The shortest course through the southern oceans is to the south, but the risk is icebergs and freezing temperatures. While The Ocean Race 2023 has an ice exclusion zone to protect teams from routing toward danger, that was not always the case.
To get a feel for what it’s like to be onboard in the deep south, back when sailors were on deck during the 2001-02 Volvo Ocean Race, Gordon Maguire on News Corp shares this heart-felt and eloquent account of how raw life is on board:
The scenario: evening watch, last half-hour, it’s getting dark, last light, everything’s getting really dusky with about 400 yards visibility, and you’re looking at your watch which has 20 minutes to go. You’re thinking about I’m just over this. It’s blowing 35 knots, you’re doing 25 knots of boat speed, you’re hanging on the wheel, you haven’t lost it, you haven’t wiped out, everything’s under control…
