Sport-heute: Sailing - TELEFÓNICA LEADS IN FINAL SHOWDOWN

04. Februar 2012, 00:57

TELEFÓNICA LEADS IN FINAL SHOWDOWN

Die letzten zweihundert Meilen der Leg 3

At 1000 UTC today, Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP) led Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas/FRA) by 27 nautical miles (nm) in the final showdown of Leg 3 to Sanya. Both boats tacked shortly before 0900 UTC and are still upwind but on the layline for the finish, 274 nm ahead. Soon, as the wind shifts to the right, they will have fast reaching conditions ideally suited to both boats. Team Telefonica, Andrew Cape during leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Abu Dhabi, UAE to Sanya, China. (Credit: Diego Fructuoso/Team Telefonica/Volvo Ocean Race) - 27 Nautische Meilen segelt Telefonica im Moment vor ihrem Verfolger der Groupama. Der Showdown für die letzten 200 Meilen läuft. Die beiden Boote haben den exakten Zeitpunkt gewählt. Denn schon bald wird sich der Wind nach rechts drehen und für die Konkurrenz werden die beiden Führenden ein uneinholbares Unterfangen bleiben. Grosses Glück hatte gestern Abend Abu Dhabi mit Ian Walker. "Wir haben um nur einen Meter eine riesige Fischerbojle mitten im Meer verfehlt. Nicht zu denken, wenn wir sie getroffen hätten. Es herrschte völllige Dunkelheit und man sah keinen Meter. Nicht zu beneiden ist das Team Sanya, dass im Moment gegen 30 Knoten Wind kämpft und von einer stürmischen See gebeutelt wird, die ihnen meterhohe Wellen entgegenschleudert.

Zürich, 3.2.12 Red. (mk) Although possible, it is unlikely that Groupama 4 will catch the leaders now unless the crew of Telefónica crew make a significant mistake or suffer gear damage. To gain 27 miles in 24 hours Groupama would need average around 1.5 knots faster from for the entire period. Overnight the French crew had a scare when, with a loud bang, the mainsheet parted while fully loaded. No one was hurt and 10 minutes later, the repair was complete, but precious miles had been lost.

The main battle, playing out 46 nm further back, is between CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson/AUS), Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR) and PUMA’s Mar Mostro (Ken Read/USA). Although CAMPER currently hold third place, the boat’s reaching performance has not been sparkling in the past and both Walker and Read are hungry for a place on the podium.

Now out in the open sea, it was an immense relief for CAMPER’s navigator Will Oxley to tack away from the Vietnamese coast for the final time last night. “With poor quality charting, multitudes of unlit fishing vessels and miles of nets, not to mention shallow wrecks from the war, the potential for disaster was high,” he said.

Abu Dhabi nearly came to grief last night when they narrowly avoided large steel, unlit and uncharted pillar buoy. Missing it by just a metre, Walker said it didn’t bear thinking about the damage it could have caused to the boat. “I guess a miss is as big as a mile, but this incident served to remind us of some of the unknown risks that lie out here,” he said.

Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson/NZL) in sixth, still has this to face, as well as an area of wind averaging 28-30 knots. They will be expecting to make around 15 tacks over the next 24 hours in order to keep close in to the coast and avoid the worst of the sea state.

Across the entire six-boat fleet, the crews are red-eyed and exhausted from the constant tacking and restacking of gear, sleep deprivation and lack of food. The standby watch sleep with one eye open, fully clothed and ready for the call to action as soon as a sail change or manoeuvre is required.

The leading boats are expected to arrive in Sanya around mid morning local time (UTC+8). For the six teams, this leg can’t end soon enough.

Leg 3
Report: 03/02/2012 10:01:20 UTC
	DTL	DTLC	BS	DTF
1			TELE	0.00	0	12.8	274.2
2			GPMA	27.00	8	13.3	301.3
3			CMPR	46.30	8	13	320.5
4			ADOR	58.60	4	12.4	332.8
5			PUMA	74.50	26	11.3	348.7
6			SNYA	159.50	8	11.7	433.7

Update 0045

HIGH-SPEED CHASE TOWARDS SANYA FINISH

At 2200 UTC tonight, the first four boats racing in Leg 3 Stage 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race were screaming towards the Sanya finish in a high-speed chase led by Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP). Groupama sailing team were holding on to second place, 30.20 nautical miles (nm) behind.

After an exhausting 13 days at sea, Team Telefónica is on the home straight with 91.2 nm left to run until the team crosses the finish in Sanya in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Leg 3
Report: 03/02/2012 22:03:17 UTC
	DTL	DTLC	BS	DTF
1			TELE	0.00	0	15.8	91.2
2			GPMA	30.20	3	14.7	121.4
3			CMPR	59.90	5	14.2	151.1
4			PUMA	73.90	1	16.3	165.1
5			ADOR	88.60	10	12.3	179.8
6			SNYA	295.30	44	10.7	386.5

Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas/FRA), in second place, are 30 nm behind, averaging a speed of 14.7 knots, nearly a knot slower than the leaders. CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand still keeps third place, 59.9 nm behind, but second place is probably beyond the team’s grasp now.

Slightly to the east of the fleet, and with sheets cracked, PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG (Ken Read/USA) have tonight swept past Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR), the most inshore of the fleet. Read and his men are sailing faster than anyone, averaging 16.1 knots, while Abu Dhabi drops 10 nm and one place to fifth position, 88.6 nm behind the leader.

The first four boats are expected to finish sometime after 0430 UTC (1230 local time) on Saturday.

Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson/NZL) has left the coast of Vietnam and has begun to position themselves for the final stretch to the finish, 295 nm ahead. Yesterday the team noticed that one of the top batten cars had broken. The mainsail was dropped briefly and two crew wearing harnesses were hoisted aloft to fix the damage. They replaced the car on the track in less than two minutes as the boat continued to dive off massive waves, after which the mainsail was successfully re-hoisted and a gorgeous sunset lit up the deck.

The team is expected to finish Leg 3 on Sunday around 1300 UTC (2100 local time).

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Team Telefonica, Pepe Ribes and Antonio Cuervas-Mons grinding during leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Abu Dhabi, UAE to Sanya, China. (Credit: Diego Fructuoso/Team Telefonica/Volvo Ocean Race)

CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, Crew on deck during leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Abu Dhabi, UAE to Sanya, China. (Credit: Hamish Hooper/CAMPER ETNZ/Volvo Ocean Race)

CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, Stu Bannatyne heading on watch during leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Abu Dhabi, UAE to Sanya, China. (Credit: Hamish Hooper/CAMPER ETNZ/Volvo Ocean Race)

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Justin Slattery at the mast during leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Abu Dhabi, UAE to Sanya, China. (Credit: Nick Dana/Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race)

Team Telefonica during leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Abu Dhabi, UAE to Sanya, China. (Credit: Diego Fructuoso/Team Telefonica/Volvo Ocean Race)

Antonio Cuervas-Mons checking the sail onboard Team Telefonica during leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Abu Dhabi, UAE to Sanya, China. (Credit: Diego Fructuoso/Team Telefonica/Volvo Ocean Race)

Tony Mutter trimming to leeward onboard PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG during leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Abu Dhabi, UAE to Sanya, China. (Credit: Amory Ross/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race)

Rob Salthouse and Chris Nicholson grind hard as they put a reef in the mainsail as Stu Bannatyne drives onboard CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand during leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Abu Dhabi, UAE to Sanya, China. (Credit: Hamish Hooper/CAMPER ETNZ/Volvo

Tony Mutter and Ryan Godfrey duck away from the spray onboard PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG during leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, from Abu Dhabi, UAE to Sanya, China. (Credit: Amory Ross/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race)