For them life on board is like hell but that doesn’t seem to matter to the 80-odd sailors from eight teams taking part in the Volvo Ocean Race.
KOCHI: For them life on board is like hell but that doesn’t seem to matter to the 80-odd sailors from eight teams taking part in the Volvo Ocean Race. Only thing they are concerned about is outdoing each other.
For a common man battling dangers posed by icebergs, mountainous seas and violent thunderstorms over nine months of sailing will be too much, but for the sailors it is daily routine. “To win — that’s the only thing on our minds. Rest is secondary,” says Ken Read, skipper of Puma Ocean Racing sailing on yacht Il Mostro (the monster in Italian), who were placed third overall after the Cape Town-Kochi second leg. When the race left the Kochi shores on Saturday for its 1,950 nautical miles journey to Singapore, besides the fickle weather the other things on the minds of the sailors aboard the sleek sailing yachts will be to keep away from the pirates. Especially on the Malacca Strait, which until recently was the world’s worst piracy zone before the dubious distinction
was ‘hijacked’ by some Somalians.
“We were lucky to keep away from the pirates off Somalian coast,” said Read. “Hope we manage to do the same on the Straits of Malacca. If it’s windy we can outrun them, but we hope that we don’t encounter such a situation on our way to Singapore. We have our fingers crossed,” he winks.
The second leg between Cape Town and Kochi has been included in the race for the first time. The Kochi-Singapore route is also unknown for the teams. And the rough weather on the second leg took its toll on the sailors. While some had minor problems, Puma and Green Dragon had to sustain heavy damage.
Besides, injury to a crew member is always a concern, and if it is in the middle of a leg it becomes worse. “We have 11 members on board. One of us is a media man, who can’t help us and if someone from crew is injured it’s extra work load. But the good thing is we can replace him after every leg,” informs Read.
For the sailors, more than the obstacles, food is a problem. “The freeze dried food is awful. It is the worst food on the earth,” said Read. “Sailing for almost nine months and staying away from family is really difficult. But we can’t help it. It’s our job.”
The unique thing about this race is there are a lot of stopovers, which allow the sailors to fly over to their families, albeit for a short time.
The yachts are all made of carbon fibre and strong enough to take the beating. The technology used is cutting edge, with latest weather-mapping devices, satellite communications. They stay connected to the outer world constantly.
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