Walker’s World Race Diary - 29 January

Green Dragon skipper Ian Walker analyses the latest developments in the Volvo round the world race in his exclusive diary

(GETTY IMAGES)

It’d been a wild week.

The last seven days have been some of the wildest I can remember in 30 years of sailing. After progressing to the northern tip of the Philippines we were faced with a decision of whether to try and cross the Straits of Luzon to Taiwan in very strong forecasted winds.

The two Ericsson boats waited 24 hours for the storm to abate but the rest of the fleet charged on, albeit cautiously. This was a tough call for every skipper, as breaking the boat could have effectively put us out of this and the next leg, if not the race! You have also to consider the safety of the crew above all else.

We were greeted by solid 45-knot winds which were gusting 50, as well as massive waves that were capable of lifting our 70-foot boat up and throwing it back from where it had come. This happened on two occasions but we battled on with three reefs in the mainsail and no jib. This is when the conditions took their toll on the fleet.

Puma broke its boom and returned to shelter and Telefonica Black apparently cracked the hull and came close to sinking but was able to return to Subic Bay. We were ok for a few hours until we came off a huge wave and landed hard, cracking our forward bulkhead in three places.

Click below to listen to Stuart Alexander talk to Ian Walker by satellite phone.

Ian Walker has won two silver medals at the Atlanta and Sydney Olympic Games and was skipper of the Team GBR challenge for the America’s Cup in Auckland in 2003. Now he is skipper of the Galway-based, Chinese-partnered Green Dragon team in the Volvo Ocean Race and is writing an exclusive commentary for The Independent plus talking to Stuart Alexander by satellite link from the boat during the 10 legs and 37,000 miles that take the fleet from Spain around the world to St. Petersburg.