Sport-heute: Sailing - DELTA LLOYD LEG TWO DAY 6: received 20.11.08 0637 GMT

20. November 2008, 18:24

DELTA LLOYD LEG TWO DAY 6: received 20.11.08 0637 GMT

TEAM RUSSIA LEG TWO DAY 6 QFB: received 20.11.08 1159 GMT - POINTS NORTH

Here are a few words about us! First of all, I want to say that the crew are all ok, nobody has had any problems, just little things: Matt (Matt Gregory/USA) has a sore throat and Husti (Ryan Houston/NZL) has injured his knee, which has been hurting since he smashed it after a wave hit us. Both of them have been great and they are not complaining at all.

CAPE TOWN - CHOCIN INDIA (mk) After the first part of the leg, with windy, sometimes gale force conditions going South, I have seen that the boat is absolutely great. We don't yet know the boat 100 percent; particularly me, and there have been several unnecessary broaches when I was helming, but fortunately with no huge problems. I was only trying to discover the limits of the boat! The problem is that every time we broach, the guys call it a 'Chuny'''.funny! HA,HA,HA,!

The crew is excellent... We have a bunch of young guys onboard and I am pretty sure they are going to go really far in the world of yacht racing. Out of the guys I already knew, I am not surprised by their abilities - like Stu (Stuart Wilson/NZL) for example-. In one word: a FANTASTIC CREW!

Stu knows the boat better than the others, and he has helped me a lot to distribute the positions and tasks on board, before the start. He also has a deep knowledge of the sail wardrobe, as he is our sailmaker.

The new guys onboard, Morgan (Morgan White/AUS) and Peter (Peter van Nierkerk/NED), are really good trimming the sails. The first is a good bowman and has the great luck and experience of Johnny (Gerd Jan Poortman/NED) as a teacher; our veteran onboard; and you cannot imagine the tranquillity he transmits to the others on the team, at the bow. Peter is doing really well trimming and is quite motivated at the wheel. He is getting on very well indeed.

Both Eds (Eduard van Lierde/NED and Edwin O'Connor/IRL) are doing a great job too. Dutch Ed - is great helming and Irish Ed is checking all on board.

Crusty (Martin Watts/GBR) is always around the mast. I have told him he must stop 'cos he will not receive the awards he won on the first leg again! Sander (Sander Pluijm/NED), our Media guy is cool and always trying to help with the things he is allowed to do around us, whilst never disturbing our work. All of us are going in the same direction and that's great!.

I think we are going to cross the scoring gate last, but we are in a good position to head to India. It's a good thing to be here, in close touch with the fleet and we have our options. We have sailed as fast as we could, but I haven't wanted to push too hard and break - that would be far worse, for sure!

Matt has been studying the transitions in the weather and I think we have been doing quite a good job. We need to be a little faster changing gears and especially knowing our way around the boat at night. But it is all about preparation time; we haven't had as much as the others, and we are up against the best-prepared teams in the world competing alongside us in this kind of race.

Roberto 'Chuny' Bermudez - skipper

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TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG TWO DAY 6 QFB: received 20.11.08 0406 GMT

Our patient Laurent (Laurent Pages/FRA) will never complain, that is not his art, but you can see he is in lot of pain, and most likely out for the rest of the leg.

He is not happy, as he has never had a major injury in his life, but we told him we cannot turn the clock back, and just have carry on. Of course consulted our team doctor Christina back in Spain, and it was good to hear she had the same opinion. Got advice for the painkillers and anti -inflammatory pills, so Laurent can 'relax'..............and enjoy the trip.

Of course as major impact on our watch system, as Jordi (Jordi Calafat/ESP) and Daryl (Daryl Wislang/NZL) are fixing one more spinnaker. The first one they repaired has been up since yesterday afternoon, and since then the mood has gone up again as well, even though everybody is doing overtime on deck with hardly any sleep, the smiles are all back.

Looks like that Puma is having some issues, sailing very slow, and as well strange tactics, hopefully their issues are not too big and that they are not forced to stop on their way. But, it might mean that we can catch them and gain a valuable half point. The same said, for our mates on the black boat, they got the better of us some days back, but now we are catching them again, also that will be a close call for the points.

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Cheers,

DELTA LLOYD LEG TWO DAY 6 QFB: received 20.11.08 1003 GMT

We've made the turn for India. Early today we gybed and started our north path to India. When we gybed, the wind had eased to the high teens and we had our VMG A4 kite up. We continued to sail VMG angles as we watched the other boats around us gybe as well. Throughout the day the wind has built and shifted to the north. A couple hours ago we did a sail change to our fractional code zero and put a reef in the mainsail, so that we could maintain course while sailing in the shifting wind. We are currently sailing at an average of 21 knots of boatspeed, in 20-25 knots of wind.

Ryan Houston - watch captain

Bouwe Bekking - skipper
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TEAM RUSSIA LEG TWO DAY 6 QFB: received 20.11.08 1159 GMT

Very happy with the 2.5 points we just picked up at the scoring longitude of 58E and boat, sails and crew in one piece. We had lots of discussion during the preparation period about the concept of the boat and, to be honest, it feels very good to sit on a solid boat in the midst of the Southern Ocean. I would be surprised if we were the only boat that broached heavily and certainly not the last.

Of course there is a certain luck factor not to break anything, but a solid boat helps as well. Also, during some of the bigger leaps with the A6 and the Q9 we did in the bigger waves, there were no scary noises from the structure of the boat, just the big bangs when you slam on the water with 30 knots, which is scary and deafening by itself.

Everybody is glad we pointed the bow north as this promises warmer and, finally, drier weather. Being constantly wet and cold is tiring, I must admit. Already the northwest wind we are sailing in feels less chilly than the southwesterly we had for the last few days.

The next days will be quite interesting from a strategic point of few. We not only managed to pick up points at the gate, but also set up in the position we want to be to skirt around the high-pressure system in the north. Having the right wind speed and angle is critical even though the fleet will be compressed later on. This could well change and at the end, you want to come out of the compression as much ahead as possible, so no holding back and relaxing, foot on the floor.

Off for another round of bailing water out which constantly finds its way into the boat.

Andreas Hanakamp - skipper

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GREEN DRAGON LEG TWO DAY 6 QFB: received 20.11.08 1127 GMT

We are thrilled to get 3rd place and 3 points at the Mauritius scoring gate. This has been our sole focus since breaking the boom 2 days ago. We seem to be able to sail downwind with spinnakers quite well, and even now reaching with one reef seems OK. It's upwind sailing that we must hope to avoid.

Our gybe went very well too thanks to a catamaran style sheeting system rigged up by Justin (Justin Slattery IRL). India still feels an awful long way away right now.

We hope to start the repair when conditions improve and when the temperature rises a bit for the glue and resin we have onboard to cure. I am not wildly optimistic, but I think the lads are looking forward to the challenge. I just have to stop them cutting the boat up in the process!

Have fun.

Ian Walker - skipper

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POINTS NORTH

Ericsson Racing Team made it a one/two this morning when Torben Grael/BRA and his team racing Ericsson 4 cruised through the scoring gate on leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race at 0340 GMT, adding another four points to their tally, bringing their total to 18. On their heels was Anders Lewander/SWE and his Nordic team racing Ericsson 3, crossing at 0651 and swiping another 3.5 points. They now have 8.5 points overall.

The wounded Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) is still going in strong, although with one wing clipped when she broke her boom two days ago. She crossed at 0840 GMT, scoring three points (total now 14 points).

'We are thrilled to get third place and three points at the scoring gate,' said Green Dragon's skipper, Ian Walker this morning. 'This has been our focus since breaking the boom two days ago. We seem to be able to sail downwind with spinnakers quite well, and, even now, reaching with one reef seems OK. It is the upwind sailing that we must hope to avoid,' he said. The team hopes to start repairs on the boom once the temperature rises further so that the glue and resin they have onboard will cure. 'I'm not wildly optimistic, but I think the lads are looking forward to the challenge,' says Walker. 'I just have to stop them cutting the boat up in the process,' he laughed.

A good showing from the Russians on Kosatka (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) who crossed just under an hour after Green Dragon at 0936 GMT, meant that a much-needed 2.5 points were added to their tally, bringing their overall score up to 6.5. Hanakamp and his team were very happy with their 2.5 points. The boat is as solid as the day is long, although Hanakamp says there is a certain luck factor involved with not breaking anything. 'During the leaps we did in the bigger waves there were no scary noises from the structure of the boat, just the big bangs when you slam onto the water in 30 knots, which is scary and deafening in itself.'

Next through the gate was Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) at 1140 GMT earning 2 points (total now 12 points). Telefónica Black (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP) just pipped PUMA (Ken Read/USA) at the post, nine minutes apart. Telefónica Black earns 1.5 points (total now 8.5), while the limping PUMA collected just one point (total now 14 points).

The last boat to cross was Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) at 1321 GMT, scoring 0.5 points - total now 4.5 points.

The wind has eased into the high teens and now the race focus shifts towards the finish in Cochin, India as the fleet points its bows north.

Tactics for the second half of leg two will be influenced by high pressure, which has been building slowly to the south of Madagascar since Tuesday, and which the fleet must skirt. Andreas Hanakamp says, 'Having the right wind speed and angle is critical, even though the fleet will be compressed later on. This could well change, and, at the end, you want to come out of the compression as much ahead as possible.'

So, no holding back now, it is foot to the floor for the fleet. The position of the high will
make for at least 12 hours of light winds along the rhumb-line course between the boats' current positions and Cochin, but then the teams can look forward to a few days of trade wind sailing.

Moods have improved as the air temperature gets hotter and the boats begin to dry out. The Southern Ocean is officially left behind, until it makes its reappearance in leg five from Qingdao in China to Rio de Janeiro, which takes the fleet around the infamous Cape Horn.

Leg Two Day Six: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) DTF 2969 nm
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +8
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +23
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +51
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +65
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +89
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP) +95
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +192

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TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG TWO DAY 6 QFB: received 20.11.08 1552 GMT

We are very happy bunch, passed both Puma and our teammates. I think Puma simply just forgot about the scoring gate, why would you otherwise give these points away?

But we sailed well, we took over 30 miles out of our sistership in the last 24 hours, who we know have the same sails, and we are not far behind the leaders.

We are still not the quickest in the heavy running conditions, but we could this time control the damage and we are only 60 miles behind first place instead of 600 like in the first leg, after a similar amount of days in the same conditions.

As well, Jordi (Jordi Calafat/ESP) and Daryl (Daryl Wislang/NZL) have finished repairing the last broken sail, so now two extra guys for sailing the boat again, which helps as well.

Just under 3000 miles to go to Cochin, and we know we are not going to see any more heavy running conditions''''.hurrraaaa, our stronger points of sailing are coming now.

Cheers,

Bouwe Bekking - skipper

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Iker Martinez and Pepe Ribes hang on as a huge wave hits Telefonica Blue, on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India (Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race)

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Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo OCean Race Ericsson 3 cross the scoring gate at 58 deg E on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race