Sport-heute: Sailing - Der alte Magnus Olsson gewinnt die fünfte Etappe

26. März 2009, 15:34

Der alte Magnus Olsson gewinnt die fünfte Etappe

Ericcson 3 redet um den Gesamtsieg wieder mit!

Der Schwede Magnus Olsson, Skipper auf der Ericcson 3, gewinnt überlegen die schwere über 12.000 Meilen führende Etappe von Quingdao nach Rio. Das letzte Stück segelten sie noch verdeckt, so wie jedes Boot dass einmal auf jeder Etappe kann. Olsson ist ein alter Hase und weiss zu segeln. Damit haben die Schweden auf der Ericcson 3 wieder zum Spitzenfeld in der Gesamtführung aufgeschlossen.

Volvo Ocean Race, 26.3.09 (mk) Die Mails von den Booten

HISTORIC WIN FOR ERICSSON 3 AFTER EPIC STRUGGLE

Sweden’s veteran skipper, Magnus Olsson has done it! Olsson and his Nordic crew have won leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race, crossing the finishing line in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro this morning at 1037 GMT today (0737 local time).

At 12,300 nm it is the longest leg in the 36-year history of the event and the first time that 60-year old Olsson, the oldest competitor in this year’s race, has taken part as skipper, having competed five times previously as a crew member. His young navigator, Norway’s Aksel Magdahl (30), is half the age of Olsson and is competing in this competition for the first time.

Olsson and his crew stepped ashore in the Marina da Gloria to a euphoric and emotional welcome after spending 40 days 05 hours 37 minutes and 57 seconds at sea and the huge smile on this popular skipper’s face spoke volumes.

Buoyed by the result, Olsson said: "It's unbelievable. We actually deserve it. We had a fantastic strategy when we needed it. Aksel did a really good job on that. We were so tired but we had a great fighting spirit to the end. We sailed really well, and our performance was 100 per cent all the time. We were on the borderline of destroying the boat, but we managed to find a balance and we managed to keep the boat in one piece."

Aksel Magdahl said, “It was a tough leg and I thought we would struggle more, but to then get to the second scoring gate first was amazing and to be here first is a bonus.”

This win is all the more poignant for the fact that the team had already been at sea for three days longer than the rest of the fleet when they arrived in the Marina da Gloria today having had no stopover in Qingdao to rest and unwind.

Olsson and his crew had just over an hour to load 40 days’ worth of food and diesel in Qingdao after finally completing leg four, and set sail again on the most demanding and potentially dangerous leg of the course, chasing the rest of the fleet that had already left seven hours previously.

Ericsson 3 had suffered serious structural damage during the gale-ridden leg four from Singapore to China. The team had been forced to suspend racing on 27 January when they were in serious danger of sinking, in order to limp into Taiwan where they made substantial repairs. They resumed racing on 11 February.

After starting leg five, Ericsson 3 was quickly back in contention, moving up to third place on day three, a position they made their own until, on day 19, 4 March, Olsson and his brave young navigator made their winning move.

They ignored historic navigational strategy that declared ‘south was best’ and immediately after crossing the first scoring gate at latitude 36 degrees in second place, they tacked northeast away from the fleet. Magdahl believed that the best course was to go north of the high pressure that sat between the fleet and Cape Horn and Olsson put all his faith on Magdahl’s shoulders.

Today, Aksel Magdahl said, “The northerly route didn’t seem special at the time but when all the rest did not follow us then it suddenly seemed a big decision and very important. It then became the biggest sailing decision of my life, the biggest sailing moment of my life, that is for sure.

Race veteran Bouwe Bekking, skipper of Telefónica Blue, which had won the previous two legs said at the time, “If that route wins them the leg, they will write history, as up until now, in all the legs down south, the south has won.”

Simon Fisher, helmsman on Telefónica Blue added, “We will have to see if their plan was genius or madness.”

Magdahl explained his strategy around the high pressure at the time: “Eighteen hours before the gate I realised this high did not seem to move so fast anymore. I was also looking at a very interesting small, but powerful low pressure coming in from the northeast, and I thought a bit around whether it was possible to use this, rather than going slow south underneath the high pressure and even risking getting to close to it.”

Two days, later, the northern decision paid off and Ericsson 3 took the lead and held on to it tightly for 19 days until today, when the team rewrote the history books.

The next boat to finish will be Torben Grael’s Ericsson 4, later today.

Leg Five Finishing Order Rio
1. Ericsson 3: 8 points

Overall Leaderboard (Provisional)
1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) 56.5 points (RACING)
2. PUMA (Ken Read/USA) 47 points (RACING)
3. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) 46.5 points (RACING)
4. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) 43.5 (FINISHED)
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) 34.5 (RACING)

6. Telefónica Black 21 (DNS)
7. Delta Lloyd 12 (DNS)
8. Team Russia 10.5 (DNS)
*********************************************************

ERICSSON 3 LEG 5 DAY 41 QFB: received 26.03.09 0815 GMT

So the waiting to get to Rio is about to come to an end. As I write this, eight miles are remaining. Not much breeze for the last night, but we were fortunate enough to find a good squall-line to follow at good speed on course for Rio for two hours before we stopped. Now the land breeze has finally filled out to us.

It has been a big leg, too big to get philosophic about now. But one thing is sure, that everyone gave their best the whole way, and you can see now how impressed everyone is about all the other team members. I am sure there will be emotions at the finishing line!

Once again, a big thanks to everyone who has supported us on the way! This is a team victory, we owe huge thanks to everyone that contributed on all areas within the team to get us to the start line for this leg!!

Best from all on Ericsson 3

Aksel Magdahl - navigator
*****************************************************

ERICSSON 4 LEG FIVE DAY 41 QFB: received 26.03.09 0010 GMT

Of Jack Nicholson’s movies one, for me, stands out above the others, and I bet there isn’t a hall of residence at any university around the world which does not have at least one poster from the film of Jack poking his head through the recently axed down door.

When you watch a film as great as The Shining you tend to remember certain bits. So I was half expecting the following excerpt when I asked Jules to write yesterday’s QFB as I’m still looking for signs of madness within the ranks

All work and no play make Jules a dull boy
All work and no play make Jules a dull boy
All work and no play make Jules a dull boy
All work and no play make Jules a dull boy

The many pages of this script written by the main character in the movie, (an author - obviously portrayed excellently by Jack) was the turning point of the film when you realise that he had lost his marbles for some time. The solitude had taken its toll – and I was wondering if any of our lads were showing signs that maybe we have been out here a little long. Not sure what you would do if one of the lads just lost the plot out here, but I’m sure they would meet a fair amount of resistance.

But seriously, I think that we have surprised ourselves on this leg by being in pretty good shape after such a long time – none of us are showing the tell-tell signs of madness as in Blackadder (UK TV show) with the pencils stuck in oral and nasal canals whilst chanting wibble wibble wibble day after day. So no need for the men in white coats as I thought we may have – or at least not for Ericsson 4.

We have had no serous injuries and hope we don’t for the last few miles, just a collection of the usual minor complaints. The big area we have suffered will be weight loss especially in muscle; we are unable to do other exercise onboard apart from the sailing – of which I am unable to partake. So my legs and my arms have shrunk an unbelievable amount which isn’t too great as it’s not fat loss for us out here for the last month. The hard thing for most crews will be to rest and recover, but also build back the lost strength we will all be suffering from, and in such a small and busy stopover.

I guess it gives the boys on Telefónica Black and Delta Lloyd a great advantage as they will have had some good practice and be fully physically and mentally recovered for the in-port race in just over a week. But they will also be a bit disappointed for not having had the chance to do the last leg. I know I would have a fair amount of regret not getting an attempt at the Horn and would probably selfishly do all I could to achieve this goal.

The stealth plays have been in action today and we wonder if they are such a good thing as the race is all about you – the followers - and to have all info about the race removed by us seems a little odd. You definitely wouldn’t get football of F1 cut off in its prime. Would be interesting to hear your thoughts – maybe drop us all onboard Ericsson 4 a line via our website www.ericssonracingteam.com and contact the boat to let us know your thoughts.

Anyway all good here – wherever we are as we view the lights of Brazil.... ha....ha.....ha????

Guy Salter MCM
*****************************************************

TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG FIVE DAY 40 QFB: received 25.03.09 1736 GMT

Hi there,

With Green Dragon stretching their lead back out to over 100 miles, it would seem that our plans for an exciting duel to the finish have been thwarted for now. They have finally reached decent breeze whilst we continue to struggle to escape the clutches of this high pressure system. However, all is not lost and at the very least we were all happy to feel the thrill of the chase again albeit for only 24 hours!

We continue to sail upwind in light shifty breeze with our big Code 0, our priority for now to get north in the hope of finally picking up the wind that will take us into to Rio. The breeze has been teasing us all morning, tempting us with the wind shift we are waiting for and then before you know it, it shifts back and drops again. This is proving frustrating for some and others now are more philosophical as they resign themselves to a slow ride up to Rio.

However frustrated or relaxed though, the good news is due to some good planning with the menu we still have plenty of food so we are not going to starve, conditions are easy and we are getting plenty of rest, it is neither too hot nor too cold right now so really there is little to complain about. The best we can do is just enjoy the sailing and do our best to get to Rio as quickly as possible!

Cheers,

Simon Fisher - helmsman
**********************************************************

Leserkommentare (0) »

Guo Chuan/Green Dragon Racing/Volvo Ocean Race Green Dragon spot a turtle on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro

Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race Maintenance work onboard Ericsson 3, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro

Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race Navigator Aksel Magdahl reflects on the weather onboard Ericsson 3, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro

Green Dragon resort to desperate measures by making a fishing spear, as food runs low on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro