| At sea. Volvo Ocean Race: ABN AMRO 2 has its first birthday |
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| Sunday, 15 January 2006 | |
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Nick Bice: It's hard to believe but it's been one year to the day that ABN AMRO TWO went in to the water for the first time in the sleepy fishing port of Portimao, Portugal. So what's been happening in the last twelve months? Two Trans Atlantic crossings, numerous trips from the south west of Europe to our home country of The Netherlands and back and thousands of miles or recorded testing against our stable mate, ABN AMRO ONE. Prior to the Volvo Ocean race ABN AMRO TWO had recorded almost 30000 miles being the most sailed Volvo 70 prior to the start. As I write this we are currently in second position on the points board behind ABN AMRO ONE, setting the world mono hull speed record and leading the second leg by 7 miles having just taken the lead for the first time during the leg but with our rivals in hot pursuit, so all in all you'd have to say very surprising to say the least but on the same hand a very exciting time for 10 young individuals giving their all for this race and the great opportunity we have all been given. Today we had a little birthday on board for the street fighter with all the crew in some fabulous party hats made by our sailmaker, Luke Molloy (obviously quite handy with a pair of scissors) of Kevlar, so a great time had by all having a bit of a laugh and a little sing along. Personally this was always going to be a favourite leg for me in returning home to Australia for the first time in 2 years. Albeit not my home town of Adelaide in Sth. Australia but having sailed on Pt. Phillip bay numerous times it's like going home. Certainly been an interesting leg in the fact we had to cross a ridge leaving Cape Town to enter the south and now crossing another ridge on our approach to Australia leaving the south. It's almost like entering and leaving via a great set of fluky and frustrating gates. I guess this has certainly not been the Southern Ocean leg of days gone past with boats reaching as far south as 55 dodging ice bergs and putting up with the extreme cold conditions but you take it as it comes and we had to do what we had to do in respect to the waylines that were set by the race committee. Not a bad thing in my eyes as safety is of great importance on these boats and more importantly the safety of the crew is absolute paramount. Life on board has been quite light hearted and enjoyable but at the same time maintaining our focus and position in the leg. At times I certainly have felt like a bit of a drill sergeant trying to keep the house keeping duties up to scratch whilst all being tired and the last thing you want to do is come off watch, sponge out the boat and clean all the dishes with hot water. Once again it's all for the best and I wouldn't have it any other way. The boat has been performing unbelievably well with all aspects going great without a hitch so an absolute credit to all the guys and girls on the shore team. If any one would like to see a professionally run unit the team that both Ben and Coxy run on the shore side is an absolute credit to them both. So thanks guys. Ok all from me out here and looking forward to hitting the dock in Melbourne. www.volvooceanrace.org |
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 15 January 2006 ) |
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