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Dongfeng Finish Second – Volvo Ocean Race leg 1 review

After 25 days of racing just 12 minutes separated first and second place in Leg 1 of the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean race – Ed Gorman reviews the first leg and talks about boatspeed.

In the old days of the Whitbread and the early Volvo Ocean Races boatspeed was the product of two things: the designer’s pen and the ability of a crew to move a hull efficiently through the water in all conditions. The switch to a one-design contest for the first time in this year’s Volvo Ocean Race has effectively removed the designer from the equation. The boats are as near identical as it is possible to be, the sails are the same and so the onus is on the crew.

For the Dongfeng Race Team aboard the bright red Chinese-sponsored Volvo Ocean 65, boatspeed and many other of the key skills that make up a winning campaign were always going to be a struggle. Unlike their rivals Charles Caudrelier’s crew would contain two offshore novices, in the form of Chinese rookie round-the-world sailors Jiru Yang (Wolf) and Chen Jinhao (Horace), and this was expected to have an effect on all aspects of performance, not least the speed of the boat through the water.

But what leg one from Alicante to Cape Town demonstrated was that in this department at least Caudrelier has managed to square the circle because the red boat was consistently among the fastest, if not the fastest in the fleet especially off the wind when sheets were eased. The Chinese yacht was on the pace upwind but downwind she had an edge, something the crew demonstrated in straight line contests against leg winner Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing at one stage and against third placed Team Brunel.

How could this be? The answer in Caudrelier’s mind is the fact that he and several other members of his crew have big experience in solo ocean racing. Both Caudrelier and his navigator Pascal Bidegorry have won the true test in this field – the Solitaire du Figaro – and others in the crew have completed many miles at sea in solo or double-handed races. In the Solitaire you test yourself as a solo skipper against 49 other sailors in identical boats – something the Volvo Ocean Race is now asking of its crews for the first time. It is second nature for men like Caudrelier and Bidegorry to push hard for an extra tenth of a knot, to trim to perfection to squeeze out that little bit extra which, over an extended run, can lead to taking a chunk out of the boat in front or establishing a lead. What is more they are used to doing this short-handed.

Here is Caudrelier reflecting on where that speed comes from, a couple of hours after finishing in a spectacular second place into Cape Town, just 12 minutes and four seconds behind Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing after 25 days at sea.

“It can change with every leg and I don’t want to over-do this or get ahead of ourselves, but with Bruno Dubois – the team director – we chose our crew very carefully,” said Caudrelier. “On Dongfeng I have, in my view, one of the best trimmer-drivers I know in Pascal Bidegorry, and I have some exceptional drivers like Thomas Rouxel who comes from the Olympics. These guys are very, very good drivers and trimmers and they are used to fighting for speed.

“I think, from my analysis of the last Volvo Ocean Race, the game used to be about having the best boat and, if you had it, you were going fast and you didn‘t have to fight to go faster. But in a big class of one-design yachts you need to trim the sails and drive to find the speed and maybe that is why we are strong.”

Clearly another potential weakness in the Dongfeng crew might have been in manoeuvres that have to be slick at this level. But in this area the Chinese sailors have learnt fast. The pattern that developed was that in the early stages of the leg during the battle to get out of the Mediterranean in close company with other boats, the Dongfeng team struggled a bit with transitions and sail changes. But as the race settled down and the breeze stabilized in the Trade Winds, there was less to do on this score and less potential impact on performance. Even so, Cauderlier still required all eight of his team on deck for any major manoeuvre.

The Chinese sailor, Wolf, has no doubt that sail changes on Dongfeng improved as the leg went on. “It was really hard in the first three days, we were sailing close to each other and we had to push our boat. We could never sleep properly and I never got more than two hours sleep in one go so I was really tired. But once we got out of the channel (Straits of Gibralter) the wind was quite consistent, so it got better. I think we are doing better and better with our manoeuvres and sail changes.”

One knock-on effect that Caudrelier had to manage was the impact on himself and Bidegorry of needing to be on deck regularly plus the extra demands on the more experienced members of the crew over four weeks at sea. Again the more settled conditions in the second half of the leg helped offset any negative impact this might have had.

For Caudrelier and Bidegorry there were several key tactical moments. The collision when they were leading that snapped off one of the rudders more or less left them no option but to sail through the Cape Verde islands and then they lost out big-time in the Doldrums, ending up neither firmly east or west and stuck in the middle going slowly. But sparkling boatspeed in the breeze helped them recover from fourth place back into contention for the podium in the second half of the leg. The big plus-point was the decision to gybe more east than their rivals to get round the bottom of the South Atlantic High that set Dongfeng up for a fast run into Cape Town. Caudrelier believed they could win the leg right to the end. “I think we lost the race the night before we finished when we gybed,” he said. “We should have stayed inside Abu Dhabi – we gybed a bit late.”

With a big ocean leg under his belt on Dongfeng, he now knows more about how to get the best out of the new Volvo Ocean 65 boats but he says they are tricky. “They are very difficult to sail because they have less power than the Volvo 70s (used in the last race). They heel more, they are heavy and they need more sail area, so you have to find the right balance between angle of heel, sail area and power which is not easy.”

Wolf will now take a rest, handing his place to another Chinese sailor before returning for the leg three, from Abu Dhabi to Sanya. “For me I am really happy that we won second place – I am happy about that,” he said. “Only now I am a bit upset because we were so close to being champion on this leg, but that is life. You cannot expect everything that you want to happen.”

Caudrelier had nothing but praise for his path-breaking Chinese crew members. “They showed that they are prepared to work really hard and they were always there when we needed power on the winches. They are very good guys with a good spirit and they never complained,” he said.

Leg 1 Alicante to Cape Town: (6,487nm, although many more miles raced)
Finish position: 2nd, behind leg winner and pre-race favourites Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing
Time of finish: 15:22:48 UTC (12m 4s behind leg winner Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing)
Duration of leg: 25d 3h 22m
Distance sailed: 8,363nm
Best 24 hour run: Dongfeng 541nm at 1440 UTC 3.11.14 (provisional)

Volvo Ocean Race websites: www.volvooceanrace.com www.dongfengraceteam.cn

Megabites: 8 November, 2014

Thanksgiving
A national holiday in the USA, Thanksgiving originated as a day of celebration of the previous years harvest. Local American stalwart Dan Ryan’s is offering a traditional 4 course menu for $398 + 10% featuring pumpkin soup, roast turkey with giblet gravy, candied yams, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.
Dan Ryan’s Chicago Grill is located at Shop 28, LG2, Festival Walk, 80 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong (t: 2265 8811) and 112 Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty (t: 2845 4600).

Isola Reopens
A newly renovated and slightly remodeled Isola re-opened in IFC recently. At first glance you might not notice many of the new features, but take a look at the most important part of the restaurant… There’s a brand new kitchen, designed with the input of two-star Michelin Chef Marco Sacco and built in Italy. Yes, Isola is the latest eatery to partner up with an overseas Michelin star chef to add ‘prestige’ to it’s name… While Marco Satto will ‘oversee’ the gradual revamping of Isola’s menu – so don’t expect to see any of famous dishes on the menu quite yet – the new chef on the ground is Omar Agostini. At the media introduction of Marco Satto’s appointment there was little to taste, so we’ll have to wait and see what impact Marco and Omar bring to Isola, and it’s prime location with wonderful views across the harbour.

Great Idea
As part of their Christmas promotion Great in the basement of Pacific Place will be holding a series of food tastings and demonstrations loosely entitled “Comfort Foods for the Holidays”. The series of tastings and hands on activities starts on the 21 November from 3pm with the goal of inspiring and entertaining while learning more about food and how to prepare, cook and enjoy it.

A full list of the classes and tasting is posted in the store where you can sign-up in advance for those that interest you most. The list includes: Dressing a Whole Turkey (Demo), Pumpkin soup (Demo/Food Tasting), Making A Ginger Bread House from Scratch (Hands on instructional Class), Old Fashioned Christmas Cookies (Hands on instructional Class), Roasting Poultry (Hands on instructional Class), Christmas Pudding (Demo/Food Tasting), Composing a Cheese platter (Hands on instructional Class), Cooking with Cheese (Demo/Food Tasting), How to Carve a Turkey (Demo/Food Tasting), Understanding Craft Beer Instruction (Tasting).

Cooking videos
The Sheraton in Macau is posting cooking videos on it’s facebook page showing viewers how to enjoy the specialty dishes from the Sheraton Macao Hotel’s restaurants at home. Tied in with this are a series of weekly competitions and give-aways – check out their facebook page for more details www.facebook.com/SheratonMacau

If you have any food news please send it to [email protected]

Umbrella Movement Images – 7 November, 2014

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A cold grey morning, matured into a damp miserable night – the first really grotty night of the six week long protest. Yet, Umbrella Square was a hive of activity as protestors water-proofed their leaky ‘made-in-China” tents and raised them off the road. Modified supply centres, and continued to raise and expand awareness through discussion, art, music and friendship.

HK’s postcrossing community held their third hand-out of postcards. 40,000 cards in 30 designs, the message was simple the cards are free, post them to your friends around the world!

Advertising executives gave away stickers they’d designed and created. Others gave away umbrella charms and love HK necklaces. While Flo and her friends delivered hot spicy Chinese style ginger soup to help ward off the cold and damp.

The unique peaceful nature of the Umbrella Movement was emphasised by the newspaper images of violent protest on the streets of London and Belgium the previous night. The most ‘aggression’ shown by the protesters has been against invading rain water and the constant menace of rubbish.

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Ustinov Cup: Hong Kong v Russia – 6pm, 8 November, 2014 @ King’s Park

Match one of the Ustinov Trophy – named after Mikhail Ustinov, the first native Russian consul general to Hong Kong from 1900 to 1903 – will kick-off at 6pm this Saturday at King’s Park Sports Ground – it’s the Russian Bear v the Hong Kong Dragon and it’s going to be tastier than brown bread and caviar!

The curtain raiser at 4:30pm will be a match-up of two of the top women’s teams when current Grand Champions Gai Wu Ladies take on Abacus Kowloon Ladies in a Women’s Premiership clash.

Match Two will be on Saturday 15th November, 6pm at HKFC and there’ll also be an appearance by French Top 14 side Racing Metro earlier that afternoon at 3pm. Free entry both weeks, refreshments on sale!

Gai Wu - Grand Champions 2014! — Gai Wu – Grand Champions 2014!

Can You Hear Us? Mingpao Interviewing Yvonne Leung

【Can you hear us? Mingpao interviewing Yvonne Leung, HKFS / Oct 31, 14 HKT】

In a century of dialogue with the government, 21-year-old Yvonne Leung is the only woman to have represented the Hong Kong Federation of Students. Looking back on her commendable performance, she says ‘No matter how nervous I was, I knew what I had to say.’ Currently studying politics and law at HKU, Leung was already well on her way to paving a path for others to follow. Today, after being surrounded by people, she discovered her fear of being in the spotlight, and says that she just wants to be a good person who does not participate in shady or underhand practices. Leung, tentatively-turned-lawyer, ‘holds dear a lot of things that Hong Kong is slowly losing.’

Fame comes at a price. Yvonne received phone calls where she was sworn at and asked aggressively, ‘When are you going to stop?’ She laughs and says that it’s not a problem. In the occupied areas of Mong Kok, when over a hundred people surrounded her to praise her, shake her hand and take pictures with her she was happy to do so, saying that ‘[She] did not want to disappoint anyone.’ The Internet has an even more enthusiastic response; her Facebook page has over 6000 followers who call her ‘Goddess’ and are very interested in her relationship status. She says that she is single, and that ‘everyone says I have a boyfriend but I’d like to know who he is!’ She shakes her head and repeats, ‘ I don’t like being in the spotlight nor do I think a cult of personality is helpful. She is aware of her position, and says that ‘I am different to Alex (Chow, HKFS Secretary-General) and Lester (Shum, Deputy Secretary-General) as I’m a general committee member and want to do things that they normally are not able to do. To avoid furore in the streets, she stayed in the occupied areas until late at night, chatting with protestors. ‘I don’t know if the people on the streets feel like there is a lack of direction. In my experience, they are not sure if staying on the streets will end in an exit strategy.’ Dialogue with the government has not swayed the decision of the NPCSC, but it has certainly changed Leung’s life path. Years ago she worked a summer internship with the Civic Party before continuing with her studies of law and politics; now the Occupy movement has resulted in some reflection. Leung says ‘the politics are not effective. But I’m not saying I am the most suitable candidate either, I definitely see things in black and white.’ She is now focused on her goal of becoming a human rights lawyer. However, she has not been to university in a few months nor completed any assignments. Some students have postponed their studies for a year to focus on work, but Leung feels ‘it’s not worth it, as the assignments will eventually be done.’

Her parents are worried for her. Although they understand and support the Occupy movement, they worry that the students don’t grasp the concept of ‘quitting while you’re ahead’ and that history may repeat itself. Yvonne sleeps 5 to 6 hours a night, but this is the only time she spends at home. The rest of her day is divided between the three Occupy areas, the HKFS offices and her university dorm. ‘[My parents] think that it’s unwise for me to put my full energy into this, but it’s difficult not to as there is always something happening, from dawn til dusk.’ Yvonne’s phone was buzzing throughout the interview with messages and calls, one of which was Mrs. Leung asking her daughter to come home for dinner.

Her younger brother, who is in the final years of high school, is as involved in Occupy Hong Kong as his sister. He was one of many protestors who took refuge in the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts on Sept 28th when tear gas was fired on the students. Like their mother, he sends her messages from time to time, usually offering to buy her dinner. She smiles sadly at the messages.

Hong Kong’s future is on their shoulders and the pressure is indescribable. Although she is calm and collected on stage, she admits that she is a crybaby at heart and will call good friends in tears when she feels under pressure. Her friends have learned to jokingly reply now, ‘Have you used up your crying time today? There is something for you to be unhappy about every day’. After the interview, she puts on a yellow pair of flip-flops and goes home to drink her mother’s soup.

Original article http://news.mingpao.com/pns1410311414691862801 thank you to the unknown translator

Chief Executive Petition Tuesday – 4 November, 2014

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Every Tuesday while Legco’s Executive Council is in session anyone can present a petition about anything to the Chief Executive. Turn-up out side his office early enough to be in the 30 or so people admitted and you can have your say.

Whether he listens or just throws them in the first available bin is open to question. Although if you pay him $50million it probably helps – but then you wouldn’t need Petition Tuesday would you!

Today among the four groups of petitioners was Kong Man Chan and his band of blue ribbon confederates with a petition calling for the arrest of the organisers of the street protests signed by 2809 people. When asked, he offered no details as to whether the identities of the signatories had been confirmed. If you want to sign his petition or hear what he has to say you can reach him on [email protected] or here www.facebook.com/kongman.chan.10

Editors Note: bc finds the blue ribbons ‘Support the police’ slogan – which would imply that they respect law and order, at odds with the actions of blue ribbon supporters who assault and instigates violent attacks against people who disagree with their viewpoint.

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Umbrella Movement Images – 3 November, 2014

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Felix’s giant yellow umbrella is taking shape outside Legco, a group of new friends who met at the protest site are creating a massive plastic/paper umbrella installation. The ‘organic’ garden now has an umbrella bed while the egg pyramid and the brick wall – i admit to missing the exact symbolism of.

There’s no need for symbolism under the shadow of Legco though as the recycling projects expand. Simple and strong reminders that we can and should re-use and that the government should increase it’s recycling efforts. While a home-made wind turbine is providing power to study bye.

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CWB Phoenix 19–0 HKCC @ Causeway Bay – 1 November, 2014

Causeway Bay Phoenix showed why they are top of the Women’s National League 1 this weekend, showcasing their exceptional counter-attacking to break down a spirited Leighton Asia HKCC Babes.

Holding home ground advantage at Causeway Bay Sports Ground, CWB (to give them their full title, SCC Children’s Cancer Foundation CWB Phoenix) kicked off into the bright sunlight, soon surrendering territory that they were not to make up for the first 20 minutes. HKCC pressed hard, but were unable to find the necessary attacking width and squandered several golden opportunities through failing to protect the ball. Carolyn Champion, Babes number 8, became the first of two players to be flummoxed by the white soccer lines painted onto the pitch – carrying three defenders with her to touch down, only to discover that the actual try line was an agonising three yards away. Close, but no cigar.

CWB took full advantage of the reprieve, sprinting clear in the aftermath to run in an 80 yard breakaway try that was duly converted. Five minutes later, they almost executed a repeat, excellent defensive coverage from Wendy Sham holding up play long enough for support to arrive. But before the half was over, HKCC had lost another breakaway try, lost three players off the pitch injured, and were down to 14 owing to an ill-judged high tackle from flanker Rosie Wright. The turnover in players was equalled by turnovers on the field, HKCC frivolous in possession and CWB extremely quick to take advantage with the counter-ruck.

HKCC weathered their period of disadvantage, but didn’t truly look like scoring as a number of players adjusted to unfamiliar positions to cover for injuries. Fly half and birthday girl Julia Mason came back on to try to inject stability into the backline play, but HKCC still struggled to establish an attacking platform, unable to generate forward momentum in the final 15 yards. CWB turned the screw with fifteen minutes to go, pressing advantage with three quickly taken penalties and exploiting an overlap in the left corner. A fourth try was even initially awarded, only for both players and referee to soon realise they’d been foiled by the phantom try line, again.

HKCC kept up the intensity, Rosie Wright in particular earning redemption for her earlier sin-binning with high energy tackling and running that saw her named Player of the Game. The fighting spirit was epitomised in the final play of the game – Julia Mason opting to keep the ball in play rather than kick out and end the game, despite, by that stage, the inevitability of a loss. But in the end, CWB came away well-deserved winners – executing the basics well, and exploiting the Babes’ errors ruthlessly. HKCC were left to rue missed opportunities, and an ever lengthening injury list.