Ericsson 3 chasing Green Dragon, at the start of leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Rio de Janeiro to Boston. Image copyright Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race.
by Gustav Morin
Keep the motivation up
"To win the last leg was without doubt the biggest moment of sailing in my life", Martin Krite says and continues: "To arrive in to Rio in first position was indescribable and the prize-giving was fantastic, well everything about the last leg and the time in Rio was just a thrill. But now we have to look forward".
The stopovers are nowadays extremely short and since we arrived almost a week later than anticipated there was not much time left for rest and socialise. We never really had time to put the sailing aside, do something else and get the motivation back. First we had a couple of days off and our hardworking shore team helped us big time to get the boat ready for the in-port race.
We were scheduled to come back to work three days before the in-port race, but most of us were there before, to go through our areas. You can't really relax until you feel you are in control of what needs to be done before the start.
After the in-port race we were full time working again, which was necessary to get everything ready in time. Families, girlfriends and friends had to wait until the evening.
This race is not over until it's over. Even on land the race is 100 per cent full on. The stopovers are like pauses in between the rounds in a boxing game; you just have time to take a few breaths and then get into the fight again. The one who catches his breath and recovers quickest is the one who steps up on the podium in the end.
"To be honest I thought it would be really hard to get the motivation back to get out on the water again after the last marathon leg. But after 44 days at sea this leg almost feels like a cruise in the archipelago. We think it will take 16 to 18 days. It is nothing", Martin Krite says.
But it is a truth with modification.
"Well, we haven't started very well but fortunately we are still in the scrum and this seems to become an incredible drag race. Every inch will be important, no space for catching the breath", Krite says.
We still have a very good mood onboard and it is fun to have Mr Mason back on the boat. We feel confident after the last leg and when Magnus Olsson reflected back on how we sailed the boat a couple of months ago, he could just conclude:
"We have made some big improvements! Now I really feel we can keep up with everyone in any conditions."
So, now it all comes down to keeping the concentration for the next 16 days.
Volvo Ocean Race
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