Opposite: very cold and very wet but over the 45-year history of the event it is the Southern Ocean sailing that has been the biggest draw for sailors trying to take part in the Volvo Ocean Race. This is Torben Grael driving Brasil 1 through the Southern Ocean during the 2005/2006 event – Grael’s VO70 was dismasted shortly after this photo was taken. I loved the Southern Ocean so much I moved there… multiple race veteran Skip Novak, seen (left) during the 1977 race now runs sailing/climbing expeditions to Antarctica
stopovers so tight, this shoreside brains- trust is vital. SF: The last week of the stopover is incred- ibly busy now… From preparing the boat, doing the pro-am, prizegiving, in-port race and media stuff, to have someone else just working away made a huge difference, looking at how things are developing over the next leg while I am buzzing in and out of meetings or out sailing. There was more than one occasion when Marcel would sit up all night, looking at things developing, chatting on Skype with Chris, just making sure we had the best possible information. SH: Is this level of back-up necessary now? SF: Well, it certainly helped us! This fleet is so close now with the transition to one- design I would say, yes, it is necessary. Before the last VOR with Abu Dhabi we focused on areas that could make a differ- ence, and our decision-making was one of them. If you focus on putting yourself in the best possible position to make the best possible decision, that is huge. With the next edition of the VOR, the knowledge of the boats has now increased so that every- one will know the boats much better and will be faster straight out of the gate. SH: You mentioned AIS, how much do you think that influenced the last race? SH: With AIS it is easier to keep doing what you are doing when you can see everyone moving along around you. It is a tool, and you need to use it and learn how to get the best out of it but not let it lead you. It’s quite funny when you are looking at a boat in real time, you almost end up two-boat testing… even though you are five miles apart and obviously in different winds. So it can be misleading! But it did lead to people sticking together, as if you can see you are doing the same speed, then why do anything different if there is any risk involved. So if AIS is to sometimes be turned off next time I’m sure you will see the fleet then split a bit more. SH: How much do you think the new scoring system will change the race… SF: I think it’s good that the traditional
‘big’ Volvo legs are now double-points. But with those double-points up for grabs, the teams not doing well in the race may start to take risks while strong teams will want to stay conservative, not wishing to lose points. I’m thinking about another future option of making the lower placings all equal in points, then stack the points towards winning so you couldn’t get points worse than a fifth. That means the punishment for taking a risk that doesn’t play out is less. A bit like Formula One, the rewards for winning are greater. I think it may liven things up quite a bit more. SH: Double-points are up for grabs relatively early in the race on Leg 3. So you need everything sorted before leaving Cape Town… SF: Exactly. The first leg to Lisbon is short but quite difficult. Last time trying to exit the Mediterranean the fleet positions turned inside out three or four times. I remember we just wanted to be with the fleet getting past Gibraltar, and then things would unfold in a more regular fashion. This time the sprint around to Lisbon could be anyone’s race, and so that leg might not reflect the true form at that stage. Then the leg down to Cape Town is a big learner and the first real test for everyone; so, yes, if you are serious about winning the next race, you are going to have to be really sorted by Cape Town. SH: What about ice gates, would you want to make a decision onboard or would you favour the race committee? SF: I think it’s a difficult one. With the information that is now out there it is hard for the race committee to let you go freely into places they know there is ice. We had a lot of discussion before leg five of the last race, as we in the team had knowledge that differed from the Volvo line, so obviously we pushed hard to make sure everyone was safe. As a navigator, while you want to be given as open a racecourse as poss - ible, you don’t want to be forced to make a decision to put yourself at risk for a sport- ing gain. It’s difficult – but being deeply conservative and keeping people hundreds
of miles from the ice is not the answer. Then again with a hungry bunch of guys like this leaving it open will always be risky… So a consensus that is sensible and safe is probably the right way to go. SH: Richard Mason said in previous races he was racing down at 60°S… in winter that’s frozen land. SF: Exactly. I have mates in the race who have encountered icebergs and aren’t too keen to repeat it. Spectacular to see but you don’t want one scraping down your leeward side at night… SH: Blackout periods. If you had this option in the last VOR, would you have liked more than one per leg? SF: In previous races we had the opportu- nity to go off the radar for 24 hours in stealth mode and I had a mixed reaction to it. It was good if you were onto something to gain additional leverage, but with only one stealth period it was hard to say when to use it. Multiple options to use stealth mode could prove much more interesting. SH: Weather data blackouts… leaving crews to use their initiative? SF: That is an interesting one and, having never done it, it is difficult to comment. But I could see times when it could unfairly benefit a team if there was a fleet-wide weather blackout and one boat was in a critical position while another had already made it through that critical spot – it could unduly hamper one and excessively benefit another. If one boat is already out of the doldrums in the trades and another is deal- ing with clouds, wanting satellite images and every model available to help you then the consequence could be massive. Quite possibly irrevocable. SH: All the navigators are very experienced so how do you think a weather blackout would play to the personalities? SF: Typically navigators who keep coming back know the game well. And these guys come from different backgrounds. Some are meteorologists, some with electronics backgrounds, you see a lot of different styles. A lot of it is to do with risk manage- ment and how people play that game. But, yes, this really plays out with our different personalities. And it can get interesting… SH: And this next race? SF: I haven’t signed up yet, but the pull of the race only ever gets stronger. This event has been a big part of my life and cont - inues to be – so it’s very hard to leave it alone. I’m sure I will be there in some capacity come October…
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