Torben Grael of Ericsson 4. Image copyright Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race.
by Riath Al-Samarrai
Who would want to sit on the Ericsson 4 substitutes' bench?
The team lists are in and once again Torben Grael's crew is unchanged, meaning they have now kept the same 11 men onboard for the entire race.
"Why would we want to change?" the Brazilian asked. "It is always good to have as few changes as possible. We tried to do the same with Brasil 1 in the last race, but we knew we would change for Knut (Frostad, the current race CEO) for the Southern Ocean legs because we had no experience there. We also changed the navigator for technical reasons.
"This time we have had the luxury of practising for almost a year. Your problems should come in that period and not the race. The advantage is we don't want surprises in how people behave and sail. And no one is afraid of being dropped. There are many advantages."
A look at the leaderboard would appear to support his stance, but crew consistency is far from easy to attain.
Between arriving in Alicante and now, on the eve of leg six, there have been 50 changes to offshore personnel, with sailors replaced either temporarily or permanently.
Delta Lloyd and Green Dragon have been the most prolific shufflers, each making 11 changes - the equivalent of a full crew - while Ericsson 3 have made nine, PUMA and Telefonica Blue six, Team Russia five, and on the Black boat just three.
Some changes are unforeseen - such as injuries - while it has not been uncommon for sailors to leave a team because of performance, social or personal issues.
But for many teams it is a viable strategy in a nine-month race where fatigue is inevitable.
PUMA's Rob Greenhalgh said: "This latest edition of the race is tougher as legs are longer and stopovers shorter. As a result there is little time for recovery and recuperation."
In real terms, it means the rotation of crew can be desirable to reduce the impact.
Greenhalgh's skipper, Ken Read, is open in his belief that rotation is a good idea. "I think if I did this again I would do way more rotation than we are doing," he said. "This race is brutally hard, both physically and mentally and there are enough good sailors out there to make it worthwhile. You bring in fresh guys, like we do with Shannon Falcone and Jerry Kirby, and they just lift everyone around them.
"You look at football players or hockey players, they are not going to do the whole season.
"But you look at Ericsson and there's definitely something to be said for keeping things the same: this guy has a particular way to set up the reefing lines and this guy has a particular way of surfing down the waves. There are good arguments on both sides.
"I just think at the end of the day I'd prefer rotation, keeping the guys fresh physically and mentally. This race is only going to get harder from here until the end: the stops are getting shorter and the racing more intense."
Telefonica Blue skipper Bouwe Bekking added: "I think Torben has been fortunate in the sense that they have not had to make injury changes. They had one mishap with Tony (Mutter, who was evacuated but recovered in time for leg two) in the first leg, and since they have kept everything together which is nice.
"It was our first intention (to keep the same crew) as well, but we couldn't."
Now, with three changes made for this leg, Bekking's crew could, in theory, benefit against the potentially tired sailors of Ericsson 4 in the run-in.
"Making changes has advantages," he said. "A person like Iker (Martinez) sitting out this leg shows how we are thinking. It's not about an individual; it's about what is better for a team. He was a bit tired and now we might get a little push with fresh guys.
"We have three fresh people on this leg and I think it will make a huge difference. When I went for a run the first time after the 40-day leg (leg five) I couldn't manage more than five or 10 minutes. They will probably have the same issue and will be feeling more tired as we go on.
"But why would you replace somebody when you are winning?"
Grael accepts that fatigue will continue to be an issue for his team, but the extent, and indeed the amount fresher teams can benefit, is down to respective fitness levels. But he clearly feels confident in their endurance - they spent a year working on maximising their fitness and reducing body fat before the race began - and he said he will make changes only "in an emergency".
There do not appear to be any flashing lights just yet.
Crew Changes across the fleet for Leg 6
Delta Lloyd - Ben Costello for Ed O'Connor
Delta Lloyd - Nick Bice for Martin Watts
Delta Lloyd - Ed Van Lierde for Guillermo Altadill
Delta Lloyd - Wouter Verbraak for Frits Koek
Green Dragon - Ian Moore for Wouter Verbraak
Green Dragon - Jim Carroll for Tom Braidwood
Green Dragon - Anthony Merrington for Chris Main
Ericsson 3 - Richard Mason for Arve Roas
Telefonica Blue - Pepe Ribes for Mike Pammenter (Returns to Telefonica Black)
Telefonica Blue - Daryl Wislang for Iker Martinez
Telefonica Blue - Laurent Pages for David Vera (returns to Telefonica Black)
PUMA - Shannon Falcone for Jerry Kirby
Volvo Ocean Race
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