Volvo Ocean Race, affamati al traguardo
Equipo TelefonicaEricsson RacingGreen Dragon RacingOceanoPuma Ocean RacingVelaVolvo Ocean Race 21 Marzo 2009 Zerogradinord 0
[singlepic=2070,300,204,,left]Volvo Ocean Race – Oceano Pacifico – Il vero nemico dei team impegnati nella lenta risalita da Capo Horn a Rio de Janeiro non è la stanchezza, com’è logico immaginare dopo 36 giorni di mare, ma bensì la fame. Quando mancano poco più di 800 miglia all’arrivo – Ericsson 3, attuale leader, è atteso in Brasile martedì prossimo – a bordo dei VOR 70 si comincia a fare i conti con l’esaurimento delle scorte di cibo.
Gli shore team, infatti, avevano calcolato un tempo di percorrenza di circa 36 giorni per completare la quita frazione e il giorno fatidico è già scoccato. Ora, ad essere prese d’assalto, sono le scorte di emergenza, contenute, al pari di quelle quotidiane, in grossi sacchi di plastica. Il problema è che queste scorte contengono solo barrette energetiche, a base di proteine e cereali. Una situazione grave per tutti, ancor di più per Telefonica Blue, lontano quasi due giorni dall’attuale battistrada e Green Dragon, dove il Media Crew Member ha scoperto alcune sacche di cibo contenenti cibo avariato.
Ericsson 3 continua ad incicare la via, anche se, nel corso delle ultime 12 ore, ha perso molto terreno nei confronti di Ericsson 4, tornato ad avvicinarsi sensibilmente, come del resto aveva predetto la meteorologa Jennifer Lilly nel momento in cui ha fatto notare l’esistenza di due zone d’alta pressione difficilmente evitabili dai team.
Terzo, a oltre 70 miglia da Ericsson 4, resiste Il Mostro, a bordo del quale si comincia a guardare con rassegnazione la scia di Ericsson 4. Gli uomini di Ken Read, pur credendo nella possibilità di agganciare il diretto avversrio – del resto, fichè c’è vita c’è speranza – sanno che sarà difficile, perchè le scelte tattiche saranno pressochè obbligate da qui all’arrivo e solo un’avaria, o una situazione del tutto imprevista, potrebbe rimettere in palio la piazza d’onore.
Leg 5, day 36, 23.00 GMT, rankings
1. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) DTF 851 nm
2. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +73 nm
3. Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +145 nm
4. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +393 nm
5. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +676 nm
Team Delta Lloyd NED/IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS
UP AND DOWN
[Volvo Ocean Race Press Release] In the morning report we told you how Ericsson 3 was able to bank miles over the past 24 hours, extending their lead over their stablemates on Ericsson 4 and Puma. While Friday had been kind to the Nordic crew, it always seemed as if they’d need to spend some of those banked miles, and that has come to pass today.
The second high pressure system blocking the route to Rio de Janeiro has come into play for Magnus Olsson’s team today, and slowed them down. Both Ericsson 4 and Puma have been able to close the gap yet again, with Ericsson 4 now just 86 miles behind. That’s still a healthy margin for the Nordic crew, but certainly less comfortable than what they had just 12 hours ago – Ericsson 4 has gained 40 miles over that span.
“Hopefully the last tough night is behind us on leg five,” wrote Thomas Johansson, from on board the leg leader. “Fighting against a front and staying in it has been on the agenda many times on this leg. You may win a lot of miles by doing so, but if you fall short…you start to lose.”
It’s no easier for the boats chasing. Down yesterday, but up today, Ericsson 4 continues to push their teammates hard. The forecast is for at least one or two more light patches, so nothing is certain at this stage. The only answer is to keep pushing.
“Maybe the approach to Rio can put the boats really close together again,” opined Joca Signorini, trimmer on Ericsson 4. “We are looking forward to arriving in Rio, but the weather forecast hasn’t been good. We still have some days to go and I prefer not to mention any number…We did food bags for 38 days and we already have done three extra bags. It means that we all will arrive really hungry there.
On board third-placed Puma, the crew is also moving into a rationing regime as media crew man Rick Deppe reports: “The food was planned out for a 36 day leg, which is tomorrow. Add to that the fact we had a strangely contaminated batch of food on one of the earlier days so essentially today is our last day of regular food. Starting tomorrow we’re into the emergency bags containing lots of protein powder and cereal. No-one is going to die of starvation but it’s not going to be much fun either and definitely not an ideal situation. For sure one we could do without in terms of bringing our “A” game to the final push to the finish.
“Andrew Cape (Puma navigator) made the quote to me yesterday: ‘It’s a big ocean, but it is getting smaller’. Onboard Il Mostro it’s starting to feel as though we are running out of time and opportunities to catch the Ericssons. Unfortunately they sit between ourselves and the finish. In simple terms they just sail into everything before us – they sail into a light patch and we catch up some miles, they get through the light patch and the mileage stabilises, then we sail into the light patch and they gain some miles…Very frustrating and with every 3 hour sched the ocean definitely gets a bit smaller.”
Behind Puma, the lads on Green Dragon are experiencing the same thing, right down to the concern about running out of food. As navigator Wouter Verbraak put it: “The stretch from the Horn to Rio is really living up to its reputation of providing us with a complete minefield of light winds, erratic weather models and unexpected twists. It really is a game of snakes and ladders out here, with big gains and losses on the scheds being the order of the day.
“Opportunities, however, lie ahead, with a small low developing of the Argentinean coast. We are already feeling the effects of it as winds are more lifted than in the model. It is only in the satellite pictures that we are picking up this little feature, but it could be a nice ladder for us to gain back some of those precious miles.
“When restacking the boat earlier today, the urgency of getting to Rio clearly presented itself to me with the number of food bags now reduced to two plus a small spare. With each bag providing two days of food, a hungry last couple of days are now pretty much a given. Hope that ladder is a good one, we will need it.”
Telefonica Blue remains about two days behind the leaders, but with an opportunity to close that gap if the forecast conditions come to pass. Finishing as quickly as possible is critical to give their shore crew enough time to prepare the boat ahead of the in-port race.
Leg 5, day 36, 23.00 GMT, rankings
1. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) DTF 851 nm
2. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +73 nm
3. Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +145 nm
4. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +393 nm
5. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +676 nm
Team Delta Lloyd NED/IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS
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