The Volvo Ocean Race fleet has arrived in Cape Town but while all eyes of the sailing world have been on seven boats travelling the 6,487 nautical miles of the first leg GAC Pindar have been working hard to tackle their own logistics challenge to ensure that Cape Town race village was ready on time. As the official logistics provider for the Volvo Ocean Race, GAC Pindar’s role includes the logistics and customs clearance of each race village in each port. The Cape Town leg presented a number of unique challenges that took meticulous planning, flawless execution and timing in order to have the race village open for the immovable 1st November deadline. Wikus van Jaarsveld, Cape Town Projects Manager, GAC Laser explains: “Cape Town is the first port stopover for the second race village (two identical race villages leap frog each other across the globe) so everything arrived separately. It’ll be easier with everything in one place for our bump out and the next port but we’ve had to deal with multiple deliveries that obviously complicated the operation. In addition two sections of the race village weren’t going to arrive in time. We needed to collect containers from Port Elizabeth and Durban, that’s a total of 66 hours of driving time, to ensure that the race village opened as planned. “Space is also an issue in Cape Town. The race village is positioned in a unique location across three piers so there is only room for one delivery truck or crane at a time. We’ve also been restricted by noise regulations between 8pm and 8am so that key build activity can only take place during the day.  To tackle all of this we have drafted a ‘Smart Sheet’ document, the logistics bible for the whole operation. Everything you’d ever need to know about the Cape Town bump in and bump out is there and it is updated on a regular basis to make sure everything runs smoothly.” GAC Pindar will also be on call 24/7 throughout the stop-over to manage boatyard deliveries and material handling throughout the village. The bump out will start on 19th November and all 117 containers will be transported by truck to Port Elizabeth, a 18 hour drive, from where they will shipped to Hong Kong on their way to Sanya, China.