Volvo Ocean Race, Team Russia finalmente in India
OceanoTeam RussiaVelaVolvo Ocean Race 3 Dicembre 2008 Zerogradinord 0
[singlepic=1002,250,170,,left]Volvo Ocean Race – Cochin – Con l’arrivo di Team Russia, registrato alle 13.23 GMT di oggi, si è ufficialmente conclusa la seconda tappa della Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009. Lo scafo di Andreas Hanakamp ha impiegato poco più di diciotto giorni per portare a termine la frazione, un tempo di gran lunga superiore rispetto a quello fatto registrare dagli avversari.
“E’ stato come andare sulle montagne russe – ha spiegato Hanakamp – In Oceano Indiano ce la siamo cavata molto bene e ci siamo divertiti molto, passando il cancello in quarta posizione. Poi, dopo una riunione, abbiamo preso la decisione di buttarci verso est, una soluzione che al tempo ci sembrava sensata: tutti sappiamo com’è andata a finire. Ci abbiamo creduto, abbiamo rischiato e non ha funzionato: questa è la vela!”.
Ora un pò di meritato riposo, da godere mentre lo shore team inizierà i lavori e le manutenzioni sulla barca. La partenza della terza tappa, da Cochin a Singapore di 1950 miglia, inizierà il 13 dicembre alle 14.00 ora locale, le 8.30 GMT.
Classifica generale dopo due tappe
1 – Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) pt. 26
2 – Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) pt. 19
3 – Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) pt. 18
4 – Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) pt. 16
5 – Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) pt. 14.5
6 – Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) pt. 8.5
7 – Team Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) pt. 7.5
8 – Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) pt. 7.5
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TEAM RUSSIA COMPLETES THE FLEET IN COCHIN
[singlepic=1003,250,170,,left][Volvo Ocean Race Press Release] Andreas Hanakamp and his men onboard Kosatka Team Russia finally made it to the finish of leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race in Cochin when they crossed the line at 13.23 GMT, after being at sea for 18 days, 2 hours 3 minutes and 30 seconds (elapsed time 18:02:03:30).
They were treated to a raucous welcome onshore as their arrival happened to coincide with the inauguration of the race village in Cochin. Thousands turned out to cheer the eighth place finisher.
Team Russia skipper Andreas Hanakamp/AUT was in good spirits as the boat pulled alongside the pontoon, and philosophical about their leg: “It’s been up and down. It was our conditions in the Southern Ocean and we felt really comfortable there, we had a lot of fun and kept pushing hard. The first transition zone I don’t think we got it perfect and then we had this meeting where we decided to go to the east, which made a lot of sense at the time, so we sacrificed 100 miles there in the hope we’d gain a couple of hundred miles, but…well, you know what happened. We risked, we went for it, and it didn’t work – that’s sailing.”
The team principal and bowman, Oleg Zherebtsov, had his first taste of the Volvo Ocean Race on this leg to Cochin and was in very good form as he stepped off the boat.
“I’m happy, happy, happy! It’s a very extreme feeling,” he said. “I can’t really describe it, we’ve been in such different conditions from the Southern Ocean with the cold and wind to the hot, +30-degrees and the Doldrums, no wind, and before that wind up to 40 knots and the Chinese gybe and then catching the fishing net…It’s such a powerful experience and after three weeks on the water to see all these people, it’s really amazing.”
Team Russia was slow out of Cape Town, but was soon back in the thick of things. Then, the team suffered their first real heavy-air broach on day four of the 19-day leg, but luckily did no damage to the boat. Hanakamp said yesterday that the boat is in remarkably good order thanks to the solid construction by Green Marine in Lymington, UK.
They made a good showing at the scoring gate, crossing in fourth place to earn 2.5 points, but it was when the team made the calculated decision to head east around the Doldrums that things started to go wrong. Out on the eastern flank of the fleet, the Kosatka crew had opted to sail a longer route with the promise of more wind, which did not materialise, leaving them wallowing in the calms, while the rest of the crews were reaching in the tradewinds towards Cochin.
As a final insult, the team became entangled in an unlit fishing net on Monday night, which required them to lower the sails and stop the boat for upwards of two hours as the crew set about freeing themselves. But despite the setbacks, morale onboard remained good and spirits high as the team approached the finish.
Leg three of the Volvo Ocean Race, 1950 nm from Cochin to Singapore starts on Saturday 13 December at 14.00 local time (08.30 GMT).
Ranking after two legs
1 – Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) pt. 26
2 – Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) pt. 19
3 – Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) pt. 18
4 – Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) pt. 16
5 – Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) pt. 14.5
6 – Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) pt. 8.5
7 – Team Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) pt. 7.5
8 – Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) pt. 7.5
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