Action taken to curb pirate threat

SAILING:ALL SIX entries in the Volvo Ocean Race returned to full competition over the weekend as the Cape Town stop-over came to an end and the second stage got underway to Abu Dhabi via the pirate-infested waters of the Indian Ocean.

Just three of the original six starters arrived in Cape Town two weeks ago with Spain’s Telefonica skippered by Iker Martinez taking first place for leg one. While the New Zealand crewed Camper placed second followed by French entry Groupama, Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Mike Sanderson’s Team Sanya arrived by ship last week after damage on the first night at sea.

And Ken Read’s Puma Ocean Racing also arrived by ship having diverted to the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha after a dismasting. The last-minute arrivals before Saturday’s In-Port Race that counts for 20 per cent of a normal long ocean leg saw Telefonica reverse their first In-Port race result in Spain of last place with another win.

Hot on their heels was Chris Nicholson’s Camper while Read and Walker disrupted Franck Cammas on the French boat, highlighting what appears to be a significant weakness in Groupama’s programme – their inshore ability.

All six departed the ‘Tavern of the Seas’ yesterday afternoon in ideal conditions though tougher conditions are expected from today after leaving the Cape of Good Hope astern.

Ultimately, the fleet is bound for Abu Dhabi but only after a convoluted arrangement to counteract the Somali piracy threat that has now extended across the Indian Ocean. Within a few days, the official race tracker online will cease showing the boats’ latitude and longitude, limiting data to fleet positions and distance to leader.

This is designed to mask the destination of a “safe haven” where the fleet will be scored in a finishing order before being loaded onto a container ship. All crews will leave their boats while armed guards will sail on board the container-ship to a Middle-Eastern port close to Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile, the first half of the ISAF Sailing World Championships ended yesterday at Fremantle with disappointment for the Irish squad as Annalise Murphy narrowly missed out on bronze. Marit Bouwmeester from the Netherlands retained her world title while Evi Van Acker from Belgium placed second. American Paige Railey came third with Murphy placing sixth.

Murphy qualified Ireland for a place in the Laser Radial event at London 2012 by placing inside the top 75 per cent of nations at this world championship equating to 29 boats. Her name will now be submitted to the Olympic Council Ireland for nomination to the Irish team for the Olympics.

Elsewhere, a bizarre incident saw Britain’s Ben Ainslie disqualified from the final day of fleet racing in the Finn class World Championship in Perth. He was leading overall aiming for his fifth title to go with his four gold and one silver Olympic medals.

A TV camera-boat had hindered his performance during the race and again in the closing stages when he was in second-place. After crossing the finishing-line, he sailed up to the TV-boat and boarded it angrily, physically accosting the driver and camera-operator. Fellow Briton Giles Scott went on to win the Finn World Championship title.