Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race
One thing I can say for sure is that when it’s over everyone thinks ‘never again’, ‘this is the last one’, but they keep coming back. There must be something in that ...
Tuesday 11 August 2009 10:15 GMT
FROM THE COCKPIT
By Fernando Echavarri (skipper, Telefonica Black)
When the last Volvo Ocean Race, in which I did three legs, was over, I said I wouldn't be back, but here I am again! This time I've been skipper. The Volvo Ocean Race is the kind of race you have to experience to understand. It's not something anyone else can just tell you about. You have to do it to know what it's like.
You come to conclusions about things and it's an experience that teaches you about yourself as a sailor and as a person. You learn through mistakes as well as good moves and you get so much out of both.
There are many special moments and experiences that will stay with me forever... position reports coming through when we'd moved ahead, nights on deck with a sky full of stars and perfect sailing conditions, those sailing conditions that every sailor dreams of sailing at least once in their life and, of course, reaching the ports. Those memories reward me, especially during tough legs. It doesn't matter which port we reached, the warmth of the crowd and the families made it all worth it.
I have particularly fond memories of departing in Alicante, with all the support from the public and our families waving goodbye. Reaching Galway, where there were so many people clapping and cheering in the middle of the night is another memory that will be with me forever.
Those moments remind me what the Volvo Ocean Race means to the sailing community, and the significance it has gained among the cities and inhabitants of the race ports.
On the other hand, I'll also never forget the Luzon Straight. It was a pretty key moment for the team as we went from sailing really well, in a good position, to withdrawing from the leg and missing the following one, which was the crowning leg of the Volvo Ocean Race.
That was the toughest time for us. You also suffer a lot when things don't go well and it's even harder when you have been at the top, pushing hard, but things just don't come together.
One of the hot topics for this edition of the race has been the new course. We've experienced a very different Volvo Ocean Race and I think that it's more complete like this. Although there's not so much sailing to the south, the essence of sailing in those feared latitudes hasn't been lost. We've been south three times; in the first Atlantic leg, in the second Indian leg and in the fifth leg near Cape Horn and New Zealand.
I'd find it impossible to pick just one favourite moment, so I'd have to take the race as a whole. It's one of those experiences you have to live to really comprehend. I don't know if I'll be back; I have to rest and reflect on what we've lived over the past few months. One thing I can say for sure is that when it's over everyone thinks 'never again', 'this is the last one', but they keep coming back... there must be something in that.
This article appears in Life At The Extreme magazine, issue 32.
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Jiang Yongtao