Yachting: Delays boon for tired ocean racers

Team SCA arrives in Auckland.

The on-going weather delays in the Volvo Ocean Race have given Team SCA skipper Sam Davies and her crew a much-needed reprieve from the race's relentless schedule.

The six-strong fleet were originally set to leave Auckland on Sunday, but with the leg five departure coinciding with the arrival of tropical cyclone Pam to the region, race organisers made the decision to push the start back - first to Monday, then to yesterday, before it was finally moved to 9am this morning.

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With the start time for the gruelling Southern Ocean leg having been a moving target over the past few days as organisers kept a close eye on the weather, it has been tough on the sailors to have to mentally prepare to head out to sea again, only for the goal posts to shift once more.

But Davies, who leads an all-female crew, said the unplanned rest had been a blessing in disguise for her team, the majority of whom had never done the gruelling round the world yacht race.

"It's actually really nice because the stopovers are so busy and that final week leading up to the leg start is so rushed now because Volvo squeeze so much into those days," Davies said. "For the public it is great because they get to see so much, but for the sailors it is totally exhausting.

"Every single leg we've done so far we've left and the whole crew has been completely knackered, almost to the point where it actually gets dangerous because you are so tired when you leave - because over the last few days you've had pro-am sailing, in-port racing, prize-givings without even a free afternoon to regroup and get your thoughts together. So this has been a nice surprise for us."

The fleet will need all the strength they can muster for the 6776 nautical mile leg to Itajai in southern Brazil - the longest and most treacherous stretch of the race. Davies said her crew were excited rather than nervous about the challenge.

Davies, who completed a single-handed circumnavigation in the 2008-09 Vendee Globe race, said after four relatively light-air legs, she was looking forward to being put to the test in the Southern Ocean.

"I'm an off-shore sailor and I've almost been frustrated because it has almost been too light and easy so far."

3 things about leg 5

• The 6776 nautical mile leg, which takes the fleet through the Southern Ocean and around Cape Horn, is the longest and most volatile leg of the race, with the fleet expected to encounter near-cyclonic conditions, towering waves and icy seas.

• Rarely has there been a Southern Ocean leg in which the weather conditions have not damaged at least one of the fleet. The 1985/86 race was the first time the entire fleet finished that leg.

• In the 2011/12 edition of the race, only one boat completed the leg without having to stop for repairs.