Spurred by disappointment and regrets and armed with a host of learnings, the crew was keen to to be back on the race course to atone and do better.The same impetus is obvious in China. The team can't wait to be back out there. The first leg may have yielded a better result, beating MAPFRE across the finish line into Cape Town, but crossing the Leg 3 finish line 13hrs and 10mins behind the leg winners, having always felt they were competitive and in touch with the fleet for most of the 4670 miles leg represents another step change for the first all-female team to compete in this race in twelve years.
"From our perspective the first week of the leg, coming out of Abu Dhabi, represents some of the best sailing we have done and reflected some of the biggest gains we had made - racing VMG and running with the A3," recalls Libby Greenhalgh the Team SCA navigator, "We made some initial mistakes - going through the gap in the rocks at Hormuz cost us - but we got back in touch with the fleet and we did well from there."
Most of all during the long stretch that followed, the feeling from the team is that they proved they could stay with the fleet and finally race on equal terms. "At those speeds we were happy, we had worked on our light wind modes and that seemed to work. On the leg across to India when it was light at times we struggled changing modes as quickly as some of the others. Sometimes we found ourselves having to compromise on a position we had taken to come back to the fleet. Sailing a faster mode to get back in touch as we felt that we had bigger gains to make by staying in contact with the fleet. We always sailed best in contact when we could see what others were doing. But for us the bigger gain is the learning experience."
Greenhalgh feels they are now sailing the boat better in terms of decision making and pure speed in different conditions and there is an obvious dividend from having refined and improved the communication on board. But there were still costly errors, which then caused a chain reaction that then made it hard to redress the deficit:"Another thing we improved on was the decision making process. We were more proactive but the decisions were better thought through, and that was good for us."
"There were times when the guys were better and smoother at changing modes, but that comes with experience, I think." "We missed a massive opportunity at the entrance to the Straits of Malacca, we didn't push as much into Sumatra as we should have - we were always sailing to the fleet. Alvimedica made 25 miles there and we could have done the same, we are kicking ourselves for that a bit." "Through the Straits was then always going to be hard for us really due to the time of day. We ended up eight or so hours behind, sometimes four to five hours, and that made the difference. We had three transition zones to get through, while they mostly sailed straight through. And then up the Vietnam coast I think we were generally pretty good. We sailed one really good period and I think we timed our tack offshore well."
"We definitely regret that missed opportunity at Sumatra and sometimes we are going to the masthead zero earlier and that can make a difference over a day. These are two key things to work on." Key to their gains has been making the choice to stay as close as possible with the fleet and that has delivered a better knowledge of how to sail the boats fast, as well as massively boosting confidence: "When we are next to boats we work very well as a team, when we are boat for boat we can match them and that is now a huge positive, we can stay with them and stay in the same pressure. Before it was easy to say 'well we think they have two knots more pressure'.
"We have massively improved the communications on board as well avnd that means we are working as a team better and more effectively. The relationship and communication between the trimmer and the drivers has improved, the driver feels more able to have a conversation about what she feels as she is driving. And there are times maybe where a driver has kind of lost her mojo in particular conditions and so there is no forcing it now - let us change for the best and the same with the trimmers. It is all about getting the numbers we need, and that is an ongoing process.
"This is a short, sharp stopover in China, one that needs careful planning to get the best of rest, debriefing, training and then being ready to go again: "Now we are champing at the bit to get going again. At eight hours or so behind we know, for example. we lost two hours on two peels, so that is some of that time. Before we had times when we were just desperately slow. Now I feel it is looking for the 0.2kts of boat speed. That may be difficult to find, but now we feel at least it is a realistic goal to be beside boats and ahead of them."
(www.teamsca.com)
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