Sport-heute: Sailing - TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG ONE DAY 17 QFB: received 27.10.08 0525 GMT-GREEN DRAGON LEG ONE DAY 17 QFB: received 27.10.08 1505 GMT

27. Oktober 2008, 17:35

TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG ONE DAY 17 QFB: received 27.10.08 0525 GMT-GREEN DRAGON LEG ONE DAY 17 QFB: received 27.10.08 1505 GMT

THE WAITING GAME-ERICSSON 3 LEG ONE DAY 17 QFB: Received 27.10.08 1217 GMT

2907 miles to go Cape Town. Half an hour later, 2912 miles to go to Cape Town!!!!! What is wrong with this picture?

Last night we had to sail the unfavoured gybe several times, as we were getting too close to the ridge of High pressure. So we actually had to sail away from Cape Town to stay in the breeze. It is impossible to describe what the feeling inside is, for myself or Sifi (Simon Fisher - navigator). It just hurts badly - just looking at the numbers and knowing that you sail a course 180 degrees away from the point you want go to, it just goes against your nature.

International Ocean (mk) But we know that this was the right call. It is like driving in your car, and there is brick wall ahead of you. You keep going straight you know you are in trouble, as you will hit the wall and most likely come to a full stop. Better drive a couple of extra metres to get around the wall, and keep moving. So a relatively small loss compared with the other boats right now, but as the low pressure is arriving it is very likely that the rich are getting richer. For us it was damage control and to stay in touch with the leaders.

Yesterday evening was used for a full maintenance and servicing of all equipment. Patan (Pablo Arrarte/ESP) and Xabi (Xabier Fernandez/ESP), serviced all the winches again. Pepe (Ribes) was up the rig to check everything, and Laurent (Pages/FRA) did some work on the sails. Jordi (Calafat) has been working on the new design of our running spinnaker, for which the first panels will have to be cut tomorrow, so that it will be ready for use in the next leg. With only 24 sails for the entire race, you have to be careful, not to 'burn' too many sails in early days. So this new sail we had not planned for, as originally this sail was supposed to last until China. No real problem, we had some spare cards, (sails not planned yet) but we will have to re-think the strategy for building new sails.

cheers,

Bouwe Bekking - skipper

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It's a nail-biting time for the fleet racing in leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race as it plays the waiting game. Waiting, that is, for the anticipated 40 knot gale that will propel them at record-breaking speeds towards Cape Town and the finish of this 6,500 nautical mile leg.

Speeds are beginning to edge up as the fleet curves around the South Atlantic High. Tempting though it seems, to cut the corner and sail less miles to Cape Town, sailing too close to the light airs in the centre of the high is not worth the risk.

At the top of the fleet, the leading pack of four are still locked together in battle, with no intention of backing off, and every intention of arriving in Cape Town first and breaking the tie that is shared among the top five boats. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) is the furthest south, with PUMA (Ken Read/USA) and Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) 31 nautical miles to the east of her. Telefónica Black (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP) is sandwiched in the middle.

The east/west split of the fleet effects the overall position chart as the boats furthest east are nearer the finish. The true picture won't be seen until the fleet fully completes its sweep east and is on course for the finish.

'We have been having some interesting skirmishes with
PUMA throughout this race, and again we find ourselves within four miles of each other, with them in the ascendancy,' explains Jules Salter, navigator of Ericsson 4. 'The pursuers, which range from Green Dragon in the south to Telefónica Blue in the north, all have better wind than us right now. The Irish have probably got themselves into the best position leverage-wise for a move to the front of the pack, we shall see,' he says.

In the second division of the fleet, Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) leads a group of one, Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander/SWE), and is in the uneasy position of being slightly to the east and nearer the centre of the high, 46 nm east of Green Dragon.

'Last night we had to sail the unfavoured gybe several times, as we were getting to close to the ridge of high pressure,' wrote skipper Bouwe Bekking, who had to point away from Cape Town to stay in the breeze. 'It is impossible to describe what the feeling inside is, for myself or SiFi, our navigator. It just hurts badly,' he said. Fisher is looking at the clouds and watching the barometer for any signs of the wind dropping. 'Perhaps I am just being paranoid after our rather unfortunate run through the Doldrums.. Personally, I'd rather call it cautious,' he said.

The crew of Ericsson 3 is largely made up from sailors who have not competed in this race before. 'We will just do it our way and see how good that is. I am sure some of the more experienced teams will push hard, but we will set our own pace. But we will give it our best,' said navigator Aksel Magdahl.

Kosatka, Team's Russia's blue boat, is 72 miles west of Delta Lloyd (Ger O'Rourke) and navigator Wouter Verbraak reported this morning that they were in 20 knots of breeze from the north - about five knots more than the rest of the fleet. Consequently Kosatka (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) has averaged 19.8 knots, the highest average boat speed during the last hour. She also claims the highest 24-hour run of 364 nm. Delta Lloyd continues to follow in the footsteps of Ericsson 4.

With boats and rigs thoroughly checked over and nothing left to chance, all that is left to do is wait until the wind finally arrives, which, says, Simon Fisher 'ironically, seems to be the hardest bit of all.'

Leg One Day 17: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to leader)

Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 2699
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +5
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +27
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP) +33
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +48
Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +75
Delta Lloyd IRL (Ger O'Rourke/IRL) +128
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +218

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ERICSSON 3 LEG ONE DAY 17 QFB: Received 27.10.08 1217 GMT

Just got my PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) and inflatable lifejacket out and ready under the nav desk. Till now I have been wearing the light harness which provides for easier grinding and more mobility. But now we are preparing for conditions we really respect. Most of us onboard are going to get the first real ride on a solid low pressure system, for the most of the Atlantic crossing.

Last night I did a walk through of the next week's weather with our watch captains Magnus Olsson and Richard Mason, with a little sketch I had made of our route and the expected winds along it. 'That is not possible with these boats!' was Magnus' resolute reply. So we talked through the options if we find the conditions too rough for us and the boat - we really want to get to Cape Town in one piece, this race is just starting.

I am running a few different softwares for the routing. One has us doing a 24 hr record in two days, another one in four days. The computers do not see the limitations though; we will see what we get.

Even though it is with respect, we are really looking forward to this, as it is what separates the Volvo Ocean Race from other yacht races. How fast we sail the boats in these conditions. Till now I have been joking with Martin Krite about how it is going to be on the bow in 10 metre waves, 40 knot breeze trying to recover a headsail, but no more joking now. We will just do it our way and see how good that is. I am sure some of the more experienced teams will push hard, but we will set our own pace. But we will give it our best; we can rest in Cape Town.

Aksel Magdahl - navigator

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ERICSSON 4 LEG ONE DAY 17 QFB: received 27.10.08 1248 GMT

The fleet is compressing in this race once more as we start to make the turn east to Cape Town. We have been having some interesting skirmishes with Puma throughout this race and again we find ourselves within 4 miles of each other with them in the ascendancy. The pursuers, which range from Green Dragon in the south, to Telefónica Blue to the North, all have better wind than us right now - the Irish have probably got themselves into the best position leverage-wise for a move to the front of the pack...we shall see.

Problem for us is how to minimise the losses against these guys as the wind field evens out then increases for all...and then on the smaller scale keeping the Puma at bay. Oh to be in 3 places at once. Never mind, we are still leading though being down to 10 men (soccer pundits insert your cod 11 versus 10 team psychology here....).

We seem to hang in there with Puma but only just, are we faster? Our perception on board is not as the shoe boat keeps gaining then a light spot or angle change seems to give us another lucky jump and the process begins again...it will be interesting to hear the Puma guys thoughts on this.

The latest weather models route us through some big wind areas so we will have to take a view on that, always better to get there with some points than not at all. This class of boat still does not fully convince me of its robustness in winds greater than 35 knots. Some exciting sailing ahead for those who like sailing then, for the others like me who don't, it will be a period of constant worrying below decks with the odd stroll on deck to prove man's efforts at making oilskins that work have not moved on much since wool dipped in tar and oil was donned by whalers down here 200 years ago...or maybe it is just that people were tougher back then.

Jules Salter - navigator

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GREEN DRAGON LEG ONE DAY 17 QFB: received 27.10.08 1505 GMT

It feels great to finally be pointing somewhere near Cape Town. I've nothing against South America but the party is going to be in South Africa and it's now time to get over there.

We have worked for days to position ourselves furthest south in the hope of more wind as we head east, and it seems to slowly be paying. In fact our biggest problem is probably going to be too much wind in the south, so we may have to keep our plan in check. For the next day or so this won't be a problem so we will wait and see how it develops.

It's taking me a while to get my head around all the weather systems being upside down and round the wrong way in the southern hemisphere but I think I am getting there. One thing is for sure the pressure on the barometer is dropping and the average speeds are going up.

It's amazing how adept you get at guessing the hull speed from in the nav station. Under 10 knots boat speed all is quiet and you think you aren't moving at all - you can't hear above Justin's (Slattery) snoring. Up to 15 knots, the water starts to rush quite fast outside the hull and you can hear the wind in the rigging, 15 to 20 knots boat speed and the hull starts to shudder and you get the odd surf and lurching motion for and aft.

Over 20 knots and the hull starts to slam even downwind - this is often followed by a stopping feeling as you plough into the wave in front. At about 25 knots the crunchometer kicks in. This is when you come off the back of waves and the flat bottom section of the hull lands with a bang, the whole centre of the boat bounces up and down (inc Guo in the media station) and you hear a loud crunch. The crunch is the vertical carbon fibre panels of the head disintegrating in compression and this only lasts about a day. After then the whole sidewalls of the head are destroyed leaving nothing to crunch and all goes quiet. A few hours ago the crunching started but the wind has now abated and the head will get a temporary stay of execution.

Ian Walker - skipper

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