Magnus Olsson, skeppare på Ericsson 3, har haft ledningen i Volvo Ocean Race på väg mot Rio de Janeiro i de senaste sex dagarna. I stark med medvind seglar nu hans nordiska besättning vidare i Södra Ishavet på Leg 5, på väg mot Rio de Janeiro i Brasilien.
Här är den senaste pressreleasen från Race Office:
Leg Five Day 26 Daily Story: Icebergs to Port, Icebergs to Starboard
Posted: 11 Mar 2009 07:00 AM PDT
Down at 50 degrees south, Green Dragon has seen ice. Three bergs, that skipper Ian Walker estimated were 100 metres across and the size of a football pitch, were spotted shining in the darkness.
The boat passed two bergs to windward and one to leeward. “I noticed this morning that a few more people are now wearing survival suits and we have made a point of closing all the water tight doors,” Ian noted.
Daylight came as a relief to the crew who have now gybed north towards the safety of the gate that was supposed to keep the fleet away from ice.
“Whilst I would love to see an iceberg in the daylight, I will be more than happy not to see any more ice in this race,” reported Ian.
Along with rounding Cape Horn, the sighting of an iceberg is something of a highlight of the Southern Ocean. Onboard Telefónica Blue, Spaniard Jordi Calafat is longing to see a berg.
“Cape Horn and seeing an iceberg will make this trip around world complete for him,” said skipper Bouwe Bekking.
For rookery New Zealander Chris Main, a helmsman on Green Dragon, the marathon leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race has been something of an adventure. Having never sailed a Volvo Open 70, Main arrived in Qingdao two days before the start, hoping, at least, to have two days sailing before the start of the 12,300 leg to Rio, but it was either too foggy or too windy.
“The start day turned out to be just right for my first ever sail on a Volvo Open 70, and with 40 days to Rio, the boys reckoned I’d have plenty of time to learn the ropes and be well and truly ready to get off,” Main says.
Life onboard the Green Dragon has been full of ‘extremes’. “Beforehand you think about the sailing, the speed of the boats big waves and night time sail changes, but the real extreme experience is living in one of these ocean racing beasts while hurtling around the world’s oceans,” he explains.
On PUMA, skipper Ken Read reports that the crew are commenting on how thin each is looking. “It is interesting how you can especially feel your legs getting weaker, being in such a confined space for days and weeks on end,” he said.
According to Rick Deppe, PUMA’s MCM, the crew are devouring all the food he can put in front of them, but still disappearing before his eyes.
“No sooner are the day snacks put out than they disappear up on deck never to be seen again. I’ve witnessed people using a finger to get the last of the spaghetti sauce out of the bottom of the serving cooler,” he observed.
Meanwhile, in the drag race to the ice gate, Ericsson 3 – the freight train at the head of the fleet – is beginning to slow as she too drops off the weather system that abandoned the chasing pack yesterday.
Her average speed is down to 13 knots allowing small gains to be made by Ericsson 4, PUMA and Green Dragon.
“The next week of sailing has the potential to be the most exciting of the whole race,” says Ken Read. “We are in a neck and neck race with Ericsson 4, and, as for Ericsson 3, well anything might happen.”
Read reports that PUMA is blasting along between 18 and 24 knots and that the boat is jumping around and banging in the most violent way imaginable.
Not so for Telefónica Blue who is trapped by light airs in the south. “Another day in paradise. It could have been so nice if we had some boats around us,” said Bouwe Bekking.
Helmsman Simon Fisher adds, “Sadly, it has been another slow day for us and things seem to be set to stay that way as a ridge of high pressure is extending out in front of us, putting up a wall between us and the leaders.”
Telefónica Blue continues her fight, but is averaging only 10 knots and is now nearly 800 nm adrift of the leaders. “Even with all the optimism in the world, it is starting to get a little frustrating now,” Fisher said.
As soon as the leading pack are clear of the ice gate, the race south will begin and with it, for them, will come some tactical options.
Leg Five Day 26: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) DTF 4,326 nm
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +259
PUMA USA (Ken Read/USA) +287
Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +565
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +799
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS
Länk: www.volvooceanrace.org
Här är den senaste pressreleasen från Ericsson Racing Team:
On Day 26, Ericsson 3 is on the verge of the western end of the second ice waypoint at latitude 45 South and longitude 120 West, more than 1,800 nautical miles from the nearest point of land. The frontal system that pushed Ericsson 3 to its large lead has passed, and a high-pressure ridge is settling in.
“As it looks right now, we’ll lose a bit at the ice gate. But it looks quite uncertain,” said Ericsson 3 navigator Aksel Magdahl, who plotted the course that took Ericsson 3 into the lead.
“It looks like we’ll be the first boat to go into very light winds. Maybe we’ll have some upwind work to get south. It’ll decrease our lead, but we can only go model to model. We can only sail what we have,” Magdahl said.
The weather models show instability on the route ahead.
“In some respects, the fast pace that Ericsson 3 has set will come back to haunt them as they arrive in this area of weak high pressure, which will cause the winds to ease and veer right,” said team meteorologist Chris Bedford.
“As a result, Ericsson 3 will have to dive further south while Ericsson 4 and Puma are less likely to encounter this minor slow down and may not need to head as far south,” Bedford said. “Ericsson 3 will lose some miles, but gain leverage with their move to the south.”
The past few days have offered the type of weather that sailors dream of. Sailing in the Roaring Forties, the crews have been surfing at speeds between 20 and 25 knots, with some planes up to 30 knots. The decks are awash and crews don helmets and survival suits on deck, but it’s all acceptable with the miles to the finish clicking away.
“Had great fun today,” said Ericsson 4 media crewman Guy Salter. “We were running with the Code 4 spinnaker on and surfing at some pretty good speeds with water pouring all over the place. The problem with these boats is that speeds in the mid-20s seem a little pedestrian.
“In my mind the sun was out but, in reality, it was grey and overcast all day,” Salter continued. “At times up on the bow, as we surfed along, you could look down below and I think that from the deck to the water below was around 4 meters. Amazing considering that just a few meters behind you was the breaking part of the wave.”
As the fleet clears the second ice waypoint, intended to keep the yachts away from the dangers of icebergs, its likely to make a turn south to reduce the miles to Cape Horn. But the move comes with a warning label.
“The entire Volvo Ocean Race fleet is entering a more dangerous part of this leg. The weather can be brutal, temperatures are cold, swells can be huge and icebergs lurk south of their course,” Bedford said. “The latest routing sends the boats more directly south, marking a shift to a shorter, more direct route to Cape Horn, but also bigger seas and closer to iceberg country.”
The competition is still open to see which of Ericsson 4’s crewmembers correctly guessed their time of arrival at Cape Horn. A special Web site has been created and can be accessed from the home page of the team’s official site, www.EricssonRacingTeam.com.
Simply pick the crewman that you think has guessed properly and you could win an official team wet-weather jacket from Helly-Hansen. The competition closes tomorrow, March 12.
VOLVO OCEAN RACE LEG 5 LEADERBOARD
(Mar. 11, 2009, 1300 GMT)
1. Ericsson 3, 4,326 nautical miles to finish
2. Ericsson 4, +259 NM
3. Puma, +287 NM
4. Green Dragon, +565 NM
5. Telefónica Blue, +799 NM
Bilden:
Magnus Woxen styr Ericsson 3. Foto Gustav Morin/EricssonRacingTeam.
