Sport-heute: Sailing - Es war diesmal nicht leicht umd das Cape Horn zu segeln!

19. März 2009, 22:30

Es war diesmal nicht leicht umd das Cape Horn zu segeln!

Winde mit Stärken bis zu 50 Knoten - Wellengang mit immerhin 12m hohen Wellen und Böen, die dich fast von Bord warfen - waren das Empfangskommitee am Cape. Wir waren nur rund 30 Meilen von der Küste um das Schlimmste zu verhindern und den riesigen Wellengang einigermassen im Griff zu haben. Es war eine dunkle regnerische Nacht und die Sicht war gleich Null.Mit dem ersten Licht heute Morgen durchfuhren wir einen Kanal auf der Strasse von Le Maire zwischen Chile und Staten Iland (Argentinien). Hier sind die Wasser nicht tief das Schiff fuhr mit 4 Knoten und da hatten wir Zeit endlich die Umrundung des Cape zu Feiern. Mit einer Flasche des norwegischen Linie Aquavit, die uns von Wallenius Wilhelmsen serviert wurde und einer kubanische Zigarre oder zwei - die Odd Egil mitgenommen hatte. Leider ist es immer noch recht kalt aber die alten Hasen sagen, es erwärmt sich sobald wir die Falkland Inseln passiert haben. Bis Rio haben wir noch 2000 Meilen. Green Dragon.Ian Walker - Skipper

Volvo Ocean Race, 19.3.09 (mk) Die Original Mails von den Yachten

TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG FIVE DAY 34 QFB: received 19.03.09 1456 GMT

Just went in great style around Cape Horn. Not meaning blasting around, the opposite is true, only four knots of breeze, so it gave us a splendid opportunity to have a real rounding party.

The cigars were out, home brewed grappa was served and each of us got a golden earring. Plenty of time for individual pictures and interviews, with a big sign Cabo de Hornos in front and the Cape on the background.

David Vera and Mike Pammenter were, on this occasion, allowed to pose in their Speedo swim shorts, as that is what they wear on Telefónica Negro when it is warm. But here onboard we have the rule to wear ‘proper’ clothing, so they can pack them away until Rio, where they probably will exchange them for some tangas instead.

This was my seventh rounding, and number four in very little wind, even now I’m not sure what I prefer. The breeze gives you the classic rounding, but in little wind there is more enjoyment and actually the opportunity to live the moment is more intense. Of course this was a way better rounding then last time, when the night before we nearly sank. We talked a fair bit about that experience and still realize how lucky we were at that time. But we talked as well about the old days when the square riggers came around; they must have sometimes been completely handed over to the will of King Neptune and praying for survival when rounding in a gale.

Yesterday we had some big breeze, up to 35 knots and beam reaching, so the fire hose was continuously on and very uncomfortable on deck and downstairs as we were slamming hard. I gave up trying to count the number of slams in minute, as it was nearly every second we bounced off the waves. We had to slow down, and hoisted a small staysail. So today is the complete opposite. Now slowly heading north and every mile we sail it will get warmer, especially good news for some of the Spanish guys, who still and never will get used to colder temperatures.

Bouwe Bekking - skipper

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ERICSSON 4 LEG FIVE DAY 24 QFB: received 19.03.09 1439 GMT

It’s an interesting concept - time. Or maybe it’s just the fact that we have been out here for so long with little contact with the outside world that we are starting to show the developed signs of insanity?

The routines
onboard carry on regardless of time and we are now noticing the fact that we have overtaken the date regarding local time. When we set off on this leg we were firmly in the eastern side of the globe and therefore we would have 'our day' at the start of the world day sequence.

Now we have moved into the western side we should have our day towards the end of the world day. This would normally be taken care of around the 180 degree line - the opposite of the Greenwich mean line - known as the International Date Line.

Onboard Ericsson 4 we didn’t bother with this and as always just kept on UTC time or the correct time for Greenwich (0 degree line). Time for us doesn’t really have the same meaning as ashore. We don’t need to know what time the news is on or if it’s time the dog should go for it’s walk. All we need to know is what time the watches start and what time is meal time - all of which rotate on an eight hr cycle (a meal every eight hrs and an off and on watch every eight hrs).

But we now are really noticing onboard that we have run back into ourselves somewhat with the date. On the yacht we feel that it’s the morning of the 20th March as far as our daylight schedule goes, where as our watches tell us it’s the 19th! Just a little confusing it has to be said (although not as confusing as the babble you have just read no doubt!)

So, the fact of the time being a little out of kilter and the fact that, over the last few days his off watch has either been in the middle of a sail change or that no off watch has existed due to sail changes, has meant Dave Endean has had very little sleep.

So it also doesn’t help Dave that the watch hanging in his bunk and owned by Tony Mutter is firmly in NZ time and on a 12hr setting. What it has basically meant is that for the second time this leg Dave has sprung out of his bunk and got himself prepared in all is thermals and outwear only to find that he is on deck a full hour before he needs to be - he read the watch to say 10am when it was actually 10pm NZ - 13hrs different from our UTC.

This doesn’t sound much, but when you are running a four hrs on and four hrs off schedule, the time off is the most valuable thing ever. In your four hrs off you need to get undressed, eat, get dressed and to do your business if you get my drift, so it doesn’t leave much time for sleep, which at present is probably about two hrs max if you consider the thermal layers to get in and out of. It doesn’t help to spring up an hour earlier as you can’t really just go back to bed, as by the time you have undressed, it’s almost time to get dressed again.

At present we are jib reaching on port (be interesting to see time spent on port for the leg as a percentage as I remember moaning about it some time ago!). The sea is very flat and it is slightly overcast and quite chilly on deck. There seems to be a flurry of emailing and writing as it seems everyone is either typing away furiously or queuing to use one of the boat’s computers. These chances don’t appear too often as the nav area is usually involved in some tactical play or being used to hatch some cunning plan to take over the world.

Ryan Godfrey has been gloating at his winning the sweep stake - he was just under three hrs out - not bad considering we made the bet 6000 miles away from the Horn. He is, however, suggesting a date when we all meet up to help him drink his winnings!

Guy Salter - MCM
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STILL IN THE HUNT: TELEFÓNICA BLUE BACK IN THE ATLANTIC

Telefónica Blue has crossed safely through the scoring gate at Cape Horn to grab two points. This puts her on 46.5 points overall, just half a point behind Ken Read’s second placed PUMA, and still in the hunt.

“Obviously we are relieved to get to Cape Horn, we had a bit of a party onboard and now we can think about getting to Rio and giving the guys in the shore crew time to prepare the boat for the in-port race and restart,” said skipper Bouwe Bekking. “We are really pleased with the way the boat has performed even though we have been jury rigged since we broke the forestay earlier on,” he added.

Continuing to lead the fleet is Magnus Olsson and Ericsson 3. Olsson has managed to position his boat between the chasing pack and the finish in Rio, a position he would like to keep until the finish gun sounds, but the weather is complex and gains and losses are expected in the next two days as the fleet negotiates the patches of high pressure with varying degrees of success.

Although their advantage is currently 50 nm, a gain of five miles in the past 24 hours, it is not a comfortable lead. “We are sailing through an area of high pressure bubbles,” says Ericsson 3 navigator Aksel Magdahl. “My biggest concern is the high we will have to negotiate in two or three days’ time. It can easily be a parking spot," he said.

“Already tonight we will have to try and get ahead of another light patch developing between the two highs to our north and south. It looks like we might just manage that,” he added.

The team has also had to deal with kelp attaching itself to the keel and rudders, which meant sailing the boat backwards to free it.

In third place, 136 nm behind Ericsson 3, PUMA reports flat seas and light breeze, which has encouraged sound sleeping among the crew. Green Dragon’s Ian Walker, who still has his sights set on a podium finish, also reported enjoying the longest and best sleep he has had in this entire leg.

The top three boats are spread in a line north/south. Puma’s Ken Read says that the spacing of the boats is proving to have just enough room to create its own little weather situation, which can be significantly different from the other boats.

“It’s a kind of yo-yo effect. Sometimes you are going down on the string, but, nearly always you will come back up as well,” Read says. “The object for PUMA is to have more ups than downs,” he added.

Over the last three hours, PUMA has averaged the highest speed of 14 knots, but Telefónica Blue claims the fastest 24-hour run of 387 nm.

Cape Horn Scoring Gate
(boat/date/rounding time/gate points)

Ericsson 3: 17.03..09 1222 GMT: 4 points
Ericsson 4: 17.03.09 1448 GMT: 3.5 points
PUMA: 17.03.09 2046 GMT: 3 points
Green Dragon: 18.03.09 0215 GMT 2.5 points
Telefónica Blue: 19.03.09 1339 GMT 2 points

Leg Five Day 34: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) DTF 1621 nm
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +50
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +136
Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +236
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +636

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 33 QFB: received 18.03.09 1808 GMT

Who would have thought at the outset of this project that we would round Cape Horn on St Patrick’s Day? You couldn't have scripted it better.

Amazingly both Justin (Justin Slattery) and Damian (Damian Foxall) have done this before onboard the maxi cat Cheyenne - how freaky is that?

It was not an easy passage this time with 30 - 40 knot westerly gales and a large and disturbed sea state on the continental shelf that bounds the Horn. We took a cautious approach given the conditions, and stood 30 miles offshore to avoid the worst of the waves and to make sure we didn't have to gybe to round the Horn.

We didn't get to see the actual Cape because we were so far away, but had we been closer it was a dark, rainy night so visibility was next to zero. By first light this morning we had sailed the 100 miles to the Straits of Le Maire, a 16 mile wide channel between the mainland Chile and Staten Island (Argentina).

We were blessed with flat water and a fair tide (four knots) to usher us into the Atlantic. Here we celebrated our rounding of the Cape. We toasted our rounding with a bottle of Norwegian Linie Aquavit given to us by Wallenius Wilhelmsen and a Cuban cigar or two - thanks Odd Egil. I had my best sleep of the trip immediately after!

We toasted our rounding and I took time to reflect on all those who had lost their lives trying to round the Cape in years gone by. I also remembered Glyn Charles, a friend and member of our 1996 GB Olympic Sailing Team, who died in the 1998 Sydney Hobart disaster. As a skipper you feel the responsibility for boat and crew at all times and I am a very happy man to have crossed the 4500 miles of open Pacific Ocean and rounded the Horn safely.

The boat and crew are in great shape and able to sail a hundred per cent and push hard in the hope that the weather gives us an opportunity to make a move and get on the podium in Rio. Finishing this leg will be a great achievement for the whole team but it would be far sweeter if we could get on the podium in Rio.

So far we have sailed 10,500 miles in 33 days and we now have 2,000 to go. We are heading north and will soon be feeling the warmth of the sun again. The old hands say it warms up by the Falklands and I am prepared to admit for me that cannot come soon enough.

Ian Walker - skipper

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PUMA LEG FIVE DAY 34 QFB: received 19.03.09 0025 GMT

Flat water and a bit less sting to the breeze greeted the fine yacht today as we travel north towards Brazil. Still one dilemma though. What is it with these damn islands always being in the way! Fiji on the other side, which we had to cut through (which seems like a lifetime ago) and now the Falklands. There is a big ocean out here and we are magnets to land.

Life onboard has taken a significant turn for the more liveable, even though we are crawling towards Rio at this point. Our sleigh ride ran out about 100 miles from Cape Horn and since, we have had flat seas and light breezes which have done one thing in a big way: made for some incredibly sound sleeping!! Maybe the deepest sleep I can ever remember having, when Capey (Andrew Cape) woke me to go on deck for a sail change this morning, I had absolutely no idea where I was. Couldn't find any of my gear (which was right in front of me). I guess I could have been hung over from that sip of rum at the Horn. Don't think so.

This is going to be a tricky bit of the race. Each three hour sched is showing huge gains and losses for each of us. Believe me there is a method to the madness, as boats aren't exactly taking three hours off to rest. The spacing of the boats is proving to have just enough room to create your own little weather situation that can be significantly different from the other boats. Kind of a yo-yo effect. Sometimes you are going down on the string, but nearly always you will come back up as well. Objective is to have more ups than downs. At least for IL Mostro.

We actually had hatches open and a bit of air out today and people are looking and acting like completely different humans.. Amazing what it feels like not to be wet 24 hours a day. I don't think any of us are going to miss that for a while. A change of socks and undies was a major highlight for me personally. You see, we are dealing with the little things in life out here. For example one of our snacks was a real granola bar today for the first time in the trip. It tasted so good that my eyes started to well up. Not really, but it was really good.

So, game on from here to the end. We are going to need to get lucky for sure and we will need to know what to do with the luck if it gets thrown in our lap. For sure we help make our own luck but, with that said, opportunity is needed.

You can throw that opportunity our way any time you wish.

Kenny Read - skipper

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TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG FIVE DAY 34 QFB: received 19.03.09 0047 GMT

Hi there,

With only a few hundred miles to go until the Horn, everyone is getting anxious to round and head back into the Atlantic once more. The steady monitoring of the distance to waypoint has continued at an increased pace and I think now anyone would be able to tell you how far it is to go within about 20 miles! That said, our last few hundred miles of the Pacific are proving to be exciting.

As if to show us how small we really are, the might of the Southern Ocean has whipped up 35 knots for us, more rain, more cold and even a little bit of fog too. Despite the cold and the wind though, I was thinking today how lucky we are that we are able to come down here to a place that few really get to see and experience. It was then pointed out to me that not many people would really want to come and put up with this weather, but I feel both privileged and lucky all the same that I have had the opportunity to sail in the Southern Ocean once more... I have to admit though, I will also be very happy as we turn the corner and start to head north to Rio too!

On board all is well, spirits are pretty high although there was a little drama last night - Mike (Michael Pammenter) was feeling very aggrieved for a while as his chocolate bar had been stolen. After many days at sea these things become something of a treat and was feeling very hard done by that someone had robbed him of it. Luckily though, it was found later in the snack box on the other side of the boat and Mike, once more full of chocolate was happy again. It was however, fairly entertaining to watch Mike cross examining each person as they came on deck to see if they would admit to eating his chocolate!!

Cheers,

Simon Fisher - helmsman
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ERICSSON 3 LEG FIVE DAY 34 QFB: received 19.03.09 1018 GMT

Hi there,

We had a BIG celebration passing Cape Horn. In 25 knots breeze with the big spinnaker up, we smoked cigars, had a few sips of rum, joked and had more fun than on this leg to date.

It has just been such a tough leg that there has not been time or energy to waste on anything else other than trying to sail the boat at 100 percent in the right direction. But yesterday, all the held-back happiness was released at once when we passed the Horn leading the fleet after having started behind the others due to our ‘hole in the hull’ on the previous leg.

Just after that, we tried to sail through the convergence zone off the southeast Argentinean coast, and parked there for a few hours before we got going again. Very nervous times on deck for Magnus Olsson, who is not exactly of the ‘cold, calm and quiet’ personality type! But as the guys behind parked as well, it was actually quite welcome, we could sleep without bouncing around for the first time in a while.

It is nice to go into the last week of racing with an advantage of 50 miles, but it is not a very comfortable lead because we are sailing through this area of high pressure bubbles. My biggest concern is the high we will have to negotiate in two to three day’s time. It can easily become a parking spot. Then of course the light breeze as we get close to Rio. But already tonight we will have to try to get ahead of another light patch developing between the two highs to our north and south. It looks like we may just manage that.

We just had to back down the boat twice to get rid of kelp hanging on our keel, daggerboard and rudders. It is still quite cold, but from the satellite pictures it looks like we will get into warmer water tomorrow. The cold water is actually helping us north, as it means we are still in the north-flowing current bringing cold water from the south. Jens Dolmer agreed under doubt to give our sleeping bag another day before we tough it out and remove the warm part of it.

Time to eat my second pack of noodles for the day, once again I was last to the food pot and nothing left. Someone must be trying to eat heaps before we go empty.

To everyone sending emails to the team and leaving messages on the web site:
Lots of thanks for all the support in the early stages of this leg, and the greetings in the later stages of the race, we really appreciate it!!

Aksel Magdahl - navigator
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Rick Deppe/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race 7th time around the Horn for navigator Andrew Cape

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Rick Deppe/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race (l-r) Jerry Kirby (USA) and Ken Read (USA)

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