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10:33 AM Thu 6 Nov 2008 GMT
How was it for you? Team Russia crew members reflect on the experience of Leg 1 in the Volvo Ocean Race.
Nick Bubb - Pitman
My first memories - are the first 36 hours - I realised you would find out exactly what would break and I didn't get any sleep whilst fixing the ram boots.
The best moments are sailing at night, in the pitch black, 30-35 knots and the most awesome seas. The Doldrums was a phase of highs and lows. You felt like there was a chance of getting through, then it just didn't work out, then you were going again, then you weren't.
The teamwork was great and I felt we really gelled. There were no hectic moments during sail changes, which was good.
We sailed our own race. It had its ups and downs but that's yacht racing. We put in a solid result too and one we can build on as a team. Before the start we just didn't really know how we would perform against the competition and now I feel we are much more certain about the boat. We achieved the outcome goals we set for this leg. One of which was to get to Cape Town in 'one piece'.
We are pleased with the boat's reliability. You can't be competitive until you are reliable. After our initial issues with the ram boots, we didn't have any majors and we are really pleased to hand the boat over to the shore team without it needing loads of work. We've just had a tremendous de-briefing and everyone is focused on how to up our game.
Looking forward to Leg 2 already.
Stig Westergaard - Watch leader
First impressions? Wet, wet and wet - above and below decks. Our on board Team song became 'Yellow Submarine'. I went to bed humming it.
It was a 'yoyo' trip of ups and downs, come-backs and misfortunes.
The worse moments for me - it's always the food. I feel like a deranged patient being force fed in a straight jacket. I really hate the freeze dried food - and then you have to flush it down with olive oil. It's just the worst.
The team worked well and the new guys (to the Volvo race) - well they were fully on fire. It was a true pleasure sailing with them - full at their work, unpretentious and modest about what they do. It's great to work with top sailors like Rodian - completely different background sailing the Olympic class 49ers, but has total 'feel' for the boat.
Mikey Joubert - bowman
The sailing was fantastic. It was tough, cold and windy. I just loved it. It is really special to be here in Cape Town and back with my family.
Andreas Hanakamp - skipper
It was a very demanding first Leg. The South Atlantic threw us some challenges, and wet and wild sailing. So did the Doldrums. We made a couple of mistakes and that hurts. And having to sail short handed in the early stages with four people below decks mending the ram boots and kite for 36 hours - well that makes a huge difference when you are trying to fight against the other boats. After that though, we had very little gear failure - which we are really happy about.
We didn't know exactly how the boat would perform, and were aware we were one of the team's with the least preparation time. Stig and all the guys - we are out there to win and give it everything, but we also wanted to be realistic about our preparation time.
We had a steep learning curve and have learned so much about the boat and boat speed. Now we can work on refining this and how we sail her and looking for marginal gains. The fleet is so fast and competitive; everyone is sailing with very little differences between the boats. The miles between us over the length of the leg are in fact very small percentage differences. We are very aware of that.
Coming into Cape Town was amazing. Mikey said 'see that cloud - that's Table Mountain.' Then it appeared - an amazing landmark. It was fantastic to approach in fine weather and be warm after a week of cold.
Coming into the dock was very emotional. Overall - fantastic.
Wouter Verbraak - Navigator
Fantastic - awesome sailing! The 3 hour reports - they make it so exciting and competitive. They influence they way you race - it's just not straight forwards tactics plain sailing and everyone is so close.
Leg 1 was everything you could wish for - - it's like a complex game of chess, with some white water rafting, and crash and burn racing, all-in-one.'
The conditions were tough. Because all the boats are short handed, Andreas and I have to help out on deck, as well as try to do the navigation and strategy, especially when it's windy.
Do we get nervous? - yes sometimes. In 35+ knots when we are hanging on - WOW.
Jeremy Elliott - trimmer and sailmaker
It was Everything - a complete range of experiences. Fast, slow; laugh, cry; happy, sad; hot, cold. And it was completely different sailing experience to anything I've done before - like a different sport. It's so different to a 6 or 7 day offshore race. I loved the challenges and felt physically and mentally better prepared for the whole thing than I'd expected.
Some of the best bits were getting all the messages from the website. That was so cool. And thanks to Everyone for sending them.
So was getting over some of the hurdles we had - it was immensely satisfying mending the A6 and the boot rams. One of the worst moments was having to mend the A6 so soon after the start. I'm always sea sick on the first night, so I was down below fixing the sail and being sea sick! But once we'd mended it and put it back up we could see a couple of things we wanted to change when we took the sail down. I was so pleased - we didn't need to take the sail down for eight days and it held up all that time!!
The start and finish were really emotional. Approaching Cape Town was the most spectacular thing I've seen from a boat - plus we had a great geography lesson from Mikey and Cam! It's very special to arrive somewhere you've read and heard so much about - and dreamed about.
The sailing was just so competitive, and so close. We pulled back into the fleet twice from behind, so that was really rewarding. It's so much about boat speed as well as strategy, and you are sailing as hard as short course racing. Sailing through the Doldrums was like sailing you get no where else. One minute pulling forwards, the next sliding back. It's addictive.
www.teamrussia.org
by Team Russia
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