Sport-heute: Sailing - Nimm was du am meisten liebst

24. Mai 2009, 00:33

Nimm was du am meisten liebst - segeln!

Dein Leben ist segeln, es ist die Welt in der du dich wohl fühlst. Die Kehrseite der Medaille ist allerdings, dass du 14 am Tag feucht bist, nass bist, kalt hast und nicht essen und auch nicht schlafen kannst. Dass alles kann dir aber keinen Kummer machen, wenn du erlebst wie wir seit Stunden in tollster Umgebung zu segeln und zu wissen, dass wir morgen Sonntag die Ziellinie in Galway überqueren werden.

Brüttisellen, 24.5.09 (mk) Telefónica Blue Leg Seven Da 7 QFB: received 22.05.09 2237 GMT

Take what you most love doing in your life and keep it doing it for hours and hours day after day… That’s how I would describe the sailing conditions at the moment. No matter what, this remains the best sailing in the world.

Yes, there is the other side to the coin, it’s impossible to sleep, to eat; you’re always damp and cold even when you go into your bunk. It’s really hard work, don’t get me wrong, but if this is the price that I have to pay, I pay and please, keep the change.

Of course we would like to go a little faster, we’re not quite fast enough compared with our competitors, but we made massive progress since the first leg and we’re quite happy about it. Even if we work harder than the others, the adrenaline you get when you surf the boat down a wave, makes you forget about it and pays off all the efforts.

We will fight until the end, in 36 hours time we will know the results but what we will never forget is the beautiful sailing that we have the honour to experience right now.

Gabriele Olivo - MCM

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Ericsson 4 Leg Seven Day 8 QFB: received 23.05.09 1452 GMT

Before leaving Boston, I was told that I should write one of the first emails from the boat. The reason being was that I wanted to thank everyone in Boston for a fantastic and memorable stopover. The best yet in my mind.

I was going to thank my family for their support, the local people of Boston and all the people that came from far and wide across the US and other parts of the world to see and be part of the action. I also wanted to thank all the volunteers for their efforts. Sure it’s great to be involved, hanging out with some well-known yachties and being part of the festivities….but when the Boston weather turned bad for the best part of a week they were still there helping out, sitting out in the cold and getting their jobs done. So, thanks to everyone involved…it really was a top quality event.

So, why so late in the piece? Well, it has been exceptionally busy on board this leg, and when I did have a chance to get typing, I chose the bucket instead…to bail that is! This boat is so damned wet inside you would not believe it! And when it’s wet its gets colder and there is more condensation and so it gets more and more wet.

We have sailed this boat pretty hard before obviously, but there is something about the north Atlantic sea state that make sit extremely difficult to keep these boats under control in otherwise normal conditions. The biggest ingress of water happened the last night when we nose dived hard into the back of one wave. This filled the cockpit up to our knees, which isn’t so bad if the boat is moving forward. But when you leap straight into the back of another wave and stop, all the water from the wave before turns around and creates a tidal wave down the main hatch….gushing past our washboard like a busted floodgate.

Then you have about 9 buckets of water to bail out. This is on top of all the little leaks and the extra water coming off the wet gear of all the guys as they come down the hatch. This tidal wave effect happened at least twice an hour for about eight hours.

It has truly been a taxing leg, with wind and wave conditions, sail changes and general manoeuvres and the usual stresses taking their toll on crew and gear….and it ain’t over yet, so I had better get back to it. Thanks again everyone…

David Endean - pitman

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Leg Seven Day 8 Daily Story: High Speed Drag Race To Galway Finish

After all but Telefónica Black played their Stealth option overnight to cover the timing of the critical gybe, the fleet is now converging on the finish in Galway in what is promising to be dramatic ending to this trans-Atlantic leg from Boston, USA. Accordingly, Galway is prepared for a grandstand finish in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The sailing continues to be fast and wet, but it has been a thrilling and memorable ride across the Atlantic.

“Take what you most love doing in your life and keep doing it for hours and hours, day after day. That is how I would describe the sailing conditions at the moment. No matter what, this remains the best sailing in the world,” wrote an enthusiastic Gabriele Olivo, MCM onboard Telefónica Blue (6th place +52nm).

For team of Green Dragon, it will be a homecoming and the team is currently level pegging with PUMA for second place, their best showing so far on this 37,000 nm race around the world.

“The race now is all about speed. There are no tactical options,” said skipper Ian Walker who has extra people on deck to put every last drop of energy into the final miles to the finish. “I am sure no crew is willing their boat forwards more than ours right now,” he said.

Onboard Delta Lloyd, spirits are high. Although the team is in fifth place, it is so close, anything can happen. The team is focused, eager and determined. Navigator Wouter Verbraak sums up the final hours of this leg:

“The last two days have been intense, and we are all feeling the grunt of that. We have to keep pushing hard all the way to the end. This is what ocean racing is all about. The end of another marathon is drawing to a close, with it, the grand slam finale right in front of Galway. Perfect.”

With the speeds still topping 23 knots, routing software is currently predicting a finish for the first boat at just after 0100 GMT tomorrow morning.

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 8: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

1. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTL 231 nm
2. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +39
3. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +39
4. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +52
5. Delta Lloyd NED (Roberto Bermúdez/ESP) +57
6. Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) + 84
7. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +88

Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS
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Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race Jens Dolmer and Arve Roaas chatting onboard Ericsson 3, on leg 7 from Boston to Galway

Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race Ericsson 3 broach, on leg 7 from Boston to Galway

Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race Eivind Melleby helming, onboard Ericsson 3, on leg 7 from Boston to Galway

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

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