© Jen Edney/ MAPFRE / Volvo Ocean Race
I think you just gave a whole new meaning to the phrase “Be careful what you wish for!” I guess you weren’t quite in the Holiday Spirit mood yet. Now, I know that we said we would like to be in by Christmas but wow, it seems you wanted us to do a quick pass through the Southern Ocean Fight Club before allowing us that luxury. A few of my crew joined that club today, 2 on deck were wiped out by a massive wave and one took a hit down below and has the face to prove it. “Conditions have been tough the past week but yesterday was windy and very squally,” explains Xabi.
“We had one squall after the other especially throughout the night. It was quite tricky, we had a few broaches, no problems but we were sailing with 25-30 kts and suddenly we had gusts of 38-40kts, you know we never prepared for that, one reef you know in the main but when you have 40 kts it’s still too much. I think we did very well, we kept the boat in one piece and everyone is safe and we kept going fast so it´s good. I’m very happy with how the crew managed the situation, always stand-by and always people willing to work hard and that is one of the reasons we are here.”
Thank you for allowing us the timely holiday arrival, but man you definitely made us work for it!
MAPFRE in the Volvo Ocean Race
