The Hindu : Sport : Volvo Ocean Race a tough test

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Volvo Ocean Race a tough test

Principal Correspondent

Bigger challenge for Spanish trio

KOCHI: Sailors in the Volvo Ocean Race often live life at the extreme. Months of preparation go into the 39,000-nautical mile round-the-world event which begins in Alicante in Spain in October.

But Spaniards Iker Martinez, Xabier Fernandez and Jordi Calafat will have another big challenge just weeks before the Volvo Race which will have its maiden Asian stopover in Kochi in December.

The three will be in action in the Beijing Olympics sailing competitions in Qingdao in August. Martinez and Fernandez are the defending Olympic champions in the 49er event while Calafat won the 470 gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games.

Dates almost clashing

“I think this is the first time we have the Olympics and the Volvo Race so close together, almost clashing,” Jack Lloyd, the Race Director of the Volvo Ocean Race, said here on Wednesday. “It’s going to be very tough for the Olympians and I think all of Spain will want them to concentrate on Beijing.”

Lloyd, an international umpire and judge for sailing will also officiate in Beijing and it will be his third consecutive Olympics.

Asia could be the toughest leg of the Volvo Race. “Asia is a sort of unknown territory for almost all the sailors. And the Singapore to Qingdao (in China) leg could very difficult because of the light winds and because temperatures are likely to drop to two degrees. So, they could have to handle snow too,” said the seasoned New Zealander who will be handling his fourth Volvo Race.

The sailors could also run into heavy ‘traffic’ on the Singapore-Qingdao leg which comes after Kochi. “We expect a lot of small fishing boats on this route and with a lot of islands on the way, it will be a big challenge. Also, some of the sailors are concerned about health issues,” he said.

Lloyd, along with Jeremy Troughton, the Director Planning and Operations of the Volvo Race, went around the Willingdon Island where work is on to set up the Race Village and held discussions with the Cochin Port Trust Chairman N. Ramachandran.

But there will be no ‘in-port’ race in Kochi. “We need a big circle for the in-port races but we have just a one-mile circle near the race village. To get a bigger one, we will have to go far out into the sea in Kochi but that will not serve the purpose because the local people will not be able to watch it,” explained Lloyd.

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