Heavy weather approaching Ericsson 4, on leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Rio de Janeiro to Boston. Image copyright Guy Salter/Ericsson 4/Volvo Ocean Race.
by Tony Mutter (trimmer)
Well last night was one of those nights where everything that could happen did.
On the approach to Fernando about 20 miles out we got hit by a rain squall. It blew 31 knots up from 15. That was happy days for us, no problem. But the aftermath was what got the hearts racing. All of a sudden we were in 0 knots and watching Telefónica Black and Delta Lloyd come smoking up from behind. To make maters even worse it was only a short time later before we could see another two boats join the hungry pack.
So, just when we thought we had done alright, and had second place at the gate in the bag, the stress meter went off the scale. Lucky for us, the following pack of wolfs all slowed and we picked up the new breeze first.
We celebrated the points with some guys going to sleep after 14 hours of hard labour; some found something in a bottle that would warm the insides of a 2000 year old Egyptian mummy. Others had to stay on deck and keep the old girl rolling.
Well we are all now looking forward to arriving in Boston after being in some far out places.
Volvo Ocean Race
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