Volvo Ocean Race, tra le insidie del Mare Cinese Meridionale
Equipo TelefonicaEricsson RacingGreen Dragon RacingOceanoPuma Ocean RacingTeam Delta LloydVelaVolvo Ocean Race 20 Gennaio 2009 Zerogradinord 0
[singlepic=1452,250,170,,left]Volvo Ocean Race – Mar Cinese Meridionale – Dopo tre giorni di navigazione, il Mar Cinese Meridionale è ormai diventato l’incubo dei protagonisti della Volvo Ocean Race. Tra banchi di alghe, bassi fondali e detriti, gli equipaggi sono obbligati ad avanzare con gli occhi bene aperti.
Una situazione difficile, che il navigatore di Telefonica Blue, Simon Fisher, ha descritto in una mail, inviata da bordo oggi pomeriggio: “Passare attraverso alcuni banchi di sabbia è stato davvero molto stressante. Si è rivelato peggiore di quanto avevo immaginato leggendo le carte nautiche dell’Ammiragliato. Starne troppo lontani è penalizzante ai fini della regata, durante la quale si sta attenti a non sprecare nemmeno un centimetro. Ma posso assicurarvi che navigare con l’occhio costantemente puntato verso l’ecoscandaglio non è la cosa più entusiasmante che si possa fare”.
Per Aksel Magdhal, invece, a rappresentare un grosso problema sono i tanti tronchi alla deriva. Il navigatore Ericsson 3 è stato piuttosto chiaro: “Stiamo facendo uno slalom infinito per evitare di colpire i tronchi disseminati in mare. A quanto pare sono portati in mare dal fiume Sabah, nel Borneo, e poi la corrente li sparge per tutto il Mare Meridionale Cinese”.
Nel frattempo, raggiunta la sponda ovest del Borneo la flotta ha virato per la prima volta dalla partenza, mettendo la prua verso nord-nordest. A comandare i giochi è sempre Il Mostro, anche se il gruppo, a parte le eccezioni rappresentate da Green Dragon e dal Team Delta Lloyd, è piuttosto compatto. Telefonica Blue è dato alla pari con il VOR 70 di Ken Read ed effettivamente le due barche sono davvero appaiate. Poco più a est, il leader della classifica Ericsson 4 è terzo a 1 miglio dalla coppia di testa, mentre Ericsson 3, in quarta posizione, accusa un ritardo di 6 miglia.
Leg 4, day 2, 22.00 GMT, rankings
1 – Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) DTF 1819 nm
2 – Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +0 nm
3 – Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +1 nm
4 – Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +6 nm
5 – Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +9 nm
6 – Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +24 nm
7 – Team Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +29 nm
Per seguire la regata sul Race Tracker clicca qui.
DODGING AND WEAVING
[Volvo Ocean Race Press Release] The South China Sea became an obstacle course on day three with shoals and debris ever-present on the passage to Qingdao. Dodging and weaving is de rigueur for the navigators. This leg was billed as a step into the unknown and Telefonica Blue’s Simon Fisher underlined the fact when he spoke of the booby traps confronting the fleet in an email this afternoon.
”It is a little stressful as we had to weave our way through some nasty shoals,” he said. “I think it probably made it worse that I had taken the time to read the Admiralty Sailing Directions which described them as both ‘badly charted’ and ‘possibly in error by many miles’. Giving lots of distance away to take the easy way round wasn’t really an option after fighting for every inch, so as a result it was a nervous few minutes as we passed through the worst of it watching the depth sounder drop to just a few metres several times over. Having escaped unscathed, hopefully, our more northerly path through as compared to our rivals, has set us in good stead.”
Ericsson 3 navigator Aksel Magdahl was struggling to see the wood for the trees. “At the moment we are making a slalom turn every now and then to avoid huge logs floating in the water. Apparently they float down the rivers in Sabah, Borneo, and some of them end up out here.”
Meanwhile, for Green Dragon, yet more obstacles. “Right now the wind is down and we are preparing to thread our way through a thousand reefs,” reported skipper Ian Walker. “This is definitely the calm before the impending storm.”
For now conditions are benign as the fleet continues upwind in 10-12 knots and moderate seas. They are lurking in a transition zone, eyeing an anticipated wind shift and an option for tacking onto starboard. A glance at our 2D Race Viewer, shows the pack separated by 21 nautical miles from first to last and less than 10 miles across a north/south divide.
By the 16.00 GMT Position Report, Puma led the way with Ericsson 4, to the south, second at +2 miles Distance To Leader and Telefonica Blue (+4) in third. In close company were Telefonica Black and Ericsson 3 (tied on +16), Green Dragon (+17), the furthest north, and Delta Lloyd (+21). Topical as ever on Inauguration Day, Puma’s, Rick Deppe delivered his own state of the nation address from the South China Sea.
Proving that politics and sport do mix, he wrote … “It’s hard to imagine that by the time we get to China the new President will already have been in office for a week and will hopefully be well on the way to setting everything back in order in the world, troops coming home, economy back on track, health care for all etc.
“Maybe if he pulls his finger out we will see the Team Russia back in the race – those guys are a sad loss and will be missed. I particularly miss working with their MCM Mark Covell who’s sense of humour and passion for the job were infectious. I feel certain that he’s not missing his media station which I haven’t seen but have been told is legendary.
“And now the really big change question … when we get to China, will Kaka be playing for Manchester City and really be getting paid half a million pounds a week? Unbelievable. Imagine if they get relegated or he gets injured, I’m sure Sir Alec (Ferguson) is not too worried.”
Well Rick, the answer to your question is no. Kaka, the Brazilian money magnet, and sometime football star, has declined the filthy lucre on offer from Manchester City and is staying put at AC Milan.
For the record, City’s bid for Kaka was reportedly worth £100m, more than £50m in excess of the current world transfer fee record Real Madrid paid to Juventus for Frenchman Zinedine Zidane in 2001.
The Premier League club, now under the ownership of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, estimated to be worth £15bn, was willing to pay the Brazilian weekly wages of £500,000. Nice work if you can get it.
Leg 4, day 2, 22.00 GMT, rankings
1 – Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) DTF 1819 nm
2 – Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +0 nm
3 – Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +1 nm
4 – Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +6 nm
5 – Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +9 nm
6 – Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +24 nm
7 – Team Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +29 nm
To follow the race on Race Tracker click here.
No comments so far.
Be first to leave comment below.