Yachting: Team ready to 'slam bunk'

Camper will head to Europe this week for final preparations. Photo / Supplied

In basketball, there's the term 'slam dunk'. In round the world yacht racing, there is a 'slam bunk'. That's when a racing yacht like New Zealand's Camper in the Volvo Ocean Race decelerates and nose-dives. Sailors trying to sleep can skid forward into the next bunk, when the boat decelerates and nosedives.

"The guy right up the front kind of gets squashed on the front wall," laughs skipper Chris Nicholson, "like an insect on your windscreen."

To lessen the likelihood of 'slam bunking', the beds are angled upwards towards the wall and Camper have also used velcro to attach the sleeping bags to the base. It's all part of the Volvo's examination not only of sailing but the ability to go without sleep.

Camper, the Emirates Team New Zealand entry in the 2011-12 race, is farewelled this week as it packs up and heads to Europe for final preparations. Nicholson has been working 14-hour days on the campaign over the past year but knows that things will only get worse when the 39,270 nautical mile race gets under way on October 29.

"You have to tell yourself that you are going to start each leg at a certain level of fitness and unfortunately you are going to go downhill," says Nicholson. "There is no one that steps off these boats healthier than when they stepped on them. Sleep quality is pretty poor - but at the end of the day, it is enough; we all finish the leg."

The race comprises nine legs, the longest being the 6705 nautical mile stretch from Auckland to Brazil. The yachts will spend an average of three weeks at sea each leg, in all elements. The super-sleek Volvo 70s can reach speed in excess of 40 knots and the 24 hour record - set in the first leg of the last race - is just under 600 nautical miles, an average of 25 knots. The new generation boats are more powerful, needing less wind and waves to go fast and give more opportunities for high speed sailing.

Like most teams, Camper will operate a watch system, with sailors working on a continuous rotation of four hours on, four hours off. In theory sailors spend most of their off time in their bunk, but the reality is quite different.

"On the calm days you might get 2.5 hours sleep, but when it is bumpy you flicker awake on almost every wave, mainly just to stay attached to the bunk. I am also always listening to what is going on on the boat downstairs and around me."

"Sometimes the watch system works out well, sometimes not so well," says Camper watch captain Stuart Bannatyne.

"Every time we change the sail, or tack or gybe, it is all hands on deck," explains Bannatyne. "In the last race I was woken up for a sail change, and it dragged on until I had spent 14 hours out on deck."

Bannatyne, who has seen people fall asleep on deck holding a sail, says they are lucky to get through a day without a sail change. It is also extremely noisy, with the winches grinding and the waves crashing against the hull. His main key to shut eye is to "relax and have faith in the guys on deck", especially in fast and strong conditions. It also pays to have earplugs.

Not surprisingly, the old salts have established a definite pecking order below deck on Camper.

"We hang all our wet weather gear up front - and it is pretty dingy and smelly and you could probably assume - even guarantee - that the young guys will be sleeping up there," smiles Nicholson. Sea sickness is another given, especially when they encounter the 'liquid Himalayas' in the Southern Ocean. Nicholson has had some terrible bouts, at one stage leading him to question his choice of career, but reports he has only been sick once in the last 8000 miles at sea. But, if stomach problems come, the show must go on - even to the extent where Nicholson has seen crew members vomiting on deck.

"It's not like a cruise ship where you can stay in bed," says Nicholson. "In four hours' time somebody is coming down and he is in that bunk and you are up on deck replacing him."

The Camper team will each consume 5000-7000 calories daily, mainly freeze dried food as well as supplements, protein bars and protein shakes.

"Someone asked me if there is a choice for each meal," says Nicholson. "I said, 'Yeah, sure - you can either eat it or you don't. Some guys won't be happy but they'll eat it."

From a New Zealand perspective, the highlight of the upcoming race is the return to Auckland, for the first time since the 2001-2002 race. The leading boat is expected to arrive on March 8, 2012, and the fleet will depart 10 days later. More details are to be revealed this week on the events around the Viaduct, as well as the in-port fleet race between Orakei wharf and the Harbour bridge on March 17.