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Every second counts and at the round the world team bases activity is at a peak. Nobody, absolutely nobody is still. Tomorrow (Saturday) the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 stopwatch will start ticking and Team Telefónica will fight for the first points in play.

At 14:00 the six boats on the starting line will hear the starting horn sound and then there will be sixty minutes of intense competition for which there is expected to be a better forecast of breeze than there was today in Alicante. There could be up to 20 knots of North-North Easterly breeze in the Volvo Ocean Race starting port.

“Looking forward to tomorrow”

This afternoon, for the first time ever we saw the six round the world skippers together. Among them was the only Spaniard: Iker Martínez. Having sailed the training race today without doing so well, the Olympic champion said that despite not achieving a desirable finish it was “fantastic to be sailing all together. We've been preparing for this round the world regatta for a long time now and we're really looking forward to getting out there and sailing. The thing that was really missing from the start today was the breeze and finding a good starting position, but the team is doing well. We want to look ahead and sail well tomorrow,” said Martínez.

“We hope we'll get more breeze tomorrow because we are very close to land and today there wasn't enough wind to enjoy it or for the spectators to really experience the spectacular nature of the boats. We are just hoping we'll get some tomorrow,” said the Basque Skipper.

When asked about his hopes for the course tomorrow, Trimmer on “Telefónica” Xabi Fernández was honest about the fact that he isn't a fan of this type of racing, but he said he hoped to do as well as possible and above all not to suffer any problems that might jeopardise the team's start. “I don't like this type of race, because I don't think that these boats are made for this type of sail and there aren't really enough crew members on board. The only thing I hope is that it's a good show, which is what the organisers are hoping for and to be able to sail the course without breaking anything or hitting anyone and of course we'll be fighting for the best finish possible,” said the sailor from Ibarra (Guipúzcoa, Spain). “Really, I'd be happy with an ok result and just not having any problems.”

The approach to preparation by the Spanish team Telefónica for this Volvo Ocean Race has been different to the approach used for the previous edition. This time training has been focussed far more on the ocean legs and in conditions with breeze over 15 knots, and it's likely that this will show in the inshore racing. However, Fernández said that “our thought isn't to say that we are not going to fight for the inshore race or that we haven't got a chance of winning or we just won't win, just that the situation is different and we'll have to see how the others do to. What we mustn't do is to overinterpret tomorrow's result: if we do well it won't be a worry for the longer legs and if we don't do well, ok... coastal racing is short and tricky and they don't say much about how these boats really perform. To see that we'll have to wait until the start of the first leg.”

The first points in this Volvo Ocean Race

Since the inshore racing began in the previous edition of the Volvo Ocean Race, they have become a key element for the organisers in offering the spectators a good show, as they are raced close to the shore. Not only that, but 20% of the overall Volvo Ocean Race points are up for grabs in these races.

So whilst in the offshore legs each boat will multiply the place in which they finish by five, less the number of boats crossing the finishing line ahead of them, for the inshore racing points will consist in simply taking away the number of entries finishing ahead. So, with the number of boats racing in this edition, the first to reach the finish in the offshore leg would have a total of 30 points an the winner of an inshore race would have six.

With this scoring format and with a course of just one hour in which physical shape will be essential for grabbing those first six points in play, the “Telefónica” crew will, of course, be giving it their all to begin this Volvo Ocean Race on the best possible footing.

The countdown is nearly over...