Volvo Ocean Race, in un campo minato
Equipo TelefonicaEricsson RacingGreen Dragon RacingOceanoPuma Ocean RacingTeam Delta LloydVelaVolvo Ocean Race 21 Gennaio 2009 Zerogradinord 0
[singlepic=1464,250,170,,left]Volvo Ocean Race – Mar Cinese Meridionale – Decisioni diverse portano a conseguenze diverse. Un adagio che trova riscontro nel vissuto recente della Volvo Ocean Race ed è legato a doppio filo alle scelte dei navigatori e al loro modo di leggere e interpretare le carte meteo. Un approccio evidetemente diverso da persona a persona, almeno a giudicare dai numerosi cambi di posizione registrati nel corso degli ultimi aggiornamenti.
Più che la momentanea leadership di Telefonica Black, scalzato quasi immediatamente da Il Mostro, a fare notizia è lo scivolone dei due equipaggi griffati Ericsson. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael) ed Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson), infatti, hanno deciso di continuare lungo le coste del Borneo, dove il vento è stato leggero al punto da costare svariate decine di miglia ai due scafi svedesi, ora bloccati nelle retrovie.
L’incubo per tutti è ora rappresentato dalla Spratly Island, una specie di paradiso quasi ineslporato e decisamente odiato dai velisi. In questa area di 250 miglia quadrate, posizionata tra il Vietnam e le Filippine, la profondità dell’acqua passa repentinamente da 1000 a 3 metri e le carte nautiche sono di poco aiuto, visto che sono zone monitorate con minor frequenza da parte degli Istituti Idrografici: “Abbiamo tre carte nautiche della stessa zona – ha spiegato Ken Read – Su una c’è scritto che una barca come la nostra non ha problemi a passare in un determinato punto, su una c’è scritto forse, sull’altra no. Questa è la situazione con cui ci stiamo confrontando”.
“Ora il fatto è questo: bisogna decidere cosa fare e farlo in fretta. Se vuoi stare tranquillo ti tieni alla larga dalla zona, ma in questo modo sei destinato a perdere. Credo che ci butteremo nel mezzo, pronti a virare tra banchi di sabbia e improvvisi avvallamenti del fondale. Un divertimento, specie di notte. Ci vuole abilità, certo, ma in questo caso anche tanta fortuna. Speriamo di averle entrambe dalla nostra”.
A questo punto mancano circa 30 ore al raggiungimento del waypoint meteo del South Rock Light, posizionato vicino a Manila, nelle Filippine. La Direzione Gara ha stabilito che gli equipaggi si dovranno tenere ad est di questo punto, onde evitare i diversi fronti perturbati che stanno flagellando il tratto di mare posto a ovest di questa boa virtuale.
Leg 4, day 3, 16.00 GMT, rankings
1 – Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) DTF 1641 nm
2 – Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +2 nm
3 – Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +8 nm
4 – Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +28 nm
5 – Team Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +30 nm
6 – Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +45 nm
7 – Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +66 nm
Per seguire la regata sul Race Tracker clicca qui.
[flashvideo filename=video/vor/Puma_200109.flv /]
Una domanda per il presidente Barak Obama da bordo de Il Mostro. Video courtesy Volvo Ocean Race.
MANAGING THE MINEFIELD
[Volvo Ocean Race Press Release] This fourth leg has become taxing for the strategists as they tip toe through the minefield of the Spratly Islands. The pack has shuffled and there is an inverted look to the pecking order of 24 hours’ ago. The tacks have came in a flurry as, according to Green Dragon’s Ian Walker, the fleet has been “hit by one big shift after another”.
Further evidence is provided by the 2D Race Viewer which features more moving and shaking than on the dance floor on ladies’ night at the Top Rank Ballroom.
By the 16.00 Position Report, Puma led the way with recent leader Telefonica Black (+2 miles Distance to Leader), furthest offshore, just ahead of sister ship Telefonica Blue (+8) in third. Green Dragon (+28), Delta Lloyd (+30) and Ericsson 3 (+45) occupy the second row.
Ericsson 4, looking down on the fleet from a lofty perch at the top of the overall standings, has been relegated to the cheap seats. Treading an inshore path, they lie seventh and last at +66.
With over 850 miles wiped off the slate, the fleet is spread over an inshore-offshore divide of 91 nautical miles.
In keeping with the unknown quantities of this leg, the Spratly Islands are unexplored and very much unloved by Volvo Ocean Race crews. An area of over 250 square miles between Vietnam and the Philippines, there have been no systematic surveys done here for many years. For Spratlys, read coral reefs, shoals, atolls, rocks and sand banks.
The circumnavigational choices in this part of the world are a lottery according to Puma skipper Ken Read. “Approaching the North Lucoma Shoals, the water depth goes from 1,000 metres to three metres,” he reported. “We had three charts of these shoals. One said we ‘could’ go through the middle, one said ‘maybe’ and one said ‘no way’. They took the ‘no way’ route and made it stick. This time.”
A little skill and a lot of luck. Both are needed
“Of course,” adds Read, “you could go way out and around this massive area of shoals, but that would be a race loser. We will all be short-tacking through the shoals and reefs. From thousands of metres of depth, to virtually nothing. Really fun at night especially. A little skill, and a lot of luck. Both are needed.”
Difficult as they may be, the Spratlys are merely the entrée to a main course of heavy weather due to be served in 48 hours. This is the calm before the calamity.
There is still just over 30 hours before the fleet reaches the weather waypoint at South Rock Light, positioned near Manila in the Philippines. Race officials have decreed that they must keep to the east of this point to shelter from the impending gales and high seas.
While Ericsson 3’s Media Crew Member Gustav Morin says that a weather eye is being kept on the future, they have plenty on their plates right now. “Everyone is talking about what’s to come with the heavy winds and the big waves and forgets about the race that goes on every second out here,” he says.
“Not a day goes by without things happening. There is a lot of lumber and seaweed in the water around here. It is certainly an advantage to have a skipper (Magnus Olsson) used to compete in slalom. I don’t know how many times we have been less than one metre away from hitting something big enough to break a rudder or dagger board. During the day you can spot and avoid the big things. `During the night you’re depending on luck.
“Every hour someone checks the rudders and the keel with an endoscope to see if something has stuck. So far we have had to stop the boat three times.”
Though leading the fleet momentarily after the overnight reshuffle, Mikel Pasabant, the Media Crew Member on Telefonica Black says they are taking nothing for granted.
“The Volvo Open 70 is a strange animal”
“There has been a lot of discussions on the tactics recently, as it has to be, and it has proved worthwhile. Anyway, we all know this is a very tricky leg and anything may happen, you know, we are sailing through what could be called a minefield, not only due to the continuous reefs you face but for the tricky winds and squalls, which may put you in front of the fleet or at the back in one position report’s time.
“And not to forget the stray logs all around these waters: we had a collision against one of those with our starboard new rudder, and thank God nothing happened to the appendage. So we keep on working hard, let’s hope for some good luck, as far as we will soon face a notorious wind change in speed, and water and air temperature.”
For the Volvo newbies like Dutchman Fritz Koek, who has taken over as navigator on Delta Lloyd for this leg, there is some on-board acclimatisation to be done.
“Being new onboard such a racer, I’m trying to get into the rhythm of the daily routines,” he said. “In between every three-hour report, I try to ‘sleep’ – what noisy boats these are – and eat and drink sufficiently. Food is not gourmet, but all right. Unfortunately a series of rotten freeze-dried food was packed, so we have to be careful with our choices and rations.”
Koek is acutely aware that conditions might be moderate for now but mayhem is around the corner.
“We tacked in a dark, squally night and moved towards more offshore regions. We had to tack twice more to manoeuvre into a safe position – referring to the many shallow places around here – and into a stronger breeze. At this moment, we are experiencing some decreasing wind speeds, but still more than 10 knots. Our wind will arrive shortly… Even more in a couple of days.”
From a relatively old hand, Rick Deppe, grievances and grudging admiration in equal measure.
”The Volvo Open 70 is a strange animal, so beautiful to watch as they slide by all rocked up under massive sail area, the reality onboard is anything but,” he said. “Hard physical labour accompanied by the constant growl of machinery, winches screaming and thick powerful kidney punches coming up through the hull as the flat underbody pound’s thru the water. It’s particularly bad upwind the point of sail that these boats were not conceived for, hence their remarkable ability to consistently break records … downwind.
”Coincidentally we have about 1800 miles to go until Qingdao and its all upwind. Someone with a much bigger office than me came up with the idea and to be honest I’m not sure what the rationale was for taking the boats so far upwind at this time of year, but I’m going to assume that it’s the right thing to do, and I am in fact very much looking forward to visiting another new and different place.”
Leg 4, day 3, 16.00 GMT, rankings
1 – Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) DTF 1641 nm
2 – Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +2 nm
3 – Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +8 nm
4 – Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +28 nm
5 – Team Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +30 nm
6 – Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +45 nm
7 – Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +66 nm
To follow the race on Race Tracker click here.
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