Sport-heute: Sailing - TELEFÓNICA BLUE STEALS A MARCH

29. November 2008, 00:12

TELEFÓNICA BLUE STEALS A MARCH

TEAM RUSSIA LEG TWO DAY 14 QFB: received 28.11.08 0805 GMT

Just when the teams racing in the closing stages of leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Cape Town to Cochin, were expecting an early, the wind died, leaving the crews frustrated, tired and anxious to get ashore. However, while it has been doom and gloom for most of the fleet, for Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) and Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED), life is looking pretty rosy.

CAPE TOWN - CHOCIN INDIA (mk) Overnight, both teams made more gains and Telefónica Blue is stole a march to move up to second place, 111 nautical miles behind Ericsson 4, but with Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander/SWE) a safe 119 nm astern.

'All of a sudden, we are in second place,' exclaimed Bouwe Bekking. 'The guys in the east parked up badly and we take the glory for the time being, but I am holding my breath, especially as, during the last couple of hundred miles, everything can happen.'

For Ericsson 3 and the rest of the pack in the centre lane: Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR), Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP), PUMA (Ken Read/USA) the racing is difficult and frustrating.

'An anticlimax, that's what this is. We have been racing hard in strong winds and rough seas for over a week, and now there is a restart again,' said Gustav Morin MCM on Ericsson 3. 'We have a really nice team, with a bunch of open and easy-going guys who are always up for a laugh, but, even so, I can now really feel this negative energy onboard,' he explained. He says that the crew on watch are trying to steer and trim as efficiently as possible and those that are off watch are trying to get some sleep in the sauna below. Others are trying to find something that needs repairing or listing to their IPods.

Last night, Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) who is right up in the hunt in fifth place, hardly moved at all, stuck, bobbing like a cork, but with three boats in sight - Ericsson 3, Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) and PUMA (Ken Read/USA). On Delta Lloyd, the atmosphere is more positive. 'Considering our slow pace, it is exciting racing out here,' wrote navigator Matt Gregory from the USA early this morning. 'Every zephyr moved us forward a couple of metres at a time, and each metre was a gain on the others. We keep chipping away, little by little.' But, it was a night of metres and not miles, which made Cochin, about 500 miles ahead, seem like a far off land.

Onboard Green Dragon, the crew is beginning to consider their food and diesel supplies. Without diesel, they cannot make water. The team has provisioned for 19 days, but the wind is dropping to nothing again, and the forecast is for worse.

Ian Walker and his team are considering their options which vary from the ultimately professional attitude of staying patient, fighting for every inch and maintaining the intensity in desperately trying circumstances, to, jokingly, switching on the engine and heading for a cool beer and fresh food in the Maldives. 'We are still focussed on the professional approach, but I suspect that, in a week's time, when we are still stuck out here, option two will look pretty good,' he said wryly.

At 1300 GMT today, Ericsson 4 holds a substantial lead of 111 nm over Telefónica Blue. Ericsson 3 is a further 119 nm behind, in third place. But, there is no time to relax on Ericsson 3. Green Dragon is snapping at her heels, just 10 miles behind, and Delta Lloyd is putting the pressure on the Dragons, just two miles astern. PUMA is in sixth position, five miles behind Delta Lloyd and 242 nm behind the leaders, but t the gap widens to Telefónica Black (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP), who has had a string of breakages and now trails the leader by 274 nm.

It seems as if a windless area of the century is developing ahead of Team Russia, out to the east. 'At the moment, we are sticking to our easterly option as the latest sched showed the same light airs in the west, just from a different direction,' writes skipper Andreas Hanakamp/AUT. 'It is just so easy to accept gains, and so terribly hard to accept losses,' he said. The team now trails the leaders by 355 nm.

With just 335 nm to go to the finish, computer routing software is predicting an early Sunday morning finish for Ericsson 4, but the wind is forecast to drop and this may well slip back.

Leg Two Day 14: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 335 nm
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +111
Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +230
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +240
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +242
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +247
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP) +274
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +355

*********************************************************
*********************************************************

Last night we hardly moved at all. We were bobbing like a cork. Three boats were within sight of us: Ericsson 3, Green Dragon, and Puma. Considering our slow pace, it is exciting racing out here. Every zephyr moved us forward a couple metres at a time. Each metre was a gain on the others. We keep chipping away...little bit by little bit.

It was a night of metres and not miles. Which made Cochin, 700 miles away, seem like a far off land. When we are still in the water, the Mark Time (aka estimated time of arrival) on my computer reads; 'Ha Ha Ha. Never!' I can then hear it mutter 'Sucker' under its breath. My computer has a strange sense of humour and sometimes I think that it is mocking me. Perhaps I'll turn it off for a while to show it which one of us is the boss.

"Take that computer. Who's the sucker now? Huh? "

Matthew Gregory - Navigator

********************************************************

TELEFÓNICA
BLUE LEG TWO DAY 14 QFB: received 28.11.08 0111 GMT

All of a sudden, we are in 2nd place, the guys in the east parked up badly and we take the glory for the time being, but I am holding my breath, especially as during the last couple of hundred miles into the finish, everything can happen.

Looking forward to reaching port, and to see what Cochin is like. Of course have heard the bad news, but I have only heard and seen nice things about the people from India. We are going to a new country and we have to give them a fair chance so they can prove that they can put up a good show and great stopover.

Just 3 miles to go to the equator, for another crossing, and I think this time we might see Neptune appear in person, the 'first timers' say it is too late, but this will be their first crossing from South to North, so no discussion and we give them double!!!

Had Laurent (Laurent Pages/FRA) driving yesterday for 20 minutes, one arm in the sling, the other on the wheel, you could see he enjoyed it tremendously.

Cheers,

Bouwe Bekking - skipper

******************************************************

TEAM RUSSIA LEG TWO DAY 14 QFB: received 28.11.08 0805 GMT

Who can sail without the wind?
Who can row without oars?
Who can part from a dear friend,
Without shedding a tear?

I can sail without the wind,
I can row without oars,
But I cannot part from my dear friend,
Without shedding the tears.

Whilst stuck in no wind and our easterly option not looking at all flash, I gave my wife a call. The first thing she said was: 'I see you are completely stuck, and I know you absolutely hate losing, but do you want me to put things in perspective? I have kept this news from you, as I know it really hurts you and you have enough to deal with, but now seems to be a good time. We lost our good friend Anders Bing last week.' She then sent me the song above which was sung at the funeral yesterday. Five hundred people were in the church and I so wish I could have been there too.

The song couldn't be more appropriate for Anders, who we all will miss as a dear friend and a source of inspiration. A joke, a friendly chat and a smile never more than a few seconds away. Anders lived life and made it shine for the people around him.

The song fits life on board very well. Drifting along in two - three knots of breeze and seeing the rest of the fleet make gain after gain is absolutely devastating. It is the good company of the other crewmembers that keeps you going and get through the low points as a team. Jokes, fun, and bets are a constant. In difficult times, one needs a clown or two to down play the situation and show what is really important.

One such a highlight today is Oleg on the helm, with a big smile on his face just as we get going again with some more breeze. You can tell he is really enjoying the moment and that sends a great vibe through the crew. Our motto at this moment is 'Sail with what you have, focus on the now, let's have a nice sail for the rest of the stretch to Cochin and see how things pan out'. Very much the way Anders lived his life. I take great inspiration from that. We will all miss you Anders, I certainly shed some tears last night, you brought so much sun to our lives!

Wouter Verbraak - navigator

*****************************************************

GREEN DRAGON LEG TWO DAY 14 QFB: received 28.11.08 0506 GMT

Oh dear!

The good news is that after 13 days of racing, we are in a battle for third position in sight of Ericsson 3 and Delta Lloyd. We can just see Puma about 12 miles astern too.

The bad news is that the wind is dropping to nothing again and the forecast is worse. At one stage, we were due to finish tomorrow, according to the router, but now I think we will be lucky to finish in one week. Fortunately we provisioned for 19 days, but it is time to consider our food and diesel supplies (without diesel we cannot make water).

The Indian Ocean is certainly living up to its reputation - we just hope something changes today or in the forecast.

We are now 45 miles from the equator and it is very hot onboard. You cannot walk on the deck without shoes. If the speedo drops below 1 knot again it is definitely time for a swim - not least because I stink. Talking of stinks we have had an increasing stink of bad fish onboard and earlier today we finally found the culprit - a flying fish had flown straight up the halyard tunnel off the cockpit some time ago. Andrew Mclean did the honours and returned him to the sea.

As for our current plans, they vary from the ultimately professional attitude of staying patient, fighting for every inch and maintaining the intensity in desperately trying circumstances, to putting on the engine and heading for a cool beer and fresh food in the Maldives. We are still focussed on the professional approach but I suspect that in a week's time, when we are still stuck out here, option two will look pretty good. For now, I'm going to sleep in the hope that things will be better when I wake up.

Ian Walker - skipper

*********************************************************

LEG TWO WEEK TWO: FROM BOOTS TO SHORTS

Week two began with the fleet sailing in lighter conditions, and the big dry-out began. After the harsh times of week one, when damage was widespread and broaches and Chinese gybes commonplace, the crew appreciated the new conditions and took advantage of the warm air to dry out the boats and kit.

'It's amazing how fast the change from full wet weather gear, fleeces and boots, was, to only shorts,' commented Gustav Morin MCM onboard Ericsson 3. 'All around the boat you can find bits of clothing hung up as everyone tries to get stuff dried out before we begin reaching once more,' said Telefónica Blue's navigator, Simon Fisher.

On day eight, it was an all-Ericsson affair with Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) in charge of the fleet with Ericsson 3 (Ander Lewander/SWE) just three miles astern, positioned in the north.

Just when everything seemed to be going right for the beleaguered Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED), it all went wrong again. On day nine, 23 November, the boat loved the conditions, the crew was pushing hard, and, slowly, but surely, the team was climbing back up the leader board, when they heard a big bang, and everything changed.

'We snapped on of our daggerboards, the boards that prevent the boat from slipping sideways,' explained Bouwe Bekking. 'We destroyed it and had to stop the boat for 45 minutes,' he said. Even worse, the little speed they were able to do was on the wrong tack and sailing away from the finish in India. The crew found hammers, chisels and hacksaws to try to cut the board free, but, in the end, Pepe Ribes from Spain was lowered into the water to get rid of all the bits so the board could be raised.

Meanwhile, the jury was out, onboard Green Dragon, as to whether or not an attempt should be made to repair the boom they broke during week one. 'When we have the mainsail set up, it looks good,' said skipper
Ian Walker. 'The problems are when we need to react quickly to shifts or gusts as we have about four sheets hanging off it,' he said.

By day 10, the fleet had reached the southeast trade winds and were clicking off the miles towards the finish. The helmets and goggles were back on as the waves crashed over the boat, but the motion was better and the water warmer.

The direct route to Cochin was blocked by a windless area the size of Spain. Some would go east (Telefónica Blue and Telefónica Black), Kosatka Team Russia chose the western route, and the rest of the fleet stuck together to barge straight through, or so they thought.

As the fleet compressed, the stress levels for the navigators went up a notch. On day 12, 25 November, Ericsson 4 made her move. She made a massive gain, thanks to a well-positioned rain shower and disappeared as if in 'stealth' mode, only to reappear from her early bath 45 nautical miles ahead. The rest of the fleet was spitting. Torben Grael and his men were sailing almost twice as fast as their nearest opponents, but this was the Doldrums, and to play poker with them is at your peril. The water temperature was up to 31 degrees and the wind speed was 1.3 knots from everywhere and nowhere. The chasing pack wallowed helplessly in the wake of Ericsson 4.

In the vagaries of the Doldrums, the fleet changed order. Green Dragon moved into third place behind Ericsson 3, and Team Russia and Delta Lloyd swapped places at the back of the fleet.

By day 13, the crews had renewed hope and energy as the end of the Doldrums appeared to be in sight and, with Ericsson 4 long gone, the race for the other podium placed heated up. Ericsson 4 was now 62 nm ahead. Telefónica Blue had moved up to fourth place and was only a mile behind Green Dragon and Ericsson 3 who were fighting for second. Delta Lloyd was still going well and was in touch, just six miles astern of Telefónica Blue, but PUMA had dropped two places.

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

Today, day 14, just when the teams were in the closing all hopes of an early arrival evaporated as the wind died, leaving the crews frustrated, tired and anxious to get ashore. However, while overnight, it has been doom and gloom for most of the fleet, for Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) and Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED), life is looking pretty rosy.

Both teams have made more gains and Telefónica Blue stole a march to move up to second place, 111 nautical miles behind Ericsson 4, but with Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander/SWE) a safe 119 nm astern.

'All of a sudden, we are in second place,' exclaimed Bouwe Bekking. 'The guys in the east parked up badly and we take the glory for the time being, but I am holding my breath, especially as, during the last couple of hundred miles, everything can happen.'

For Ericsson 3 and the rest of the pack in the centre lane: Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR), Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP), PUMA (Ken Read/USA) the racing is difficult and frustrating.

'An anticlimax, that's what this is. We have been racing hard in strong winds and rough seas for over a week, and now there is a restart again,' said Gustav Morin MCM on Ericsson 3. 'We have a really nice team, with a bunch of open and easy-going guys who are always up for a laugh, but, even so, I can now really feel this negative energy onboard,' he explained. He says that the crew on watch are trying to steer and trim as efficiently as possible and those that are off watch are trying to get some sleep in the sauna below. Others are trying to find something that needs repairing or listing to their IPods.

Last night, Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) who is right up in the hunt in fifth place, hardly moved at all, stuck, bobbing like a cork, but with three boats in sight - Ericsson 3, Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) and PUMA (Ken Read/USA). On Delta Lloyd, the atmosphere is more positive. 'Considering our slow pace, it is exciting racing out here,' wrote navigator Matt Gregory from the USA early this morning. 'Every zephyr moved us forward a couple of metres at a time, and each metre was a gain on the others. We keep chipping away, little by little.' But, it was a night of metres and not miles, which made Cochin, about 500 miles ahead, seem like a far off land.

Onboard Green Dragon, the crew is beginning to consider their food and diesel supplies. Without diesel, they cannot make water. The team has provisioned for 19 days, but the wind is dropping to nothing again, and the forecast is for worse.

Ian Walker and his team are considering their options which vary from the ultimately professional attitude of staying patient, fighting for every inch and maintaining the intensity in desperately trying circumstances, to, jokingly, switching on the engine and heading for a cool beer and fresh food in the Maldives. 'We are still focussed on the professional approach, but I suspect that, in a week's time, when we are still stuck out here, option two will look pretty good,' he said wryly.

At 1300 GMT today, Ericsson 4 holds a substantial lead of 111 nm over Telefónica Blue. Ericsson 3 is a further 119 nm behind, in third place. But, there is no time to relax on Ericsson 3. Green Dragon is snapping at her heels, just 10 miles behind, and Delta Lloyd is putting the pressure on the Dragons, just two miles astern. PUMA is in sixth position, five miles behind Delta Lloyd and 242 nm behind the leaders, but t the gap widens to Telefónica Black (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP), who has had a string of breakages and now trails the leader by 274 nm.

It seems as if a windless area of the century is developing ahead of Team Russia, out to the east. 'At the moment, we are sticking to our easterly option as the latest sched showed the same light airs in the west, just from a different direction,' writes skipper Andreas Hanakamp/AUT. 'It is just so easy to accept gains, and so terribly hard to accept losses,' he said. The team now trails the leaders by 355 nm.

With just 335 nm to go to the finish, computer routing software is predicting an early Sunday morning finish for Ericsson 4, but the wind is forecast to drop and this may well slip back.

Leg Two Day 14: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 335 nm
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +111
Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +230
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +240
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +242
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +247
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP) +274
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +355

********************************************************

ERICSSON 3 LEG TWO DAY 14 QFB: received 28.11.08 1753 GMT

Trying Times

Passing by the nav station this afternoon, after 4 hours of a gust being 3 knots of wind and glancing at GPS, brought memories flooding back of only days ago. Top speed for trip, 39.4 knots! Not 3.94 knots.

If I remember correctly, we were in the nav station every few hours, 'How much longer do we have this breeze for? When do you think it is going to drop off? Now it is replaced by; 'when are we going to get some breeze and do you think we will have it for more than 5 minutes?'

This afternoon was marked by the second crossing of the equator in this race and a re-awakening of King Neptune. He was not amused to be disturbed so early in the race for a second time and took some severe punishment to the only crewmember of Ericsson 3 to have not yet crossed the equator, young Martin Strömberg.

Martin was, without compassion, lashed to the aft media aerial and after not being able to give the latitude of Cape Horn, laden with the heathen brew. As extra punishment for being a sail maker, Neptune's latest helper in a long line of helpers going back as far as lady Cod Fish, James the Hairdresser (Martin Krite) from Southern Sweden, famous for its fashion in hair design, came on deck to unleash the latest in heavy metal basher mullock hair styling.

It was only minutes before our victim was refashioned into a 1980's Def Leopard fan look alike. If any of our shore crew is reading this, Martin will need a black def leopard Singlet, one pair of tight black jeans and Doctor Martin boots as soon as he hits the dock.

King Neptune was satisfied with the massive punishment handed out .He let us pass on our way and disappeared into the bowels of Ericsson 3.

All in all, a very entertaining afternoon. As for the remainder of the leg, well it feels as we have a long way to go!

Richard Mason - watch captain

********************************************************

ERICSSON 4 LEG TWO DAY 14 QFB: received 28.11.08 1648 GMT

We are experiencing a little difference in wind from forecast to what we actually have - and for once, it is in our favour.

Flying along in flat water at 20kts is a great feeling and these boats quickly remind you of just how aggressive they can be. Even in 5knots of wind, we can see the speed up to 10kts, and now in 17 knots we are low 20s and high teens constantly.

It's easy to get complacent about how many miles these boats quickly eat up and spit out. We have seen more current than expected as it flows between the Maldives 200nm to our left. What awaits us up the coast of India is anyone's guess, and there is a chance that we will be playing close to the shore as, if the predicted light winds appear, then we will need the local land and sea breezes to get us to Cochin, hopefully in 1st place.

We have put a lot of miles on the rest of the fleet in the past 2 days, but could easily see this all vanish under one cloud. In the last 20 hrs our ETA has changed by more than 2 days, so as far as knowing when we will finish - that's anyone's guess

Guy Salter - MCM

**************************************************

Leserkommentare (0) »

Sander Pluijm/Team Delta Lloyd/Volvo Ocean Race Martin Watts on the trimm of the MAsthead Code-O, on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India

Sander Pluijm/Team Delta Lloyd/Volvo Ocean Race Delta Lloyd entering the Doldrums, defending their 6th place, on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India

Sander Pluijm/Team Delta Lloyd/Volvo Ocean Race Bowman Morgan White changing the sheet on the masthead C-O. Delta Lloyd has just entered the Doldrums and is defending its 6th place, on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India

Sander Pluijm/Team Delta Lloyd/Volvo Ocean Race Skipper Chuny on the wheel during a sail change, right after the Delta Lloyd turned north to the Indian Ocean, on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India

Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race Ericsson 3 in the Doldrums, on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India

Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race Early morning sail change for Ericsson 3, on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India