Ericsson 3 e Green Dragon, benvenuti a Cape Town
Ericsson RacingGreen Dragon RacingOceanoVelaVolvo Ocean Race 3 Novembre 2008 Zerogradinord 0
[singlepic=677,250,170,,left]Volvo Ocean Race – Cape Town – Sono giunti in rapida successione a Cape Town Ericsson 3 e Green Dragon, terzo e quarto classificato della prima tappa della Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009. Anticipati da Ericsson 4 di Torben Grael e da Il Mostro di Ken Read, i due equipaggi, guidati rispettivamente da Anders Lewander e Ian Walker, hanno completato la propria fatica a distanza di tre ore l’uno dall’altro.
Ricordiamo che sulla classifica di Ericsson 3, leader della flotta per tutta la prima fase della frazione, grava la pesante penalizzazione inflitta dalla Giuria per difformità riscontrate nell’omogenità della fusione della lama di deriva, problema che il sindacato svedese ha in animo di risolvere durante la permanenza a Kochi, punto di arrivo della seconda frazione.
“Sono molto orgoglioso di quanto il mio team è riuscito a raccogliere nel corso di questa tappa – ha commentato un felicissimo Anders Lewander, skipper di Ericsson 3 – Abbiamo combattuto con grande determinazione, contro avversari decisamente motivati ed essere qui a Cape Town, con i piedi sul podio, è una soddisfazione difficilmente spiegabile”.
“Dopo i primi dieci giorni piuttosto calmi, la battaglia è entra nel vivo e quattro o cinque equipaggi si sono alternati al comando della regata – è invece stata la riflession di Ian Walker – Siamo contenti per quanto fatto e per le performance della barca, che in regime di brezze leggere si è ben comportata, permettendoci di lottare alla pari con gli altri”.
Alicante-Cape Town, Leg 1
1. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael)
2. Puma USA (Ken Read)
3. Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander)
4. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker)
Classifica overall
1. Ericsson 4: 14 points
2. Puma Racing Team : 13 points
3. Green Dragon: 11 points
4. Telefónica Blue: 6 points
5. Telefónica Black: 6 points
6. Ericsson 3: 5 points
7. Team Delta Lloyd: 2 points
8. Team Russia: 1 point
SUNRISE FINISH FOR ERICSSON 3 AND GREEN DRAGON
[singlepic=676,250,170,,left][Volvo Ocean Race Press Release] Ericsson 3, skippered by Sweden’s Anders Lewander crossed the finish line at 04.08 GMT today, after 22 days, 16 hours 08 mins and 50 secs at sea. She is the third boat to arrive in Cape Town at the end of the 6,500 nautical mile leg, which started from Alicante in Spain on October 11. Her stablemate, Ericsson 4, is already in Cape Town and flying the leg winner’s flag and leading the race overall.
“I am very proud of the team,” said skipper Anders Lewander. “It is fantastic coming to Cape Town: what an achievement for us. We have fought really hard and come back with great attitude. All the hours of preparation were worthwhile. We have had a lot of hard work, but we’ve got through and built on our spirit.”
Ericsson 3 is sailed by an all-Nordic crew, with one exception: watch captain Richard Mason from New Zealand, although Mason has lived in Sweden for a number of years. Mason has done this race twice before and his counterpart on the other watch, veteran sailor, Magnus Olsson, is on his sixth lap of the planet. The duo brings vast experience and knowledge to balance the youthful enthusiasm of the rest of the crew, a cocktail that has been clearly proven by the team’s outstanding performance on this leg.
Speaking about the tough conditions the crew faced, watch captain Magnus Olsson said in his usual upbeat way, “We all love those conditions; that is the reason we do this. You don’t need to sleep, you can’t sleep. It is so fun, you don’t know where you are, water everywhere, the boat is going so fast and you don’t know if you are going to die or survive. It’s fantastic.”
At the start of leg, Ericsson 3 led the fleet, with Ericsson 4, through the Straits of Gibraltar. Going straight between the middle of the Cape Verde islands, the Nordic-crewed boat then had a challenging passage through the Doldrums before having to stop briefly at the scoring gate in Brazil for a spare part.
When 40 knot gales were forecast, on day 16, 26 October, Eivind Melleby the Norwegian helmsman said, “ We will have to hold on tight and keep the crew and equipment in once piece. “ Navigator Aksel Magdahl, also a Norwegian, added, “We will just do it our way and see how good that is. I am sure some of the more experienced teams will push hard, but we will set our own pace. We will give it our best.”
Day 19 caused the experienced Richard Mason to exclaim, “The worst watch of my life. We were in a squall for four hours and it was pitch black, absolutely no visibility at all. I couldn’t see the waves and no horizon. We had everything from 19 – 46 knots of wind,” he said. “Going with the chute up in that much breeze on one of these boats, when you can’t see a thing, is as terrifying as it gets. It just doesn’t get any harder than it was tonight. The guys did a great job to get the boat and ourselves through it in once piece,” he said.
Ericsson 3 went into battle with the wounded Green Dragon on day 20 (30 October) and finally overhauled them, but the Dragons were constantly breathing fire. By day 23, the strain was beginning to show. “Everything is getting to its edge. The situation feels close and stressful,” said MCM Gustav Morin. A couple of bad sail changes slowed Ericsson 3 down, and a plastic bag caught around the keel did not help matters. But Nordic team pressed on and were delighted to finish 27 nm ahead of Ian Walker and the Green Dragon.
At 07.12 GMT today, Green Dragon crossed the finish line in Cape Town. She is the fourth boat to finish leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race, which was won by Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael).
After being at sea for 22 days, 19 hours, 12 minutes and 35 seconds, skipper Ian Walker said, “It is definitely good to be here. The first 10 days of this leg were easy and then it got tight and tactical with four or five race leaders right across the leg. Obviously, we were very happy coming first at the gate and the boys did a great job. Waking up this morning and seeing Table Mountain was a great feeling.”
Ian Moore – navigator added, “I’ve done this leg of the Volvo before, but it did seem that this leg was windier but easier, but it still seems like a very long way. I honestly love being back in Cape Town, it is a very special place. We saw the outline of the mountain at dawn, with the lion’s head, and we always have a fantastic warm welcome here, there is a special atmosphere. It was an exciting finish to the leg and I am pleased with what we have done. “
It has been a harsh opening leg for first-timer Ian Walker. The team found itself parked for hours off Gibraltar and the good lead they built up was lost when Puma and Telefónica Black sailed right up to them in the dying breeze. In the approach to the Cape Verde island, Walker played his Stealth card, secretly sailing Green Dragon straight though the middle of the islands, but emerging still in fourth place.
Fortunes turned on day eight and the Dragons, now positioned to the west, came storming up through the fleet. Navigator Ian Moore had a smile on his face at last. “I guess we will know in the next 24 hours if our strategy paid off, “Moore wrote. “If not, the boys will be very dark.”
Third place was good enough as the team contended with the vagaries of the Doldrums on day nine, but the next day saw them atop the leaderboard, a lead they held until after passing through the mid-leg scoring gate. But, their position was under attack and, on day 14, Telefónica Black snatched the lead. There were just two miles between them, and Puma was just three nm astern. “We are going to fight tooth and nail,” wrote Walker.
As the fleet geared up for the 40-knot gale and the sleigh ride to Cape Town, Walker predicted that the boats which did not keep up with the pace, would drop off the back of the weather system and lose hundreds of miles. “It’s our job not to let that happen to us,” he said. On day 18, Green Dragon was in third place, and the most southerly yacht in the fleet. For an hour, the boat averaged 25 knots. “Clearly, doing this for 24-hours (to chase the record) is another thing altogether and we are on the edge,” he said.
Then, the Dragon was wounded, burying her bow so hard that the spinnaker came back and stove in the pulpit and forward stanchions before ripping to pieces. This was followed by a deafening crunch as the boat hit something and came to almost a complete standstill. “I don’t really know where to start as the last 24-hours have been so incident-packed,” wrote Walker in his daily blog. As they reached the latitude of 35 degrees south, another spinnaker was shredded as the crew pressed the boat in attempt to catch Ericsson 3. But to no avail. Ericsson eventually finished 27 mm ahead of the Dragons after a long fight.
“There is only one thing for it in Cape Town and that is to get in the bar and trade some war stories as sailors love to do. My story will be of our night time collision and the ensuing panic-stricken thoughts, and of a multitude of nosedives form which I saw no escape,” Walker said today as the team approached the finish line.
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