Bloc Magazine Spring 15

P hileas Fogg managed to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days, but he didn’t have to cope with gale force winds, 30m waves, hidden reefs and towering icebergs – all hazards that qualify the Volvo Ocean Race as the greatest sporting challenge on earth. Sailors competing in the nine month marathon burn off a staggering 6,000 calories a day fighting the elements and keeping their boat on course. The risks they face to both life and limb are huge. Just weeks into the nine-month marathon, Danish Team Vestas Wind smashed into a reef off Mauritius and the crew were forced to abandon ship in the middle of the night. Luckily no one in the nine-strong team was injured. The specially-designed £4million carbon-fibre Volvo 65 is equipped the very latest safety features, but that is often not enough. The race has claimed the lives of five sailors during its 41-year history. Cruising at 35mph in pitch darkness through largely uncharted waters is fraught with danger. The most challenging section of the race involves crossing more than 6,000 miles of the Southern Ocean between New Zealand and Brazil. The stormy waters are riddled with icebergs. Team Alvimedica skipper Charlie Enright explained: “There, it’s not about going fast, it’s about controlling the crew and the boat. To finish first, you must first finish.” The one-design boat means that no team has a technical advantage over the others and the race is a pure test of the best sailors. May the best man win…or in the case of Team SCA, the best woman. For they are fielding the first all-female crew in more than a decade. British team member Abby Ehler said: “Sailing is in my blood, having sailed since a very young age. I love the unpredictability of the sport and the fact that it takes your mind away from anything else. But some of the conditions you get are just extreme…a rollercoaster ride. “It’s that adrenalin rush of not really being in control because there’s no brake on these boats; you can’t just put your foot down if you think you’re going too fast and pull back. It’s just about hanging on.” The race, which began in Alicante last October, takes place over nine legs, finishing in Gothenburg on June 27. Each leg is treated as an independent race, with points going towards the team total. At each port stop, the boats compete in shorter sprints used as tiebreakers in the event of a draw. You can follow the teams’ progress at volvooceanrace.com.