Sport-heute: Sailing - Die Winde sind so stabil- taktisches Segeln unmöglich!

21. April 2009, 17:51

Die Winde sind so stabil- taktisches Segeln unmöglich!

Wir machen täglich mindestens 400 Meilen. Viel dazu beitragen können wir allerdings nicht. Die Winde sind so stabil, da fällt jedes taktische Segeln ausser Kraft. Im Moment sind wir am Schluss der Flotte, haben aber immer noch Wind und hoffen dadurch den Vorderen wieder näher zu kommen. Wir brauchen jetzt dringend Wetterglück und dann sieht morgen schon alles anders aus.

Brüttisellen, 22.4.09 (mk) GREEN DRAGON LEG SIX DAY 11 QFB: received 21.04.09 0834 GMT

One thing we cannot complain about on this leg is any lack of fast angle sailing towards the mark. The trade winds are about as reliable as any wind in sailing and they are enabling us to average well over 400 miles a day in the right direction.

Sadly it makes for tactically very boring sailing as you can only really play with some subtle angle changes or sail selections, but it is very pleasant and fast.

Right now it is all about horsepower and maintaining a high level of trim and steering. The longest time anybody drives for is two hours, but more often than that we rotate after an hour. It is not physically draining in these conditions, but requires lots of concentration which can be difficult when tired.

Sadly, we are still bringing up the rear of the fleet and we desperately need something to change in the weather to give us some opportunities. There does look like change ahead as we need to first cross the remnants of a high pressure ridge and then cross the cold front to head towards Newport. I just hope we are close enough to capitalise on any mistakes made by those ahead.

Boston promises to be a fantastic stopover for the Green Dragon with probably more people with Irish links in Boston's surrounding area than in most of Ireland. It will be a good warm up for the reception we hope to get in Galway.

Ian Walker - skipper
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TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG SIX DAY 11 QFB; received 21.04.09 1128 GMT

We have been on the receiving end now for roughly 36 hours, losing mile after mile, which is part of the game. I don’t think it will stop for at least another 20 hours, as then finally the others will hit the wall as well.

I have seen this happen several times in previous round the world races and also in this race it happened a few times, so we are fully preparing ourselves for a re-start. This leg can become another very close one.

Of course we want to win, but can see as well that it serves our sport and the Volvo Ocean Race big time if we have this close racing going on. We might be still in the driving seat, but having the others closer brings also that extra adrenaline pumping through your veins, as the racing gets even more exciting.

All are well onboard, good food, no health issues and finally a day with no spray over the decks. So yesterday was a day for drying gear out, plus working a bit on the tan, by getting some sun rays on our bodies. Not too forget lots of our guys actually shaved their ‘beard’ off, which is something totally new, as normally I am the only one who does this. I know Xabi (Xabier Fernandez) had some pressure from his son, who doesn’t like to see his father looking like a pirate, but the others???

The remainder of this leg looks like to go relatively quickly and we might be in for a Sunday day time finish, which of course would be excellent to kick off the Boston stopover.

Bouwe Bekking - skipper
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DELTA LLOYD LEG SIX DAY 11: received 21.04.09 0819 GMT

"Second fastest in the fleet." "Really? That's a bit disappointing."

Not the most common reception of such a position report on board Team Delta Lloyd, but over the last 24 hours we have been spoilt. We are doing well on the fleet and are posting the highest speeds. So what's up?

Well, winds are getting disturbed to the NE by a small low pressure system and so the boats ahead and to windward of us are sailing into less breeze. It is only in the 0700 ZULU report that Telefónica Black has gained on us and she is now west of us.

So west is best? It looks like that is going to be the case over the next 12 hours as we cross the area with disturbed trades, but soon after the tables are about to turn with a new NE push coming through. The challenge down here in the nav station is whether to go for early gains and see what happens later, or to start making the move east to set up for better winds in the east for the following two days.

In a way we are all on tracks as we are locked in by the best angle for our masthead code zero. The sweet spot of the sail is only 10 degrees wide, so that is all we have to play with really. Go any lower or higher and you will lose out on boatspeed considerably.

Our current thinking is to stay down here for a while longer and then make a move east later today when the winds are restoring up there.

Compared to fire hosing of the last days, the sailing is quite pleasant. No more goggles, helmets and full foul weather gear, just Caribbean style shorts and T-shirts. Add a barbeque on the back, a nice chilled bottle of white wine and some fresh yellow fin tuna and we could be cruising along just nicely. The reality is that we have no time to attend to the bbq, no hands free to hold our plate and glass of wine, and the heel of the boat would have things sliding through the cockpit in no time. It would be a big mess.

At this angle the trimming and grinding is non stop to keep the boat going at 100% all the time. We are driving on a very fine balance, with the interaction between the trimmers and drivers being crucial. Lose it for a bit and you drop off the wagon. We are creating a lot of apparent wind which is what is keeping us fast. While the true wind speed is down to 14 knots, our boatspeed generated wind is up to 22 knots. A huge difference and it takes at least two minutes to build this balance up.

So no rest for the wicked here on board Team Delta Lloyd, we have to keep focused. We have Telefónica in sight and are keen to climb up the ladder. We are on a bit of a roll, try stopping us!

Wouter Verbraak - navigator

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TELEFÓNICA BLACK LEG SIX DAY 10 QFB: received 20.04.09 2130 GMT

This morning we found Delta Lloyd on the horizon behind us.. .Not feeling comfortable at all considering that she has been growing bigger and bigger as the day has passed along.

We do everything to squeeze out the last tenths of a knot, but...she is still coming closer. Frustrating! We thought we should be totally occupied with trying to catch the boats in front and suddenly we are busy staying ahead of an older generation boat catching up..

Some better news. After two days of wet, fast sailing, the consistent, fresh north east trade decided to calm down a bit and even the old navigator found pleasure being on deck as the intense, never-stopping spray was gone. Wet clothing came up for drying and it was time for a proper body wash. What a relief after collecting many layers of sweat and salt...! We use the excess water outlet from the water maker as it functions as the perfect shower in the middle of the cockpit. A bit more salty than the ocean water but so much easier than risking losing another bucket over the side in attempts to catch some fast moving water at the transom.

Anybody who has washed will immediately smell the ones who have not. This simple fact has always amazed me. Guess you are getting so used to your own dirty smell that you do not smell the others until you are clean yourself. The sense of smell adapts itself fast...

There is still some 2000 miles to go and I am spending considerable time thinking about different ways how to get closer to the front end of the fleet. Since our unlucky night, the one before last, with considerable ‘down time’, we are fighting to get within striking distance to Puma, Ericsson 3 and Ericsson 4.

The Azores High has had enough of us and is handing us over to another High, forming south east of New Foundland. Unfortunately that development does not create the so called ‘Horse Latitudes’, the area of light winds between the trades and the westerlies, dominating the higher latitudes. We would like to see a full stop at the front end of the fleet but it does not look like it right now, even if there is a tendency of compression of the fleet... Still anything can happen, there’s a long way to go.....

Yours
Roger Nilson - navigator

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Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race.