Volvo Ocean Race, problemi per Telefonica Blue
Equipo TelefonicaGreen Dragon RacingIncidentiOceanoVelaVolvo Ocean Race 23 Novembre 2008 Zerogradinord 0
[singlepic=859,250,170,,left]Volvo Ocean Race – Oceano Indiano – Regata ricca di colpi di scena la Volvo Ocean Race. Proprio quando tutto sembrava andare per il meglio, l’equipaggio di Telefonica Blue, salito sino alla terza piazza, ha dovuto fare i conti con la rottura di uno dei daggerboard. Un episodio sottolineato da un forte rumore e dal cambio di assetto della barca.
“Appena sentito il botto abbiamo sollevato la lama e l’abbiamo trovata completamente distrutta – ha spiegato Bekking via radio – Ci sono voluti quarantacinque minuti per risolvere il problema”. Quarantacinque minuti nel corso dei quali il VOR 70 spagnolo ha navigato sulle mura sbagliate, allontanandosi dall’arrivo e perdendo una decina di miglia rispetto agli avversari. Un danno cui si è aggiunta la beffa per Pepe Ribes, obbligato a un bagno fuori programma per aiutare il daggerboard a sbloccarsi dalla posizione nella quale era rimasto incastrato. Ora Telefonica Blue ha ripreso la sua navigazione, ma la velocità è molto ridotta rispetto a prima.
La buona notizia è che Laurent Pages, infortunatosi in seguito ad una scivolata in coperta causata da un’onda, è tornato ad occuparsi della regolazione della randa: “Non lo puoi fermare – ha detto Bekking – Si stava annoiando moltissimo e così, in condizioni non troppo impegnative, gli abbiamo dato il permesso di salire in coperta”. Per lui, che ha un braccio fuori uso, una culla ricavata tra due spynnaker e un piccolo supporto per bloccargli i piedi.
Anche Green Dragon sta lottando contro le problematiche di questa tappa. Il boma è ancora rotto, anche se Ian Walker ha affermato ceh la barca naviga veloce anche se menomata: “Gli unici problemi li abbiamo quando dobbiamo reagire rapidamente a un colpo di vento”.
Secondo lo skipper del VOR 70 irlandese la riparazione può attendere, in quanto l’operazione richiederebbe grande concentrazione da parte dell’equipaggio e non permetterebbe alla barca di tornare al cento per cento delle sue potenzialità.
Leg 2, day 8, 13.00 GMT, rankings
1 – Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) 1.935 nm
2 – Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +7 nm
3 – Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +34 nm
4 – Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +43 nm
5 – Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +53 nm
7 – Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +98 nm
6 – Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +135 nm
8 – Team Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +154 nm
Per seguire la regata sul Race Tracker clicca qui.
Per accedere alla galleria video clicca qui.
DAMAGE FOR TELEFONICA BLUE
[Volvo Ocean Race Press Release] Just when everything seemed to be going right for Bouwe Bekking and his men on Telefónica Blue, it all went wrong again. The boat was loving the conditions, the crew were pushing hard, and slowly, but surely, climbing back up the leaderboard, when the crew heard a big bang, and everything changed.
“We snapped one of our daggerboards, the boards which prevent the boat from slipping sideways,” explained skipper Bouwe Bekking. “We destroyed it and had to stop the boat for 45 minutes,” he said. Even worse for the crew, the little speed they were able to do, was on the wrong tack and sailing away from the finish in India and they lost 10 precious miles.
The crew found hammers, chisels and hacksaws to try and cut the board free, but, in the end, Pepe Ribes from Spain was lowered into the water to get rid of all the bits and pieces so that the board could be raised again.
The team is underway again, but sailing much slower than they would like. The good news is that Laurent Pages from France, who was injured in the big weather last week when he was washed down the boat, is back up on deck and even trimming the mainsail.
“You can’t stop him,” says Bekking. “He [Laurent] was getting very, very bored, so we have given him this joy, as the conditions are not too bad.” The crew have braced Pages between two spinnakers and made a little stand to lock his feet in to. His injured arm is hanging limply beside his body and he is still unable use it.
The jury is clearly out on Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) as to whether the crew should attempt to repair their broken boom or not. Skipper Ian Walker says the boat is still going well with no boom.
“When we have the mainsail set up, it looks good. The problems are when we need to react quickly to shifts of gusts as have about four sheets hanging off it.” He says repairing the boom could be more of a distraction, especially as even with the repair, it will far from 100 percent.
Meanwhile, Tom Braidwood/AUS and Damien Foxall/IRL have been busy fixing other things, including water leaking badly through the glue joining the port daggerboard. While they were making the repair, the steering sheave, which prevents the boat from Chinese gybing, came off.
Braidwood assessed the damage and decided on stopping the leak first, as the team was able to steer with the leeward wheel. Braidwood is in the mood for repairs and is keen to have the challenge of repairing the boom, but he is waiting for Ian Walker to give him the go ahead. If the repair is attempted, Braidwood says it will be from a combination of mainsail battens, glue, carbon and anything else he can find. He says it will look ugly, but if it works, he will be very happy.
Meanwhile, the Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) crew was unfortunate enough to catch about seven metres of heavy, arm-thick rope around the port rudder, which stalled the boat and slowed it down.
Today at t 13.00 GMT, the lead had swapped and it was Ericsson 3’s (Anders Lewander/SWE) turn at the front, seven miles ahead of yesterday’s leader Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA). Ericsson 3 is creaming along at around 19 knots, the highest average in the fleet. Telefónica Blue and Puma have both overtaken Green Dragon, to move up to third spot and fourth respectively. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) hasswapped places with Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) and Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) brings up the rear.
Leg 2, day 8, 10.00 GMT, rankings
1 – Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) 1.935 nm
2 – Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +8 nm
3 – Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +24 nm
4 – Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +44 nm
5 – Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +50 nm
7 – Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +95 nm
6 – Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +127 nm
8 – Team Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +140 nm
To follow the race on Race Tracker click here.
To visit the official video gallery click here.
No comments so far.
Be first to leave comment below.