I wanted to start out by making Kenny my first pitch...
As we approached the Northern tip of the Philippines on Leg Four of the Volvo Ocean Race from Singapore to Qingdao, the weather forecasts had been coming in progressively worse and the latest was truly horrendous with predicted wind speeds of up to 50 knots and big seas. We were in first place at the time and would be the first boat to enter the notorious Luzon Straits in the teeth of a full gale. The next few hours have been well documented elsewhere as we broke the boom in the promised high winds and massive seas early into the crossing of the straits. Things were looking pretty dicey for a while and Ken had to make the decision to head for a safe anchorage where we could make repairs and ride out the worst of the storm. Once a safe anchorage had been identified, Ken sailed the boat onto and later on off of its anchor in 25 knots of wind. Once on anchor, the spirit of the crew was very low but Ken kept everyone buoyed and promised that we would get back into the race. Now with 500 miles to go and the Straits a long way behind us he has been proved right. We find ourselves in third place and snapping at the heels of Ericsson 4 who are about 10 miles ahead, Ken has shown exemplary gamesmanship as well as seamanship and also donated a considerable chunk of flesh from his finger. For that, he gets one of my nominations.
My next pitch would be joint nomination for our trio of onboard Mr. Fix-It's, ably led by boat captain Casey Smith, supported by the technical wizardry of resident German Michi Muller and the all around skill set and Kiwi ingenuity of Rob Salthouse. They once again (remember Leg Two) had to work around the clock in horrendous conditions) we were crossing the aforementioned Straits at the time) to fix cracked frames in the keel box area. They worked 24 hours in shifts in an efficient and orderly manner that allowed the remaining team members to keep the boat plodding along and to keep PUMA in the game.
Capey is always brilliant, but this race he did an amazing job of plotting our course through the notorious and uncharted "dangerous grounds" that lie to the south of the Spratley Islands in the South China Sea. He chained himself to the chart table, only leaving to get involved with maneuvers. He never misses. For about two days straight I never saw him sleep.
Justin's job is to keep the boat going at as near 100 percent all the time. He's our resident speed doctor and is responsible for the sails. When needed, our storm (safety) sails went up smooth and efficient- even in a backed off mode he kept the machine well oiled.
Rob Greenhalgh and Sidney Gavignet, our two illustrious watch captains get a joint nomination for cool heads and steady hands on the wheel - driving the boat safely through the storms.
Erle (Williams) gets the nod for taking on our broken boom situation. I'm told that he has some experience in this area so for this, and many other reasons, we are glad that he is onboard for this leg. He figured out a way for us to get sailing again without a boom, in a way that we could trim and perform nearly all maneuvers such as reefing and sheeting.
Last but not least there is Shannon (Falcone). He's in a tough position to get a seamanship nomination as his job title is "utility." He gets my vote for being a good shipmate- always ready with a smile, a joke or a piece of gum. Another of Shannon's onboard duties is medic and once again he showed great skill in fixing up Ken's very badly injured finger.
So there are my recommendations. I'm sure that there will be plenty of standout performances across the whole fleet on this amazingly tough leg, but I'm going to stick with my team of "PUMAN's"...or obvious reasons.
Now I just can't help thinking that I forgot someone...
- Rick
