Sport-heute: Sailing - Auf der Telefonica Blue ist der Vorstag gebrochen!

06. März 2009, 22:59

Auf der Telefonica Blue ist der Vorstag gebrochen!

Vom Pech verfolgt scheint die Crew auf der Telefonica Blue zu sein. Nach dem defekten Kiel auf der vierten Etappe, hat nun auf der fünften der Vorstag seinen Geist aufgegeben. (Der Vorstag hält den Mast gerade und zieht das Arbeitssegel nach vorne - er ist auf der Telefonica BLue aus 30mm dickem Edelstahl.) Nach Telefonaten mit der Ladncrew wird nun das bestmöglichste gemacht und in Rio wird das superteure Teil dann ersetzt. Allerdings bedingt es eventuelle grosse Schwierigkeiten auf den nächsten 2000 Meilen, durch die Hölle des Pazific. "Wir werden nicht aufgeben! sagte Simon Fisher, der Steuermann. Wir werden noch mehr kämpfen. Die Telefonica Blue ist trotz des Missgeschickes immer noch an der Spitze des Rennens) Die Crew hat die letzten beiden Tage alles getestet, für die schwere See, die auf sie zukommt. Es wurde alles frisch verpackt gefestigt und die Essensportionen bereit gestellt. Gegessen wird in den nächsten Tagen nur aus Beuteln.

Volvo Ocean Race, 6.3.09 (mk) Die Original Mails direkt von den Yachten

TELEFONICA BLUE LEG FIVE DAY 21 QFB: received 06.03.09 16:10 GMT

A short update from Telefonica Blue. Beating upwind in 15 knots of breeze, progress is ok, but about 2-3 knots slower than normal, as we are sailing with our small J4.

It is good that this sail has a separate stay, independent from the forestay otherwise we would have been out. So we are all looking on the bright side, it could have been game over, but luckily not. The sea is confused, but there is nice light outside, at least that’s what I think. Patan [Pablo Arrarte] can’t care less, he is rolled up like a small ball, trying to stay warm. The northern people onboard are laughing, we still are without gloves and only have one thin base layer on. We are teasing Patan and telling him, wait until we are getting real south. I offered him already extra gear, just in case.

Tom [Addis] is making adjustments to our polars (theoretical boatspeed for each angle), as we are going slower having only the small sail, to see what kind of implications it has on our routing .

And last, which we haven’t forgotten: we all like to wish Pedro, our CEO, a happy birthday!

Bouwe Bekking - Skipper

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PUMA LEG FIVE DAY 21 QFB: received 06.03.09 15:46 GMT

I think the crew is starting to believe that Capey [Andrew Cape] and I have put us in the middle of an easterly upwind breeze as part of some really cruel practical joke. We have to keep showing them, one by one, that the other boats are going upwind too. "Isn't anyone running around the bottom of this high, like a normal Southern Ocean leg?" is the common response. "No," we say. "This is the only way out of this mess!"

This common banter is typically followed by a long sigh by said crewmember as he walks away to get on foul weather gear and head back on deck to a chilly and wet and slow slog to the north, looking to find some northerly breeze and some reaching to put some miles under our belts toward the
Horn.

On the deck speaker, which we hear below, said crewmember may be heard then saying something like, "they say only 10 more hours of this crap, but didn't they say that 10 hours ago?"

Maybe.

The entire fleet is in the same boat. E3 took the gamble and it looks like
it may pay off. Personally I am pleased with our strategy so far, not as large a risk/ reward as the E3 strategy but we should end up pretty well placed once the northerlies come into play. As for the rest of the fleet, the only contact we have had is with the Telefonica Blue guys who reported to us that they had broken their headstay but were pushing on. We feel really bad for those guys, and I am not envious of the decisions that have to be made on their boat with regard to continuing across this notorious body of water, or to head back to New Zealand and replace their broken headstay. We sincerely wish these guys all the best and a safe passage.

As for life on board, it is business as usual. Life happens in cycles of two hours. Every two hours a new group of two rolls out of their bunks and two come down soaked from on deck. Every six hours the weather comes through and we pour over every detail looking for an edge. It seems that nothing happens on board on an odd hour. Except for maybe a headsail change or a reef, throwing the schedule off for the guys trying to catch up on their sleep.

So we will continue the slog, waiting for our chance to tack and make headway toward the ice gates and Cape Horn. Everyone is anxious for that moment. "Only 10 more hours". Yea right!

Kenny Read - skipper
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HIGHS AND LOWS AS THE FLEET HIT THE FIRST SCORING GATE

Big decisions have plagued the navigators onboard the Volvo Open 70’s in week three of this, the longest leg of the race. Should we pass to the east of the Fiji islands or dash between them? How do we get round this tricky high pressure, south or north of it? These are just two questions, which must have been bandied around the crowded navigation stations by tense crew members.

Telefonica Blue’s (Bouwe Bekking/NED) navigator Tom Addis was the first to take the move to sail through the middle of the two Fijian islands. “Going through the middle did not look ideal by any means, but it was the only option we could see that didn’t involve realising a certain major loss. Lighter breeze, breeze blowing up the narrow channels, rather than across, and the increased amount of manoeuvring through the reefs were all downsides, but there was a glimmer of hope in the form of reduced distance to sail.”

PUMA (Ken Read/USA) soon joined them in the dash but unfortunately for both of them it turned out not to be the quicker option. They both lost a position on the scoreboard, with il mostro, the race leader at the time, falling into second, letting overall race leader (Ericsson 4/Torben Grael) back into pole position, while the blue boat was bumped into fourth.

The conditions settled down soon after passing the islands on day 16 and the crews all got the chance to relax and recharge their internal batteries. The breeze was constant and the yachts raced along at 14 knots on port tack, which allowed thoughts to turn to food, sleep and home. The New Zealanders onboard the boats were all too close to home for comfort.

Green Dragon’s skipper, Ian Walker had to hide his two kiwi crewmates’ passports. “There was already some talk of swimming ashore as we sailed through the islands off the eastern tip of Fiji, so we will have to stay out of swimming range of the New Zealand coast,” he said.

In the previous edition of the race, Wellington, New Zealand was a well-received stopover where all the teams could prepare themselves and their yachts for the Southern Ocean. This year the crews do not have this luxury and have to head into the harsh elements of the southern latitudes after already being at sea for 19 days. Many of the veterans of the race pondered the “what if’s”, while first timers began to get anxious of what was ahead.

Rick Deppe, media crew member onboard PUMA, who has been in this position before commented, “The Southern Ocean, it’s why people want to do the race and it’s why people keep coming back. It’s a chance to test themselves against the best sailors in the world in the most extreme sailing conditions.”

Whilst Phil Jameson onboard Ericsson 4 ponders his debut on the bow in this ocean, “I really don’t know what to expect. The veterans basically tell me to plan for the worst, so anything better is a bonus.”

As the fleet neared the first scoring gate of the leg, the front-runners PUMA, Ericsson 4 and Ericsson 3 compressed and leapfrogged places, keeping everyone on their toes. Eventually it was overall race leader, Ericsson 4 who took the full four points at 00:21GMT on 4th March, as the first boat to cross the scoring gate set at latitude 36 degrees south. The team now has 53 points in total and a lead of 8.5 points over Telefonica Blue in second place.

Under an hour later, at 00:53 GMT, Ericsson 3 took 3.5 points in second place and decided to make their brave tactical move. They immediately tacked to the north-east, away from all the rest of the fleet. Olsson was officially putting all his trust in his young navigator Aksel Magdahl, who believed that the best course was to the north of the high pressure between them and Cape Horn and not the south.

Despite PUMA’s (Ken Read/USA) crew pushing flat out towards the gate, they finally crossed the line a mere 10 minutes after the Nordic crew. Next came Telefonica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) followed by the Green Dragon just over an hour behind them at 04:31 GMT.

In the next half a day slowly the boats began to follow Ericsson 3’s line, realising it might not be such a crazy idea as first thought. Bekking was the first to voice his concern about their tactic and was subsequently the last boat to turn south-east in agreement. “So now we are on our way into the Southern Ocean, which looks to be a very tricky affair,” he commented. “If that route will win them [Ericsson 3] the leg, they will write history, as up to now in all the legs down south, the south has won.”

Meanwhile, Ian Walker, Green Dragon’s skipper praised the Nordic crew. “E3 had the guts to make this call earliest and may have stolen a march on the fleet - well done to them if it works out.”

Ericsson 3’s fate is still in the balance as the team slowly drops down the scoreboard but this is more due to the fact that they are now the most northerly boat and therefore the furthest from the finish. However, if the predicted weather is to be believed their bottom position could be short lived, as they have the potential to pass over the top of the fleet with good speed.

They say bad luck comes in threes and day 20 saw the crew of Telefonica Blue hit by their third mishap. First, they hit the bottom and damaged the keel at the start of leg five, delaying their start in Qingdao by 17 hours. Then their mainsail started to delaminate, and finally came a broken forestay at 17:40 GMT yesterday. Despite their problems the team’s spirits remain high and positive.

The crew managed to save the mast with their quick thinking and soon had a jury rig set up.. They are determined to get to Rio and finish the leg, partly due to New Zealand not being an option because of the weather the would have to face. Bekking commented, “Let’s hope we get some downwind sailing, as there shouldn’t be any problems with that. But tight reaching and upwind will be slow, as we only can hoist a very little jib on separate stay and of course we don’t want to sacrifice the mast in any way.”

Simon Fisher (strategist/helmsman) described the mood onboard. “Despite all the adversity thrown into our path, everyone onboard has remained upbeat and optimistic. I think we are all feeling that we have been quite lucky to escape with the mast intact and with the goal of getting to Rio still well within our grasp, even if now it might take a little longer.”

Leg Five Scoring Gate 1 positions
1. Ericsson 4: 00:21.09 GMT 04.03.09: 4 points
2. Ericsson 3: 00:53.09 GMT 04.03.09: 3.5 points
3. PUMA: 01:03.24 GMT 04.03.09: 3 points
4. Telefónica Blue: 03:16.22 GMT 04.03.09: 2.5 points
5. Green Dragon: 04:31.49 GMT 04.03..09: 2 points

Leg Five Day 21: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 6505 nm
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) + 31
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +45
Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +99
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +186

Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS

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DISAPPOINTING SETBACK FOR TELEFONICA BLUE

The crew of Telefonica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) were dealt another blow yesterday at 17:40 GMT when their forestay broke. After their problems with a damaged keel at the start of leg five, a delaminating mainsail and their present situation, they are disappointed but determined to keep their spirits up.

The crew jumped into action, immediately turning the boat downwind to save the mast and the rest of their leg. They secured the rig with halyards to stabilize it and then turned their attention to the large jib, which was dragging in the water. With great effort they retrieved the sail intact and investigated the reason for the breakage. “We did a rig check and all seems to be all right,” said a frustrated Bekking. “In the meantime I had been on the phone with our shore manager, to go over eventual scenarios, regarding spare pieces. By then I knew that the actual forestay hanger was broken, this is a 30 mm stainless steel piece, and it had snapped right through the middle.

“Everybody is extremely disappointed, but we all having the same fighting spirit. We started well behind, and actually became first on the leader board yesterday, a huge reward for 21 days of working extremely hard. Of course this is a setback, but there is still a long way to go, we will not give up!”

Telefonica Blue will carry onto Rio under jury rig, albeit at a slower pace than they are used to. Unfortunately for the team, while they were securing the boat they headed further towards the light winds of the high pressure system. Simon Fisher (strategist/helmsman) explained, “Turning downwind to make repairs has only made the situation worse. We are back upwind again now though and battling to get back to the pressure. This luckily is slowly coming back to us but has taken most of the morning. Quite frankly it hasn't been our day.”

Despite their bad luck, the blue Spanish boat is still in the lead as the southern-most yacht and the closest to the ice gate and next scoring gate at Cape Horn. PUMA (Ken Read/USA) is in second at 13:00 GMT, 71 nm to the north-east of third placed Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA).

A lurking low pressure to the east of the fleet is at the forefront of all the navigators’ minds. But it was Wouter Verbraak, navigator onboard Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) who broke ranks and spoke about his battle plan to get through the heavy weather. After working with famous French offshore sailor Francis Joyon, he picked up a bit of advice about how to deal with this situation. “You have to go through the centre," explained Verbraak. “So if you are following our track, it is no madness, on the contrary we are aiming for the very eye of it, on purpose!

“Sounds simple maybe, but let me tell you, we are preparing the boat and ourselves for war in the next 24 hours. Everybody is checking his personal gear, the stack is secured extra well, the generator is being tested, we have made plenty of water and have lots of snacks at hand. This is not going to be a lot of fun.

“Down in the nav station Ian [Walker] and myself are monitoring the development of the low. The strategy will only work if we hit the centre perfectly, so we are tracking its progress with satellite pictures and grib files. Of course the bloody thing keeps changing its mind all the time, but we have him locked in our sight.”

Green Dragon has lost 45 nm on the leaders in the past 24 hours but that might not be as bad as it sounds with their current action plan and is certainly not the biggest loss. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) has dropped 80 nm in the past day and is still the northern most yacht after their brave decision at the scoring gate to head north-east. The consequence of this move is that they are the furthest from the finish in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil making them last by 186 nm. This bottom spot could be short-lived though, as they have the potential to pass over the top of the fleet with good speed if the predicted weather is to be believed.

Leg Five Day 21: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 6505 nm
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) + 31
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +45
Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +99
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +186

Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS

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GREEN DRAGON LEG FIVE DAY 21 QFB: received 06.03.09 09:42 GMT

"You have to go through the centre."

St. Malo, November 2002 and I am onboard Francis Joyon`s trimaran.. Together with French navigator Jean Yves Bernot, I am visiting the boats we will provide with weather routing for in a French solo race across the Atlantic.

The weather outlook is terrible and we are discussing storm strategies to get his trimaran safely across.

On a used bit of paper Joyon draws a circle, puts a big "L" on it and draws his proposed route to deal with the low pressure, "Straight through the middle. It is the fastest and safest way."

Now seven years later I am thinking back to this moment as we have to deal with the monster that is approaching us. Head seas and storm force winds. How are we going to keep the boat together and at the same time beat the other guys?

Francis is an amazing yachtsman, so when I was sailing with the American 90 foot maxi yacht Rambler two years ago, we tried this strategy on a monster low in the Atlantic. We avoided the strongest headwinds and found shelter in the centre.

This should work in the South Pacific as well, right?

So if you are following our track, it is no madness, on the contrary we are aiming for the very eye of it, on purpose!

Sounds simple maybe, but let me tell you, we are preparing the boat and ourselves for war in the next 24 hours. Everybody is checking his personal gear, the stack is secured extra well, the generator is being tested, we have made plenty of water and have lots of snacks at hand. This is not going to be a lot of fun.

Down in the nav station Ian and myself are monitoring the development of the low. The strategy will only work if we hit the centre perfectly, so we are tracking its progress with satellite pictures and grib files. Of course the bloody thing keeps changing its mind all the time, but we have him locked in our sight.

The guys on deck are anxious to know the timing of events, so we are constantly updating them with expected max winds and what time we will hit the first front.

So cross your fingers, and we are going to have a good wind angle in and out, and can start making quick miles towards Cape Horn. About time!

Wouter Verbraak - Navigator

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TELEFONICA BLUE LEG FIVE DAY 21 QFB: received 06.03.09 08:45 GMT

Hi there,

If the cloud from the other night was like a giant foot descending from the heavens and stamping on us, the events of this morning were like that massive foot had come back and kicked us square in the *!?*

I was awoken this morning by the sound of a massive bang and cries of 'everyone up!' coming from on deck. As the boat rolled over to windward on us, I hurried to pull my boots on and rushed upstairs in my thermals only to find the jib dragging in the water down the side of the boat, forestay and all. Luckily, due to some quick thinking by the guys who were on watch at the time, they were able to keep the rig upright and quickly secured it with spare halyards to prevent our situation becoming even worse.

After much scrambling around, the jib was hauled back on board and pulled from the now broken tough luff and after some work the forestay has been jury rigged back up in place to provide some extra support for the mast. Not an ideal situation at all, especially with so many miles to Rio to go. However, for now we have vowed to battle on albeit a bit worse for
wear.

To add insult to injury we have wandered too close to the high pressure system and have spent much of the morning with very little breeze. Turning downwind to make repairs has only made the situation worse. We are back upwind again now though and battling to get back to the pressure. This luckily is slowly coming back to us but has taken most of the morning. Quite frankly it hasn't been our day.

Despite all the adversity thrown into our path, everyone onboard has remained upbeat and optimistic. I think we are all feeling that we have been quite lucky to escape with the mast intact and with the goal of getting to Rio still well within our grasp, even if now it might take a little longer... For sure it has been a bad day but if we are honest it could have been a whole lot worse too.

cheers, for now,

Simon Fisher - Strategist/Helmsman

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Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race Telefonica Blue set about rpairing their damaged mainsail, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeir

Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race Telefonica Blue set about rpairing their damaged mainsail, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeir

Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race Telefonica Blue set about rpairing their damaged mainsail, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro

Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race Telefonica Blue set about rpairing their damaged mainsail, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro