Sport-heute: Sailing - Windböen - gefährliche Windböen

26. Februar 2009, 06:06

Windböen - gefährliche Windböen

Wir segeln mit 6 Knoten - verteufelt, fast kein Wind, doch immer wieder gefährliche Windböen. Wir kriechen auf allen vieren dem Deck entlang um ja nicht von so einer Böe ins Meer gerissen zu werden. Wir suchen nach Optionen um endlich vom Fleck zu kommen. Es ist schwierig, sehr schwierig. Ganz in unserer Nähe ist Green Dragon.

Volvo Ocean Race, 25.2.09 (mk) Mails direkt von den Yachten

ERICSSON 4 LEG FIVE DAY 12 QFB: received 12.02.09 1135 GMT

It's been very active aboard today - this purely down to one reason - clouds, and lots of them!

It's been hard watching the boys today as they have fought tooth and nail to gain whatever we could from what often appeared to be a very
dire
situation.

The clouds often left us in a complete void with out even a breath of wind - before suddenly sending down a squall with such speed that we often found ourselves a fair way off our optimal course.

This has been similar to the various late night 'bar tales' told of the Atlantic doldrum belt of races past - so one could almost bet that this area is a fair bit more active in the cumulus department. It's funny how things were so much worse in times gone by.

Sail changes have been well into the double figures today - in fact we have probably changed sails more today than we did in the first six days of racing.

There has been a constant rain for the last 10 hours - not like the like the ever-present rain of the UK and Eire shores - but a low frequency large drop rain which gets you wet but not in the same way as it's fine drop brother does.

The radar comes into play a lot in these conditions - keeping track of the rain, of which there is plenty dotted around the screen. One good thing is that everyone managed to get a good fresh water shower - so the fuggy haze inside the boat has cleared and the nostrils get a break - for a day or so!

So with the clouds comes big gains and losses - and as the sched is what we depend on every 3 hours - so it does hurt a little when you don't do so well on a few - like we haven't done today - although we have had a slightly better one recently. It's all about your route through the cloud minefield - but often you just can't avoid them and have to accept that several miles away your competitor is having an easier time of it.... for now

Today I managed to consult every member in private and start our little sweepstake on our arrival time at Cape Horn - everyone gets on e guess and the closest to the time wins the prize - which on this occasion is a bottle from each member - but as always I'm sure there will be the odd one who evades the debt. I even got Jules to play along as I feel that this far out (6000+) he won't have too much insight into the outcome. Navigators are usually banned from these bets - in the same way that 'the best man' is excluded from the bet at the wedding of the length of his speech - but I do feel that the navigator doesn't have quite the same advantage as the best man.

All bets are off if we don't make it though and without sounding all doom and gloom this is still possible as 30 days racing on a boat like this does take its toll on all the gear - so it's still a big game of knowing when to push and when to ease off. After all we still have nearly 9000 miles to the finish!

Guy Salter - MCM

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TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG FIVE DAY 12 QFB: received 25.02.09 0705 GMT

Still chipping away at the leaders with the Green Dragon being the big danger to everyone - they could 'buffalo' the fleet here. It's extremely unstable at the moment. Squalls, which we normally get mainly at night, have been around all day and it's like being in a pinball machine - bouncing from one to another - winning on some and losing on others. Right now we are losing on one which is just crossing our bow as we creep along at 6 knots but it is just as tough for the others from the look of the last sched. It's going to be a very tricky next three days or so trying to pick our way through this minefield as we head towards Fiji.

I'm hanging on the next weather download in 30 mins to grab a look at the quikscats and satellite images to see if we can glean any good info out of them to help us through. Still looking for low risk options - our boatspeed the last few days has been really good and we feel that if we can get into the same patch of water as the others in this light to moderate reaching, then we will do well. And, with very light stuff to come, starting with the leaders, we are happy to follow them in and hopefully get a restart with them for the run down to the scoring gate at 36S.

It's amazing how quickly things change, going from relentless power reaching, where it was very difficult to get things done and keep on top of the job list to now, a day or so later, when we have all the time in the world for everything. Everyone deals with it in their own way, catching up on sleep, emails, catching up on maintenance or just reflecting. I'm the reflective type and have been thinking about home ever since we crossed longitude 155 11E! It's latitude 33 50S next - we will be a fair way east though - no danger of me trying to swim for it!! Must be the navigator in me when I know the lat and long of where I live!! So I'm sitting here just typing stuff into the computer about things to do, think about, projects (my wife normally gives up on waiting and GTMI [Gets The Man In] anyway!) once I get home in a month or so.

Breeze just picking up now - 14 knots boatspeed, by the look of this cloud, it is lined up quite nicely for us and we should get quite a nice run out of it for 10 miles or so. We will deal with the future after that! So back up on deck and make sure we stay positioned nicely with it to get as far down the track with it as possible. Nice, friendly, helpful, benevolent, thoughtful cloud.......

Adios (slowly learning more Spanish)

Tom Addis - navigator

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PUMA LEG FIVE DAY 12 QFB: received 25.02.09 1052 GMT

Sailing along through the Micronesian Islands of the South Pacific, I got a nasty awakening this morning as I was rolled out of my bunk without warning. Fortunately I landed in the stack below me, but the boat was tipped over at such an angle that if you didn't know what was going on you might think the boat was about to capsize.

We'd been hit by another line squall; they appear to be quite prevalent in this part of the world and seem to have some teeth as well. Once the call has been made that we are about to get hit the crew has to react quickly to make the boat safe - wind speeds in a squall can easily double or increase by 20 knots. I could hear the guys on deck running around as they got the big jib down and put up a smaller sail, then a minute later, the reef starts to go in, I can feel the boat accelerating and then go quiet as the helmsman turns downwind so that the guys can make the manoeuvre safely. The squall has generated a sloppy wave pattern and the boat starts to crash and bump because the waves are disorganised and random. This particular squall was a real beauty and lasted about two hours.

The first indication that you are going to get nailed by a line squall will be a general darkening and thickening of the clouds to weather, therefore if you're reaching and you see some activity at about 45 degrees off the windward bow, you need to start getting prepared. The leading edge of the squall comes with a pretty high probability of a significant wind-shift. You will observe high black cloud above you and light rain will start to fall, this lasts for about five minutes and is generally followed by a short pause in the rain, which may be accompanied by possible clearing of the clouds. This break will only be for a few minutes before the large drops start to fall from the puffy nimbus clouds that make up the body of the squall.

Once in the squall, the rain will be torrential, and I mean torrential. It's really quite fun. Because the water is so cool and clean it provides a great chance for a shower and generally speaking the on-deck watch has to work around the off watch guys streaming out of the hatch clutching shower gel.

There's a lot of space for interpretation of both line squall theory and on the water observation. Trust me.... everyone has his own theory of line squall theory, and everybody observes the outcome of a squall in their own special way.

Rick Deppe MCM

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ERICSSON 3 LEG FIVE DAY 12 QFB: received 25.02.09 25 February 2009 0722 GMT

We are still in the tricky Doldrums, fighting closely with Puma. The wind and weather is changing extremely quickly in this convergence zone and the wind just went from 10 to 30 knots. It was really what we call a 'shitfight', but we handled it well and actually overtook the Il Mostro.

We are now in second place.

Between the squalls and heavy air it's really nice and calm onboard, and today I took the opportunity to give you some info about my fellow crew mates: So, who are we onboard?

I would say we are a bunch of very different guys but with same determination, winning spirit and never-give-up-attitude. We are all on a mission and trying the best ever we can to show ourselves we can do this race. Well, not only to finish, but to be on the podium. We have the talent, but not the experience. Gladly we are fast to learn.

We have, since the start, developed to a core team with some new faces joining lately.
No 1:Aksel Magdahl/NOR, our navigator and brains, is a young smart and sometimes grumpy guy, only because his nav station is so exposed to everybody and he gets the same questions 100 times a day. Who would not get a bit grumpy? He is also sneaking candies inside the nav desk. In short, an extremely competitive nature.

No2: Martin Strömberg/SWE is the next youngest onboard. He is always in a happy mood and would never say a bad word about anybody. 'Strumpan', as we call him, is a solid trimmer and takes care of all our sails and there is, every once in a while, a lot to do. He has really grown into his boots during the race.

No3: One of our two bowmen, the crazy Swede Martin Krite. He is a good laugh, joking all the time. But when he is in front of the mast there is definitely no room for jokes. He hates mistakes and if you make one, you will hear it loudly. He takes care of his job with a lot of attitude and pride, double check, even triple check if necessary. He has a good feel as a trimmer as well.

No4: Anders Dahlsjö/SWE, our other solid bowmen and one of the members of the Scandinavian coffee club. 'Big Anders' is boat captain Jens Dolmer's right hand man, always working hard and technically very skilful. One of the guys you really need when stacking. Anders also makes a good helmsman giving his watch mate Mange Olsson sometimes a bit of rest.

No 5: Usually Richard Mason but on this leg our newcomer Arve Roaas/NOR, a race veteran. Coming to a Volvo boat for the first time during a night and starting immediately racing with a crew you don't know and who had been together for 17 months, is not an easy task.

Arve is a happy fellow and has fortunately adapted very well in the team and his Norwegian is understandable, even for a Swedish-speaking Finn like me.

No 6: Eivind Melleby/NOR, one of the principle helmsmen. A dinghy sailor with a very nice feel for the boat. 'Faster, higher, fortare!' He knows a lot about the stars and maybe that's why he is sometimes dreaming.

No 7: Magnus (Mange) OIsson, our skipper and motivator and the other member of the Scandinavian coffee club. He is always in a good mood and makes others happy too. The race veteran has played a vital role to have a Scandinavian boat and this crew in the race. He was one of the key people in the selection process and he has done a lot for our team. He is enjoying being with the boys and with the boat, although he is not allowed to do all kinds of maintenance jobs on shore. He likes using Sikaflex, which usually ends up everywhere.

No 8: is me, a rookie in this race, coming from the Olympic racing scene but really enjoying these boats, this team and this race.

No 9: Our second new crewmember on this leg, Magnus Woxén, a race veteran who has blended in very well with the team. He is a skilful, solid trimmer and helmsman with right attitude. He is the other principle helmsman.

No 10: Our boat captain, former farmer Jens Dolmer/DEN, the boat's heart and soul. He surely is a workhorse who is always checking the systems and making others try to get to his level in their different responsibility areas. A real stacking police and if you are in a 'shitfight' you can count on Jens. He fixes anything from almost anything. Big guys need a lot of food so you don't like to see Jens hungry. I learned that on leg three when we went light on food. He likes to be close to the navdesk so he is now working as a floater and is Aksel's backup, but also as our pitman.

No 11: Gustav Morin/SWE, our media crewmember and the youngest guy onboard. Beside his media duties he helps us making meals and keeping the boat clean and dry. That is much appreciated and he is really a part of our team, not only a media guy documenting what is happening. I have never seen him unhappy and we enjoy his adventures during the stopovers, as he is the only single one in the team.

Cheers

Thomas Johanson/SWE - watch captain

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GREEN DRAGON LEG FIVE DAY 12 QFB: received 25.02.09 0238 GMT

February 25th - Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my 39th birthday and I have actually had a lucky escape as we should be crossing the date line tomorrow or the next day and had it been today. It could have seen me celebrating my birthday twice in one year - I didn't fancy turning 40 this year.

Sadly there was no tea in bed, no birthday cards and no presents - it would have been a long way for the postie to come. I did have a few surprises though. Firstly I had a conference call with our CEO and my good friend Jamie Boag who was at a function in Boston and I was treated to a full rendition of 'Happy Birthday' on speakerphone from everybody there including the Mayor of Boston.

Next came a bottle of Guinness and a lovely fruit cake smuggled on to the boat by our friends at 'Good Food Ireland'. Good Food Ireland is an organisation that promotes Irish food and cooking all over the world and they have prepared Irish produce for us and many more in most of the stopovers so far. I can still taste the Irish beef given to me as I stepped ashore in Cape Town at the end of leg one. Thanks guys (and girls) you are the stars of the race so far in my books - not just for your fantastic food but even more for the fun you share. You are an excellent advert for Ireland and you put smiles on faces wherever you go.

Birthdays aside, we have had a very good few days. The fleet has opted to follow our easterly route, which has consolidated some very big gains for us. We have taken over 200 miles out of the leaders and are very much back in the hunt. It looks like everyone is shaping up to go east of Fiji, where a large area of no wind awaits the fleet.

Right now the wind is down to seven knots, the lightest the wind has been since leaving the shores of Qingdao. We are using this opportunity to give the boat a full once over and dry our gear out. It won't be long before we are anxious to get going again. The lads are already counting the days and, to be honest, judging by the smell down below I can see why. As it's my birthday I may help things by treating myself to a fresh water wash down and a clean pair of undies - that is the closest I am going to get to spoiling myself on my birthday this year.

Ian Walker - skipper

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