Volvo Ocean Race, lento procedere
Equipo TelefonicaEricsson RacingGreen Dragon RacingOceanoPuma Ocean RacingTeam Delta LloydVelaVolvo Ocean Race 14 Aprile 2009 Zerogradinord 0
[singlepic=2205,300,204,,left]Volvo Ocean Race – Rio de Janeiro – Alle 13.00 GMT di oggi, Bouwe Bekking e Telefonica Blue difendevano la loro leadership nella sesta tappa della Volvo Ocean Race dall’assalto di Ericsson 4, portatosi a sole 8 miglia dalla vetta. Lo scafo spagnolo continua a mantenersi al largo rispetto ai diretti avversari: al momento del rilevamento, infatti, Telefonica Blue era a 270 miglia dal faro di Itabuna.
“Volevamo la destra del percorso e siamo riusciti a prenderela – ha spiegato lo skipper olandese nel corso di collegamento radio – Le prossime 48 ore saranno davvero impegnative, con il vento che si manterrà debole e instabile, obbligandoci a estenuanti turni di guardia”.
La flotta, che in questi minuti sta transitando davanti a Salvador de Bahia, continua ad essere spaccata in due: Telefonica Blue, il sorprendente Team Delta LLoyd, attualmente il più a est di tutti, Telefonica Black e Green Dragon al largo e il terzetto formato dai due Ericsson e Il Mostro leggermente spostato verso terra, dove la brezza si prospetta più intensa.
C’è un pò di diappunto in seno al gruppo perchè i tanto attesi trade-winds si stanno facendo attendere. Seppur spinti da venti di direzione giusta, infatti, i VOR 70 si aspettavano qualche nodo di brezza in più.
Intanto a bordo si riflette su come la regata abbia cambiato il modo di intendere il tempo e lo spazio. Interessante in tal senso il report di una chiaccherata tra Andrew Cape e Rick Deppe, navigatore e mediam crew member di Puma: “Proprio oggi ci siamo sorpresi nel notare come si cammini lungo le banchine e si salga in barca partendo per una tappa di 5000 miglia come se si dovesse navigare per una notte sola. Non che si senta venire meno l’impegno agonistico, affatto. E’ che, in fin dei conti, tempi così lunghi ti insegnano ad essere più paziente: 700 miglia al cancello? 300 all’arrivo? Non importa, siamo qui e per scendere dobbiamo prima arrivare in porto. Lento o veloce non fa differenza, l’importante è semplicemente finire prima degli altri”.
Leg 6, day 3, 13.00 GMT, rankings
1. Telefonica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 4554
2. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +8 nm
3. Team Delta Lloyd NED (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +14 nm
4. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magus Olsson/SWE) +20 nm
5. Telefonica Black ESP (Fernando Echavarri/ESP) +21 nm
6. Il Mostro USA (Ken Read/USA) +25 nm
7. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +32 nm
CHAMPAGNE SAILING? DEFINITELY NOT!
[Volvo Ocean Race Press Release] Today at 13.00 GMT, Bouwe Bekking and his team on Telefónica Blue held the lead from Ericsson 4 by eight miles. Still sticking the offshore side of the course, Bekking was 270 nm from the Itabuna lighthouse on the Brazilian coast.
“We want to be on the right hand side of the course,” said Bekking in a radio interview this afternoon. “We are making some gains now,” he said. Bekking is expecting very mixed conditions in the light breeze over the next 48 hours, which he says will be very tricky. The fleet is currently hard on the wind.
Following faithfully in the wake of Telefónica Blue were Delta Lloyd, just slightly to the east, Telefónica Black directly in her sistership’s wake, and Green Dragon, the furthest west of this bunch. Fourteen miles east of this pack are the two Ericsson boats and their long-term friend, Puma.
Now thoroughly into the south easterly trade winds, the fleet should be enjoying a fast transition to the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha, 700 nm to the north, but instead, the trade winds are not living up to their reputation. In fact, champagne sailing this most certainly is not.
Wouter Verbraak, the Dutch navigator of Delta Lloyd in third place reports winds varying from seven to 18 knots with a wind direction from almost everywhere. To make this even more difficult, clouds have appeared. Some are windy, some are big, some are small, and some have no wind at all. This has meant the crews have had to change sails on a constant basis. Although Verbraak says that using their furling masthead code zero sail has made sail changing in the squalls more palatable. Verbraak’s strategy is to stay with the easterly route, as he believes there are less squalls and better wind further away from the shore.
For Fernando Echávarri’s Telefónica Black, the leader in the initial stages, hope has changed into temporary frustration. “What next?” questions their navigator Roger Nilson. “We are just looking for new chances to be the over-taker instead of the over-taken,” he said.
While the crews struggle under the influence of the clouds, the end of this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race is looming. Rick Deppe, MCM onboard Puma say’s he is amazed at the way the race has changed his sense of time and distance.
“Capey (navigator Andrew Cape) and I were idly chatting this morning about the way we can just walk down the dock, throw some gear on the boat and set off on a 5000 mile leg with very little fuss. Of course, we want to do well in the race, and we must be sure that everything is taken care of in our own particular area, but pretty much, we take this leg on as though we were going out on an overnight trip. Most of all, you become patient… 750 miles to the gate, then another 300 to the finish. No biggy, we’ll get there.”
Others are not counting off the miles and Ericsson 3‘s skipper Magnus Olsson, doesn’t want the race to finish at all. This morning his crew mentioned that it is only approximately two months until the race arrives in Stockholm, the home city of Ericsson. Magnus instantly changed from the smiling skipper the crew are used to, and became very serious. “I know,” he said. “It feels tragic. I don’t want to think about it. Can’t we just continue and make another lap straight away,” he said.
Leg 6, day 3, 13.00 GMT, rankings
1. Telefonica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 4554
2. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +8 nm
3. Team Delta Lloyd NED (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +14 nm
4. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magus Olsson/SWE) +20 nm
5. Telefonica Black ESP (Fernando Echavarri/ESP) +21 nm
6. Il Mostro USA (Ken Read/USA) +25 nm
7. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +32 nm
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