17:00 CET, shortly after the start, the field sailed eastwards at a speed of around 12 knots, high on the wind. The first 1,000 miles, says skipper Chris Nicholson, are not bad, with up to 15 knots of NE trade winds, a few thunderstorms and frequent sail changes. "Then it's through the Strait of Malacca, and it looks like it's going to be easy and tricky. Then we sail round the corner to Singapore and after that it should get really windy, all the way up to China."
It's important to come out of the Straits of Malacca with momentum and keep your foot on the gas, explains Nicholson, but he reckons that the conditions will again show the limits of these boats, half of which have already suffered badly with mast breakages and delamination. The short and poisonously steep waves in the shallow South China Sea already caused a lot of carbon fibre breakage in the last race, and it is to be feared that this time, too, it will not go off without scratches. Should one or the other boat need a tow again, the sailors can at least fall back on solid experience in the freight business after the course of the race so far...
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