Sport-heute: Sailing - Ein holprige Sache!

20. Februar 2009, 23:12

Ein holprige Sache!

NEWS!!!!!

Ãˆin enorme Luftfeuchtigkeit ist hier im Pazifik. Das Wetter ist schön aber es ist schwül. Ich komme gerade vom Deck und meine Hände sehen aus, als sei ich zehn Stunden in der Badewanne gelegen. Meine Lippen sind so salzig, als hätte ich drei grosse Säcke Popcorn gegessen. Hier unten ist es ein bisschen holprig. Ich ziehe jetzt meine Socken aus und versuche sie zu trocknen. Dazu esse ich Mexikanisches Huhn mit Reis. Es ist unheimlich schön - hier draussen im Pazifik.

VOLVO OCEAN RACE 2009, 20.2.09 (mk) Wir haben auch einen kleinen Grund zu feiern. Wir haben trotz 19 stündigem verspäteten Start die Green Dragon überholt, was aber im Moment nichts heissen muss. Der Wind ist immer noch gut und wir segeln mit 27-33 Knoten Geschwindigkeit. Ich lege mich nun in mein Ipot Bett und mache eine kleine Siesta. Olé!

Simon Fisher - Stratege / Steuermann

Original Mails der Yachten in English 20.2.-0303

TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG FIVE DAY 7 QFB: received 20.07.09 0303 GMT

Hi There,

Not much has changed here on Telefónica Blue in the last 24 hours, apart from at some stage last night someone turned the wetness up to 11 on the dial! Throw in a couple of hours of driving rain that we got this morning and you wouldn't look too out of place in a snorkel and flippers! I've just come off deck and my hands look like I fell asleep in the bath for 10 hours and my lips feel like I have just eaten and entire bucket of salty popcorn...

We are still making good speed though and have reason to celebrate a little today as we have gone ahead of Green Dragon in the rankings. Although it does not mean too much at this stage with so far to go it is a nice moral booster and just reward for all the fast scheds we had through the night.

Below deck is a little bumpy right now, making moving around and going about your daily business an interesting challenge. Next up is the attempt to eat a bowl of Mexican chicken without throwing it all down my front! After that I will continue to experiment on the best way to dry out my socks. Every time I hang them out they seem to end up wetter than when I took them off!! Finally it is going to be a little bit of iPod in my bunk and then a nice siesta... all in all a nice afternoon in the Pacific Ocean.

Until tomorrow,

Simon Fisher - strategist/helmsman

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GREEN DRAGON LEG FIVE DAY 7 QFB: received 20.02.09 0608 GMT

Heading East - a gamble or a calculated risk?

One thing has become clear over the last few legs is that it is hard for the Green Dragon to live with the big teams in terms of raw boatspeed instability conditions. This is undoubtedly due to our lighter keel weight, which limits our horsepower and there is nothing we can do about that now.

We are not letting our heads drop; it just means we have to find our edge elsewhere either through teamwork, reliability or strategy and tactics. To date, we have done pretty well at this, especially on leg one, where our more westerly route paid big dividends bringing us to the scoring gate in first position. The problem is that every time you separate from the fleet, you are taking a risk. Our opponents have the best skippers and navigators in the business, we all have the same weather information, and it is not often that the majority will be wrong. You can also be sure that all the teams will have studied every inch of these routes. Having said that, weather can be unpredictable and can change. The weather models are particularly unreliable close to the equator, where we will soon be sailing. There have to be some opportunities but there is no sense in gambling wildly, just room for calculated risks if and when the opportunity arises.

Right now, our navigator Wouter (Wouter Verbraak/NED) and I believe we have seen one of those opportunities and a more lifted breeze has enabled us to get east cheaply
(without giving too many miles away on the 'miles to go scale'). Wouter is particularly skilled at meteorological routing and in all his and Ian Moore's studies historically east is good both in the trade winds and the doldrums. The leaders couldn't get this far east as they weren't so lifted and they now seem to be fighting to get east. What is not at all clear right now is how the doldrums will play out and how we will get through the high-pressure zones into the Southern Ocean - this could have a huge bearing on the final outcome.

For now we are happy to have over 200 miles of leverage to the east of the leaders and whilst we have invested considerable miles to get here, we consider it a calculated risk rather than a gamble. If it works, of course we will be heroes, and if not, we will be the ones that took a gamble and failed. Either way, the next week will be far more interesting than if we just followed down their tracks losing miles on every position report. Right now I am happy with what we have done and we are starting to claw back some miles - long may that continue.

Ian Walker - skipper

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ERICSSON 3 LEG FIVE DAY 7 QFB: received 20.02.09 0846 GMT

It has become very warm the last couple of days and today the sea is an incredible 28 degrees. The air is a lot cooler, but since we are still reaching around 20 knots, it's still a lot of spray on deck and we still need to wear full foul weather gear.

Under deck it's another story.

It feels like the hull is absorbing the heat from the ocean and it gets a couple of extra degrees heat from the sunny sky. Aksel Magdahl (navigator) and l, who spend a lot of time down below, are running the swimming-trunk-clothing programme. Even so, a layer of sweat is constantly running down our backs.

It is always impossible to stay dry on these boats. Either it's windy and it's water everywhere or you sweat from the effort of just being on the boat. In lighter wind, you are usually close to the equator, where the sun is shining from straight overhead and it's dripping warm.

But all of this is a part of the game and the crew who acclimatises the best has is an advantage. The next coming days it will get even warmer and then it will stay like that for at least a week.

We better get used to this quick.

I can understand that the guys were complaining about the cold conditions in China. But for me who doesn't have to stay on deck more than a few hours now and then, the cold was nice. At least when we were two days away from China. The air was fresh and cool, even down below, and you could sleep well at night in our nice warm sleeping bags. I have never slept that well on the boat.

But there is always good and bad. I guess it's just human nature to complain a bit.

We are still sailing well, the boat feels good and there haven't been any big incidents. We are fighting in the backwater of Ericsson 4 and Puma, still within striking distance. Telefónica Blue is pretty much in the same track as us but around 150 miles behind. Green Dragon seems to have made a bold decision to sail more to the east. If you look at the route historically the probability for it to pay off is pretty good. It's good for the racing; it makes it just a bit more exciting.

Gustav Morin - MCM

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ERICSSON 4 LEG FIVE DAY 7 QFB: received 20.02.09 1312 GMT

6 days down and 30+ to go and a few strange personal traits are beginning to surface

One of the crew obviously has aspirations of starring on Broadway or in the west end. Tony surprised all today by coming on watch as if he were ready for the final scenes of the stage hit "Phantom of the Opera" as the lead roll. He had the left side of his face covered in his Phantom mask - only his was from baby anti rash cream. It transpired that this was actually due to the prolonged port tack we have been on and the saltwater constant spray is playing havoc with his skin.

Another country mate of Tony also turned his nose up at lunch - a rare occurrence - this was purely due to one word on the packet - vegetarian - no prises for guessing the meat and 2 veg man, but I don't have the heart to tell Brad (Jackson) that his favourite dish onboard of roast lamb probably is as close to lamb as any tofu based meat extract. Though it may bring a good reaction in a few days though!

It's great when the afterguard just click and today Torben (Grael) and Jules (Salter) were planning their holidays together. As we pass through Micronesia's many islands they were both discussing the merits of a couple of months trip in the region. They did hit a small stumbling block when choosing the method of travel, Torben thinking a plane based island hop and Jules preferring to catch the mail boat between the many atolls. Personally I wouldn't mind either method as it does seem like a wonderful place.

I guess being on one tack with minimal sail changes can be a little dull, don't get me wrong as we are all happy to be here - especially for what could be the clearest night skies on earth. But we all do feel it is little like Groundhog Day. Its even more frustrating being without our main satellite connection, hours and hours are spent trying to download weather and also failing to upload pictures - but I also guess it must be frustrating on land watching the race as your normal days continue at the usual high speed whilst the info from the race is considerably less than normal. I just hope that when we come back online the flood of info will be like when your power is restored after a power cut (lights on everywhere and TV on) - we are also approaching a notorious black spot for satellite coverage so we may be no comms for a day or so!

One last thought is that if we were out here on port for much longer we may present a good case for any Darwinian supporter - I'm convinced that one leg is shorter than the other and none of us can get rid of our left handed side partings. But that's port tack for you and we may have a few more days of it to go.

Guy Salter - MCM

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PUMA LEG FIVE DAY 7 QFB: received 20.02.09 1411 GMT

I just spent a wet hour on deck taking pics and trying to clear my head of a nasty headache. It worked. For the 4 hours on deck it's a constant drenching for the guys on watch. We are STILL reaching on port in between 16 and 22 knots of wind. But it's not those knock you off your feet type waves that we saw the first two days out of Qingdao, rather more the slap you in the face when you're not looking type.

Unfortunately, I'm not running one of the jackets with a latex neck seal. Instead I went for one of the jackets with a zip up the front so that I can get it on and off quickly. I'm starting to think I might've made a mistake because the water always seems to find a way in. Strange to be wearing full foul weather gear on deck when we are so close to the equator and the air and water temperature is I'm guessing around 28 degrees c. It's the wind chill probably around 22 degrees c and the waves that are making all the gear necessary. Down below it's a different story - hot, humid and very smelly - 6 days worth of wet foot traffic is starting to take its toll on the ambience. Wet socks and t-shirts hanging everywhere, (they'll never dry) wet boots upside down on the side of the bunks that you have to climb over to get in. And a thin film of grime on everything, it's a sad reality that we are only 6 days into this trip.< /p>

Jerry (Kirby) was on watch and it's always a treat to hear him go on! He was in fine form today and I think that in one fifteen minute period there he took the banter from a discussion about whether or not to shake a reef out, to and extended history lesson on the Carriage Houses of New England and the relative merits of Red Cedar over Slate as a roofing material; then onto a self diagnosis of his ribs that he thinks might be broken and finally for this 15 minute window of time a great story about dirt biking on the Baja peninsula with a retired Line-backer who owns a bar in Tijuana...... simply amazing.... you would think it was all connected and I guess to Jerry it is!

Rick Deppe - MCM

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TELEFÓNICA BLUE MAKES MOVE AS GREEN DRAGON GAMBLES

Bouwe Bekking/NED is determined to stick to his plan and sail to an imaginary point where he thinks will be the best place to cross the Doldrums on leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race. So far, it seems to be working, and Bekking and his team have snatched fourth place from Ian Walker's Green Dragon, but Bekking describes Telefónica Blue's current course as a 'killer'.

'There is heaps of water over the deck and it is uncomfortable downstairs; the guys have to crawl around to go from A to B, as, otherwise, they get airborne,' he said earlier today.

Green Dragon has carried on gaining miles to the east of the leaders (Ericsson 4/Torben Grael/BRA and PUMA/Ken Read/USA), with now over 200 nm between them. Is this a gamble to get them through the doldrums or is it a calculated risk?

'If it works, of course we will be heroes, and if not, we will be the ones that took the gamble and failed,' said Ian Walker today. 'Either way, the next week will be far more interesting than if we just followed their [the tracks of the other boats] tracks, losing miles on every position report,' he said. The team is beginning to claw back some miles and Ian Walker is a happier man.

According to Walker, the lighter keel weight of Green Dragon limits their horsepower and the team can do nothing about that. He admits that it has become clear, over the last few legs, that it is hard for the Green Dragon to live with the big teams in terms of raw boat speed. But they are not letting their heads drop and have to find their edge elsewhere either through teamwork, reliability or strategy and tactics.

The fleet is still reaching and everything onboard is wet. Driving rain overnight has added to the unpleasant conditions. 'I've just come off deck and my hands look like I fell asleep in the bath for 10 hours and my lips feel like I have just eaten an entire bucket of salty popcorn,' described Simon Fisher, who returned to the role of helmsman onboard Telefónica Blue for this leg.

At the front of the fleet, the leaders Ericsson 4 and PUMA have carried on the charge to the south with PUMA taking out eight nautical miles on the front-runners in the past 24 hours.

Guy Salter, media crew member (MCM) from the Ericsson International crew has been observing some very strange traits onboard his boat of late. Tony Mutter being the biggest culprit with his aspirations to become a Broadway star. 'Tony surprised all today by coming on watch as if he were ready for the final scenes of the stage hit "Phantom Of The Opera" as the lead roll. He had the left side of his face covered in his Phantom mask - only his was from baby anti rash cream. It transpired that this was actually due to the prolonged port tack we have been on and the saltwater constant spray is playing havoc with his skin.'

Third placed Ericsson 3 has gained a massive 45 nm on the leaders overnight, only being pipped by Telefonica Blue for best 24 run, by a mere one nm. Gustav Morin (MCM) from Ericsson 3 told of the crew's positive mood, 'We are still sailing well, the boat feels good and there haven't been any big incidents. We are fighting in the backwater of Ericsson 4 and Puma, still within striking distance.'

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

Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 10,214nm
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +2
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +60
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +221
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +231

Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS

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Rick Deppe/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 will be the 10th running of this ocean marathon. Starting from Alicante in Spain, on 4 October 2008, it will, for the first time, take in Cochin, India, Singapore and Qingdao, China before finishing in St Petersburg, Russia for the first time in the history of the race. Spanning some 37,000 nautical miles, visiting 11 ports over nine months, the Volvo Ocean Race is the world's premier ocean yacht race for professional racing crews.

Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race

Rick Deppe/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race PUMA Ocean Racing on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race

Rick Deppe/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race Michael Muller onboard PUMA Ocean Racing, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race