It has been a day of attrition in the Volvo Ocean Race and having been out there, I can see why. Conditions were not horrific, but 40+ knots and fairly big seas made for tough going upwind. We thought long and hard about stopping for 24 hours to save the boat and sails, but instead decided to carry on at a far reduced pace. This compromise would mean 12-24 hours of hard going, but then very good conditions from then on.
Unfortunately, we didn't last the tough going as we sustained damage in the bow of the boat. Fortunately, we spotted it quickly and managed to stop the boat and get downwind before damaging the hull skin.
As I type this at 3am Tom Braidwood, Neal McDonald and Justin Slattery are chiselling, sanding, cutting and preparing to bond back all the broken bits. We have to hope their repair holds out to get us to Qingdao. Tomorrow Phil Harmer will supervise taking off and repairing the mainsail as well as two other sails damaged in the onslaught. Everyone else is resting right now after a full on day apart from Budgie (Ian Budgen/GBR) who is on 'anchor watch'.
I am hoping to get underway again soon - as soon as the conditions subside. The race is on to get to Qingdao before the weather turns against us again up north. It feels totally bizarre to be anchored during a race and I am quite looking forward to daylight to see what this place looks like.
The funniest thing is that no more than 100 metres away from us sits Delta Lloyd, who must also have turned back and sought shelter - the locals will not know what has hit them when they see two Volvo 70s moored outside in the morning.
I am still hoping locals in canoes offering us chilled Heineken and fresh fruit may yet greet us, but maybe I'll have to leave that to my dreams. Time I went to bed!
Limerick's Edwin O'Connor reports from Kilrush:
Delta Lloyd will take time to assess the damage and tackle the jobs list that the storm left in its wake. "We've just ripped our main and smashed a steering wheel, but spirits are still good onboard and we intend to restart as soon as possible."
PUMA are anchored on the same coastline in a bay south of Vigan. Media Crew Member Rick Deppe summed up a day which started with them sitting at the top of the leaderboard. “Today started well but ended badly,” he said. “We did some damage to the boat and now find ourselves anchored up off some beach in the Philippines.
“We are about two miles out but can see people on land I wonder who lives here and what they do? One strange looking boat did come out to see us and the guy who may have been called John.
"Having said that I can't imagine how the "monster" must have looked to him, big, black and red and somewhat reminiscent of a shoe, with a bunch of big burly guys onboard wearing tight pants. Too much information. He did however seem very happy to see us.”
Meanwhile, out on the race track, Telefonica Blue continues to lead the Ericsson twins. By the 19:00 GMT Position Report, E3 had headed back out into the Strait and was trailing Bouwe Bekking’s men by 85 miles. E4, hugging the coast, was 110 miles adrift of the Spanish team leader.
Gustav Morin, the MCM on E3, provided a graphic description of life on board at the height of the storm. “Today we have seen wind of almost 50 knots and seas that I’m pretty sure measured around eight metres,” he said.
"You’re looking straight up in the sky when it hits you, and well over the top it’s free falling. One, two three and bam! When you land you don’t know if to laugh or cry. It’s surrealistic. Like sitting in the head of a sledgehammer when the worlds strongest man is smashing it through a block of cement.
"The bangs and crashes are sometimes so brutal that you really wonder when and not if the is going to break. And if you don’t hold on properly, and have a good place too put your feet, you will hurt yourself, badly.
"Today there has been some mailing going on between the teams about suspending racing. But as long as we feel OK with continuing we are going to go for it.”
