Taste of ocean life an eye-opener

<i>Camper</i>, Emirates Team New Zealand's Volvo Ocean Race yacht, tacks around the Otago Harbour yesterday. Photo by Stephen Jaquiery.

The Otago Harbour may be a safe haven compared with the depths of the Southern Ocean, but a brief jaunt in biting winds aboard Camper felt about the right temperature for a group of invited guests yesterday.

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The Emirates Team New Zealand Volvo Ocean Race yacht, which has been berthed in Dunedin since Tuesday night, was open to the public yesterday morning.

About 500 people looked around the 21m yacht and met its team, with a few people watching it tack around the upper harbour in the afternoon.

But it was no canapes-and-champagne junket for the dozen on board. They were made to work.

During the safety briefing, skipper Chris Nicholson warned that the rigging "loves eating fingers".

Thoughts of watching the crew in action were pushed aside as some helpers became familiar with the grinder, others took a turn at steering and many helped pack away sails.

The harbour's tight channel, and the yacht's restricted movements, made for plenty of exciting tacking for the comparatively inexperienced helpers, although the only person to get wet was a team member.

Down below was also an eye-opener. The hull might have the smell of damp socks, but is, as of yesterday, clean and exudes a minimalist functionality.

Each crew member is assigned a number, which labels everything from their clothing to the pocket their toothbrush lives in.

Fold-down bunks line both walls of the first compartment, with plastic curtains shielding sleeping crew from drying clothing. The galley consists of one sink and two gas hobs, with the menu on the wall.

Freeze-dried food will be the staple during the nine-month race, but after a few days at sea the food is apparently fine and a 5000-calorie a day intake becomes more important than flavour.

Back on shore, the crew received the best wishes of their guests for the race, which starts on October 29 in Alicante, Spain.

ellie.constantine@odt.co.nz