Team SCA in the Volvo Ocean Race - Waiting for the ride to start

Pam definitely got our attention. She is the result of a tropical pressure system and she is powerful. We knew about her already on our way to Auckland but these kinds of weather systems are very unpredictable and impossible to forecast long term. Pam has over the past week been moving south down from the tropics towards New Zealand. The center of the cyclone passed by in between the Solomon Islands and Fiji on open water. Vanuatu was not as fortunate. The storm, at the time a category five, smashed into the Pacific Island nation on Friday night, demolishing villages and taking lives. Our thoughts go to the badly affected areas, the citizens and the victims and their families.

 A typical sailing strategy in this situation would be to more or less aim for the center of the storm and keep sailing towards the center as it slowly moves away from you. Sooner or later it will give you a good position and angle for your next way point and the quickest approach possible. We are still going to see fairly strong breeze around the center (which is plenty) and sail as close to it as we dare. The other option is to sail a detour around her, but Pam is a big sassy lady and it's a long way around. 

 It's a difficult and crucial decision to make for the skipper and the navigator and it may determine the whole leg. How much can we push without damaging the boat and the crew? How much risk are we willing to take? Should we make a detour and sail slower and longer but potentially the safer option? There are no right answers to these questions. We know that five of six boats broke and were forced to release the throttle and limp over the finish line on this particular leg in the last edition of the race, and none of us want to do that.

The start of Leg 5 to Brazil has been delayed. We will leave the dock Wednesday morning, and we are ready for it. The boat is packed and the crew is waiting, keen to get sailing. We know it's going to be tough. We will meet strong winds and difficult sea states but that's exactly what we've been training and preparing for, for over two years now. We are really looking forward to fast downwind sailing in the enthralling Sothern Ocean, rounding Cape Horn and the "final" (most likely a week or so) stretch in the South Atlantic to Itajaí. We can't wait for the start gun to fire.