Sport-heute: Sailing - LEG FOUR WEEK ONE: LAST DAY IN PARADISE

25. Januar 2009, 19:18

LEG FOUR WEEK ONE: LAST DAY IN PARADISE

LEG FOUR WEEK ONE: LAST DAY IN PARADISE

Leg four of the Volvo Ocean Race from Singapore to Qingdao in China was slated as being one of the hardest sections of this edition of the race. Before the finish in China, it was expected that the fleet would face difficult upwind conditions, freezing temperatures and boat-breaking sea states caused by fierce currents. Nothing short of the truth.

VOLVO OCEAN RACE 2009, 24.1.09 (mk) When the start gun fired last Sunday, 18 January, seven teams - Team Russia is sitting this leg out due to lack of funding - lined up to take on the challenge of the South China Seas. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) and PUMA (Ken Read/USA) led the charge off the line.

On day two, the fleet was formation sailing, following in each other's tracks and enjoying the sailing, knowing harder times were ahead. PUMA had swapped places with Ericsson 4, but the fleet was close together, with no tactical options.

But, bad weather was on its way and the race committee took precautions. A decision was taken to modify the course to include a waypoint at South Rock Light, positioned near to Manila in the Philippines, to keep the fleet to the east of the South China Sea, and in the lee of the Philippine islands, which would provide shelter from the approaching storm.

Directly in the path of the fleet were the notorious Spratly Islands. The fleet sped headlong towards them, weaving and ducking uncharted shoals, reefs and atolls so bad that the Admiralty Sailing Directions described the area as 'badly charted' and 'possibly in error by many miles'.

'It was a nervous few minutes as we passed through the worst of, watching the depth sounder drop to just a few metres several times over,' wrote Telefónica Blue's navigator, Simon Fisher. Fisher poured a few drops of Sangria, sneaked onboard by the shore crew to celebrate his 31st birthday, into the water to appease King Neptune and ensure he would watch over them as they sailed across the 200-mile Luzon Strait towards Taiwan. The other teams had no gifts for Neptune, and paid the price four days later.

Telefónica Black (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP) became the new leader as the fleet continued, on day four, to pick its way through the marine minefield. The teams still had 30 hours to run until they reached the weather waypoint and became spread over an inshore/offshore divide of 91 nautical miles.

On day five, 22 January, Neptune claimed his first victim. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) broke her forestay. The team was in fourth place and the mast was saved from going over the side by some quick thinking by the crew, who jury rigged the stay and carried on. But it was a bitter disappointment for Walker and his crew. PUMA regained the lead, and surprisingly, Ericsson 4 was in last place, a new position for Torben Grael and his men.

Day six was the last day in paradise before the teams descended into Hell. A storm was approaching the fleet, timed perfectly to sweep over the fleet just as it popped out from the shelter of Luzon Island, the most northerly of the Philippines. Bekking said at the time that the storm could decide the outcome of the race. How right he was.

As the fleet converged on South Rock Light, it was Telefónica Black in the lead from PUMA and Telefónica Blue. The teams then short-tacked up the shore of Luzon Island as the wind began to build. Mainsails were reefed and smaller headsails hoisted as the seas became confused.

Magnus Olsson/SWE, standing in as skipper for Anders Lewander on Ericsson 3, caught his thumb in a runner block and an 'onboard' operation had to be carried out to remove the crushed nail. His was lucky. It could have been so much worse.

Then the storm came.

It brought out the pure seamanship of the fleet rather than the hard racing ability of the seven crews. Data off the boats indicated top wind speeds near 50 knots and maximum wave heights of 14 metres, caused by the wind blowing against the prevailing current, resulting in a sharp, steep sea state.

'We have been sheltering behind Luzon Island for most of the day after trying to go upwind in 45+ knots, ' wrote Guy Salter, MCM onboard Ericsson 4. 'All I can say is that it was far from pleasant. We ended up sailing the last few hours under storm jib only, slowly creeping our way closer to the top of the Philippines before waiting for an ease in pressure to attempt the crossing over to Taiwan and through some very tidal seas, which could be boat-wreckers to say the least," he said.

His words seemed prophetic, as some of those ahead who ventured out into the Luzon Strait, found it didn't take long for the challenging conditions to exact a toll.

At 0200 GMT, PUMA (Ken Read/USA) turned south while in the lead and headed downwind. The have now anchored in a bay. Ken Read said, 'We're busted and we are in a harbour. It's pretty disappointing. Quite a devastating day for us. We have broken our boom in half. At the time, there was 50 knots of breeze and 20-foot seas, with waves breaking over the top of the boat. '

At 0530 GMT, the new leaders, Telefónica Black, who had been sailing conservatively under storm sails, pulled off the racecourse to investigate a crack in the hull.

By 1000 GMT, the team was back at sea, beginning their dash across the Luzon Strait behind sistership Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED), the new leader, but the crew was worried about the damage to the hull and at 1130 GMT, they turned back again to the coast to assess the damage further.

Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bérmudez/ESP) also turned back from the Luzon Strait for the calmer waters of the coast to repair a damaged steering wheel, ripped mainsail and a damaged mast track. The team suspended racing at 1010 GMT, (under race rules for a minimum of 12 hours), and anchored in a bay just north of Vigan.

Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR), already nursing a damaged rig, followed Delta Lloyd's lead and headed inshore. The boat suffered damage to the forward ring frame.

'Our intention is to make some repairs and get underway,' Ian Walker in a radio interview. The forward ring frame had disintegrated, so the crew had to try to reinforce it and re-bond it to the hull. 'We have some materials and some know-how, and we will use a bit of ingenuity,' Walker said.

For the teams making repairs, the timing was critical. According to Walker, there was a three or four-day window to get to Qingdao before the weather turned bad there, so the teams would have to leave their safe havens when it was probably still rough, in order to get to China before the weather closed in.

Telefónica Blue pressed on out into the Luzon Strait. Bekking said, 'This will be a case of 'survival' now, for the next 36 hours or so. 'We are going to take it easy, there is too much at stake,' he said.

Leg Four Day 7: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

1. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 1022 nm
2. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +78
3. Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP) +79
4. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +80
5. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +107
6. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +125
7. Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) SUS
8. Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS

ERICSSON 4 LEG FOUR DAY 8 QFB: received 25.01.09 1455 GMT

Still being thrown about like a ball in a bingo machine, it just makes everything take so much longer. After the odd specially big wave you can hear various different curses in several different languages and accents around the boat as the wrong button is pressed, the computers crash, the tea is spilt or the footing is changed to make that dry sock wet.

On deck it isn't even registered, just another wave. If you are sat at the back on one of these you could actually get some good air time as you get the little flick which takes you off your feet, but definitely not appreciated when you are there to spend a penny!

We hung back last night waiting for the breeze to subside enough before setting off for the Luzon Strait - we have always highlighted that its better to finish in as close to one piece as possible and if that meant without a win - then so be it . The big picture is the in-port race and the mass of points available on the next leg - but any damage could have put pay to all of this, and that included crossing a strait renowned for strong current, which with strong wind could have compromised the campaign significantly.

It's still been windy and rough today - but good ground has been covered and I have just heard Jules comment that he has spotted Taiwan for the first time in his life.

When we were getting everything tidy, after the mess which comes hand in hand with big winds (especially when sailing on the wind), a clothing crime was highlighted. These crimes come about when someone ' can't really be bothered' to tidy after themselves', especially if the offending article is wet. These articles usually end up in our 'crimes' bag so thy can at least get stacked rather than lurk in a puddle to leeward. This article went straight in the bin - the reason? Because they were a pair of South American underpants in which people can see what the wearer had for breakfast. In fact it was with much pleasure that Phil dropped them in as he had seen enough of Torben strutting around in them some days earlier - and to find them lying around was a real bonus.

To be honest we were surprised to see them lying around as Torben is quite tidy and if he mislays something, his old pal Horacio is there to help - yes Horacio is to Torben what Robin is to Batman - so to speak!

The temperature is dropping and you can notice it every few hours getting colder

Onward and upward to China - looking forward to sitting down without everything shaking in a few days time.

Guy Salter - MCM

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Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race Telefonica Blue takes a battering in heavy storms, on leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Singapore to Qingdao, China

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