Volvo Ocean Race, si procede a fatica
Equipo TelefonicaEricsson RacingGreen Dragon RacingOceanoPuma Ocean RacingTeam Delta LloydVelaVolvo Ocean Race 26 Gennaio 2009 Zerogradinord 0
[singlepic=1537,250,170,,left]Volvo Ocean Race – Mar Cinese Meridionale – Il mare mosso e le raffiche fino a 45 nodi stanno imperversando ancora sulla flotta, impegnata al largo delle coste di Taiwan. Fino ad ora relativamente indenne, Telefonica Blue mantiene la leadership sul gruppo, con un vantaggio considerevole su Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson) ed Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael).
“Pensavo che non ci fosse nulla di peggio delle condizioni che stiamo affrontando, ma mi sbagliavo. Abbiamo avuto una collisione con un oggetto semi sommerso che ci ha portato via un pezzo di prua. Fortunatamente – ha dichiarato Bouwe Bekking, skipper di Telefonica Blue – non è un grosso danno e questo ci permette di proseguire la nostra corsa”.
Nel frattempo Il Mostro, a circa 100 miglia dal leader, procede in quarta posizione. Dopo la rottura del boma, ora arriva anche un bollettino medico: lo skipper Ken Read si è ferito a un dito in una manovra, ignorando quella che lui definisce una sua regola empirica: “La prima cosa che dico ad una persona che sale su queste barche è di non mettere mai le mani vicino a carrelli, cime in tensione o bozzelli. Beh, io oggi ho fatto esattamente il contrario e ora mi ritrovo con un dito a cui manca il 30 per cento della sua lunghezza. Sono ufficialmente uno stupido”.
Delta Lloyd e Green Dragon procedono rispettivamente a 212 e 259 miglia dal primo, ma entrambi gli equipaggi si dicono determinati, nonostante i danni, a non mollare e proseguire fino a Qingdao.
Leg 4, day 8, 01.12 GMT, rankings
1 – Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 671 nm
2 – Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +62 nm
3 – Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +86 nm
4 – Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +97 nm
5 – Team Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +212 nm
6 – Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) + 259 nm
7 – Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) Retired
Per seguire la regata sul Race Tracker clicca qui.
VOLVO OCEAN RACE, BULLYING TACTICS
[singlepic=1538,250,170,,left][Volvo Ocean Race Press Release] Angry seas, gusts of up to 45 knots, the fleet continues to endure harassment off the Taiwanese coast. And, in keeping with the wanton bullying on this fourth leg, it was leader Telefonica Blue, relatively unscathed up till now, who filed the latest assault charge.
“I thought we had seen it all, but what about this? We had a collision with an object and there is a chunk out of our bow. Luckily it is in our so-called crash bow, which is about 40cm thick, and especially designed with this in mind – skipper Bouwe Bekking reported – The real structural bow is further back, so we don’t take on water. The other bad news is we are in a storm again, with gusts of 45 knots. The main is lashed down to the boom, and we just have a small front sail up. The waves are even more confused than 48 hours ago, so we take it very easy. Full survival mode again.”
By the 16.00 GMT Position Report, Telefonica Blue’s lead over it’s pursuers – Ericsson 3 and 4 – had shrunk. Having taken their foot off the gas momentarily and ”with two men down”, Telefonica Blue had surrendered 16 miles to the Nordics (+40 miles Distance To Leader) in the past six hours.
Telefonica Blue is 35 nautical miles off Cape Sandiao on the north-eastern tip of Taiwan. Ericsson 4, tracking the sister ship, has conceded ground and was +72 – a loss of 10 miles over the same period. The Ericsson twins are approaching the Zuna Shoals, two thirds of the way up the eastern side of Taiwan, where the Philippine Sea meets the East China Sea.
Further back – in the casualty department – Puma (broken boom) was at +82, Delta Lloyd (shredded mainsail, broken wheel), was +191 having cut the corner at the southern tip of Taiwan, once safely through the Luzon Strait. “A little bit of manoeuvring through some shallows and along some islands, and we are in open waters,” reported navigator Frits Koek.
Green Dragon (broken forestay, structural damage to the bow – twice) was limping along in last place at +231.
Meanwhile, Telefonica Black (crack in hull deck joint) made it to intensive care in Subic Bay off the Philippines last night. We await the prognosis on rehabilitation.
Despite the mauling of the past few days, the mood on Green Dragon is on the rise according to skipper Ian Walker. In an audio interview this morning he said that the repairs to their bow section were holding and thoughts of retirement had been shelved for the time being.
“We have damaged the bow slightly since we repaired it. We’ve actually given it quite a bit of slamming and its holding firm so we are increasingly encouraged about our situation,” he said. “In fact in the last hour we have dropped the trysail and put up the main again.
“We are making good progress – but we need to because there’s lot’s more strong head winds due over the next four days. Make no mistake it’s going to be very tough. Our mainsail is also delaminating and falling apart so we are having to be very careful with that.
We are absolutely determined to get to Qingdao
“But we are absolutely determined to get to Qingdao. We don’t want to retire, we want to finish this leg – every member of this crew – and we don’t care how long it takes us. Obviously we want to get there quickly to give the shore crew enough time for repairs. We don’t want to give up. We have stopped talking about contingency plans be it going to Hong Kong or Taiwan and right now all the talk is about how we get to Qingdao in the fastest and safest possible way. But we still have some tough times ahead.”
There was a medical bulletin from Puma. Skipper Ken Read is nursing an injured finger after ignoring his own Rule Of Thumb on board: “We have brought about a million people sailing on our Volvo 70 over the past year and a half,” he said. “The first thing we do is tell them not to put their hands on any loaded lines like the mainsheet or runners. Well, I did not heed my own warning. I was about to ease the bottom purchase of our new mainsheet system, when we fell off a wave. I braced myself by holding a rope that ran beside me. The exact time I went to hold the rope was the exact time it was being eased through a large titanium block. The block sucked my left index finger in until I gave a little “hold” call then instinctively I just pulled it out. Yuck. Not much of the last 30 per cent of my finger left. I am officially a dumb ass and my typing has now taken a severe efficiency hit.”
As Mark Chisnell opined in his Ten Zulu this morning … “every one knows that skippers and navigators shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near tools, ropes or winches – it should be in the contract …” Being a navigator – and a Zulu warlord – he’s well-placed to pass judgement on the matter.
Still carrying on without the boom, after it snapped two days’ ago, Read is hoping that the Chinese New Year brings an upturn in their fortunes. “Today is the first day of Chinese New Year, the Year of the Ox. I have been told that the Ox symbolises prosperity, through fortitude and hard work.
“Basically, keep working at it, and the results will come. Well, let’s hope we can. We lived through some brutal seas last night and have a few more structural problems. The body shop trio of Casey (Smith), Salty (Rob Salthouse) and Michi (Mueller) have got il mostro nearly back into fighting form again. Today is another day and we battle on.”
Weather forecasts predict that the fleet will experience further rough conditions as they home in on the northern end of Taiwan. Strong winds against a heavy current mean one thing – heavy seas – on the China coast.
Current ETA’s in the race Data Centre have Telefonica Blue reaching Qingdao in the early hours of Thursday 29 January. There are 650 miles remaining for Telefonica Blue, but with Ericsson 3 threatening, the fleet likely to be on the receiving end of a hike in wind speed and a drop in temperatures, there is still all to play for.
Already thoughts are turning to the chillier climes to come. Green Dragon’s pitman Tom Braidwood said: “We are focused on the challenge of just getting the boat there (to Qingdao) and facing the freezing conditions expected. There are a few of us blokes who grew up in the southern latitudes who do not like the cold. The shore crew report -10 degrees … you are kidding!”
No, Tom, we’re not kidding. Bring your thermals.
Leg 4, day 8, 01.12 GMT, rankings
1 – Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 671 nm
2 – Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +62 nm
3 – Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +86 nm
4 – Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +97 nm
5 – Team Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +212 nm
6 – Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) + 259 nm
7 – Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) Retired
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