IT’s 70ft in length, it weighs 14.5 tonnes, half of which is in a lead bulb 4.5metres under the water, it’s home, on and off, for 11 men for nine months and it is wetter than the sea that surrounds it. It’s a Volvo Open 70 racing yacht and it’s the fastest monohull sailboat on the planet. When conditions allow, It can cover 600 nautical miles in a 24 hour period under sail, a record that was set by the by the last race winners, Ericsson 4 in October 2008.
The Volvo Ocean Race is a test of sailing prowess, human endeavour and sheer grit and determination by the best of the best who aim to circumnavigate the globe in a 39,000 nautical mile trek around the most dangerous seas via Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, Itajai, Miami, Lisbon, Lorient and eventually come to a halt in Galway.
For me, that race machine was home for a very short time when I joined Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing on the stunning west coast of France in the naval port of Lorient as the Volvo Ocean Race, the pinnacle Round the World Race, neared its conclusion.
The six teams had battled for eight and a half months in an epic race where nine legs of the race would bring the sailors to the brink and back. It was close, the closest race in the history of the event, tight and tense and mathematical possibilities were there for any number of teams to take the overall victory.
Stepping on to the carbon fibre deck of the speed machine that can travel faster than the wind, I knew that this was a step to life at the extreme… I could not wait.
Galway awaited as did a number of in port races… Suited and booted, it was time to get wet.
Justin Slattery, bowman, Cork man and a mad man not to be messed with, was the first of the crew I met, closely followed by Olympic sailor, Ian Walker.
These two guys are the linchpins in ocean racing, Justin looks after the bow, that’s the pointy bit at the front to ordinary man, and Ian is the skipper who takes up residence behind the big wheel at the back. Everything else in the middle sings to the tune of these two. That’s the way I see it, but every man on the crew is a leader. That’s the beauty and what makes this allegiance special.
I use the term mad with the utmost of respect as Justin, the father of one who normally resides in the Hamble in the UK when he is not half way up the 30metre mast or being battered by ferocious waves, loves what he does and has a sailing CV to back it up. He pushes his sailing capabilities to the limit and beyond.
A former Volvo Ocean Race winner with Team ABN AMRO, Justin has climbed the “Everest of Sailing” three times and says that each time it gets harder and harder. He has ventured around the world almost half a dozen times but still rates the Volvo as the big one. The ultimate test.
“Ya, we have had a tough time and it’s the first time that Abu Dhabi have had an entry in the race, but that old cliché still rings doesn’t it, it’s the Everest all right. It’s the toughest fully crewed round the world race, that’s for sure. This stands on its own as the ultimate challenge for the professional sailor.”
Too right, each crew member has lost over 10 per cent of their body weight since the race started.
“This race just wears you down. You feel like half the person you were at the beginning.”
So here I was, an amateur off shore sailor, stepping into the unknown. And adding for punch, Justin throws in that; “It takes its toll. It’s not easy, it’s one of the most physically demanding sports you can do. This will really test you.”
It is a case of sailing these boats 24 hours around the clock and doing four hours on four hours off, but invariably you get a token of six hours sleep a day at the best and some times you can go days without any sleep. Below decks are rudimentary to say the least so creature comforts are a distant memory. Four pipe cots with mesh for a mattress adorn the sleeping quarters – which is in the middle of the boat by the way. The toilet is indeed a bowl, so moving on. But the money is in the communications and navigation station. This state of the art set up is techno heaven for the sailors – the link to the outside world. So quarters done, there was more to see and do.
With a love of food and a passing knowledge of what goes on board these weight conscious boats, the chat turns epicurean.
“We get to eat freeze dried food which is like eating cardboard at the best of times.” Lovely.
But you deal with a lot of hardship for some of the best racing ever. And that it certainly was. There was 13 knots of wind whistling over the water, and with the wind at a 90deg angle to the boat, we took off breaking through the waves at almost 24 knots of boat speed. This was an adrenalin fuelled sailing rush.
“These Volvo Open 70s are amazing machines and I think everyone here feels a little bit privileged to sail them. We are pushing them to the limits and so much so that if we pushed any harder, we wont be on board any more,” added the experienced Cork man.
Finishing in Galway is very special and not something done very often in a sailing career. “I think everyone I knew in Ireland was in Galway or on the way to Galway and that’s pretty special”.
Queue the party in the early hours of a Tuesday morning in July when crowds eight deep hugged the harbour port on the wild west of Ireland to greet the boats. A week long climax to a year long battle. Groupama, with fellow Irish man Damien Foxhall, took the overall spoils, but Camper, Puma Ocean Racing powered by Berg, Telefonica, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Team Sanya could all take a bow…It really was life at the extreme.
