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Pepe Ribes; “Whoever manages to get past the line of light air accompanying us first, will surely be in front where this stretch of the leg ends”

It's the fifth day on this second leg of a Volvo Ocean Race and it's putting the nerves of the crews to the test. Despite Spain's fiery reputation, on “Telefónica” there's a call for calm in order to find exactly the right moment to cross the front holding the boat back from winds to push her north. Nerves? Tension? No, on board the keyword is 'patience'!

“We are sailing through a very tricky situation right now, reaching on an easterly course, but we're behind a front that we just can't seem to break through. We are going slightly faster than the front but when we get to it we hit it and there's no way to get through. As soon as anyone gets through it they will seize quite an advantage...”, warns the “Telefónica” trimmer Xabi Fernández. Pepe Ribes, from Alicante, went even further: “Whoever gets through that ridge of light air we're up against and just can't get ahead of is surely going to be in front where we finish”.

Staying fairly close together

“Telefónica” is holding onto the lead sailing E-SE at 8.5 knots. The second-placed entry, the boat from the Emirates, “Abu Dhabi” is 27 miles away, whilst Mike Sanderson's “Sanya” is in third and 41 nautical miles from the race leaders.

It looks as if the tactics from the fleet are not to get too far away from one another. “We may now be heading a bit further South to stick with them and to make sure that the herd doesn't scatter too widely”, says Fernández. “There's no point in getting too nervous, but there's tension. There are so many sail changes, so many changes in sailing styles... We're getting 15-18 knots and all of a sudden we get to an area of cloud on the front and the breeze drops completely, or to about 5 knots... Everyone wants to get out of here, even if it's upwind, set course north and head for the Equator”, says Xabi.

Very little sleep and lots of sail changes and manoeuvring would sum up the last few days and hours of racing , which most of the crew on “Telefónica” would point out, although there is occasionally some relief: “We haven't been able to sleep much over the past few days with all of the sail changes, that we've been doing constantly, but last night was fairly ok and I managed to sleep a bit”, said Spaniard “Ñeti” Cuervas-Mons from on board the yacht.

“We're taking the situation in our stride, but it's a lot of work, given that the worse thing with these boats is when you get shifts in breeze from 5 to 20 knots and the ballast has to be shifted and the sails trimmed etc... it's a never-ending task, you just don't stop”, added Ribes.

Working a mile at a time.

“The key lies in working hard and choosing the right place to be. You have to work every hour, every mile and to try not to drop back and above all not to get too far away from the rest and end up stuck in a lull and losing them. We have to fight them, little by little and that's what counts”, said Pablo Arrarte, the helmsman from Cantabria on board the Spanish yacht.

So anticipation among the fleet continues to grow. Who will get through this transition first and be finally able to push forward? As the guys on “Telefónica” have pointed out, that's where the key to this first stretch of the 5,400 mile course between Cape Town (South Africa) and Abu Dhabi (UAE) lies...

PROVISIONAL RANKINGS LEG 2

CAPE TOWN (SOUTH AFRICA) – ABU DHABI (UAE): 5,430 miles

Day 5 – 16:00 GMT – 16^th December 2011

1 Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez)

2 Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), +27 miles

3 Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), +43.6 miles

4 Puma Ocean Racing (Ken Read), +60 miles

5 Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), +64 miles

6 Groupama Sailing Team (Franck Cammas), +146.30 miles

PROVISIONAL OVERALL STANDINGS. Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.

1. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 37 points

2. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), 34 points

3. Groupama Sailing Team (Franck Cammas), 24 points

4. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), 9 points

5. Puma powered by Berg (Ken Read), 9 points

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), 4 points