Sport-heute: Sailing - Es wird langsam ungemütlich!

22. Mai 2009, 06:39

Es wird langsam ungemütlich!

Alle ist nass holprig und nur noch 10 Grad im Wasser. Es ist ungemütlich. Wir sind mit 20-30 Knoten Boatspeed unterwegs und haben ständig Wind um die 30 Knoten. Die Ericsson 3 ist wie ein wildes Pferd und ständig will sie machen was wir nicht wollen. Es ist enorm schwierig sie in den Zügeln zu halten. Es ist nicht mehr eine Frage des Fingerspitzengefühls, sonder eine feine Abstimmung nach der Lage.

Brüttisellen, 21.5.09 (mk) Es bleibt uns manchmal nichts anderes übrig, als das Boot gehen zu lassen und zum Dank, spült dann eine grosse Welle das ganze Boot ab. An diesem Morgen war ohne Zweifel einer der schönsten Momente im Segelwettbewerb nach dem Start. Die Sonne kam hervor und das Boot und der Wind hatten etwa 25 Knoten. Die Temperatur war ideal für einen Skandinavier in den kalten Winden. Die Thermik war aber genug um die Temperatur auf viel Plus zu halten und um nicht zu frieren. Alles lief reibungslos. Wir kommen schnell voran. Es ist fast ein bisschen verrückt.

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Ericsson 3 Leg Seven Day 6 QFB: received 21.05.09 1601 GMT

Now everything I thought was going to take place on this leg starts to happen. It is wet everywhere, bumpy, around 10 degrees in the water and we are doing between 20 and 30 knots of boatspeed VMG downwind with steadily around 30 knots of wind.

This is when these boats are in top of their game. Our Ericsson 3 is like a wild horse in this stuff. She is twisting and turning and all the time trying to take control of herself. The crew and particularly the helmsman has to wrestle and keep her down every second.

Standing at the wheel is no longer a matter of fingertip feeling and fine tuning with small soft movements. It’s about having your feet far from each other and working hard to keep your balance, while turning like crazy between the waves. Sometimes you are not fast enough, or there just is no path to find so you can do nothing but let the bow dig down in the sea with a massive wall of water coming towards you and flushes the crew around the cockpit as a result. You better stay clipped on in these conditions. You might think you are in control and that you can bear any wave. Believe me, that’s not the case…

This morning was, without doubt one, of the most beautiful and memorable moments of sailing since the start of this race. We had around 25 knots of wind and were doing about the same speed when the sun came out. The temperature was perfect for a Scandinavian used to chilly winds. Full wet weather gear with one layer of thermals underneath was enough not to freeze and we were pretty smoothly running along with the sun in our faces and with Ireland coming up quickly ahead. Now it’s a bit more crazy.

Unfortunately we haven’t made the big gains on the guys in the front that we would have hoped. We don’t have that much runway so we must start soon. But the big stuff has just arrived and we still have some cards to pull out of our sleeve.

Gustav Morin - MCM

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Leg Seven Day 6 Daily Story: Rollercoaster Ride Towards The Emerald Isle

The breeze is up and the Volvo fleet is rocketing downwind towards a predicted finish in Galway, Ireland early on Sunday morning. It’s the kind of sailing that everyone has been looking forward to and it is almost certainly the last time the boats will have the chance to show off their paces in the open ocean.

“There is something magical that happens out here, miles from anywhere. There is a definite edge to life that you don’t get racing in coastal waters,” said Rick Deppe, MCM onboard second-placed PUMA.

It is smiles all round too on Delta Lloyd, who are in the lead today. “This sailing makes you want to do this race again,” said navigator Wouter Verbraak. “The sailing conditions are absolutely stunning. Downwind, 25-30 knots, flat water and a red morning sun,” he said

But, the old adage goes ‘red sky at night – sailor’s delight. Red sky in the morning – sailor’s warning’, and Wouter says the warning signs are already there.

“A thin layer of clouds is steadily approaching and growing thicker. The weather models of modern technology confirm the sailor’s rhyme. They are predicting winds to build to 30 knots tonight and more tomorrow,” he confirmed.

Ahead of the cold front, the crews are playing the fortunes of the Gulf Stream, which, if in the right place, can give a boat a boost of nearly three knots. Scrutinising satellite images and recording surface temperatures gives a rough guideline as to where to look for the best current, the temperature gauge being the best tool as it shows the transition from colder to warmer water.

“The trick,” says Wouter “is to find a good patch of current and try to stick with it by following its temperature trail.” No fun for the navigators, who are constantly monitoring the situation and not able to sleep.

Yesterday afternoon, Telefónica Black (third place today) was neck and neck with Ericsson 4 (fourth place today), running with masthead gennakers. “The guys have just completed a back down right in front of us,” wrote a puzzled Ericsson 4 bowman, Phil Jameson, as Telefónica Black careered around broaching before eventually the crew sailed the boat backwards.

“Look,” shouted Telefónica Black’s David Vera, “there is a big turtle stuck on the leading edge of the keel, unbelievable.” One by one, the crew peered through the endoscope to see a three-foot full size ocean turtle trapped on the front side of the keel blade and desperately trying to free itself.

“Fernando Echávarri was at the helm and doing everything to help free the turtle, swinging the keel from side to side and finally putting the boat into a full broach in the modest 15 knot wind.

No luck, the turtle was still stuck, pressed onto the keel by 13 knots of boat speed. “Let us stop the boat and back off,” suggested Echávarri. The crew dropped the spinnaker on the foredeck, put the bows of the boat into the wind and, with the help of a staysail, sailed the boat backwards.

“There it is, just next to the boat,” cried David. The crew could all see the seemingly unhurt turtle swimming around the surface in gentle circles. “What a ride for the poor animal,” wrote navigator Roger Nilson. “It looked happy and we waved goodbye and hoisted the kite and off we went again. Just another day in the office… who said it is boring to be at sea?”

However, turtle incidents aside, no one is forgetting that this is the North Atlantic and gales here have caused the demise of many a ship. This ocean demands and receives deep respect and the helmsman’s current smile masks a worried face as the fleet blasts towards Galway. “Better get some good lunch in and enjoy the sailing on deck before it all takes a turn for the worst,” said Wouter. “Keep your helmets ready, it’s going to be wet. We are going in!”

Scoring Gate Order
1. Telefónica Blue at 03:11.24 GMT
2. PUMA at 03:12.04 GMT
3. Ericsson 4 at 03:33.05 GMT
4. Ericsson 3 at 04:06.02 GMT
5. Telefónica Black at 04:36.54 GMT
6. Delta Lloyd at 06:16.00 GMT

Leg Seven Day 6: 1400 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

1. Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermúdez/ESP) DTL 1186 nm
2. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +2
3. Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) + 3
4. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +6
5. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +9
6. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +36
7. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +46

Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS
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Green Dragon Leg Seven Day 6 QFB: received 21.05.09 1501 GMT

It feels like we are in the North Atlantic now. The wind built to over 30 knots ahead of the front but with a nice sea state we managed to keep the masthead spinnaker up as far as the last ice gate.

Since then we peeled to the fractional spinnaker and enjoyed an awesome ride as the waves rapidly built. Enough was enough and after one wipe out we have throttled back a bit by flying a flatter fractional zero spinnaker.

Boat speeds are solid twenties, often 25 and sometimes into the thirties. We are nearly pointing directly at Galway so life is good. This is what I had in mind when people talked to me about the Volvo Ocean race - hard, fast running in lots of wind. It is only the third time we have had these conditions all race. However much fun it is on deck there is always the nagging feeling that you are on the edge of control. You are heavily reliant on your equipment and teamwork.

Down below it feels and sounds horrendous. Everything is crashing and banging and the boat flexes this way and that. My ear is finely tuned to the sound of carbon cracking and I jump up at the slightest ‘different’ noise down below. So far so good however. Rest will be very hard to come by between here and Galway but at least we know we only have a few days of this to go. The miles are tumbling rapidly and our quest to sail back into Galway Bay ever closer. We may have sailed over 30,000 miles but we are going to be made to fight very hard for the last 1000 miles.

Ian Walker - skipper
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Ericsson 4 Leg Seven Day 6 QFB: received 21.05.09 1438 GMT

Firstly apologies to all for having to read another report from me when I’m sure it’s the crew you would prefer to be reading right now.

The breeze has built steadily over the last few hours and conditions are once again what we would describe onboard as heinous. If you’re not on deck tethered on to the yacht you are down below and trying to get in your bunk ASAP as this is the safest place to be - although there is little rest to be had.

It’s a bit like being on the log flume ride at one of the big theme parks - or at least like one particular part of the ride. I’m sure you have all laughed at the pictures of yourself taken as you plummet down the steepest slide to the guaranteed soaking at the bottom, well, being on Ericsson 4 is very much like the four seconds before and the four seconds after the flash has caught your expression on the log luge.

We are all enjoying the feeling of going fast and the acceleration and we know we will end up wet at the end of each surge down the wave – I’m sure there are looks of both exhilaration and panic on our faces - like the photo memento of our day out. The difference onboard here, is that the stakes are a lot higher. We don’t know what to expect in each trough and as we are not on rails we could easily find ourselves spearing off course - both of which are definitely not part of your fun park ride ( although I’m sure there have been some near misses at the travelling gypsy fairs).

It’s these moments of realism which dampen down the excitement of sailing in these conditions, most of the boys out here, and definitely all onboard Ericsson 4, are very much in control of their emotions - you don’t want to get too excited by the highs and you don’t want to open yourself up to the lows.

This emotional guarding is often seen as an arrogance or as if the boys are boring, when in realism its just an adaption for us to be able to push hard and be competitive in very tough and extreme conditions, which would see many tough people fold as the alarms ringing out in the brain are carefully analyzed and ignored in pursuit of performance.

It’s only when the ‘poo’ really hits the fan is the survival mode allowed to surface and you must keep a very cool head for this also - another reason why the emotions are controlled – it’s a survival adaption. I’m sure you see this in all sorts of endurance sports and activities from mountaineering to ultra marathons - these athletes will push the mind until it’s time to really take notice.

So it’s pretty wet onboard once more as we charge along at speeds in the low 30s at times. The fleet looks to have split so Jules (Jules Salter – navigator) is running and re-running routes to check we are happy heading north before it’s too late to consolidate our position.

The boat keeps ploughing into the back of waves and this created a slapstick comedy moment at my expense. It was as we were decelerating in one of these nose dives that I lost my balance and staggered backwards. As I did, my foot found a secure hold and stopped me toppling over. Unfortunately for me and to the amusement of the others, my foothold was actually in one of the buckets!

It was stuck fast and as I shook my foot the bucket remained unmoved. I walked aft with a step - clump - step - clump until Stu Bannatyne kindly freed my hoof - but not without a bit of effort.

I wouldn’t be surprised if I inherit the nickname ‘Mr Bean’ or ‘Harold Lloyd’ after that performance. Let’s hope there are not any banana skins left lying around or people with ladders on their shoulders being called by a colleague behind them.

The day is grey and wet and I think it has rained a little although I would not be surprised if it was a glorious day outside of our ball of spray. Looks like a few days to go of this!

Apologies to Galway - we may be bringing inclement weather with us!

Guy Salter - MCM
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Rick Deppe/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race Craig Satterthwaite checks to leward, onboard PUMA Ocean Racing, on leg 7 from Boston to Galway

Guo Chuan/Green Dragon Racing/Volvo Ocean Race Justin Slattery checks the sails, onboard Green Dragon, on leg 7 from Boston to Galway

Rick Deppe/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race Telefonica Blue shot from onboard PUMA Ocean Racing, on leg 7 from Boston to Galway

Sander Pluijm/Team Delta Lloyd/Volvo Ocean Race Team Delta Lloyd moving up to third place. The water temparature is rising and the sun is back. Everybody is enjoying being back in the pack and is warming in the sun.

Rick Deppe/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race Boom detail, onboard PUMA Ocean Racing, on leg 7 from Boston to Galway

Rick Deppe/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race A pair of dolphins from onboard PUMA Ocean Racing, on leg 7 from Boston to Galway