Yachting: There's chill but no Netflix ahead as fleet sail for Horn

Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag. Photo / Supplied

Any sailor who says they're looking forward to the next leg of the Volvo Ocean Race "is completely bullshitting".

It's a strong statement from Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag's Australian skipper David Witt, but as the fleet head into big swells and cold temperatures, it's hard to argue — leg seven from Auckland to Itajai, Brazil, is tough.

At 7600 nautical miles (14,075km), it's easily the longest leg of the race. The fleet travel southeast from Auckland and round Cape Horn at the bottom of Chile before heading up to Brazil. Almost the entire journey is spent sailing through some of the wildest and coldest seas on Earth in the Southern Ocean.

"It's a horrible place," Witt says. "I'm looking forward to going around the Horn — but that's four hours out of 18 days ... no one can seriously tell you they like going into the Southern Ocean. It's cold, it's cold and it's colder."

Scallywag depart Auckland sitting third on the leaderboard at the halfway point, falling just short of a win in leg six.

The Hong Kong entry in the race arrived in Auckland just over two minutes behind Team AkzoNobel in what was easily the tightest finish in this edition of the event.

"You can't be a professional sportsman and be happy to run second," Witt says. "I was absolutely gutted. I don't think I'd ever tried so hard or sailed so well and got beaten in my life."

They bagged six points for the second-placed finish, and are 13 points behind leaders MAPFRE, who feature Kiwi Blair Tuke, while fellow Kiwi Daryl Wislang's Dongfeng Race Team were five points back in second.

MAPFRE were third into Auckland, with Dongfeng fourth.

The upcoming voyage has the power to change all that. It's a double-points leg, meaning the winner walks away with 14 in the bag, while an extra point will be awarded to the first team to Cape Horn and the first to Itajai. Vestas 11th Hour Racing, who had podium finishes in the three legs they completed, will rejoin the race for the seventh leg with their yacht repaired.

The fleet was heading into possibly the most important leg of the race, and Tuke said the crew aboard MAPFRE knew that.

"You've got 16 points there, so that's a lot considering we've only got a five-point lead over Dongfeng," Tuke said.

"We have to put on a good performance if we want to carry on and win this race and what better place to do it than in the Southern Ocean? Big wind, big waves — it should be good fun."

The fleet might meet the rocky conditions sooner rather than later after leaving Auckland, with the forecast looking like it will provide a bit of a swell from the start.

Kiwi Peter Burling, sailing aboard Team Brunel, says while the leg will be a big test, the fleet was headed into the most iconic leg of the journey. As for the cold and rough conditions, he was confident the Brunel crew were ready for the challenge.

"We've all got really good clothes, really good gloves, beanies, boots, everything you can think of really to keep us warm, and hopefully it does," Burling said.

Points after six legs

1. MAPFRE39

2. Dongfeng Race Team34

3. Scallywag26

4. Team AkzoNobel23

5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing23

6. Team Brunel20

7. Turn the Tide on Plastic12

● The fleet leaves Auckland at 2pm today.