SANYA, China // The fourth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race does not start until tomorrow afternoon, but already it roils with contempt and dread.
Mother Nature will supply the contempt, and the sailors are feeling the dread.
"We're going to get punished for something we didn't do," the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing bowman Justin Slattery half-joked on Thursday.
He may have spoken in the still air of the stopover village on this island of Hainan – with wind so dormant the practice race was abandoned – but the brunt of chatter around here comes from a meteorologist having spoken from an office in Spain.
That would be Gonzalo Infante, the race's chief meteorologist, who has eyeballed the first two days of the 5,200-nautical-mile push for New Zealand and dragged out the foreboding language.
His assessments included: "Conditions will be very dangerous, pushing man and boat close to the extreme," and, "ultimately the teams will go into survival mode to make it through the South China Sea unscathed."
That owes to a monsoon revving up to the north of Taiwan, which by Saturday will have helped itself to the entire sea, its north-easterly winds lapping at 40 knots.
As of Thursday, the disturbance figured to last until at least Tuesday.
"Right now it looks like a day and a half of what could be a sustained 40 knots, gusting to 50, and big seas," said Ian Walker, the Abu Dhabi skipper.
As Walker explained, even if the wind opts to ebb relative to forecast, it still will have spent days agitating the sea into a huff. For the six boats, the scenario forges one haunting memory with at least three potential ramifications.
For the memory, sailors need only recollect the last Volvo Ocean Race, which doubled as the first to course through this region.
The Singapore-to-Qingdao Leg 4 of January 2009 might have looked meek at 2,500 nautical miles, but the race CEO Knut Frostad wound up branding it the harshest in the race's then-36-year history.
The eight boats got strewn all over the seascape, all but one notably damaged. Three withdrew from the leg. Some hung out in Philippines bays for refuge.
Those included Puma, in front by 10 miles when its boom broke, and Green Dragon with both Walker and Slattery aboard, which moored in Salomague Bay after extended agony. Walker spoke in the New York Times of "fearing for our boat and for each other", deeming it "very satisfying on a personal level to get through it" and finish fourth, because "for a while we didn't know that would happen".
At the time he told of repairing a broken frame by using cut-up chunks of a carbon media desk – that took 18 hours, six for epoxy glue to cure – and on Thursday Slattery told of four or five days of nothing but "catnaps" and two days of "basically babysitting the boat" across 620 nautical miles back to the Philippines.
Asked for a specific memory, he said: "They're all the parts you forget. If you remembered those, you wouldn't be here."
Known for his toughness, he nonetheless quipped that the forecast makes him want to "get back on an airplane".
This storm, he said, "is going to be worse than that", which flings questions related to scheduling, rhythm and strategy.
Any decision on whether to postpone departure still lay well off as of Thursday, with the brevity of the Auckland stopover – probably 12 or 13 days – factoring in. Walker had not formed his opinion just yet.
On the one side, he said: "Nobody wants the whole fleet decimated, right?" On the other, he said: "Having said that, there's an argument that the boats are sailing around the world," but, he said, "It's very easy on shore, in shorts and a T-shirt and sunshine, and full of bravado, to say, 'Oh, we've just got to get on with it'."
As the front-running Telefonica did not even go out for the practice race and redid its rigging partly out of forecast-related caution, Slattery and Infante used the familiar term "survival conditions".
Said Slattery: "You're looking after yourself and the boat, leaving the fight for another day."
He rued the timing and wondered about strategy.
The timing, he said, will scuttle the usual accumulation of rhythm as a leg begins.
As for the strategy, he said: "It's going to be interesting to see how we all end up handling this. I would suspect everybody would just back off and look after the boat."
cculpepper@thenational.ae
MATCH INFO
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
THE BIO:
Sabri Razouk, 74
Athlete and fitness trainer
Married, father of six
Favourite exercise: Bench press
Must-eat weekly meal: Steak with beans, carrots, broccoli, crust and corn
Power drink: A glass of yoghurt
Role model: Any good man
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Results
Final: Iran beat Spain 6-3.
Play-off 3rd: UAE beat Russia 2-1 (in extra time).
Play-off 5th: Japan beat Egypt 7-2.
Play-off 7th: Italy beat Mexico 3-2.
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cargoz%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Premlal%20Pullisserry%20and%20Lijo%20Antony%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2030%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
ARSENAL IN 1977
Feb 05 Arsenal 0-0 Sunderland
Feb 12 Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal
Feb 15 Middlesbrough 3-0 Arsenal
Feb 19 Arsenal 2-3 West Ham
Feb 26 Middlesbrough 4-1 Arsenal (FA Cup)
Mar 01 Everton 2-1 Arsenal
Mar 05 Arsenal 1-4 ipswich
March 08 Arsenal 1-2 West Brom
Mar 12 QPR 2-1 Arsenal
Mar 23 Stoke 1-1 Arsenal
Apr 02 Arsenal 3-0 Leicester
match info
Southampton 0
Arsenal 2 (Nketiah 20', Willock 87')
Red card: Jack Stephens (Southampton)
Man of the match: Rob Holding (Arsenal)
Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESmartCrowd%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESiddiq%20Farid%20and%20Musfique%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20%2F%20PropTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24650%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2035%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVarious%20institutional%20investors%20and%20notable%20angel%20investors%20(500%20MENA%2C%20Shurooq%2C%20Mada%2C%20Seedstar%2C%20Tricap)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
MORE ON THE US DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES
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