VOR: Around the Yard

The seven Volvo Ocean Race boats out of the water at Fan Pier, Boston. Image copyright Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race.

by Volvo Ocean Race media

"We are actually pretty happy," said Johnny Smullen, the Green Dragon shore manager. It was a line chorused by all his shore-side rivals after the 4,900-nautical mile leg from Rio de Janeiro to Boston.

The seven yachts have now all been hoisted from the water and work is underway to ready the fleet for the May 9 in-port race.

It's a considerably lighter schedule than most have had to keep in previous stopovers and the consensus is that four boats will go back on the water on Monday, with Ericsson 3 and the Telefonica twins following on Tuesday.

In between, there will be much "routine maintenance and servicing", but there is a notable absence of stress and extra staff called in to deal with the workload.

Telefonica Black, on visual inspection, appear to have the most on. They endured one torrid night where they hit a whale and suffered repeated failures from their jib halyard lock. The collision has left superficial cracks around the keel, while a sizeable hole was found in the crash bow.

Shore boss Campbell Field said: "We are having a good check around the keel area and at first glance it looks alright. There are a few cracks around the bulb and that had to be caused by the collision, but on early inspection there does not appear to be any damage inside the boat. Hopefully it's as superficial as it looks."

He believes the damage to the bow originated in a collision that left them without a rudder on the way to Cape Town in leg two. They suffered a small "ding" at the time of that earlier collision, but a repair rather than a replacement was made to the bow.

"I suspect that the damage might be an extension of the collision," he said. "We didn't replace the whole crash bow, we just repaired the area and I suspect there was more damage away from the initial repair. It seemed sound at the time but obviously it wasn't.

"As for the jib halyard lock, that's under investigation. They broke the lock bullet, which we are investigating because it shouldn't have broken. It was well within its design limits."

He explained Blue also have a long list of small items, including a coat of paint to the keel fin, which again peeled to leave a rough surface. "That's been a running battle for us," Field added.

Ericsson shore manager Herve Le Quillec is happy with the condition of his two boats. Ericsson 4 finished first and Ericsson 3 second and, as such, were in good shape. "When the boat wins, it means they are healthy," he said. "We do have maintenance, and that takes five or six days. But nothing really broke on the boats."

PUMA's Neil Cox is also in good spirits. "The boat is looking good and we haven't had to take on any extra staff to help. That means the guys have a bit more on, but there's certainly nothing major to worry about. We have scheduled three or four days of cosmetic work.

"The boats didn't take the same kind of battering that they have had in past legs, but we won't be taking it easy. The leg across the Atlantic threw up some very tough conditions last time and we'll be putting her in the best shape as possible before the next leg."

Delta Lloyd's Mike Danks added: "The boat is good, no problems. Few spare parts are needed but we have no structural issues. We need to replace some winch parts, and a computer fell down and didn't like it much. But no majors, we just need to get some parts but because we are in America that's pretty straight forward."

Smullen is hardly in a panic. He spoke of Rio, where his team lifted the boat on a Sunday and raced inshore six days later, all on the back of a 12,300-nautical mile leg. This stopover will be a little more relaxed - there are currently 11 days until the in-port race - though he has scheduled a full rig check.

"The mast came out and that looks fine. We will have a full rig service here, Southern Spars will do that for us over the next couple of days. Everything will be x-rayed and checked. We always planned to do one here. We did a big one in China before the long leg and this will do us until the end of the race.

"We are very happy with the condition under the boat. It's the first time we have pulled the boat out and the keel has looked perfect. No marks or scratches."

The team reported issues with the steering bearings, but those will be replaced. Smullen added: "Rudders look good and everything is fine. We should have more time for an in-port than we have had before. We plan to go sailing next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It's a pretty nice position to be in."

Volvo Ocean Race