Sport-heute: Sailing - DELTA LLOYD LEG THREE DAY 7 QFB: received 19.12.08 1458 GMT

20. Dezember 2008, 00:24

DELTA LLOYD LEG THREE DAY 7 QFB: received 19.12.08 1458 GMT

After the initial shock and disappointment set in that we broke our boat, it started to become apparent that we would be able to sail to the Malacca Straits and deliver the boat to Singapore. Even though we would be sailing in a severely crippled state, this was fantastic news.

cochin-singapore (mk) After the adrenalin rush of our near disaster faded, it dawned on me that my workload of navigating was dramatically reduced to some basic route planning and weather analysis. The logical next step was to take a 'good night's sleep''not just my typical nap. I got up from my desk, brushed my teeth, washed my face with some fresh water and dragged our big masthead spinnaker into a nice corner of the boat. I fell asleep and decided that I wasn't going to get up until the sun came up. A couple dreams later, I decided to move into an open bunk' on the leeward side'oh yes, the leeward side of the boat. I pressed on in my mission to sleep until dawn.

Once again, I gained a slight bit of consciousness, and realised that I missed the sail bag. It was so comforting during the first segment of my slumber after all' Since I was over indulging myself, I didn't hesitate, I moved back to the beanbag. A couple hours later, I woke up and the sun was shining down into the companionway hatch.

I did it. Mission complete. I slept for six hours straight. Considering in this entire race I haven't slept for more than 90 minutes in a row, I claimed victory on my mission to sleep in mad excess. I have felt amazing all day today. I had some breakfast oatmeal, drove for couple hours, casually confirmed that we were still heading east every once in a while, talked to a passing tanker ship on the radio in my best southern American truck driver accent, and now I am writing this blog.

I just might make it two in a row.

Matt out- until the sun comes up.

Matt Gregory - navigator

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DELTA LLOYD LEG THREE DAY 7 QFB: received 19.12.08 1356 GMT

Hi all,

Today was the day after the night before. Everybody took the chance to get some rest after a busy night. Boat-captain Ed O'Conner and bowman Gerd-Jan Poortman worked all night to stabilise the keel-structure. Today we are still sailing with 10-11 knots with the J4 and a reef in the main. The crew is disappointed but also glad that everybody is safe. We are still racing and we keep a on the keel every 20 minutes to make sure the situation stays stable. It was a scary situation but now everything is under control.

Cheers

Sander Pluijm - MCM

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ERICSSON 4 LEG THREE DAY 7 QFB: received 19.12.08 1430 GMT

We are tacking to the waypoint that is the scoring gate for leg 3. It has taken a while to get here, and has taken its toll on the fleet. My media desk sounds like a box of Lego every time we go over a wave, but its still working so I won't open it up - just in case it acts like a 'jack in the box' when I get the lid off. As they say in deepest Gurnard - 'if it ain't broke don't mess with it'.

The Malacca Straits are the next task, and, from experience, it could be quite a tricky and time-consuming passage. I have been up and down many times and have never known of much wind. The only wind is generated by the often-huge thunderstorms, which brew up during the day on both the Indonesian and Malaysian side.

These clouds can offer some of the most spectacular forked lightening displays I have ever seen - in fact so good that the lights and TV in my hotel rooms have often remained off until the natural light show is over.

There are many islands and great old trading ports on the way down, which I have visited during several regattas and are places I would like to visit again. But the only thing on the minds of Ericsson 4 now is about getting to Singapore ASAP while avoiding the fishermen, their nets, the vast amounts of commercial shipping, the large amount of litter in the water, which ranges from a plastic cup to the odd tree log, the tides, the sandbanks, the storm clouds and associated lightening, the pirates, the sea snakes and the areas of no wind - so not much to worry about!

We did get the lowdown from experience of this area but things change so quickly down here that we couldn't get the definitive answer to life, the universe and everything, or even the quickest route through the Straits, but we did get many handy tips though.

Other than that, it's all good on Ericsson 4 and our eyes are wide open

Guy Salter - MCM

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ERICSSON 3 LEG THREE DAY 7 QFB: received 19.12.08 2056 GMT

Ever since the start, we have had to fight for every mile. We gained from being next to last up to third and we managed to keep the position to the scoring-gate! But it was a close fight until the last metre.

We have seen Puma just a couple of miles behind us the last 48 hours. And the last hour before we crossed the gate was nail biting. We sailed close to land and made a lot of tacks while Puma stayed a bit further out, sailing more in a straight line.

Everything was going well for us and the game seemed to be over. But than we had a bad tack and lost some distance. The game was on again. All men were on deck, everyone was excited, and the adrenalin was pumping.

We made a pretty tight tack towards the lighthouse, which pointed out the scoring-gate, and cross our fingers for the wind not to head us. But it did and we made the safe choice of tacking again instead of edging and sailing very close to land. It was a good choice, we made it.

This is the third 3rd place for Ericsson 3. I am happy that this didn't happen yesterday. Than I would not have been able to be on deck, enjoying the scenery of the Indonesian island. I was one of few in the crew who managed the 15 days in India without stomach illness, just a three-day cold.

But, 48 hours after the start it turned out that I was not that lucky. You can say that the illness hit me from both ends. One second I was throwing up on deck and in the next second I had to run to the bow and jump on the toilet. Or, running and jumping may be a bit too energetic words to describe my actions; I was more like dragging my self along.

When you drain your body from fluid and food, your energy level goes down to zero. You feel absolutely useless, like a bag of sh** just lying around, being nothing but a big worry for the other crewmembers. Luckily, now I am feeling a lot better. I got the best medicine I could get - a good result to the scoring-gate!

Gustav Morin - MCM

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Sander Pluijm/Team Delta Lloyd/Volvo Ocean Race The Dutch/Irish entry in the Volvo Ocean Race, Team Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) has suffered damage to the port side carbon structure around the keel ram. The boat was half way across the Bay of Bengal when the damage occurred, at 1930 local time, midday GMT. Skipper Roberto Bermudez de Castro and his crew are safe and boat is not taking on water.

Guo Chuan/Green Dragon Racing/Volvo Ocean Race Green Dragon stacking sail bags as they tack, on leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race from India to Singapore

Guo Chuan/Green Dragon Racing/Volvo Ocean Race Green Dragon stacking sail bags as they tack, on leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race from India to Singapore

Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race Skipper Anders Lewander on the winch at sunset, onboard Ericsson 3, on leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race from India to Singapore