Photos: L ©Oskar Kihlborg R ©Paul Todd/Outside Images

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Thu, 01 Jun 2006 17:30:00 UTC

On May 21 ABN AMRO ONE crossed the finish line to win the Volvo Ocean Race 2005/06 with two legs to spare. The fact they had dropped just 6.5 points from the 87.5 available until this stage was a testament to their superior preparation, yacht design and crew work, but Leg 7 of this race will be remembered for reasons way beyond sporting brilliance.

ABN AMRO TWO’s Hans Horrevoets was washed overboard by a wave and killed just three days before his more senior stable-mates tasted the sweet bubbles of success. When the boat finally returned home the kids, as the crew had until that point been nicknamed, were recognised as men.

Photos: L ©Oskar Kihlborg R ©Martin Stockbridge

Their seamanship in dousing a spinnaker and returning upwind in the dark and huge seas to retrieve and attempt to resuscitate their friend was one remarkable feat, but to battle on with Hans’ body onboard and later rescue movistar’s crew, forced to abandon ship due to keel troubles, was simply unprecedented and seamanship which saved ten lives.

In human terms this leg could be seen as a disaster.

In sporting terms the sailing of this leg was, once again, a demonstration of ABN AMRO ONE’s brilliance on the open ocean.

Having started the leg poorly – the light winds in the Hudson River off New York’s battery Park left their wide boat parked up in front of the Statue of Liberty – the team could only watch as the Pirates took the early spoils. Once out of the harbour and after only 25 miles of sailing, however, Team Invincible had hooked into the stronger winds and charged straight to third place, and within the blink of an eye had taken the lead as they all headed north east.

Amazingly the crew of Brunel, with little experience of their newly re-vamped yacht or of each other, found themselves in second place with two and a half days gone. What happened next was not a disaster in the context of what happened later to ABN AMRO TWO, but it ruined their leg. A tack fitting on the bow broke and the team plummeted to sixth place in a matter of hours, no longer able to properly set their headsails.

At the front, however, with Halifax on their port beam, ABN AMRO ONE was also about to plummet. But this would be a clever and devious plummet. Spotting a way out of the high pressure ridge slowing the northern bound fleet, navigator Stan Honey asked the skipper to make what seemed an all-or-nothing gamble. Tacking sharply to the south east they fell to last place, but within two days the black boat was sailing in stronger winds from a better direction and back at the front of the fleet. Take a bow Stan Honey for another round of inspirational tactics.

Brasil 1 was sailing a blinder, holding second place until Mark Rudiger led Ericsson further south into better winds and the silver medal changed hands. At the back movistar was having a torrid time, having stuck with their northerly route, refusing to tack to join the rest of the fleet and suffering in light and fluky winds in mid ridge.

From here on in it was a dash to the finish in Portsmouth. Some 1,500 miles offshore, however, were storms waiting to swallow boats. At times 55 knots of wind pounded the fleet from all angles, the conditions roundly described as the worst seen in the race so far. Brunel’s skipper Matt Humphries reporting 60 knots on the wind instruments.

Deep into a dark night ABN AMRO TWO suffered their tragedy.

Over the course of the ensuing hours the Pirates, Brasil 1, movistar and Brunel all lost miles as they either turned or stood by to await instruction on whether they should help the young crew.

ABN AMRO ONE and Ericsson were too far ahead to realistically help, but the others ahead and astern of ABN AMRO TWO made their best speed to try to reach the scene.

Soon though, the call came that they had found their man.

Then the tragic news that they couldn’t resuscitate him.

The diverted four resumed their courses, but all had suffered damage. Brasil 1, Brunel and movistar were handicapped by badly torn mainsails, Brunel and movistar also reporting keel troubles, Pirates suffering various damage in the rugged beat to windward towards the ABN AMRO TWO.

Brasil 1 and Pirates would later successfully claim redress for time lost.

With a solemn cloud joining the dark and rainy ones above the fleet, the race continued.

Then movistar reported to race HQ that water was pouring in through a hole caused by the aft keel bearing seating collapsing and moving sideways. Bouwe Bekking’s race was over. He had a boat which was capable of finishing first or second in any conditions – a distinction not even Mike Sanderson could claim – but it was brittle, trouble prone and sinking – not for the first time.

ABN AMRO TWO came to the rescue, fishing the Spanish boat’s crew out of the ocean from a life raft in another textbook example of seamanship and transporting them to a transfer to shore in shelter of the Cornish coast. At the same time a Netherlands navy vessel took charge of Hans Horrevoets’ body just off the coast of England and took him home.

One by one the crews arrived, first ABN AMRO ONE over 200 miles in front, then Ericsson at last getting an offshore podium, then Pirates followed by Brasil 1 and Brunel.

ABN AMRO TWO finally arrived to a deeply emotional welcome at Gunwharf Quays.

It was a tough race, filled with examples of sporting and sailing brilliance, but at the end of the day that isn’t what will be remembered.

Read the tribute to Hans Horrevoets 

 

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