Push, Push, Push

“Leg 5 was definitely off the scale when it came to being uncomfortable. I would say on a par, if not worse than Leg 3, the long Southern Ocean leg," says Abby Ehler, from Team Holcim-PRB.

“It was a brutal leg, non-stop. Even negotiating the in-port section of the leg in Newport Harbour was difficult and then we were straight into hard reaching conditions which on these boats is horrific. It's that skimming stone motion that makes living on board so hard. It’s obviously great for setting records as we found out, but brutal to live on board. 

“The goal from the start was to cross the weather front and to stay on the right side of it and that meant keeping the pressure on speed wise. And while the conditions were great for going fast and pushing hard, you also end up asking when do you stop pushing? 

“We've had a bit of damage to things like our rudders, which we think is coming about because we're sailing the boat so fast. But there was just no let up, the pressure remained through to the closing stages with tight racing and the issue of negotiating coastlines. And in the last 48 hours there wasn't a lot of sleeping at all either as we were trying to push the whole time and trying to catch 11th Hour Racing while at the same time having Malizia breathing down our neck. It was a very intense leg. 

“It was interesting having Charles Caudrelier on board because he's used to going a lot faster. For him, 30 knots felt quite slow. For us, on Leg 1 we were putting the brakes on when we were reaching 30 knots, but on this last leg that got blown out of the window. So, all the barriers that we'd reached as a crew from our experience over legs 1 to 5, Charles didn’t have and so he came to it with a fresh game and was looking to push the limits further. 

“Even when we were looking at our competitors we could see they were pushing more than before. So, just having to match that or better simply to stay with or beat the pack definitely raised the levels across the fleet. Having Charles join the crew with that sort of knowledge was just what we needed, but unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough (note: Team Holcim-PRB set a new monohull record, but Team Malizia beterred it by less than a knot less than 24 hours later). 

“Whatever the final result, this race will be a huge goldmine in terms of data, in terms of performance. The fact that you're pushing the boat to the red line, breaking stuff, fixing stuff, you're not going to find that line when you're racing the boat on your own. Plus, having extra sets of eyes and hands and just finding that new limit of the boat and different ways to sail, along with new ideas, it will have a massive impact for those that are preparing for the Vendée Globe.

“We’ve also learned a lot about the different configurations that work for fully crewed set ups. The two pedestals work very well when you've got a full crew where you have two people in the pit while one person is on the bow. We've definitely seen the value of being able to operate the pit with more than one person to get maximum power out of manoeuvres.”

So, given the advances that have been made, how much does the human factor comes into play in restricting the performance of the boats? 

“I think it's unknown territory at present. The limiting factor is the worry that kit will break and as we've seen things do give up. The human element is an issue yes, living is uncomfortable on board, but you know it's not going to last forever and eventually you'll get a let up and you can check things on the boat, get some decent sleep and rest. 

“But, having said that, over a longer period like Leg 3, if it had been low pressure after low pressure, similar to the last edition of the race, I think it would have been a very different story at the end of that leg with broken people and boats. 

“From a day to day point of view you certainly you have to be holding on when the boat's at any speed just because the deceleration when you bump into the next wave is huge and then there's no warning about it happening. It’s different to boats that plane where you can feel the behaviour of the boat and the acceleration and then you know you are going to nose dive into the wave. Here, you're doing such a constant high speed that you never know when the deceleration is coming and if you're not holding on, then you're going to get thrown through the boat. 

“Trying to get your weather gear on and off is a challenge, as is cleaning your teeth, cooking a meal which means people go without food because it's sometimes too hard to cook. So, it's all those basic things on board that suddenly become too hard. 

“We wear body projection, similar to what they would wear for mountain biking. Often if you're going forwards in the boat down below and you need to do a stack we wear rugby skull caps to protect our heads. We've got some netting down below as well which would save a fall through the cockpit through to the accommodation below. So, there are definitely provisions, but it's a concern for the future as to how we make living on board easier and safer.”

So, what of the race from here? Just one point separates you and 11^th Hour Racing.

“There are two very different legs to deal with now. The leg from Aarhus to The Hague will feel like a sprint. During three full-on days at sea, there will be lots of coastline to negotiate, lots of wind farms and shallow areas, so watch systems will go out the window with all hands on deck to keep the performance up. The final leg from The Hague to Genova will be a long leg and include a mishmash of everything. Potentially we could face heavy winds through the Bay of Biscay, lots of tide to negotiate around the coastline and then once in the Med we could have anything at this time of year. So, it could be a full race restart, especially if there any park ups.”