Sport-heute: Sailing - The last Day in Paradise

23. Januar 2009, 23:09

The last Day in Paradise

Nur für starkte Nerven! Lesen Sie von Ericcson 3

The last day in paradise is nearing its end for the seven crews racing in leg four of the Volvo Ocean Race. Hell is approaching in form of gale force winds, perfectly timed to wipe over the fleet just as it pops out from the shelter of Luzon Island, and into the Luzon Strait, the 250 nm stretch of water that lies between the northern tip of the Philippine island Luzon and the southern tip of Taiwan.

VOLVO OCEAN RACE 2009, 23.1.09 (mk) According to Bouwe Bekking (Telefónica Blue) in third place, the upcoming storm could decide the outcome of the race. 'We are just enjoying the last day in paradise and then we go to hell,' he said in a radio interview. 'The real race will start when the big breeze comes in and then it will be very hard on us. It will difficult to sleep, as the boat will be very noisy down below. There will be big bangs as the boat falls off the waves and of course, we always have the fear of breaking something. Then the stress levels will go up.'

As the fleet converged on the South Rock Light, earlier this morning, it was Telefónica Black (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP) who streaked in from the left hand flank and stole the lead. PUMA (Ken Read/USA) and Telefónica Blue were next round, approaching from the centre of the fleet, while also from the outside flank, Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) was able to stay in touch after losing her forestay yesterday. Way over to the right and closest to the shore of Luzon Island was Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) who just slipped ahead of teammate Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) passing the mark 40 minutes ahead. This mark of the course is not a scoring gate, therefore no points are awarded, but it does provide an accurate gauge of the progress of the fleet.

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ERICSSON 3 LEG FOUR DAY 6 QFB: received 23.01.09 1312 GMT

Frustration and nail torture

It has been some frustration onboard today. We have lost a lot of miles from our decision to go outside the 'dangerous ground area' and we are struggling to get back.

At one stage today, we even felt we were really slow and we were ripping our hair out, trimming and trimming to try to figure out what we could do better. It was like a flashback from the start when Puma, Telefónica and Ericsson 4 easily slipped away from us just by better boatspeed.

'When you are sailing the boat like you usually do and the performance numbers are good, but still you feel slow, you get really frustrated, Magnus Olsson says and continues: 'You start to try new things, which can be both bad and good.'

We felt a bit better when we spotted Ericsson 4 and could compare our speed with them, now we at least now that we are as fast as they are.

Since the start of this race, we have had quite a lot of injuries onboard. The latest one happened yesterday. Magnus Olsson managed to get his thumb stuck in the runner when he was trying to adjust the lines, at the same time as it was released. He did not scream but, with a very thin voice, he asked someone to grind the runner back on again so he could get his finger out.

He was quite lucky to get away with some loss of blood, a broken nail and some swelling. He could just as well have lost the top of the finger.

'Doctor Mason' (Richard Mason/NZL) did some analyzing of the injury straight away and, after some consultation with our team doctor over the phone and after sending him some pictures of it, they decided that the nail had to be removed.

Magnus was trying to get away but 'Dr Mason' forced him down in a bunk to pull it out. Martin Krite was nursing and supported by injecting painkiller into Magnus' thumb, a quite tricky manoeuvre in the wavy conditions. But everything went smoothly and after Mason sacrificed the nail to King Neptune, we are now hoping for some luck to bring us up to the top squad again.

Gustav Morin - MCM

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DELTA LLOYD LEG FOUR DAY 6 QFB: received 23.01.09 1151 GMT

Just five hours after Green Dragon broke her forestay; our forestay cover was damaged during a headsail peel. The crew was able to cut loose part of the cover and we had to drop the foresail to do that. This cost us valuable time in this part of the leg.

Around noon we passed the auxiliary waypoint 'South Rock', around 185 miles west of Manila (Philippines) and now we are heading for the Philippine coast to do another tack. Winds have picked up some strength and we're now in some 20
knots NNE'ly breeze for the next day or so.

At the mark, we had worked our position up to the fourth place. Not too bad for the moment. From there on, the waves started growing. We are aiming for the lower waves near the shore. Being aware of what is to come, we do not want to waste too much energy here.

Early in the evening, we were already banging against two to three metre waves and had to ease the pressure a bit by changing to the J4 and one reef in the main. As a relative rooky, I have deep respect for the guys on deck who fix this.

Good night from a bouncing DLYD.

Frits Koek - navigator

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The fleet is currently tacking up the shore of Luzon Island. The wind speed is around 23 - 25 knots and sea is beginning to be lumpy. Dave Endean/NZL, pitman on seventh placed Ericsson 4 gave a radio update this morning saying that the crew had just shortened sail, putting the first reef in the mainsail and changing to a smaller headsail as the boat was starting to slam harder in the current that flows against the wind. He said the crew was planning for the worst and expecting the worst.

'Getting the boat through the storm so we can keep pushing on afterwards is our main concern,' Endean said. He explained that the crew would continue to reduce sail area to control the speed of the boat where necessary. Landing too fast off large waves is when serious damage is done, and it is up to the helmsman to nurse the boat over the waves and try to aim for a soft landing. He says they are planning for the helmsman to steer for two hours at a time. The rotation will be reduced to an hour when it gets colder as the helmsman's position on the steering platform is very exposed and the wind chill factor will be then become a problem.

Ericsson 4 is currently the overall race leader, but this the team's worst performance in the race so far. 'We are not happy about being last, but we are here now and have to deal with it,' said Endean. However, the team is confident that they can out perform the rest of the fleet in the weather that is to come. 'Ahead we have two days of pretty hard work upwind, we've done a lot of that and if there is any boat I'd want to be on, it would be this one,' concluded Endean.

There has been torture of a different kind onboard Ericsson 3 when skipper Magnus Olsson/SWE got his thumb stuck in the runner block. MCM Gustav Morin said, 'He did not scream, but, in a very thin voice, he asked someone to grind the runner back on again so he could get his finger out.'

He was very lucky to get away with some loss of blood, swelling and a broken nail, when, just as easily, he could have lost the top of his finger or worse. Richard Mason/NZL, the 'doctor' onboard analysed the injury immediately and, after some consultation with the Ericsson team doctor by telephone, followed by an exchange of images, concluded that the nail should be removed.

'Magnus was trying to get away, but 'Dr Mason' forced him down in a bunk to pull the nail out. Martin Krite/SWE was nursing and supported by injecting painkiller into Magnus' thumb, quite a tricky manoeuvre in the wavy conditions. But everything went smoothly and, after Mason sacrificed the nail to King Neptune, we are hoping for some luck to bring us up to the top squad again,' Morin said.

Onboard PUMA, in second place, skipper Kenny Read draws solace in the fact that his crew contains so many experienced ocean sailors. 'We have talked through many different scenarios, and there wasn't much that we could bring up that someone on the team didn't say, 'oh yeah, when I was on so and so in the 1994 such and such race,'' you get my drift.'

The rooky navigator Frits Koek/NED of fourth-placed Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bérmudez/ESP) reported damage to their forestay cover during a headsail change. 'The crew was able to cut loose part of the cover and we had to drop the foresail to do that,' he said. Koek says his team is aiming for the lower waves nearer the shore of Luzon Island. They too have shortened sail are reporting two to three metre waves.

Meanwhile, onboard Green Dragon, Ian Walker and his men are relieved that their mast was not lost when their forestay broke yesterday, but they are disappointed with their position as they slowly slip back through the fleet from their secure fourth place.

'We should be grateful we are not heading to Manila under engine,' wrote skipper Ian Walker this morning.' Their luck could be about to change as the rest of the fleet shortens sail as conditions worsen. The Dragons are only able to fly their J4 headsail, but that is now the right sail for the conditions and the sail which is being used by the rest of the fleet.

By around 0700 GMT tomorrow, the fleet will nose out into the Luzon Strait and face 30+ knots of wind, however the north-north easterly wind direction will mean that fleet can crack off slightly, making the transition of the Strait a relatively quick affair.

The Luzon Strait is 200 nautical miles long and stretches between the northern tip of Luzon Island and the southern tip of Taiwan. Dotted in the path of the fleet are two groups of islands, the Batanes Islands and the Babuyan Islands, between which the fleet must pass.

South Rock Light Rounding Order and Times GMT
1. Telefónica Black 0300
2. PUMA 0330
3. Telefónica Blue 0420
4. Delta Lloyd 0605
5. Green Dragon 0725
6. Ericsson 4 0730
7. Ericsson 3 0810

Leg Four Day 6: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

1. Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP) DTF 1229 nm
2. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +5
3. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +15
4. Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +31
5. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +37
6. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +42
7. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +46
8. Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS

Ericcson 3

Wir sind schlecht drauf, unser Boot will einfach nicht. Wir haben alles versucht auch neue Sachen - es bringt nichts. Wir sind froh, dass jetzt der Teufel kommt, mit 10 Meter hohen Wellen und mehr. Da sind wir in Form. Wenigstens sind wir ungefähr gleich schnell wie Ericcson vier, die noch hinter uns liegen.

Unser Magnus Olsson hat seinen Daumen in ein Loch gesteckt, gleichzeitig als wir das Segel verlängern wollten. Er hat nicht laut geschrien, aber ganz leise gestönt und ist ganz weiss geworden. Der Daumen war blau, der Nagel gebrochen und schwarz. Wir haben unserem Teamarzt ein Foto gesandt und mit ihm geredet. Nach langer überlegung und Konsultation des Fotos hat er entschieden, dass wir den Nagel entfernen müsssen! "Doktor Mason" (Richard Mason / NZL)hat diese schwere Aufgabe übernommen.

Magnus versuchte zu entkommen, aber wir haben ihn eingefangen und gehalten. "Doktor Mason" hat ihm dann eine Morphiumspritze gegeben "war sehr schwierig im Wellengang, dass er die richtige Stelle traf" und nach ein paar Minuten, hat er den Nagel gezogen und alles gut verbunden. Schauderhaft wenn man zusehen muss!! Magnus hat dann anschliessend den Nagel König Neptun geopfert.
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TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG FOUR DAY 6 QFB: received 23.01.09 1426 GMT

Hi there,

A straightforward day today. It started with us sailing upwind (much the same as yesterday in fact). The breeze then started to build, then it got dark and then it got windy. We are now crashing upwind in 25-30 knots of breeze. The boat is launching off waves and lurching around as it powers upwind, making it rather difficult to type! If you could see how long it has taken me to write this much and then correct all the mistakes you would see what I am getting at... It is a bit like trying to type on your computer whilst in a 4x4 driving off road!

From here on in, the next 24 hours are going to be about good seamanship as much as good tactics as the wind builds more and more. It is going to be all- important to keep our boat in one piece. We have already had a little bit of drama when a lashing on the jib halyard broke. This meant Daryl Wislang/NZL had to go up the rig to retrieve the halyard, which proved to be no mean feat in the building seaway. Our problems though were swiftly resolved and we were back underway with minimal losses to our rivals. It proved a good reminder, though, of how easily things can break and that we need to look after our boat over the next couple of days.

I think I will leave it that today, now time for some sleep!

Cheers,

Simon Fisher - navigator

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