Kiwi sailing duo Blair Tuke and Peter Burling may be tackling the Volvo Ocean Race separately, but they're crossing the equator neck-and-neck on the second leg from Lisbon to Cape Town.
In what he calls "the most tactically taxing" leg of the race, Tuke's MAPFRE have been sitting comfortably in second place despite a turbulent start, battling 30-knot winds and big seas soon after leaving Portugal’s capital.
"The windiest so far on the boat but we were pushing hard, definitely one of the better boats – it gives us confidence for later on in this leg when we’re in the South Atlantic," Tuke told Newshub.
But after 10 days Peter Burling's Team Brunel have sailed back into third place and have the Spanish outfit in their sights once more. Half way through the 7,000 nautical mile trek they’re just 2nm behind MAPFRE.
"Those guys in Brunel have been going alright the last few days, they hung in there with us and Donfeng which they’ll probably be pretty happy about but we’ll wait and see."
"It's not really just me vs Pete – we want to win the race vs everyone and we’ll do our best on board to do that."
The race has given the 28-year-old from Kawakawa time to reflect on the fact that the Volvo Ocean race is a marathon compared to the America’s Cup, with wild conditions changing leaders frequently.
"It's quite different. Although it’s not as fast as the America’s Cup boats, it’s quite a different sensation and quite challenging as well," Tuke explains.
"You're not going super-fast but you are still doing over 30 knots quite often and just water everywhere."
All but one of the seven teams have Kiwis on board, with the fleet estimated to begin arriving in Cape Town on November 24 to complete the second leg.
Newshub.
