Hanging in there until Cape Horn

MAKING WAVES:We're in the lead with Ken Read and Puma just 30 miles behind, and are in survival mode for the next few days as we close in on the Horn

AS FAR as this race goes, we are now in survival mode. From where we sit, in first place for the leg, everything hinges on how we play the next three to four days as we click off 500-plus mile days closing on Cape Horn.

The Volvo Ocean Race fleet has taken a severe battering over the past week since departing Auckland on leg five and although we have been relatively unscathed, we have no wish to join the growing list of casualties claimed by the Southern Ocean.

The 3,000 miles we ran down in the first week have been largely due to the eastward-heading depression that has spanned the Roaring Forties and Howling Fifties latitudes that make this section of the race legendary.

A large ice-exclusion zone almost 1,500 wide have kept us to the north of the weather system which is about where we’d want to be anyway, away from the centre of low-pressure with the most violent winds.

That doesn’t mean we escaped entirely.

The rough sea-state with average waves of over six metres meant we were surfing constantly at speeds well over 20 knots. We could do more but the conditions mean we are right on the edge and our strategy has been to avoid pushing the boat to the point of breaking, even if this means conceding ground temporarily.

On deck, four crew on each watch means taking turns on the mainsheet in the exposed deck while the others huddle behind the helmsman, all four clinging on with white-knuckles and filling the cockpit with tonnes of white foaming water every 20 minutes or so as we battle to stay upright and moving forward.

Phil Harmer, one of our best helmsmen, who sailed on Green Dragon on the last race was swept off his feet by a huge wave last week and injured his shoulder. After resting for a while, he returned to deck only to be thrown against the coach roof by another wave and landed on the same injury, so he was out of action for three days.

Although he’s back on watch, he’s not 100 per cent and it’s starting to look like he may miss the next leg.

It’s physically exhausting and keeping energy levels up is very challenging. Coming off watch means that between grabbing some food, getting out of and into foul-weather gear, there is barely three hours for rest – and hopefully sleep – before the next watch back on deck.

And this is only to keep going without being flat-out, despite the temptation to push towards 100 per cent, which is more likely to end in damage or worse.

This point was proved last week when Chris Nicholson and the Camper boys fairly steamed past us to take the lead only to burst their forward bulkhead. They repaired it but it didn’t hold and now they have more damage, so are nursing their boat away from the race route towards Chile for repairs.

They’ll be able to continue afterwards but by then, Ian Walker and the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team will have made up the 1,300-mile deficit incurred after returning to the track following their opening night damage.

The delay meant they missed the low-pressure system we’ve been riding for almost 10 days and have been stuck with light winds ever since. At least they’re in one piece.

After breaking their rudder, Mike Sanderson’s Team Sanya has just returned to Tauranga in New Zealand for repairs that mean they’ll have to ship their boat onwards as it’ll be too late to catch up. We won’t see them until Miami in May.

Race leader Iker Martinez on Telefonica was another casualty, also with bow damage, so clearly the constant slamming is having an effect. The Spaniards are still racing but with nobody close to them, they seem content to sail along in third place.

Which just leaves ourselves in the lead and Ken Read and Puma just 30 miles behind, riding the last of strong weather that has picked up again after some respite on Monday.

Either one of us could get to Cape Horn first as we both have fast boats.

But looking ahead, it seems a new low pressure system is set to roll down the coast of Chile and could reach the Horn as we do, meaning horrendous conditions for the final few hundred miles before we exit the Southern Ocean.

If hanging in with a two-horse race is what it takes to reach the Atlantic in one piece, so be it as we’ll still have more than 1,000 miles to go after the Falklands, with some tactical options in the run into Itajai on the south-east corner of Brazil to decide this leg.

Overall, this leg looks certain to have a hugely significant effect on the overall race.

As things stand, Telefonica’s lead will be pared right back, so we could improve from second overall over the coming legs. Camper will drop back in third place, while Puma is steadily coming into the hunt after recovering from their dismasting in leg one.

Even after passing the halfway stage, this race is looking too close to call and the final legs will be decisive. The finish into Galway three months from now looks set to be a cliff-hanger.

But first, we have to get past Cape Horn.

Overall race leader Telefonica yesterday announced that the team would pull in to the Argentine port of Ushuaia on the Beagle Channel for repairs after rounding Cape Horn.

The team sustained damage to its bow deep in the Southern Ocean last week but continued towards South America as the third placed entry in this fifth leg of the race.