Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 9th, 2002
Last minute crew change at start to Volvo Ocean Race leg five
In the searing heat of Rio de Janeiro, Lisa McDonald, the skipper of Amer
Sports Too, made a last minute change to her crew for leg five of the
Volvo Ocean Race. Bridget Suckling, one of the two crew working the bow,
was already onboard the boat and intending to race, but medics recommended
that she should stay ashore to recover from influenza. Britain’s Eleanor
Hay was quick to take her place. Hay, who sailed with the team on leg
one, was delighted to have the chance to race again, having filled the
role of shore manager more recently.
As the crews bade their final farewells, the Marina da Gloria was full to
capacity, with people crammed under the trees searching for respite from
the heat as temperatures soared into the 30s. The military band of the
Marine Corps, appearing impervious to the heat, and striking in their
white uniforms, marched up and down, their music applauded by an
enthusiastic crowd. They were followed by a parade of over 70 members of
the Brazilian Marine Band, the second oldest marine band in the world,
founded in 1808. This colourful farewell to the fleet had an atmosphere
of excitement and celebration, which reflected the whole of the stopover
in Rio de Janeiro.
A lively blessing of the fleet was given by Father Henrique Kessel from
the Church of Saint Teresa, during which he enthusiastically tossed holy
water towards the teams, who were more than ready to slip their lines and
make their way out towards the start line, situated off Villegagnon
Island, the home of the Brazilian Naval College.
With high water here in the Guanabara Bay at 1230, the teams were at least
sure that the tide would push them out past the forts that guard the
entrance to the Bay. Light and flukey winds are expected throughout the
rest of the day and tonight, as the current light easterly gradient
conflicts with the expected sea breeze.
There were two starting course options; course one, a longer course which
would have taken the fleet out of the Bay and down to a turning mark of
the Copacabana beach, or course two, the eventual course chosen in view of
the light conditions, which took the fleet straight out of the Bay with
only one real turning mark set approximately four miles from the starting
line.
A constant stream of helicopters, adapted for filming with their doors
removed, landed and took off from the race village. Five hovered, waiting
to land to collect cameramen and photographers at the sound of the10
minute signal.
Ten to 12 knots of breeze on the nose meant an upwind start for the fleet,
and the huge raft of spectator boats was kept back from the start area by
a fleet of Brazilian Navy patrol boats.
At the start signal, the fleet split with Amer Sports One leading the
fleet off the line to a clean start. Amer Sports One, Amer Sports Too,
djuice and Assa Abloy split to the left, while the rest of the fleet went
right, avoiding spectator craft by inches.
Djuice led the fleet through the forts in a breeze now shifting left.
Amer Sports One and Too were conducting a tight battle for second place,
the ladies on Amer Sports Too having their best start yet. In the middle,
in a tight group, were Assa Abloy, illbruck, News Corp and Tyco. SEB was
showing a less than sparkling performance in these conditions, bringing up
the rear.
Djuice led illbruck past the Sugar Loaf Mountain, where she hoisted her
code zero sail, followed swiftly by rest of the fleet. News Corp’s move
to the right did not pay off, and she dropped back through the fleet,
along with Assa Abloy, and there was chaos as the huge armada of spectator
boats got in the way of the fleet.
Djuice continued to lead the fleet round the turning mark, set four and a
half miles from the start line, followed by illbruck, Amer Sports One,
Amer Sports Too, Tyco, SEB and Assa Abloy just a boat length apart,
followed by News Corp.
The wind then dropped completely leaving the fleet wallowing in the wake
of the biggest spectator fleet the Volvo Ocean Race has seen so far in
this nine-stage event. Amer Sports Too continued to stay with the
leading pack, as they tacked up the shore to avoid the worst of the
current with Amer Sports One in the lead, followed by djuice, Tyco,
illbruck and Amer Sports Too in a very close fight, the rest of the fleet
struggling in the light conditions, hauling their huge code zero sails in
on every tack.
The teams now face a frustrating sail towards Cape Frio, further up the
coast. This 4,450 leg to Miami, USA, is expected to finish on March 27th.
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