Volvo Ocean Race: Overtaking on the right is allowed

The past 24 hours in the Volvo Ocean Race were dramatic from a tactical point of view. During the passage of Cape Verde, the field split into two groups. Four teams sailed north past the archipelago (Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Brunel, Alvimedica and SCA), while the other three sailed through the centre. These hours were nerve-wracking for the teams' decision-makers. On-board reporter Matt Knighton describes the hours on "Azzam" (Abu Dhabi) as follows:

"Silence: It's 0100 and Ian (Walker, skipper) and SiFi (Simon Fisher, navigator) are in the navigation centre, looking at the 6-hour report and saying nothing.

SiFi breaks the silence: "Scared?" he asks Walker.

Walker replies: 'Yeah.

The tension has reached its peak on the 'Azzam'. The teams we've been battling with all day are obviously sailing through Cape Verde, and they're faster than us. Their choice could pay off, although Walker and Fisher are surprised. 'Our hopes lie in the accelerating winds on the north side of the archipelago, and we're trying to avoid their big lee shadows to the south. This could be the decisive 72 hours of the leg."

The Cape Verde passage in video summary

In fact, the group that chose the route through the archipelago rode away first. The Chinese team Dongfeng with the most southerly route was able to pull away decisively. On Sunday morning, the gap to the northern group was over 60 nautical miles, and even to the competitors in the wake was still around 40 nautical miles. Team SCA was already more than 100 nautical miles behind in the far north.

But the tide turned during the night. The group in the north held out to the west until around midnight and found more wind there. The race to catch up began with a clear course, while the three yachts in the south had to contend with light winds from astern and had to jibe a lot.

At the position report at 9.00 am, Abu Dhabi and Brunel had overtaken the former leading boats on the right and the first five boats were again within five nautical miles. SCA had also closed to within 55 nautical miles and continued to catch up.

There is now a broad band of doldrums in front of the fleet. The isobar distribution on the weather image is very interesting - there are simply no lines, so there are hardly any differences in air pressure. And without pressure there is no wind.