Sport-heute: Sailing - Keine Zeit zum Ruhen!

27. Januar 2009, 12:40

Keine Zeit zum Ruhen!

Die Stürme sind zurück - die Wellen erreichen neue Rekorde!

Das führende Team von Telefonica Blue ist im vollen Überlebensmodus. Zwei mittelschwer Verletzte aus den letzten Tagen sagen alles über die grauenvolle See aus. Die Stürme haben bereits wieder 45 Knoten erreicht.

VOLVO OCEAN RACE 2009, 27.1.09 (mk) TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG FOUR DAY 9 QFB: received 26.01.09 1052 GMT

I thought we had seen it all, but what about this:

We had a collision with an object and there is chunk out of our bow. Luckily it is in our so-called 'crashbow', which is about 40 cm thick, and especially designed with this in mind. The real structural bow is further back, so we aren't taking on water.

The other bad news is we are in a storm again, with gusts up to 45 knots. The main is lashed down to the boom, and we just have a small head sail up. The waves are even more confused than 48 hours ago, so we are taking it very easy - full survival mode again.

Daryl Wislang/NZL hurt his shoulder, and we put him in a bunk. Families: don't worry, he can make all movements, but we are just giving him rest. So that means two men down. I am getting a little better, but every word I type is a hassle, as I am sitting twisted, not good for my back at all. That's it for now; we have another action night ahead of us.

Cheers,

Bouwe Bekking - skipper

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PUMA LEG FOUR DAY 9 QFB: received 26.01.09 0055 GMT

This should be an interesting blog. Mainly because I am starting to feel the effects from some serious pain killers.

We have brought a million people sailing on a Volvo 70 over the past year and a half. First thing we do is tell the folks not to put their hands on any loaded lines like the mainsheet or runners. Well, I did not heed my own warning.

Remember, we don't have a boom and there are three separate purchases on the clew of the main holding it in place. We are all creatures of habit on these boats. You get 100% used to every square inch of the boat and it is wild how much something like the lack of a boom makes you change how you walk around the cockpit in rough seas. What you lean on and when.

Well, we finally got conditions this morning where we could shake out one of the reefs. Six of us on deck. I was on the bottom purchase and about to ease it when we fell off a wave and I braced myself on the purchase that runs to weather. Sounds harmless so far, right?

Well the exact time I went to brace myself was the exact time that it was being eased through a large titanium block. The block quite easily sucked my left index finger in until I gave a little 'hold' call and then instinctively just pulled it out. Yuck. Not much of the last 30% of my finger left. At least from what I remember. My daughter Tory has inherited the same aversion to the sight of blood. Tory, you will be proud of me - I didn't faint. Just what the doctor ordered after the last few days. I am officially a dumb ass.

Dr Falcone (Shannon Falcone/ANT) sprung into action, cleaning and bandaging. A serious painkiller is about to take over my world. And my typing has taken a severe efficiency hit.

Besides that, we lived though some brutal seas last night in 30 knots of wind and have had a few more structural situations, but the body shop trio of Casey (Casey Smith/AUS), Salty (Robert Salthouse/NZL) and Michi (Michael Muller/GER) have got il Mostro nearly back into fighting form again.

Of course there was plenty more happening over the past 24 hours. Like the interesting exit past the Philippines and Cape Bojeador, in about 50 knots of wind right on the nose and horrific seas kicked up by a strong opposing current. That was fun...

So, I think I will listen to Doctor Falcone and get into the rack before I start drooling on myself at the nav station when the pain killers kick in. Ricky Deppe, our media boy, has sure had plenty to video on this leg. Clearly we are entertaining him, and hopefully most of this footage comes out to the public soon. Some of it is pretty good.

Off to bed now. And by the way, when you see the video he shot of my finger, you may want to look away.

Kenny Read - skipper

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GREEN DRAGON LEG FOUR DAY 9 QFB: received 26.01.09 0520 GMT

Not great news for us. Four hours after I had been in the bow checking for any signs of damage from slamming, we had the big bang. The bulkhead back from the water tight bulkhead, cracked in three places.

The cracks went from the hull through to the inside of the bulkhead and in all but one, through the capping. The bulkhead has also parted from the hull skin join and local areas around the cracks. Also the longitudinals coming off the bulkhead had come away from the hull.

We headed back to a safe anchorage to affect repairs, arriving early that night. During our trip to port I had sent photos to the engineer and spoken to him on the 'phone and discussed how best to make a repair with the materials we had onboard. We had a great team of blokes rotating to help myself and Neal McDonald.

Starting with removing the damaged secondary bonding (carbon taping to hold bulkheads to hull), then keying-up all areas that needed gluing or laminating. Keying up is sanding the area so the new carbon and resin can stick. We also needed to trim up carbon plates to fit the areas we wanted to support.

The carbon plates would be glued and bolted to either side of the bulkhead where it had cracked through. We had some carbon plate on board, but also needed to cut up the media desk for some extra.

Next was to measure out lengths of carbon cloth needed for each individual area. We needed to be very fast once we started laminating, as we have limited resin and time to do the job and would all be done in one hit.

All the carbon plates had been dry fitted, so next was to laminate and glue.
It all ran surprisingly well, Guo (Guo Chuan - MCM) kept the cameras rolling as well as lots of coffee, which was much-needed as we were all pretty tired.

We finished some time mid morning, all very pleased with our effort, and were very grateful to Anthony Merrington, who had started a big cook up of baked beans and sausages when he woke up.

The job had a bit of time to cure, maybe not text book stuff for sure, but was hard when we left.

Neal and I took the opportunity to get rid of the carbon itch on our skin, and had a good swim and inspection of the foils. I swam over to the Delta Lloyd boys to say hi and a bit of a sticky beak. Phil Harmer and the lads got onto repairing the sails, plenty to do there. And we left later in the afternoon.

Unfortunately, after all the hard work, the frame just broke again above all the repair work. So now we are sailing along, nursing the boat yet again, with storm trysail and storm jib, just trying to get to the finish line.

We are all very disappointed, but have changed our focus on the challenge of just getting the boat there and facing the freezing condition expected. There are a few of us blokes who grew up in the southern latitudes, who do not like the cold. Shore crew report -10... YOU ARE KIDDING.

Tom Braidwood - pitman/trimmer

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PUMA LEG FOUR DAY 10 QFB: received 27.01.09 0548 GMT

I guess I would be remiss by not starting this by saying 'happy Chinese New Year'. I think it is today, and the year of the ox my wife told me before I left. And supposedly I am an Ox. Again no real idea what that means. If being an ox means that you are tired, have a throbbing finger that looks like hamburger meat and am sailing where no one really should - I guess I am an ox then.

The whole crew is an ox for that matter. A bunch of good men here on il Mostro. Especially since I have been of no help on deck since my little finger incident. Extreme frustration having to listen to the on deck banter during brutal manoeuvres with nothing to do but listen and wait. Horrible really.

Before I go further, I would like to express our sorrow and support for the Telefónica Back and Ericsson 3 teams, both of whom have both broken and headed for shelter. Hopefully, all can be mended quickly so they can safely deliver up to Qingdao. I really feel bad for all of them.

As far as this little adventure is concerned,, we survived our second gale off the North end of the Philippines and then actually had about 12-hours of reasonable sailing conditions, as we were sailing down the east side of Taiwan. The first time in the leg we weren't going upwind.

Capey (Andrew Cape/AUS - navigator) picked a nice route that took us well outside of Taiwan and stayed in east/southeast breezes, and we literally made up 100 miles in the course of half a day. But all good things must come to an end, and beginning last night around midnight, we started planning for our next gale, which we are in the middle of as we speak. Break out the storm jib and three reefs one more time. Can't get enough of that really fun sail combination. Yeah right.

It really isn't the wind that wears you out, it is the waves. Having to slow the boat down by any means possible is an unnatural act to begin with. And we weren't very good at it to start with. But we have now had plenty of practice and we are getting better and better at going slow all the time. Sounds pretty strange that I would even be writing this, but in these conditions, you have to slow down or you will break the boat. It is the unmerciful pounding on each wave. It simply wears you down, and is almost always the reason these boats break.

We were just talking as a group below during a watch change. 'When was the last time you had to use a storm jib for real?' Most of us could remember, especially the guys who sailed the stormy summer aboard 'Rambler' a couple years back. The second question: 'did anyone ever have to use storm jib three separate times in a leg or race?' The answer was 'absolutely no'. This is a first for all of us.

There may be a light at the end of this storm tunnel though. Lighter winds that may shift toward the southeast which could help us get in to Qingdao reaching and maybe running. Which could be huge, since the temperatures are supposedly going to plummet to below freezing soon. Oh joy.

With all this said, the mood aboard is still terrific. Just need to gut the next few hours out. Oh yeah, and the 500 or so miles to the finish after that as well.

Kenny Read - skipper
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GREEN DRAGON LEG FOUR DAY 10 QFB: received 27.01.09 0537 GMT

Another hard 24-hours in which we managed to get the storm sails down and race sails up as the wind dropped below 30-knots and the waves eased off.

We are still limiting our speed to reduce the slamming motion of the bow in the waves. We are also nursing the mainsail which is in tatters - I am not sure how many more times we can reef and unreef it without it splitting in half.

It was a very bumpy night as we rode the Kuro Shio or 'black tide' North against the prevailing winds and today I decided enough was enough.

Our repair to the bow was deteriorating with all the slamming, so we stopped the boat for a few hours to add some more material to the repair. I am very happy with the result. Unfortunately, as we re-hoisted the mainsail to get going, the wind totally disappeared! We are now sitting in three knots of wind and three-metre waves - enough to destroy any sails.

This is incredibly frustrating as we know there is good weather awaiting us in the North if we can get there. The reality of maybe up to another week at sea is dawning on us and we are starting to economise. Already gas, power, some food and loo roll are being rationed!

This leg is a war of attrition and we will keep fighting until we have no other options. I was close to pulling into Taiwan today when I saw the further damage to the bulkhead, but now we will keep going - I am happy the boat is safe. Singapore to Qingdao leg four hasn't beaten the Dragon yet!

Ian Walker - skipper

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SURVIVAL MODE IN ANGRY SEAS

There is no respite for the six boats still racing in leg four of the Volvo Ocean Race. The storms are back with gusts of up to 45 knots for the leg leader Telefónica Blue. The team is in full survival mode, sailing with the mainsail safely lashed to the boom and flying just a small headsail. The waves are even more confused than 48-hours ago and skipper Bouwe Bekking/NED reports that the team is taking it very steadily.

Currently 56 nautical miles off Cape Sandiao on the northeastern tip of Taiwan, the team reported a collision with a submerged object, which damaged the 'crash bow' of the boat. 'The real, structural bow is further back, so we are not taking on water,' explained skipper Bouwe Bekking.

The team now has two men down. Daryl Wislang from New Zealand has hurt his shoulder and is confined to his bunk. There is little improvement in Bekking's muscle injury to his back, and the team is expecting another full action night ahead. All the time, the team is being pressed by the two Ericsson boats, which have closed the deficit to 33 miles. Ericsson 3, in second place, is just approaching the Zuna Shoals, two thirds of the way up the eastern side of Taiwan, where the Philippine Sea meats the East China Sea and Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) is 22 miles closer inshore.

Onboard PUMA, the first of the 'injured boats' and now in fourth place, skipper Ken Read, caught his finger in the makeshift mainsail trimming system, rigged by the crew due to the lack of boom, which broke yesterday. The new trimming system includes three separate purchases on the clew of the mainsail to hold it in place and the accident happened when six of the crew were on deck trying to shake out one of the reefs.

'I was on the bottom purchase and about to ease it, when we fell off a wave and I braced myself on the purchase that runs to weather. Well, the exact time I went to brace myself was the exact time that it was being eased through a large titanium block. The block quite easily sucked my left index finger in until I gave a little 'hold' call and then instinctively just pulled it out. Not much of the last 30% of my finger left,' he said.

Read has now had his finger cleaned and bandaged by onboard medic Shannon Falcone/AUT and is on painkillers. The boat is currently half way up the eastern side of Taiwan.

Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bérmudez/ESP) has cut the corner at the southern tip of Taiwan, once safely across the Luzon Strait, and opted for a route which took the team between Little Lan Islet and the Goatai Rock in the Philippine Sea.

'A little bit of manoeuvring through some shallows and along some islands, and we are in open waters,' reports navigator Frits Koek/NED.

Bringing up the rear is the limping Dragon, whose skipper, Ian Walker says, 'There is nothing we want more right now than to sail into Qingdao, however long it takes.'

After affecting structural repairs yesterday, the team proceeded very carefully out into an angry head sea. It wasn't long before Ian Walker and watch captain Neal McDonald heard two dreaded cracks. 'We were inspecting the bow repair at the time and, while the repair held firm, the bulkhead let go either side of it,' Walker explained.

The team is soldiering on slowly, nursing the boat as best they can. They are currently 38nm south of Taiwan.

Computer routing software is predicting the early hours of Thursday 29 January for the first boat to finish in Qingdao, but with 671 nm left of runway for Telefónica Blue, and with Ericsson 3 nipping at her heels, coupled with the increasing breeze and plummeting temperatures, the race is far from over.

Leg Four Day 9: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

1. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 671 nm
2. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +38
3. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +53
4. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +99
5. Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +197
6. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +238
7. Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP) RTD
8. Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS
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Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race Ericsson 3 getting closer to the Taiwan coast on leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Singapore to Qingdao, China

Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race Ericsson 3 getting closer to the Taiwan coast on leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Singapore to Qingdao, China

Rick Deppe/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race Shannon Falcone tends to PUMA Ocean Racing skipper Ken Read's finger after he got his finger trapped in a titanium block, on leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Singapore to Qingdao, China

Keine Zeit zum Ruhen!

Die Stürme sind zurück - die Wellen erreichen neue Rekorde!Das führende Team von Telefonica Blue ist im vollen Überlebensmodus. Zwei mittelschwer Verletzte aus den letzten Tagen sagen alles über die grauenvolle See aus. Die Stürme haben bereits wieder 45 Knoten erreicht.

Die Stürme sind zurück - die Wellen erreichen neue Rekorde!

Das führende Team von Telefonica Blue ist im vollen Überlebensmodus. Zwei mittelschwer Verletzte aus den letzten Tagen sagen alles über die grauenvolle See aus. Die Stürme haben bereits wieder 45 Knoten erreicht.