Volvo Ocean Race - Leg 2 Day 2
by Volvo Ocean Race media 16 Nov 2008 19:00 GMT
Questions, questions: Leg win or scoring gate points?
After a dramatic, and then frustrating, start to leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race yesterday in Cape Town, the fleet of eight boats has now spent one night at sea and the crews are settling back into the rhythm of eating, sleeping and yacht racing.
PUMA (Ken Read/USA) and Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) have picked up where they left off on leg one and the battle for supremacy has resumed. But, it is a perplexing time for the skippers and navigators: whether to go further south and into the stronger breeze for maximum scoring gate points, or stay further north, in lighter conditions but closer to the finish.
Mark Chisnell debates the pros and cons of this decision in today’s 1000 Zulu Report.
With the fleet spread out across a north/south divide of just under 40 nautical miles, the leaderboard is distorted as it is based on distance to finish, which will favour boats which are further to the north, although tactically, the position in the south, with its stronger winds will more than compensate for the extra distance to be sailed.
In the north is Delta Lloyd with her new skipper, Spaniard Roberto Bermudez, showing the shortest distance to finish, while furthest to the south is Andreas Hanakamp/AUT with Team Russia’s Kosatka.
PUMA and Ericsson 4 are just four nm apart. PUMA is to windward and north of Ericsson 4, but sailing considerably slower than Ericsson 4 who has sunk slightly further south. The rest of the fleet is in a tight bunch.
Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander/SWE) has recovered from yesterday’s mishap when the jib got caught on the radar dome, ripping the sail and detaching the dome from the mast. Overnight the sail has been satisfactorily repaired, but the crew is still trying to come up with a solution to repair the dome. “Not a very nice feeling when you are heading for the Southern Ocean and later up to India, passing the equator, where squalls are very common and the radar can guide you through them,” explained Gustav Morin, Ericsson 3’s MCM.
Ian Walker/GBR is pleased with the position of Green Dragon, just to windward of PUMA. “Ian Moore (navigator) has put us in a good spot,” he said this morning. “Conditions are very comfortable with a building westerly breeze,” he added.
PUMA has recorded the highest 24-hour run during the period, of 268nm, but Ericsson 4 has averaged the highest boat speed during the last hour of 21.5 knots.
The first point scoring opportunity on this leg will be when the fleet crosses from west to east – the line of longitude 58 degrees E, anywhere south of the latitude 20 degrees S.
Leg Two Day Two: 1320 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions:
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DTF 4274nm
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +3
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +5
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +6
Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +6
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +6
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +9
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +38
Position reports are issued daily at 1300 GMT by email; however, positions are updated every three hours on www.volvooceanrace.org . Click on RESULTS at the top of the page to go straight to the points table and onboard data.
PUMA LEG TWO DAY TWO QFB: received 16.11.08 1726 GMT
Another spectacular send off. Cape Town had some lofty expectations to live up to and not only did the city, the country, and the people live up to them, they blew us away. We can’t thank all the folks we met enough- both the locals and the troops at PUMA. It was sad to leave. And as always it was sad to leave our families and friends, not to mention the shore team who did a spectacular job getting the boat in great shape over a tough couple weeks. I bet the shore team wasn't too sad to see us leave!
With that said, we are leaving with a vengeance! I am actually struggling to write this note because we’re getting thrown around the boat like a pair of dice hitting a craps table. Our start couldn't have been better- gorgeous day and a quick lead for the fine yacht ‘il mostro’. But it didn't last long…the infamous wind hole under Table Mountain played her tricks on us and we went from having a large lead to being stuck in a glue pot watching a few others sail by. We had a strategy- expecting the hole, but the strategy to get offshore quickly didn't exactly work to plan. Anyway, after a gorgeous beat down the coast with eight Volvo 70's tacking along the mountains in 20-25 knots of wind, we caught up with the race leader E3 just at sunset right off Cape Point. A great day if you liked to sail.
Also as anticipated, the night brought a shift in the weather and a chance to get across a ridge into the Southern Ocean westerlies being carried by a large low pressure system coming from the west. Well we did it. A morning check in with E4 about a half mile from us (no shocker!) and a building breeze led us to where we are now. Careening down waves in 27 knots of breeze against 2+ plus knots of current called the Agulhas Current, trying to write this note. And, it’s a bit moist on deck…nasty right now actually.
One small issue on board is a bit of a flu that has taken hold- not very much fun for a few of us. And the great news for the rest of the group is they can almost be guaranteed to get the cold eventually, based on the unavoidable hygiene on a lovely V-70 petri dish. Which is why this may be one of the more bland notes you will (hopefully) read from il mostro. I need some more Advil! My head is killing me, and it’s not just the flu. I just smashed it into a winch structure under deck getting my foul weather gear off. You would think that I would know it was there by now!
Ken Read - skipper
TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG TWO DAY 2 QFB: received today 0527 GMT 16.11.08
A typical Cape Town departure, bright sunshine and thousands of people on the docks and not to forget the enthusiastic people on the water. The start was ok, not pushing it too hard, as we knew a park-up would happen.
The first leg we were dog slow, we had big piece of weed on the rudder, but once that was cleared, we were off. Had a good beat up the Cape, and lots of tacking, so very little sleep for the guys. We got stuck together with Ericsson 3 in a light patch this morning, which nobody else seemed to sail through, that was expensive. But, now we are on our way again, and have three boats in sight. The boys are now, for the first time, in their sleeping bag and catching some well-deserved sleep. The breeze will slowly build, and we will keep that for a couple of day getting some good daily miles under our belt.
Cheers,
Bouwe Bekking - skipper
ERICSSON 4 LEG TWO DAY TWO QFB: received 16.11.08 1548 GMT
Well, here we go again. Although we have only been gone 24 hours, the Cape Town stopover seems like it must have been a dream...and a very pleasant, but short, one at that. It is always hard to leave Cape Town. The locals, the food, the Bascule Bar, and of course the families and friends.
This time however, I felt less knots in my stomach on leaving. Maybe because we are not taking the usual Southern Ocean sleigh ride to Australia, or maybe I am just better prepared on my third race than I was on my first. Or, maybe, I have no idea what this leg and the Cochin stopover could potentially hold for us.
It may not be the usual Southern Ocean leg, but we have started in typical style. A bit of funky weather under the shelter of Table Mountain, a beat down the coastline, crossing the ridge and into the westerlies. We currently have 25 knots and have averaged 21 knots for the last 3 hours or so.
I prefer this gybe on our boat. The toilet is much easier to use when it is on the leeward side. The galley is much harder to use, but you don't have your pants down in the galley, so you can deal with it.
Thanks to everyone in Cape Town who made the stopover so worthwhile, and again, thanks to our shore crew for all their work during the stop.
Dave Endean
ERICSSON 3 LEG TWO DAY 2 QFB: received 16.11.08 0949 GMT
No one that was watching the Cape Town start from a boat will never ever forget it. It was like experiencing the whole first leg in one hour. We had everything from 25 knots to almost no wind at all. The fleet was a bit separated after 25 minutes, but then we went into a big light spot, just outside the harbour, in the wind shadow from Table Mountain. It felt like a mini Doldrums where anything could happen.
And things were really happening. But mostly before the ‘Doldrums’. From our perspective, not everything went very smoothly. Our jib got caught on the radar in one of the first tacks and got a small rip. The sail was not the most irritating part, but the fact that the radar was hanging on a thread. It was about to get even worse.
In the third tack, the sail got caught again and ripped badly. At the same time, the radar fell down in the cockpit. Not a very nice feeling when you are heading for the Southern Ocean and later up to India, passing the equator where big squalls are very common and the radar can guide you through them.
Well, on the lucky side is that no one was hit and that we managed to stay in the race. Hopefully we can fix it. According to Jens Dolmer, our hard working handyman, it is possible.
The sail has already been fixed. Skipper Anders Lewander and Martin Stromberg started repairing straight away and finished a couple of hours later. It was quite a big rip and the sail will never be as good as it was, but pretty close to it, the guys did a great job.
Now I’m sitting in the darkness beside the media desk. It is very hard to stay awake before you get use to rhythm onboard. I don’t know how many times I have fallen asleep during the time I've been writing. I always wake up in a few seconds with the screen full of letters, which I have pushed in my sleep.
Over and out from Ericsson 3, meet you soon again.
Gustav Morin - MCM
GREEN DRAGON LEG TWO DAY 2 QFB: received 16.11.08 1530 GMT
Compared with our first 24 hours leaving Alicante, the first 24 hours of this leg have been relatively event free. Despite this, it has been quite tiring on the crew, as we have had an abundance of sail changes.
We used most of our sails before getting away from Cape Town. Tactically what had looked like a minefield has not panned out too badly. We made a brave call to sail for about 3 hours in completely the wrong direction to get into the westerlies earlier and were thankfully well rewarded. Now the whole fleet is charging along in 20 - 25 knots of westerly and we have just dealt with the worst of the Agulhas Current.
It is nice to have some other boats in sight compared with the last leg and it is even nicer that we seem able, in these conditions, to hold the two Telefónicas and ERT 3 behind us. Puma and ERT 4 have a good break from the fleet with speed to burn.
Other than a bit if an uncomfortable trip up the mast for Justin to solve a reefing problem there is nothing much to report. There are the normal first day blues as we struggle to get used to the food and sleep patterns and, for most of us, the realisation that we will not see our families until Christmas. Cape Town is a fantastic stopover and it will always be hard to leave.
Ian Walker - skipper