Volvo Ocean Race, the long way home

[singlepic=662,250,170,,left]Volvo Ocean Race – Oceano Atlantico – Mancano poco più di duecento miglia ad Ericsson 4 per raggiungere il traguardo della prima tappa. Lo scafo di Torben Grael, staccatosi dal gruppo pochi giorni fa ed entrato nella storia della vela per essere stata la prima imbarcazione a percorrere più di seicento miglia in 24 ore, difende senza grossi problemi il vantaggio accumulato su Il Mostro e, se dovesse venire rispettata l’attuale previsione, arriverà sotto la Table Mountain alle 8.00 GMT di domani mattina.
La coppia di testa è l’unica ad aver optato per una rotta a nord. Il resto della flotta si è invece spinto verso sud, in cerca di venti più intensi e ha strambato nel corso della mattinata mettendosi in rotta verso il Sudafrica. L’unico a proseguire nella sua navigazione meridionale è Ericsson 3 di Anders Lewander, terzo ma insidiato da Greeen Dragon, lontano meno di trenta miglia. L’attacco della barca irlandese sarebbe potuto essere ancor più incisivo se solo l’equipaggio di Ian Walker non si fosse trovato a dover fare i conti con la rottura di due spinnaker. “Il nostro velaio si è dato da fare e gli spi sono quasi come nuovi. Per tentare di recuperare in condizioni dure come quelle che stiamo vivendo ho dovuto ridisegnare il sistema dei turni. Ora abbiamo un doppio turno di standby. Ciò significa che si dorme due ore ogni otto di lavoro. Tantissima fatica, in cambio ho molte braccia a dispozione”.
Problemi per tutti, anche per Telefonica Blue di Bouwe Bekking, finito steso su un lato nel corso della notte e ripartito dopo alcune ore passate a far la conta dei danni. Discorso più o meno analogo vale per Ger O’Rourke e per il suo team, impegnato abordo di Team Delta Lloyd, l’ex ABN Amro One: “Vista la lunga lista di lavori che dobbiamo fare e il poco tempo a disposizione, quando saremo arrivati ci prenderemo solo un giorno di riposo”.

Volvo Ocean Race – Leg 1 – Posizioni 13.00 GMT
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 237nm
Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +110
Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +345
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +372
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +478
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +558
Delta Lloyd IRL (Ger O’Rourke/IRL) +605
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +673

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The home strait
[singlepic=661,250,170,,left][Volvo Ocean Race Press Release] Torben Grael and his crew onboard Ericsson 4 is on the home strait with just 237 nm to go to the finish of leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race in Cape Town. The boat went into StealthPlay last night at 1900 GMT, emerging still in the north, where although the breeze is lighter, there are less miles to sail to the finish.
Weather-routeing software is predicting an arrival time of just after 0800 GMT tomorrow morning, with second placed Puma at approximately 1630 GMT, although times are likely to slip back as the wind softens on the approach to the finish line.
Il Mostro (Ken Read) stayed in the north with Ericsson 4, but at 1300 GMT today, was 110 nm behind her and sailing considerably slower. The rest of the fleet opted for the cold, southerly option, 500 miles south, which meant more miles to sail, but potentially the promise of more wind.
All the southerly boats, except Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander) gybed north this morning and are heading straight for the barn door. Ericsson will cross ahead of the Dragons on port gybe, and at 1300 GMT today, she went into Stealth mode.
Two blown-out spinnakers have cost Ian Walker’s Green Dragon valuable miles and allowed Anders Lewander and his Nordic crew to gain advantage. Flying their masthead spinnaker at night, in over 25 knots of wind and quite big waves, the Green Dragon crew was trying to make up lost miles caused by keel damage earlier in the week. A line squall hit the boat and the rapidly rising wind led to a sequence of consequences that meant the spinnaker was in shreds.
By 0600 this morning, the newly repaired sail was rehoisted. “As good as new (well sort of),” wrote Ian Walker today. In the strong wind, his crew have been sailing a ‘double standby’ watch, which means that each crewmember only has two hours to sleep in his bunk out of every eight, which is not enough according to Walker. “It does mean that when it is rough, we have seven people in kit, ready to be on deck at a moment’s notice. We have needed them on several occasions,” he said.
The Dragons were not the only ones to suffer overnight. “Last night, just after coming from watch, disaster struck,” wrote Telefonica Blue skipper Bouwe Bekking. “I was in the galley, preparing some coffee, when, all of a sudden, I felt the boat making a bad move, and quickly, it flipped on its side. We had to have all hands on deck to drop the spinnaker, which had fallen in the water but , miraculously, had stayed in one piece. Quickly the chaos was under control, and we hoisted another spinnaker, but we knew the next position report would mean a loss, but so be it,” he said.
Onboard Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp), the crew has been hampered by a broken aerial. This means that they have been unable to download the all- important weather information needed for navigation. For the last 48 hours, they have had no information to rely on, although navigator, Wouter Verbraak is confident he will have it fixed soon.
Further back, the crew of Delta Lloyd (Ger’ O’Rourke) face a big job list when they arrive in Cape Town, which will need shift work and the crew jumping back into the jobs list according to skipper Ger O’Rourke. “With the exception of one and a quarter days off, it will be back to work to prepare for the next leg,” he said.
Bringing up the rear is Telefonica Black (Fernando Echavarri), which went to 36 degrees south before gybing north. “Considering the problems we have had, we keep in high spirits onboard and there is always a smile, even when talking about controlling the food in case we need more than predicted,” says Mikel Pasabant from onboard.

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