Burling set for ultimate test
It is the most iconic leg of the Volvo Ocean Race and for Peter Burling, his ‘Everest’ moment.
Three weeks after arriving in Auckland, the Ocean Race fleet departs for the Brazilian city of Itajai today, returning to the Southern Ocean where they will sail through massive swells while battling bitterly cold conditions.
Then they round the legendary Cape Horn, navigating some of the roughest seas in the world before heading north to Brazil.
It’s a daunting journey and, at 7600-nautical miles, easily the longest of the 11 legs.
But like many of his competitors, it is also a big part of the reason Volvo rookie Burling joined Team Brunel to take part in the global voyage in the first place.
‘‘If you did the race you definitely wouldn’t want to miss this leg, put it that way,’’ Burling told Stuff. ‘‘It’s something I’m really looking forward to.
‘‘We sail through some of the most isolated parts of the world. You could probably say the amount of people who go around Cape Horn is considerably less than the amount of people that go up Mt Everest every year.
‘‘There’s not many reasons to round it unless you’re doing an ocean race or that kind of thing. But it’s going to be pretty amazing.’’
The fleet also sailed through the Southern Ocean during leg three from Cape Town to Melbourne, but this will be the closest they get to Antarctica.
While the race committee usually sets a limit to keep the boats away from the ice, the threat of bergs drifting into the paths of racing boats remains.
Burling is under no illusions of what he is in for, but he cut a relaxed figure when discussing the challenges of the leg this week.
‘‘It’s definitely pretty gruelling,’’ he said. ‘‘Time-wise, it’s a lot less in a really cold climate compared to the last Southern Ocean leg, so that will be a pretty nice thing.
‘‘It’s definitely the furthest south we go so it could mean some pretty cold conditions but that’s the tradition of the race. We’ve all got really good clothes, gloves, beanies, boots, everything you can think of really to keep us warm and hopefully it does.’’
As well as recharging the batteries during the Auckland stopover, Burling has been catching up on work with Team New Zealand as the America’s Cup defenders rush to get the new class rule finalised.
He was also present for the announcement of the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 world championships in Auckland next year.
Burling and his 49er team-mate Blair Tuke, who is on board Spanish boat Mapfre in the Volvo Ocean Race, are weighing up whether to compete in that event and go on to defend their Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020.
‘‘It’s a pretty amazing boat to sail and the Olympics is an amazing event. We’ll always have a soft spot for that but we have to see if we can make it work,’’ Burling said.
With four legs remaining in the Volvo Ocean Race, Burling finds himself near the bottom of the leaderboard with Team Brunel sixth of the seven-boat fleet.
The Dutch boat was the last to arrive in Auckland after the gamble of turning east out of the doldrums failed to pay off.
But a win in this next leg would go a long way to making up for that.