Neal McDonald onboard Green Dragon, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro. Image copyright Guo Chuan/Green Dragon Racing/Volvo Ocean Race.
by Ian Walker (skipper)
Who would have thought Fiji would have such a big part to play in determining the strategy in leg five. I didn't even know exactly where Fiji was when we left China two weeks ago! Now I am cross examining every member of the crew who has ever been there on holiday trying to find out the nature of the island and the possible local effects on any wind.
Chris Main tells me his brother-in-law Brad Jackson, watch leader on Ericsson 4 got married there, so may be he has an advantage over the rest of us! Fiji represents a 200-mile wide obstacle, right in the line of where we all want to pass. On the last position report Puma and Telefónica Blue seemed to have made the decision to foot below Fiji to the west. One thing for certain is they will gain many miles over the next couple of days whilst anybody else fights and probably has to tack to pass to the east.
In theory we should pull all these miles back and more by sailing in more wind over the next week. Fortunately for us we are the furthest east, so if we have to tack to get round Fiji it will be for less time than any others who come this way. We are committed to the east which has paid us such huge dividends over the last week.
We have constantly had more wind than anybody west of us and we should be very close to Ericsson 4 and Ericsson 3 if they continue to try and get east of Fiji. They may now alter their strategy to stick with the others.
All of this is great news for the Dragon as long as we do not get too headed in the next 12 hours which would extend our starboard tack time. We have a good chance to get a lot of leverage over some of the fleet. It will look like we have fallen way behind, but this will take a week to 10 days to play out. Leg five has just got all the more interesting for all the armchair navigators back home.
Oh yes I forgot to say that Fiji marks the 1/3 point in terms of mileage for this leg. It has taken two weeks to sail the 4600 miles to Fiji, so, with a bit of luck we could be finished in a month!
Finally, I should wish my wife a Happy Birthday and apologise for yet again missing it - I know I said this last year but I promise I will make up for it next year Lisa!
Volvo Ocean Race
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