Volvo Ocean Race: Turn left, overtake on the right?

Who will reach the strong north-north-westerly downwind conditions first? An interesting scenario has emerged on the twelfth day of the second leg: While the Dutch team AkzoNobel continues to lead the fleet as the easternmost boat on Friday morning with the calculated shortest distance to the finish harbour of Cape Town with a commanding lead of more than 40 nautical miles ahead of Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team and Dee Caffari's Team Turn the Tide on Plastic, the next important decisions and probably also position changes are on the cards. All the boats have now turned left. AkzoNobel and behind them Turn the Tide on Plastic and Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag (4th) are positioned further east than second-placed Team Dongfeng and their pursuers Mapfre (5th), Brunel (6th) and Vestas 11th Hour Racing (6th). The boats are separated by around 175 kilometres in the west-east direction. The crews are currently making good progress at speeds of 16 to 18 knots. They all have just one goal: to be the first to reach the low-pressure area in front of them. Who is best positioned to do so?

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The next 25 to 40 hours will shed light on this. Further jibes on a south-westerly course could therefore take place again soon. The aim is to skilfully circumnavigate the prevailing calm wind fields. A report from the Dutch leaders from Team AkzoNobel on Friday stated: "The calculated finish times for Cape Town currently only show a difference of 45 minutes between the favoured chasers (the boats positioned more to the west) and those who have opted for the eastern option. Our navigator Jules is glued to the screens below deck when the position reports arrive every six hours, only to jump back on deck, watch the clouds and think about how we can squeeze out a few extra miles on the water. Or metres. It's all open!" "Mapfree's" helmsman Pablo Arrarte also knows: "We can't afford to lose a single metre unnecessarily."

Sometimes, in the struggle for metres and seconds, which could be decisive at the finish line, there is still time for a view of the unbridled nature in which this race takes place, despite the chase. Brunel's skipper Bouwe Bekking reported: "We experienced a great live show today. A humpback whale jumped completely out of the water several times in front of our yellow bus. It's always incredible to be able to watch something like that. And we will definitely see more of this in the coming week." Bekking was optimistic about the current positioning of the boats: "The big question is always how much you dare to shorten the course. Especially if you're behind. Because there is less wind when you shorten the course. So you have to find the right balance. Of course, we have a lot more information. But we'll keep that to ourselves."

The poker game for the best position is in full swing. Dee Caffari, whose team is now back in front of Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag, reported yesterday just how much losses can hurt: "Today wasn't as good as yesterday. A thick black cloud, little to a lot of rain and extremely shifty winds made us feel like we were back in the Doldrums. And to add insult to our woes, out of the darkness under the cloud, Sun Hung Kais / Scallywag suddenly appeared." The two boats are currently battling for third place within sight of each other and just one nautical mile apart. Like all rivals, they are looking for the express connection to Cape Town, which is still around 2700 nautical miles away.