Telefonica Blue, skippered by Bouwe Bekking (NED) (pictured) finish first in the Light In-port Race in the Volvo Ocean Race in Rio de Janeiro. Image copyright Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race.
by Javier Sobrino
Bouwe Bekking may be enjoying the fact that his TELEFONICA BLUE won the in-port race this past weekend in Rio de Janeiro. However his mind is already on the next big thing: Saturday, April 11, the Dutch skipper and his ten crewmates on board the Spanish blue VO70 will leave the carioca city for Boston, USA on Leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008/09.
When talking to Bouwe about the monster leg from Qingdao, China, to Rio de Janeiro, he resumes the 12,300 nautical mile journey in just five words: "It was a tough one." Straight after crossing the finish line in Guanabara Bay, Bekking highlighted the situation of his team and his wishes for the next leg: "We are 13 points behind Ericsson 4, so a good in-port race and a good leg are a must." One week later, the first part of that wish came true with a win in the in-port race and the corresponding addition of 4 points to TELEFONICA BLUE's overall score.
Recalling Leg 5, Bouwe says he didn't miss anything in this Southern Ocean crossing when comparing it to his previous experiences. Now on his sixth Round the World Race, one can safely assume that he knows what he is talking about. "This was my seventh Horn rounding, and I can tell you, every one has been different. This one I really liked as we were pretty relaxed- we had a very funny moment when I allowed David (Vera) and Mike (Pammeter) to run around in their speedo's." How's that for a relaxed rounding?
But ask Bouwe about the entire leg, and the expression on his face is slightly different: "Should I be asked about repeating this leg for the next VOR, I would generally suggest to not make any leg longer than 7,500 nautical miles, and to not go to Qingdao in particular. This has by far been the longest leg of my career; before this, my longest leg was from Perth (Australia) to Punta del Este (Chile) in 7,558 nautical miles. Leg 5 this year was a new record for me."
43 DAYS OFFSHORE
Bouwe and his crew spent almost 43 days offshore -42 days, 22 hours and 55 minutes to be exact - before finishing Leg 5 on March 29. Most of the teams competing in this leg reported food shortages after too many days on the water and an incorrect calculation of provisions. That was not the case for TELEFONICA BLUE, and in the words of her skipper: "We loaded up plenty of food, keeping in mind the fact that it could almost be a 40-day leg. The most important thing is having enough food, so that the guys don't get hungry; it makes a huge difference in terms of having good spirits on board. For me it was not a problem, even when I was having the same dish twice a day for the whole trip... I suppose you could say that I missed some variety..." One question for the curious, what was your first meal in Rio? "Chicken and rice" Bouwe says, an easy one.
TELEFONICA BLUE sailed with no forestay for 6,000 out of the 12,300 nautical miles of Leg 5. That played a key role in the final result of the Spanish entry according to Bouwe, even more so than the time lost in Qingdao when they hit a hidden rock five minutes prior to the start of the leg. After repairing the boat and starting the monster leg 18 hours behind the leaders, Bouwe Bekking's team managed to pass the entire fleet, moving into first place, before breaking the forestay. This incident ended their chances for a good result on this leg, although Bouwe insists on the fact that they always felt safe: "We had very safe settings for the emergency forestay and we never had moments when the forestay was put under too much strain. Safety is always first on the list."
"That was a hard moment," Bouwe continues, "but we kept the morale up by just looking forward to the remainder of the race and all the points we still stand to gain." Even with the forestay handicap, TELEFONICA BLUE managed to finish Leg 5 only a few hours after Green Dragon, who came in fourth. "Fortunately, the job list was relatively small, no big items, and that's why our shore team could get the boat in shape in such a short time span. They did a superb job, as usual, and we ended up winning the practice race, the in-port race and the pro-am race of Rio de Janeiro... three wins in three days, not a piece of cake!"
From the arrival in Rio until the start of Leg 6, TELEFONICA BLUE will spend just two weeks ashore, too short a time for the crew members, as Bouwe says: "There is not really enough time to recover, so training for me will be some light running, stretching, abs etc. Albeit the leg was rough, even though I didn't really lose too much weight, but one always needs to recover one's aerobics before facing another couple weeks of non-stop offshore racing."
"Luckily, none of us suffered from any serious physical problems during Leg 5, just some rashes and one person twisted his ankle, but that was it. That's a hard part of this race, the hygiene on board. The salt water on your skin, for example, is always a problem- that's why I didn't have a single shower for the whole journey."
NEXT STOP: BOSTON
The next step in Bekking's schedule is a 4,900 nautical mile leg from Rio de Janeiro to Boston (USA), starting on Saturday. "If you look at the scoring we are doing just fine, and we just have to forget our last leg and fully focus on next week's leg. There will be a lot of reaching and we have shown in the last leg that we can move very well. The next leg is crucial, as we have to beat Puma and especially Ericsson 4 to keep the game close. I am confident we will do well."
Bouwe Bekking
Volvo Ocean Race
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