Sport-heute: Sailing - GREEN DRAGON LEG TWO DAY 13 QFB: received 27.11.08 0842 GMT

28. November 2008, 09:56

GREEN DRAGON LEG TWO DAY 13 QFB: received 27.11.08 0842 GMT

At first light this morning, we came through a massive raincloud and poked our nose into a north-westerly breeze. This was the sign we were waiting for that we were exiting the doldrums for the second time this race. Fortunately, we seem to be quite good at getting through the doldrums, as we have climbed up the leaderboard to third.

CAPE TOWN - CHOCIN INDIA (mk) It was an agonising 150 or so miles, where flat calms were interspersed with rainsqualls and wind from every part of the compass. We had two shocking clouds that stopped us in our track, but nothing compared with the hole, which engulfed Puma about 10 miles from us. We managed to just skirt it by 100 metres or so and gained about 15 miles in 2 hours - there was nothing Puma could do as a huge cell grew above them and stopped them dead.

We did have our bad moments - not least when I was steering and got caught in a downdraught under one cloud. It is the first time I have gone full circle in a boat without tacking or gybing - all in 20 knots as the lads furled the code zero. It culminated in us being stuck head to wind with our soon-to-be patented 'multiple bridle no boom mainsheet system' pinned in the middle and a spinnaker sheet wrapped around the rudder! 1 hour later the rain cleared the wind came back and we got going again - not very good.

So here we are, now in a drag race with Telefónica Blue, who somehow managed to escape the wider doldrums in the west, Ericsson 3 who must look at how Ericsson 4 got away in disgust, and Delta Lloyd who we can see about 10 miles behind. Their crew changes seem to be working wonders as they are doing a great job. It is certainly still a fast boat.

Looking at the weather forecast there could be all sorts of fun and games to be had in the 735 miles to go and I wouldn't rule out anybody just now. For us we are really happy to be in a boat race after 10 days without a boom. It is funny that nobody seems to mention it anymore apart from the odd wise crack like 'ease the vang' or 'pull on the outhaul'. Oh how we laugh....

Ian Walker - skipper

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DELTA LLOYD LEG TWO DAY 12 QFB: received 26.11.08 1951 GMT

Let's see if I can sum up our day in the 5 minutes I have while waiting for our weather download from our satellite communication connection: this could be a difficult blog for me to write'to tap into the communication side of my brain, because the analytical side of my brain is working overtime today.

It was an awesome day. We've made massive gains on the entire fleet. All the work that we've done strategising about positioning our boat for 'Race 2' has paid off. We passed both Telefónica Boats and are ahead of the Russians. Puma is 7 miles off our bow as I type this entry.

Today was a day of setting 'pick and rolls' off of clouds sailing in and out of rain squalls and an uncountable number of sail changes to quickly adapt to the changing conditions.

The rain was not only great for taking a quick warm fresh water shower, and the obligatory full body lathering of soap, but it was also a great opportunity to capture fresh water to relieve our injured water maker. Using our cooking kettles, we captured the water that flowed into the centre of our mainsail like a funnel.

I won't get any sleep tonight as we skip from cloud to cloud; this is full focus, high stakes racing in the navigator's hot seat. Gains and losses hinge on every decision and interpretation of weather data, radar imagery and gut feel.

Whoa'make that 2 minutes'Here comes a yellow blob on the radar screen'got to run'

Matt Gregory - navigator

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PUMA LEG TWO DAY 13 QFB: received 0734 GMT

I promised to not use the tag line 'Life at the Extreme' because it belongs to Volvo and if we all start using it too much it will get abused and not have the same impact.

Forget that. We are living sailing's 'Extremes'.

Windy running and reaching for a week, with incessant fire hose to the face on deck was quickly replaced by finesse sailing with the masthead genoa and a lot of heat. Below was aired out finally and the moisture was all but eliminated. I will tell you that the last 24 hours of the windy reaching was pretty bad down below. We had to have all the hatches and vents shut because so much water was coming over the deck. But, outside the sea temperature was about 29 c and the air temperature was not far from that as well. Foul weather gear was miserable to put on but completely necessary and below was a sauna. Yuck. Throw in 11 guys without showers for 10 or so days and you get my drift.

From quite windy and exhilarating sailing, to our second stint with the doldrums. For 'il mostro' we were on top of the world as we kept in one piece in the windy stuff and entering the doldrums we had moved up to third and could see second place Ericsson 3 about 3 miles away. Then came the first of many, many bad clouds and torrential rainsqualls with light, circling breeze in them. We watched Ericsson 3 simply sail away.

Later that day we saw a position report that the Dragons simply sailed right by us about 4 miles away and finally on the other side of us Delta Lloyd has sailed by as well. Unreal. I was told this doldrums place could be a killer, but I had no idea it could be this bad. And, believe me, we aren't trying to sail in the bad clouds. Just the opposite! We were in a virtual pinball machine of bad clouds. When we thought we had a good three hour run, the others did better. When we thought we had a bad three hour run (drifting and slatting), we were right. We took one on the chin and its now time to get back off the mat and start swinging again.

The weather reports at this point give us days of light air to go to Cochin.
I know our shore crew, who want to get into fixing the boat, are not going to be pleased to hear this. Looking at the GPS last night during one of our particularly bad times, we noticed that the estimated time of arrival to Cochin - using the speed the boat was going at the time- was Christmas day! Yikes.

But, all aboard remain up beat. Although we have had a tough doldrums crossing so far, we all know that things can change in a heartbeat. We are counting on it and all on deck are completely in sync with trying to gain every inch possible.

Not too much else exciting to report. Happy Thanksgiving to all back in the States. It will be one of the first times that I can remember not being with my entire family on this day - so hello to all. There should be quite a bit more Turkey available for you today compared with other years.

Ken Read - skipper

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TEAM RUSSIA LEG TWO DAY 13 QFB: received 27.11.08 1210 GMT

Tough day at the office? Yes, absolutely! The wind is all over the place, the quickscat satellite wind pictures are not available, and our competition in the west that should be in less breeze is gaining on us, big time! The Doldrums are making themselves felt with huge squall systems followed by dead calms. Think the Atlantic doldrums are a challenge? Try these for a laugh.

For most of the last four hours, the wind has been below 5 knots. When we have 7 knots of breeze, everybody sighs a breath of relieve as we feel the boat slowly accelerates to eight knots, then we are getting places. '.The models are not looking very promising at all either, as it has the Doldrums light wind area do a super nova over the next days. ETA India? No idea at the moment. One thing is for sure it is not looking like the 30 November like it did four days ago!

So how do we deal with this all? Well, we are lucky to have a team that is determined and super focused. Trimming, driving and calling the wind is rotated at least every hour to keep everybody sharp. Jokes are shared around as well, to take the edge of it all. It is these stages of the race, where keeping positive and looking for that next little patch of wind, the next cloud line and the next squall count. You can bet everybody is having a rather challenging time out here, so make the most of it and you will have a good chance toe do well.

One of the big things to get us home are the squalls. There are plenty to deal with, but not all of them are friendly. In our world, we deal with either 'suckers' or 'dumpers'. The first ones generally really do badly and we try to stay away from them, where as the second version are like a God send.

The sucking clouds are typically dark black clouds that have no rain underneath them. Most frequent in the afternoon, when the clouds are building up, like a vacuum cleaner, they suck up all the air around them. Sometimes this means that there is a bit more wind along the flanks and back of them, but in general, they just swallow you and make your sails go flap-flap for the next hour.

Dumping clouds are a whole different story all together. We love them! Typically, these clouds come with a fair bit of rain and wind, so we can get a good boost through the light winds. Don't get caught underneath them though, as the wind kills all the wind'.

So, especially in the morning and evening, we are active cloud-chasers. Every cloud gets sized up and gets points. One for a really bad sucking cloud, 10 for the top dog 25-knot gust clouds. Find one of them to ride for an hour and you are looking good on the next sched.

This morning we had a few good ones up in the sevens and eights. This afternoon, however, things are much too quiet with very little to propel us to Cochin. So looking forward to the evening when winds are slightly stronger and the eight and nines come out. We've got to get out of this place!

Wouter Verbraak - navigator

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ERICSSON 4 LEG TWO DAY 13 QFB: received 27.11.08 1237 GMT

Warm times aboard today as we leave the rain clouds of the doldrums and head into clear blue skies. Several of the boys have moved their mattresses up on deck now in the hope that sleeping temperatures are slightly more bearable than down below. The boat is humming to the sound of our little bunk fans desperately trying to get some air flow happening below decks.

Race wise, things are still going well. We have lost some of the lead earned yesterday but still hold a commanding position and are really hoping for an increase in pressure that may allow us to get the average speed up. 665 miles to go. Not far, similar to a Sydney Hobart race, but at 6kts boat speed, the finish is looking a long way off.

Spirits are still high aboard and conversation has turned to what lay ahead for us at the Cochin stop over.

Take care,
Ryan Godfrey - bowman

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RENEWED HOPE AND ENERGY

As Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) is finally set free from the Doldrums, on leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race, the back-markers are still fighting rainsqualls and wind-sucking black clouds, but there is renewed hope and energy for the crews as the end of the Doldrums is in sight and the race for the other podium places heats up.

For Ericsson 4 it is clear blue skies all the way, although at nine knots of boat speed, the finish in Cochin, India, still seems a long way off. Several of the crew have moved their mattresses on deck in the hope that temperatures will be more bearable than on down below.

Onboard PUMA (Ken Read/USA), the crew helplessly watched Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander/SWE) sail away. The situation was made worse when the crew of Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) saw PUMA ahead of them become engulfed in a rain cloud, like a fly in a spider's web that stopped the cat dead in her tracks. Green Dragon managed just to skirt the cloud by 100 metres and gained approximately 15 nm in two hours.

'I was told this Doldrums-place could be a real killer, but I had no idea it could be this bad,' exclaimed Ken Read. 'Believe me, we aren't trying to sail in the bad clouds, just the opposite. We were in a virtual pinball machine of bad clouds,' he said.

The Dragons seem to be rather adept at handling the Doldrums and, once again, as on leg one, the team has made a swift passage and are sitting pretty in third place, in spite of being without a boom. They are now engaged in a drag race with Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) out on the western flank

'Things are looking up,' wrote Telefónica Blue's navigator Simon Fisher a few moments ago. 'We have been moving now since shortly before dawn. We have even made some inroads into the boats way off to the east of us, giving us renewed hope and energy for the remaining miles to come.'

Fisher's feeling of dread every three hours, when the positions of the fleet are released, have been replaced with excitement and everyone onboard is keen to know if the boat has gained some more miles. 'I have been fortunate to be the bearer of good news for the last few scheds,' he said.

For Team Russia, it has been a tough day at the office and the Doldrums have been making themselves felt with huge squall systems followed by dead calms. 'You think the Atlantic Doldrums are a challenge? Try this for a laugh,' says Dutch navigator Wouter Verbraak.

Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) has been busy making big in-roads. She is now ahead of PUMA, Telefónica Black (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP) who is out on the western flank and Team Russia who are away to the east. The team has been suffering from a broken watermaker and has been grateful for the rain clouds. Using cooking kettles, the crew captured the water that flowed into the centre of the mainsail like a funnel.

Across the fleet, spirits are high as the teams close on Cochin. The inevitable questions of 'how far' and 'when will we arrive' are being asked, but with the wind still light and variable, it is unlikely that the first boat will finish before Sunday.

At 1300 GMT today, all boats except Telefónica Blue had made small losses on Ericsson 4 who is now 62 nm ahead of both Ericsson 3 and Green Dragon. It's an incredibly tight race. Telefónica Blue has moved up to fourth place and is only a mile behind the two boats vying for second place, Ericsson 3 and Green Dragon. Delta Lloyd has gained a place and is only six miles astern of Telefónica Blue. PUMA has dropped two places and is 11 miles back. Telefónica Black and Team Russia have swapped places, but are adrift of the fleet by over 100 miles. Boat speeds are steadily climbing, but not yet beyond nine and a half knots.

Leg Two Day 13: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 636 nm
Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +62
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +62
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +63
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +69
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +78
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP) +145
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +163

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Mikel Pasabant/Equipo Telefonica/Volvo Ocean Race

Gabriele Olivo/Equipo Telefonica/Volvo Ocean Race