Volvo Ocean Race, puniti dal sud
Equipo TelefonicaEricsson RacingGreen Dragon RacingOceanoPuma Ocean RacingVelaVolvo Ocean Race 8 Marzo 2009 Zerogradinord 0
[singlepic=1901,250,170,,left]Volvo Ocean Race – Oceano Pacifico – La tradizionale rotta a sud continua a punire Telefonica Blue. Mentre il VOR 70 di Bouwe Bekking, fino a tre giorni fa leader della flotta, se la deve vedere con venti deboli di direzione variabile, navigando per la maggior parte del tempo di bolina, circa 200 miglia più a nord si vive un altro tipo di esperienza. Gli avversari hanno lascato le scotte e, spinnaker a riva, volano con prua est-sudest verso il primo Ice Gate, guidati da Ericsson 3.
A bordo di Telefonica Blue, messo alle corde dalla rottura dello strallo di prua, si riflette sull’accaduto e si cerca di capire se sarà possibile colmare il divario di 326 miglia che lo separe dal leader: “Stiamo soffrendo contro i venti leggeri. Penso agli anni passati e mi convinco sempre più che questo non è lo stesso Oceano che ricordo: invece dei Quaranta Ruggenti, qui abbiamo a che fare con i quaranta noiosi – spiega il navigatore Simon Fisher – Entro poco, però, le cose potrebbero cambiare: non appena incontreremo il giro di vento, potremo lascare le vele e fare rotta verso l’Ice Gate a velocità ottimale. Essendo i più a sud di tutti possiamo sperare di recuperare qualcosa. Ma, che ci crediate o no, sono ancora sorridente. Anche se le cose potrebbero andare meglio, devo ammettere che mi sto godendo l’Oceano. A bordo sono tutti sereni e convinti di poter finire questa tappa: per come si sono messe le cose, sarebbe già un bel risultato”.
Intanto, Ericsson 3 non ha ancora finito di incassare i crediti accumulati grazie alla strepitosa scelta tattica di Aksel Magdahl, primo tra i navigatori ad aver intuito che la rotta da seguire era quella nord. Meno di 24 ore fa, infatti, il vantaggio dell’equipaggio scandinavo era di 42 miglia su Il Mostro, ora, invece, le miglia sono diventate 115.
Leggermente a nord dello scafo di Ken Read staziona Ericsson 4, l’unico ad aver recuperato qualcosina sul battistrada. Piuttosto strana la scelta tattica di Green Dragon che, da quando ha virato mettendo la prua verso l’Ice Gate, ha tenuto una rotta molto più a sud rispetto agli avversari, perdendo parecchio terreno. Sembra che Wouter Verbraak voglia raggiungere il prima possibile la boa di percorso, quasi avesse in serbo una mossa a sorpresa.
Leg 5, day 22, 10.00 GMT, rankings
1. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) DTF 5793 nm
2. Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +113 nm
3. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +125 nm
4. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +239 nm
5. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +326 nm
Team Delta Lloyd NED/IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS
POWER SWITCH ON
[Volvo Ocean Race Press Release] The traditional southerly route continues to punish Telefonica Blue as the team remains singled-out for an extra dose of upwind punishment. It’s slow and frustrating, not least of all because the rest of the fleet has cracked the sheets, put up the spinnakers, and are roaring away.
“We have been battling in the south with lighter winds and a variable direction. Now we are having to watch the rest of the competition blasting along while we plod along upwind,” complains Simon Fisher from the Blue boat. “For a while we were tacking every few hours, trying to make progress in the right direction. Perhaps my memory has faded in the last few years but this certainly isn’t the Southern Ocean I remember! The Roaring Forties are more like the Boring Forties at the moment!”
Boring or tedious…take your pick. But on Telefonica Blue, the result is the same, lost miles to the rest of the fleet who remain further to the north. How bad is it? Take a look in the Data Centre for an indication. At 04.00 GMT, the 24 hour runs for the other boats range from 345 to 414 miles. Telefonica Blue, in contrast, managed to make just 219 miles over the same time period, dropping at lest 125 miles to every other boat in the fleet. Ouch! But there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon according to Fisher.
“Things do look set to improve for us, once we finally get lifted and onto our downwind sails hopefully we will be closer to our optimum speed and things will seem a little less bleak than they do now,” he reported this morning. “…Believe it or not I am still smiling. Whilst it would be fair to say this race could be going better I have to admit I am still enjoying my time on the ocean. Everyone on board is still pretty happy and are able to make light of the situation which I’m sure will see us through to the finish.”
Meanwhile, over 200 miles to the north, and still the most northerly boat in the fleet, Ericsson 3 continues to reap the benefits from their bold decision to leave the fleet after the scoring gate. Magnus Olsson’s Nordic crew has powered through 414 miles over the past 24 hours – the most in the fleet – to solidify their position at the head of the leaderboard.
Puma retains second place, but is now 115 miles behind Ericsson 3. At this time yesterday, the delta was just 42 miles. But now that the team has turned off the wind a few degrees, boatspeed is up, and so are the spirits aboard Il Mostro says media man Rick Deppe.
“Il Mostro is pointed at Cape Horn, sheets are eased and the boat finally gets to do its thing; chew up miles in the ocean. I can’t tell you how good it feels to be not going upwind, although the angle we are sailing right now is no more comfortable than if we were…tipped over, bouncy and very wet.”
Finally, a taste of the South. For the first time in this leg, all five boats are in the Roaring Forties this morning (or as Simon Fisher dubbed it, the Boring Forties). In terms of wind speed, he’s not wrong. At 04.00 GMT, Green Dragon was the only boat in the fleet to report winds above 20 knots. But despite the relatively benign conditions, skipper Ian Wallker says danger is always lurking.
“Yesterday was a perfect example of having to keep our heads,” he wrote this morning. “We sailed into the centre of a low pressure and got a 90 degree left hand shift which was exactly as we hoped. The problem was that it takes a few hours for the waves to shift round so we were now heading straight into the waves and the boat was leaping around dangerously. We opted to sail for three hours with a small jib and reefed mainsail in only 16 knots of wind to try and safeguard the structure of the boat but at the cost of precious miles.
“It is very frustrating having to try and slow down when normally you are trying to go as fast as possible. Slowly but surely the waves came round and we have since been averaging more than 20 knots of boatspeed. It feels great to have a spinnaker up and even better to see the miles ticking by. At least there is no more upwind sailing in the short term forecast.”
The setting of the spinnaker wasn’t the only cause for celebration aboard the Dragon. Watch captain Damian Foxall turned 40 yesterday, although his present was somewhat underwhelming: “Yesterday was a special day onboard as it was Damian’s 40th birthday. Unfortunately all he got for his birthday was a bag of chocolate and a face full of sea water all day long – said Walker – Happy Birthday anyway Damian and I hope you get to celebrate properly in Rio. Let’s hope we are not still out here for your 41st.”
It shouldn’t be that bad. In terms of mileage, Ericsson 3 now has less than 6000 miles to go to the finish, which translates to something around 17 days if you’re averaging 15 knots. Will they be able to keep up that kind of pace?
Leg 5, day 22, 10.00 GMT, rankings
1. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) DTF 5793 nm
2. Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +113 nm
3. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +125 nm
4. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +239 nm
5. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +326 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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