Volvo Ocean Race - Leg 4 Day 10
by Volvo Ocean Race media 27 Jan 2009 14:56 GMT
Ericsson 3 in trouble as conditions deteriorate in East China Sea
It has been another night of hell for the Volvo Ocean Race, racing towards the finish of leg four in Qingdao. Conditions worsened for the fleet over night, when they were midway between the northeastern tip of Taiwan and Qingdao, in the East China Sea.
Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) did not survive the storm intact, which was, according to Bouwe Bekking (Telefónica Blue), who is still clinging onto the lead, worse than the storm of two days ago.
During the night, the wind suddenly increased from 10-knots to 40-knots and the sea state quickly deteriorated. Onboard Ericsson 3, the team had managed to find a good balance between pushing the boat hard, but not too hard, and were holding on to a comfortable second place after sailing a terrific leg.
All hands were called to drop the mainsail quickly as the wind speed rapidly accelerated. According to MCM Gustav Morin, the boat was almost airborne at times and was slamming hard and rocking uncontrollably. The mainsail was ripped to pieces as the crew tried to slow the boat to keep it in one piece. But it was too late.
The bow compartment filled with water and, soon after that, a four-metre crack and an open hole in the hull appeared. “We were very close to sinking,” said skipper Magnus Olsson.
“The water was pouring in from the hole and the bow section was delaminating,” said Gustav Morin. The crew baled and pumped the water out and then cut up the bunks to strengthen the hull. They were approximately 60 nautical miles northeast of Taiwan and they turned the boat immediately and headed downwind towards the island. The crew prepared for the worst, dressed in their survival suits and made the safety equipment ready on deck.
“You should have been quicker with the camera,” navigator Aksel Magdahl said to Morin. “It’s not every year that tears are dropping down my cheeks. This is so disappointing.”
“I am very, very disappointed, especially for the crew. The crew has been so wonderful, and to sail with them has been so much fun from the very beginning,” said Olsson as he steered the boat towards Keelung City, a major port situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The team was met by a pilot boat and escorted safely into harbour. They have officially suspended racing.
Six shore crew and boat builders are now on their way to Keelung, where the boat will be hauled out of the water tomorrow at noon and the full extent of the damage will be assessed.
Meanwhile, still out on the racetrack and heading the field is Telefónica Blue, and skipper Bouwe Bekking/NED is doing his best to put theory into practise and keep Telefónica Blue between his opponents and the finish in Qingdao, just 477 nm away.
“We have to sail really, really slow, so we don’t break the boat. Miles and position have become secondary, unfortunately,” Bekking said. The crew is all wearing double safety harnesses, and Bekking is bracing himself in the navigation station, trying to take care of his damaged back.
With the suspension of Ericsson 3, Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael) has now upgraded to second place and is challenging Telefónica Blue for the lead from just 26 miles behind, although it has not been all plain sailing. The team has been hampered by not being able to fly a storm jib, and has had to sail under a heavily reefed mainsail only, due to the pad eye from the tack of the storm jib ripping out of the deck.
“When was the last time you had to use a storm jib for real?” Ken Read (PUMA), now in third place, asked his crew, whose boom broke during the first storm. “Did anyone ever have to use a storm jib on three separate times in a leg or race?” was the next question. The answer was a resolute ‘No’. This is a first for everybody.
Leg Four Day 10: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)
1. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 477 nm
2. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +26
3. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +46
4. Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +215
5. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +275
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) SUS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNF
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS
Positions are updated every three hours on www.volvooceanrace.org
TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG FOUR DAY 9 QFB: received 26.01.09 1930 GMT
It is worse out here than two days ago. It is not the wind speed, that is manageable, but it is the crazy sea state, brings back memories sailing on the east coast of Tokyo once during a Japan Cup, where out of 75 boats we managed to finish with only three others.
Strange. Normally you forget these kinds of things, but now, all of a sudden, it pops up in my head. So we have to sail really, really slow, so we don’t break the boat. Miles and position have become secondary, unfortunatly.
One wave washed our satellite dome off the back of the bus, so can't call anymore and no weather info. Also helmsman getting washed off the wheel frequently. They all wear double harnesses. I made sure about this as a good friend mine, Makoto Namba was lost overboard from a yacht, in this same piece of water
Sleeping is impossible, not only the noise, but as well, worrying for every crash that comes. I said I don't mind sailing upwind, but now, even I have had enough of it.
I have braced myself in the navstation, and will try as best as possible to take care of my back. Daryl (Daryl Wislang/NZL) is doing relatively OK, at least he hasn't been complaining, but maybe because I have investigated having an under 30 bowman replacement ready just in case. I need to do this as it will be a major to get somebody in last minute in China with visas
Cheers,
Bouwe Bekking - skipper
ERICSSON 4 LEG FOUR DAY 10 QFB: received 27.01.09 1455 GMT
Another day of carnage on Ericsson 4! Trying to keep the boat in one piece has been our priority. Is not easy to keep the speed down and with these waves and wind we are constantly pounding heavily against the sea. The helmsman has to manage a nice heel angle to land as smoothly as possible not to compromise the structure.
We have been without instruments since Cabo Bojeador (Northeast of Philippines), four days already which makes things more difficult to steer safely, especially at night.
During the day, it was hard work trying to catch Ericsson 3, but unfortunately came the news that they were taking on water through a crack. As the news came through, a certain fever in checking every spot of our structure, especially knowing that our team mates boat has the same structure as ours.
The game continues to try to gain on Telefónica and keep Puma covered. From the benefit of a right shift, we manage to make some miles on Telefónica and we are still working hard to have them in a position where we have some cards to play at the end. Fortunately, China is getting closer and the wind has slowed down allowing us to push as hard as we can for the last three hours.
Time to go, just came from my watch and looking forward for some rest on my bunk. It is not easy!! You need special skills to have a rest on these boats or be so tired that you just fall asleep.
Cheers
Horacio Carabelli - trimmer
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
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
ERICSSON 3 LEG FOUR DAY 10 QFB: received 27.01.09 0952 GMT
“We are leaking”
Yesterday night I was terrified and today it’s been even worse.
During the night the wind went from 10 to 40-knots and the sea state quickly became very bad. We had to take down the mainsail in a hurry.
All hands were called on deck and the guys were fighting blood and tears to get it down. The boat was almost airborne from time to time, and it was slamming hard and rocking uncontrollably.
I was sitting down below recording the action and watching it live. A surrealistic experience. In the biggest waves, the cameras switched themselves off and I was crossing my fingers that all the guys would turn up on the screen when the picture got back.
Luckily they did, even though I think it was really on the limit many times. The main was ripped in pieces and again we slowed down to keep the boat in one piece.
Maybe it was too late already then. The boat is not in one piece anymore.
Early this morning, we found the bow compartment full of water and soon after that, a four-meter crack and an open hole in the hull.
We were sinking!
The water was pouring in from the hole and the bow section was delaminating. You could feel how soft it had become when you stepped on it we could see it was moving in the waves.
Everyone worked like crazy, pumping, bilging and sponging the water out. As soon as we got most of it out, watch captain Richard Mason and boat captain Jens Dolmer started to reinforce the structure.
We took all the bunks down and cut them up to put them across the bow to strengthen it up. After a couple of hours work, it seemed like we were going to make it.
As soon as the boat started leaking we started heading towardsTaiwan.
Now I’m sitting in my survival suit and all the safety equipment is ready up on deck. If the sea state gets worse again, the reinforcement will most probably crack and the boat will go down quick.
It doesn’t feel like we are in that much danger anyway. We only have 20-miles left to land and the Taiwanese coastguard will soon come out to guide us in and pick us up if the boat sinks.
The worst feeling for the moment is the huge disappointment from pulling out of the leg and the anxiety of how big the consequences will be from the delamination.
‘You should have been quicker with your camera,’ Aksel Magdahl said to me earlier, ‘it’s not every year that tears are dropping down my cheeks. This is so disappointing’.
We have fought extremely hard on this leg and we were in second place when this happened. Ericsson 4 was close, but the others were miles and miles behind.
But I guess we should mostly worry about keeping the boat above the surface right now. The seas are growing bigger and Jens Dolmer is screaming from the bow again.
Gustav Morin - MCM