Sport-heute: Sailing - ERICSSON 4 LEG ONE DAY 16 QFB: received 1130GMT

27. Oktober 2008, 00:06

ERICSSON 4 LEG ONE DAY 16 QFB: received 1130GMT

Last 2 days has been really good for us. We had good conditions of downwind sailing with winds from 12-18 knots. During the night the sky has been beautiful, full of stars and all crew are really enjoying it.

We are leading the fleet at the moment with Puma really close to us and it's been difficult to know how many days there were when we both didn't see each other after more then 2 weeks of racing!

International Ocean (ady) Sailing along the Brazilian coast has been great and makes me feel a bit at home, be back in 6 month Brazil!!. We are starting our head to the east and it looks like the next few days will be really intense with some strong winds. That will help us to run some miles and be closest to the finish line. Looks like the battle for the lead will be really close.

It's midday here and our lunch time is getting close. Menu of the day is Chicken Korma, best preference from all crew. But we are all looking forward for a big steak in Cape Town!

Good winds,
Joca Signorini - trimmer

MCM Note
There has been a lot of activity onboard today with everyone triple checking their areas ready for the mighty kicking we are about to receive. After all, it would be a shame to get some gear damage and lose our chance at a shot of a podium finish! Nobody is really looking forward to sailing in 40kts - but it should be fast.

In the old Volvo 60s, 40 kts would be towards upper end of racing mode, in these boats 40kts is a lot more like survival mode. It will be bumpy, wet and bloody uncomfortable but hopefully fast. Looks like we may have a big light air spot to get through - just hope that the lottery looks upon us favourably.

Cheers

Guy Salter - MCM

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TELEFÃ“NICA BLACK LEG ONE DAY 16 QFB: received 26.10.08 1237 GMT

We have been preparing for war since early morning. Everything has been organised and fixed up for the coming hours in which we expect to have some more than 40 knots, according to the weather forecast. The good news is that we will at last catch up with winds which will take us closer to the finishing line, and be able to fight for the leading place. We are at a certain distance behind, with a drop of wind and big shifts, but still there.

More good news is that we have cleared up a lot of stuff in here, so there is more room available for anything.

Life on board goes as usual, except for some funny repairs our "Master of the Laminates: Laminator David (David Vera/ESP)", has done. You may ask him by mail what happened. I cannot write about that here!! Ha ha!!

And in between laminating and laminating, sail changes and, one of the worst things on board: stacking. Imagine moving and piling up hundreds of kilos in this reduced space every time the wind drops or increases in one or two knots! No problem, 'stacking again!' is the shout and everyone goes to it.

Oh, I almost forgot! We have only two spoons left! So imagine next step. Making spoons out of plastic! Or laminated carbon!! Laminator again!

Let's see what happens. More tomorrow.

Mikel Pasabant - MCM

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GEARING UP FOR SLEIGH RIDE TO CAPE TOWN

The fleet racing in leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race is about to have its first taste of 'Life at the Extreme' as the crews prepare to ride a 40 knot westerly gale straight towards Cape Town.

Leaders Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) has started to make her turn to the east, followed by the chasing pack of four, PUMA (Ken Read/USA), Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) and Telefónica Black (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP). But, while high winds are forecast, the fleet still has to negotiate a light patch of wind, before they can enjoy the sleigh ride east.

According to Volvo Ocean Race weather forecasters, the slow down should not last long, and, by the beginning of week three, there will be a series of strong lows moving east towards the Cape of Good Hope. But, although the fleet is gearing up for a quick ride to Cape Town, the predicted 40 knots of wind will be a big test for the Volvo 70s.

'In the old Volvo Ocean 60s, 40 knots would be towards the upper end of racing mode, but in these boats, 40 knots is a lot more like survival mode,' wrote MCM Guy Salter from Ericsson 4 this morning. 'It will be bumpy, wet and very uncomfortable, but hopefully fast,' he adds.

Across the fleet, the crews are trying to get as much rest as possible, in anticipation of the gale yet to come. Cooking is going to be difficult, so topping up on freeze-dried food is a priority too. Everyone is triple checking their areas of responsibility and concentrating on the onslaught that lies ahead.

'We have been preparing for war since early morning,' writes Mikel Pasabant from Telefónica Black. The team is expecting in excess of 40 knots, which for them is good news. 'We will at last catch up with the winds which will take us closer to the finish line and be able to fight for the leading place,' says Pasabant. From their position at the back of the leading group, they are beginning to experience a drop in wind, with big wind shifts.

Ian Walker/Green Dragon says the race is about to get 'interesting' as all the boats behind get the wind further north and cut the corner on the leaders. 'The boats should aline north/south and it will look like a fairly equal dash for Cape Town,' he says. Those that do not keep up with the pace will drop off the back of the system and lose hundreds of miles. 'It's our job,' says Ian, 'not to let that happen to us.'

The gales could see the fleet cover in excess of 500 nautical miles in a 24-hour period, which means looking for an average boat speed of around 24 knots. So far, it has taken the fleet three days to cover almost 900 nm south from the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha.

Green Dragon's navigator, Ian Moore/IRL says, 'The reward for this southerly dash is brewing just south of Cabo Frio, and hopefully will start ploughing east following the south side of the St Helena high, dragging the entire fleet with it.'

'We will have to hold on tight and stay concentrated to keep the crew and equipment in one piece. We have a long a long trip in front of us,' says Eivind Melleby from Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander/SWE).

The distance between the top four boats is starting to spread. At 1300 GMT today, Ericsson 4 led PUMA by one mile, but Green Dragon was 26nm behind the leader, and Telefónica Black 34 nm.

Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) leads the second group which are now very strung out, all losing miles to the leader in the last three hours. Ericsson 3 has had the best average boat speed of 15.5 knots, but Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) has had the best 24 hour run of 372 nm. Delta Lloyd (Ger O'Rourke/IRL) in sixth place is still proving that his generation one boat is up to the mark and has been level pegging with the rest of the fleet in terms of boat speed, averaging 14.8 knots in the past three hours.

Leg One Day 16: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to leader)

Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 2958
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +1
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +26
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP) +34
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +39
Delta Lloyd IRL (Ger O'Rourke/IRL) +78
Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +81
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +183

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