Bust rudders and cries for help

Last Modified: 13 Oct 2008
By: Sue Turton

Sue Turton has been on a boat chasing the Volvo Ocean Race fleet from the start in Alicante on Saturday. She sent this from the middle of the Mediterranean.

It wasn't until we cleared the pier wall sheltering Alicante's harbour that we got a taste of the night ahead for us. It was going to be a rough ride.

As the gun went off and the crews on the eight Volvo boats set to work, tacking their way up to the first inshore mark before heading out to sea, half of our film crew made their getaway.

"I'll f*****g swim for it if I have to", the soundman yelled as he struggled to jump onto the RIB waiting to take him to shore. I don't think his sea legs had quite kicked in. But the rest of us had signed up for a couple of days chasing the fleet down the coast and that's where we were going, come hell or high water.

So Water Wizard, our 50 foot catamaran, bounced its way across the huge swell, fighting her way through gusts of 30 knots of breeze as Alicante disappeared from view.

Sue Turton aboard the Water Wizard. Credit: David Kneale

All the weatherman on Sky News had seemed to talk about when I'd woken up earlier that morning was the huge storm heading for the Spanish coast.

It didn't seem to matter much from a warm bed in a plush hotel. It mattered now.

But our discomfort was nothing compared to the kind of night they were having on board 'Telefonica Blue'. She'd had a cracking start, vying with 'Ericsson 4' at the head of the fleet, but as the night drew in we heard from race control that she was in trouble. As the rest of boats were still sailing hard TB was trying frantically to fix a failed steering system.

We cranked up the engine and found them in the gloom just before midnight, wounded and limping along just off Fuengirola. They shone a light at their sail to identify themselves.

We reciprocated but efforts to talk to them on the VHF proved fruitless. And who could blame them. The last thing their Dutch skipper Bouwe Bekking wanted was to publicise their bad luck.

Especially as he had skippered 'movistar' in the last Volvo race. Their swinging keel gear had failed and she'd sunk after the crew abandoned ship. It must have felt like déjà vu for Bekking.

Ricky Deppe, crewman of the Puma holding up 'help' sign. Credit: Dave Kneale

We left them to their night of repairs and charged up the coast in search of the race leaders. It took till dawn to find them. 'Ericsson 4' and 'Ericsson 3' had forged ahead, thanks to some clever tactics.

Along with Ian Walker's 'Green Dragon', they'd all headed inshore and picked up a decent breeze close to the coast.

No need to panic just yet boys with 36,700 more nautical miles to go.

It was that decision that split the fleet as the boats that headed out into the Med had less wind and dropped back. 'Puma' and 'Telefonica Black' must have been sick as parrots as they realised the inshore boats had the edge.

And it ended up saving 'Telefonica Blue's' bacon. They'd been forced to head inshore to do the repairs and so made the right decision almost by accident. Although I'm sure that's not how their navigator will tell it.

The crews on the Ericsson boats were beaming with delight as they sped past the Rock of Gibraltar and headed into the Atlantic before hanging a left hand turn down the coast of Africa.

Unsurprisingly they weren't so reticent to have a quick chat over the radio. Swedish skipper Anders Lewander praised his crew who had worked their socks off throughout the night, putting in countless gybes along the shore.

One of the crew admitted it was a bit wet and smelly below, not from the waves that had crashed over the decks and down into the cabin, but from his sweaty crewmates who had bust a gut to stay in front. And that's after just one day.

As the sun began to set, and the African coastline fell into the darkest silhouette, Britain's double Olympic medal winner came into view.

Ian Walker's boat had held onto third place and Walker was in high spirits. They'd sorted a halyard problem that had dogged them at the start and were keen to get through the Straits and out after the Ericsson boats before the wind dropped off completely, a sentiment the five crews behind them must have been feeling even more keenly.

No need to panic just yet boys with 36,700 more nautical miles to go.

As the light faded we spotted 'Puma' coming up in fourth place. Their bowman was hanging off the top of their mast 30 metres above the sea spotting what breeze there was.

As she glided past us towards the Straits and the open ocean we just caught sight of one crew member on the stern holding up a sign. "Help" it said.

Let's hope he was joking.