received 14.12.08 0553 GMT
We have gotten exactly what was expected so far in the first 20 hours of the race. Hot, light, tricky and very variable conditions.
But first, back to the beginning of the adventure. Leg 3: India to Singapore. And what a send off it was.
A Volvo Ocean Race send off is becoming a bit second nature. Meet in the morning at our team compound, team meeting, weather briefing, team walks to the beginning of the dock--but then it got different.
At the beginning of the dock, there were thousands of Indians waiting to see the teams as they paraded to the boats. Just a final reminder of how hospitable the Indian stop was for all of us. Forget the fact that we all learned so much about a culture that we had never laid eyes on before; it was the people who made the difference. Hospitable, friendly, inviting, and really, really interested in the Volvo Ocean Race. Just a reminder that we are ambassadors for our sport in so many ways, bringing sailing to places, which had never even heard of a sailboat race before -never mind this travelling circus called the Volvo Ocean Race.
This was also the first place I have been to where we chose to be towed off the dock. Mainly because of all the floating weed and small tree's and various other stuff in the water. And, when I say there is a lot of it, I mean almost ‘walk on it’ thick. No way to protect our propellers from all the guck so we decided to tow around the parade and show off the boats to the tens of thousands who lined the shores of the bay to just get a glimpse of the boats.
The parade also gave us a chance to meet our new friend and ‘Bollywood’ movie star Dino Morea - good guy - and joined us with Jochen Zeitz the CEO of PUMA and Martin Bowen who oversees PUMA India in addition to many other regions. All good guys, but there did come a point where we finally had to hurry them off the boat just minutes prior to the start.
Bang...gun goes and we are off. A good start for the home team and an early lead, but this is becoming a bit of a theme. In the evening the lead evaporated as did the wind and all of us took turns at the front of the pack. As morning came, the entire fleet was piled up on top of each other. A long night with nothing to show for it but a re-start.
On board it is also very familiar. It is really beginning to feel like home - in front of this computer. A lot of the same jokes, a bunk that always has gear underneath poking me in the back. Bad food and warm water. Pretty much status quo. But, for this leg at least there is no large low pressure brewing as of yet to knock our socks off as the last two legs had.
We have a fairly light and tricky beat across the Bay of Bengal after rounding the southern tip of Sri Lanka. All new for us. Places that I never imagined I would be racing.
Should be a very interesting 10 days or so, stay tuned.
Kenny Read - skipper
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