Green Dragon arrives in Alicante (ESP)

In his latest onboard blog, he provides an insight into the harsh existence aboard the new generation of Volvo Open 70. – never a dull moment it seems – and looks ahead to the start of the race in October.

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“The qualifier was rough, wet and all in all a pretty brutal trip, this was a slightly different experience,” he said.

“Somehow you can never relax on these boats not least as much of the sailing is done in the pitch black with no idea of what dangers lay ahead.

“Last night we spent five hours dodging commercial shipping as we tacked our way through the Straits of Gibraltar into a 35-knot headwind. The day before we had to slow right down to clear a sunfish off the port rudder.

“Life onboard is tough; the trimming, hoisting, lowering and moving sails drains every ounce of energy that you have. We sail in watches with four people on deck plus two of us on standby, while four people get to rest. It is four hours on, two on standby and two hours off in every eight, if you are lucky.

“Everybody gets up for any tacks, gybes and heavy air sail changes. All of the food is freeze dried, and there is little respite from the constant motion and intensity of the boat. So why on earth would anybody choose to do this?

“The answer is simple – it is a chance in a lifetime to be part of an incredible sporting event and to pit ourselves against some of the best sailors in the world – we all want to win. We have a fantastic team both ashore and afloat, and we will share life-changing experiences over the next 10 months.

“Yes it will be unbearably hot, yes it will be unbearably cold, and at times it will be dangerous. And yes, this will certainly be the biggest test of our lives. It will also be an incredible journey for everyone involved.

“So now we are in countdown mode for the start of the Volvo Ocean Race on October 11. We are tied up in the race village in Alicante and we can see the Telefonica boats just across the water.

“Soon others will be arriving too. In this race the other teams are our competitors, but we are all acutely aware that we could also rely on each other for rescue in the most remote oceans of the world.

“This fact separates this event from many others. With a little over one month to go there remains much to do. Tomorrow, the boat will be lifted out of the water for our shore team to start work on our final re-fit.

“The mast and keel will be taken off for servicing and our new livery will be added. We will then be back in the water for some final testing before we kick start proceedings with the in-port race on October 4. We can’t wait to get started”.

Meanwhile, the arrival of the Green dragon signals the final countdown to the start of the race for the Alicante start port management team.

“It’s a huge responsibility for us. Our job is to ensure they feel at home. All the infrastructures needed to make their stay here more comfortable were in place more than a one month ago,” spokesman Nicolas Figueras said.

“During the last week, we have set up the base for the teams, and ensured all the technical requirements have been met.

“Power, lights, water and the telecommunications services are in place. Alicante 2008 will be working closely with the Irish-Chinese team, taking the boat out of the water on Monday and setting up a paint area just near their base, to be sure all the works pending can be done.”