Sport-heute: Sailing - Kein Wind und laue See

13. April 2009, 23:10

Kein Wind und laue See

Die Gegend hier ist bekannt für schönes Wetter, wenig Wind und ruhige See. Wir sind nicht all zu schnell unterwegs und doch befinden wir uns nur knapp hinter der Spitzenposition. Einen Schreck hat es uns in den ersten 24 Stunden trotzdem eingegjagt. Als wir hinter einer Inselgruppe in einen Windwirbel kamen und praktisch still standen. Da haben wir einige Meilen verloren. - Ian Walker Skipper Green Dragon

Brüttisellen, 13.4.09 (mk) Unsere Mannschaft versteht sich gut. Aus 10 Worten für einen Auftrag sind höchstens drei geworden. Jeder weiss was er zu tun hat. Hinter uns sind aber heute auf einmal wieder die Verfolger am Horizont aufgetaucht und das gibt ein Gefühl, du hast irgend etwas falsch gemacht. Der Druck von Ericsson 4 und Puma ist aber enorm und man kann sie praktisch nicht abhängen. Wir haben zusätzlich kleine Vorsegel gespannt um den Wind einzufangen.

Diese sechste Etappe wird nicht so lange wie die Fünfte dauern, als wir über 40 Tage unterwegs waren. Wir werden Boston in 16-20 Tagen erreichen.

Ian Walker Skipper Green Drageon

GREEN DRAGON LEG SIX DAY 2 QFB: received 12.04.09 1547GMT

It seems strangely normal being at sea again. Even though the stopover was short at only two weeks I felt ready to leave.

The surroundings are all too familiar out here with very little wind and quite big waves bouncing off the land. The crew are busy trying to squeeze any speed out of what little wind and current we have in the hope it will get us to something better.

So far the first 24 hours have gone well. We made a good start and protected the favoured side of the course to stay in touch with the leaders. The key has been the current which has largely been helping us to get west with the exception of one dreadful 30 minute period when we got caught in an eddy behind an island losing two boats and a couple of miles in the process.

Since then we have done well and made the best of the land breeze to get into second place just behind Telefónica Blue. We are almost level with these guys right now and we both have small headsails up in light winds to try and drift along as best we can.

As always we can feel the pressure of PUMA and Ericsson 4 as they grow ever larger on the horizon behind us. It is strange how little needs to be said onboard anymore. This crew have sailed over 25,000 miles to this point and where 10 words were once needed now two or three will suffice. We are already well into our rotating watches and soon the days will be merging into one. After 42 days on the last leg 16 - 20 this time will seem more like a short offshore - or I hope so anyway.

Ian Walker - skipper
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ERICSSON 3 LEG SIX DAY 2 QFB: received 12.04.09 1551 GMT

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'…

It sounds cool when the words come from the rock band Limp Bizkit. But in reality, when sitting on a sailboat, those words are not what you want to think about…

The last 12 hours we have had absolutely no wind, only massive old swell rolling in to make the boat roll uncontrollably and very uncomfortable. If you have any trouble with seasickness this is not a very nice situation to be in. I haven't seen anyone suffer from it but I do feel a bit strange, sleepy and without appetite, and I believe it hasn't got to do with the enormous amounts of wonderful Brazilian food I've had the last couple of weeks.

The big swells have also caused some problems with the sails. In light breeze we usually try to sail with our mast head zero as much as possible, but in the big swells it is risky business. The sails are flapping dramatically and sometimes the zero hits the spreaders so badly it causes rips. That has happened a couple of times the last 12 hours and our sailmaker Martin Strömberg has had a lot on his mind.

“We have to be more careful with this sail. But it is very frustrating,” he says. Richard Mason adds, “To get four rips in the zero the first night of racing is like buying a brand new Porsche and hitting the side barriers the first thing you do.”

We still have all the boats in sight and PUMA, Telefónica Blue and Ericsson 4 are just about 100 metres away. Getting the wind first will be crucial.

Gustav Morin MCM

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ERICSSON 4 LEG FIVE DAY 2 QFB: received 12.04.09 1338 GMT

We can see the entire fleet as we all plod past Cabo Frio. It’s a mere 65 miles from Rio but it has still taken us 19 hrs to get here.

Had a fantastic send off as we exited the bay, rounded a mark off Copacabana beach and headed for Boston - I think that most people were out to get a glimpse of Brazil’s top Olympian and favourite son - Torben Grael - a few would have lost their voices due to the amount of cheering and good luck wishes aimed at Ericsson 4 and this warm send off reflected the hospitality we all received whilst in town. It was a very welcome break at the end of 40+ days onboard and we all just wish to convey our thanks to all involved in the Rio stopover.

At the moment we are switching between the code zero and the code 3 jib as we get a slight tidal push up around the uninhabited island which hosts Cabo Frio.

Torben spoke earlier of the military owned island and its wonderful diving and its unspoiled beauty and it sounds like a nice area to visit - if only we had the time!

This is my second time round the headland and both times with the code 3 jib up - but this time we are using the jib as a wind seeker as it is smaller and doesn’t bask against the rig as much as a larger lighter sail. In the 1 - 2kts of wind there is a hell of a lot of flapping and this is accentuated by the huge lazy rolling seaway we have to contend with - plus its rebound coming back off the land.

Going forward onto the bow you almost need to clip on what with the seaway and the flapping jib - but if you did end up over the side you could easily swim back to the boat as the top speed of the last hour has been a staggering 1.2kts!

Everyone is trying to slip back into the watch system and this is one of the hardest times of a leg as the sleep pattern isn’t second nature and the real world and its luxuries are still very fresh in the mind - not including the thoughts of the loved ones who we will not have contact with for the next couple of weeks.

We are expecting breeze soon (hopefully a light sea breeze which is due anytime) and as we head north with the trades it is likely to be a little bit of a procession, so keeping close and in touch with the leaders is critical.

That’s about all for now

Guy Salter MCM

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TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG SIX DAY 2 QFB: RECEIVED 12.04.09 2257 GMT

Hi

Rio has been good to us, good for relaxing, good for eating and, consequently, good for putting on all the lost weight from leg five! However, despite being back to the freeze dried once more, it is great to be back on the water once again.

The first 24 hours of the race has been pretty much as expected - light and tricky! It has been a game of snakes and ladders and overnight we have had plenty of both! We have been up and down the fleet several times but fortunately the balance of things has been in our favour and we are hanging onto a lead with Green Dragon just behind us.

As usual though there is no time to relax and with night approaching once more we must brace ourselves for more trickiness ahead. This stretch of coastline is often littered with clouds and calms that could easily turn the fleet inside out so until we are safely in the trades we will no doubt be looking over our shoulders...

We spent much of the night creeping along the coast line, close enough to hear the roar of the breaking waves smashing onto the beach. The sea state has been pretty bad as a result and this has made things all the more challenging. However, we have since cleared Cabo Frio and worked our way offshore out into more open ocean and thankfully flatter water which not only improves boat speed but makes life a little more comfy too!

So, all in all no complaints here on Telefónica Blue, it is great to be racing again, good to be back in the hunt and I think we are all looking forward to the days ahead!

Cheers,

Simon Fisher - helmsman

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TELEFÓNICA BLACK LEG SIX DAY 2 QFB:
received 12.04.09 2345 GMT

Hi all,

We have started moving which I think is the news of the day. After being stuck for near 20 hours making speeds below two knots, it is a pleasure reaching with 11 knots of boat speed.

This leg start is much worse that we expected when we left Rio. Looks like we are going to have a big delay arriving to Fernando the Noronha, perhaps two or three days later than the models showed when we left Rio.

Early this morning we received an email from Yiyo, our physical trainer. It looks like Miguelito (Mike Pammenter) did not have a fracture to his ankle, which is great. Anyway it will take some time to recover. Not to have Mike on board is going to be especially hard, one less crew member working hard and missing a friend.

Everything else is going well onboard, everybody quite motivated, right now we are sailing close to both Ericssons and PUMA which gives an extra effort from the crew.

Our new media crew member, Anton Paz, is getting used to the life onboard, he had to work hard to prepare himself for this position and I am sure he will make a superb job,

Cheers

Fernando Echávarri - skipper
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PUMA LEG SIX DAY THREE QFB: received 13.04.09 1507 GMT

The challenges of ocean sailing change every day. Nearly always an interesting new twist comes to play. The first couple of days of this journey have been no different.

First of all, we are going home. Back to Boston where Salma Hayek christened il mostro on a cold and blustery May night. Back to where the North American Headquarters for PUMA lies, right on the harbour front. Back to where I went to University - Boston University (who just won the National Championship in ice hockey I might add). A city which has helped mould my life, and I especially can’t wait to get back there.

But the journey doesn’t happen without its potholes, and I thought we were going to lose Sid for a while yesterday morning. Sidney Gavignet is a very passionate Frenchman who has a love for the sea and a love for competition. But like most of us he has a few superstitions and there is one in particular that is shared by nearly all of his French sailing counterparts.

They have a huge fear of little fuzzy hopping animals with long ears (I am not even allowed to say the name of this animal - that is how deep rooted the superstition is.)

As legend has it, the furry animals with long ears used to be taken aboard the old sailing ships alive and eaten in the old days, long before refrigeration or freeze-dried food. Live animals were carried then to eaten by the crew. The furry little animals with long ears supposedly had a different plan though. They would eat through the wooden hulls and sink the ships before they made it to the cooker, or made the boat made it to port. Since then the French have forbidden any sort of mention or likeness of the big-eared ship sinkers to be on any boat.

So, with the best of intentions, an unnamed fan made it onboard and put a chocolate Easter fuzzy animal with long ears in each of our storage pouches as a surprise - again with the best of intentions, of course. Sid didn’t see the humour. We believe he threw his overboard and asked if I would make sure that all were either eaten or immediately gotten rid of as soon as possible.

And sure enough we had a really bad day yesterday on the water. From the leg start out of Rio, we saw the three boats that were the farthest behind sail around us all, Telefónica Blue and Green Dragon along the shore and Delta Lloyd offshore. The pack of Telefónica Black, the two Ericsson's and us stuck in the windless middle trying desperately to get to an edge.

Now we are in a drag race to Fernando and the all-important scoring gate. We are minus all fuzzy and long eared chocolate Easter treats and we appear to be doing better because of it. We aren’t talking about that superstition any more - after this note of course, because yesterday it was pretty valid in my books. We checked for holes and are good on that front. Now to make up for lost time and distance.

Kenny Read – skipper

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ERICSSON 4 LEG SIX DAY 3 QFB: received 13.04.09 1600 GMT

Hi,

Sailing away from Rio along the Brazilian coast has been much more pleasant than the last stop we left (China). It was good to meet all the friends from Rio and Brazil and was good to see them on the water even with the big swell that was out there.

We have been together with the pack of Telefónica Black, Puma and Ericsson 3 in sight the whole time, with not to much wind. Passing Cabo Frio we could still see Telefónica Blue catch a bit more wind later. Last time I was around this Cape it was blowing 25-30 knots, so quite a change since last time.

It's quite impressive how the oil industry has grown around this area with big amounts of oil rigs and ships around. They look like cities when you see them at the distance at night. Probably, it was not a bad idea to buy some shares of Brazilian oil company some years ago.

Temperature has been rising as expected getting closer to the equator. Wildlife wise, a whole lot of dolphins were around us like crazy, jumping and going in all directions, probably feeding themselves. They paid a bit of attention to our yacht, but soon they went back to their fishing business.

That's all for now.

Horacio Carabelli - trimmer
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TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG SIX DAY 3 QFB: received 13.04.09 1526 GMT

Hi there,

It would be fair to say the mood onboard is of quiet concentration, everyone is focused on maintaining the lead we have managed to build so far ad are keen that we are always getting the best from the boat.

Although the wind has filled in somewhat and we are no longer drifting around, t is shifty and gusty meaning that we have to work hard to keep the boat in the groove. Tactically things are working out OK, it is merely speculation but it would seem the pack behind have been playing a little cat and mouse with each other forcing them to go lower and faster, which for now has played into our hands as we remain happy with our windward position on the fleet. It is now a case of making subtle changes to our course to defend our position and hopefully maximize the opportunities to extend when they present themselves.

On board life is good, the weather is good, the sun is shining and we are making good miles. Gabri (Gabriele Olivo MCM) has excelled himself once again on the food too, having given us an entirely new menu for this leg meaning that mealtimes include a bit of curiosity as to what is being cooked as opposed to relief or dread depending on whether it is something you like or not! It has been so far so good on that front too as all the new freeze dried meals have been well received thus far. With that said, it is time to take myself, and my once again full stomach to bed for a few hours of rest before the next sail change!

Cheers,

Simon Fisher - helmsman

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