Volvo Ocean Race - Leg 7 Day 4
by Volvo Ocean Race media 19 May 2009 17:26 BST
Telefónica Blue wins gate points
Telefónica Blue continues to make her mark on the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 when at 0311 GMT today, she was first past the scoring gate off Newfoundland, claiming four points. This comes on top of her recent wins inshore in Rio de Janeiro and Boston and her rounding the Fernando de Noronha Gate in first place on leg six.
The crew of the blue boat had to work hard for their points and at first, according to skipper Bouwe Bekking, it wasn’t looking good at all.
“For some reason, we had been losing ground and were in fourth place, a couple of miles behind the leaders. We had been checking our foils regularly, but nothing to see. But, during one more check, Pepe Ribes saw something.”
The team immediately sailed the boat backwards to clear the keel and then, the fight was on. “Slowly, but surely, we reeled the boats ahead in,” described Bekking. In the end, the team clawed past PUMA by less than a minute, crossed through the gate and tacked immediately to avoid the western perimeter of the ice exclusion zone.
The fleet has a lateral separation of 14 miles from east to west and all are headed due south, all having crossed through the scoring gate. They are currently 213 nm due south from Cape Race on the southeastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the Canadian Island of Newfoundland, where the cliffs rise nearly vertically to 30.5m above sea level.
The position of the ice exclusion zone is the reason for the fleet having to turn south and Telefónica Black, the easternmost yacht is parallel to, but 106 nm from, the western corner of the zone. The fleet must now sail 175 nm along the bottom of the zone, while still keeping a careful lookout for ice, before they can swing north again. The northeast corner of the box has today been extended to latitude 40 degrees west, due to ice sightings in the region.
Scoring Gate Order:
1. Telefónica Blue at 03:11.24 GMT
2. PUMA at 03:12.04 GMT
3. Ericsson 4 at 03:33.05 GMT
4. Ericsson 3 at 04:06.02 GMT
5. Telefónica Black at 04:36.54 GMT
6. Delta Lloyd at 06:16.00 GMT
Leg Seven Day 4: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)
1. Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DTL 1863 nm
2. Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermúdez/ESP) +3
3. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +4
4. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +10
5. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +12
6. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +15
7. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +16
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS
Positions are updated every three hours on www.volvooceanrace.org
TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG SEVEN DAY 4 QFB: received 19.05.09 0942 GMT
Another four points in the bag, although this time is wasn’t over until the end.
At first, yesterday afternoon, it wasn’t looking good at all. For some reason we had been losing ground and were in 4th place, a couple of miles behind the leaders. We had been checking our foils regularly but nothing to see, but during one more check Pepe Ribes saw something. So immediately called or a back-up, (sailing backwards) to get the keel clean. It seemed to take forever before it was off, but finally it cleared. Then the fight was on, and slowly but surely we reeled the boats ahead in.
First Ericsson 3, then Ericsson 4 and finally PUMA. With the last boat we sailed for four hours nearly in reach of other. We could just see them in the fog, and we were in full inshore mode. Giving the helmsman speed numbers to sail to match PUMA. They could have nailed about two hours before reaching the gate, by reaching hard over us, as we had a little less pressure, but they didn’t.
We clawed back and edged a length ahead. For the last six miles, we put the bow a bit more down and slowly stretched on them, and I think we reached the gate about 35 seconds in front of them. No cheers, just a quick well done, as we had to tack to avoid the ice box. Of course we lost miles against the others, but that was the call, still we are close, and it looks like that the high pressure system will slow everybody down, so a small re-start.
Bouwe Bekking - skipper
PUMA LEG SEVEN DAY 3 QFB: received 18.05.09 1532 GMT
I know I have said this before, but the competition out here is ridiculous. The speed differences are so close in certain conditions you would swear that this is one design racing. I don't know what numbers you folks get, but we just got a sched and when we calculate it to the corner where the ice gate meets the scoring gate it goes like this:
1st Il Mostro
2nd Ericson 3, a whopping three tenths of a mile back
3rd Ericsson 4, we are killing them as they are almost five tenths of a mile astern
4th Telefónica Blue, 1.2 miles back. Don't know why they even continue they are so far off the pace. Unreal
5th place Telefónica Black is only 3.5 miles back as well
So, if you aboard il Mostro you would be saying all is good right?
Not so fast. Not only is the distance between the boats ridiculously close, it is impossible to cover anyone. The fog is so thick that you can barely see the bow of the boat never mind the competition. The radar, which sits on the front of the mast doesn't see behind the boat, only forward, as there is a big carbon pole blocking the view to the rear. So, after each position report we have no idea where everyone is going for the next three hours. Makes for a tough game when a lead is so precarious.
It has also been interesting as each boat in the top group has had its time to shine. At times all of us have had a condition that it liked versus the others and I think all have led at one stage during this sprint to the ice.
On board the mood is anxious and optimistic. Last night was a very interesting night to sail. A bit chilly though. Went into my bag and pulled out just about every piece of clothing that I brought and ventured on deck for a sail change and a bit of driving. When driving it felt like you were in a video game. 18 knots of wind at the top of the mast, the boat heeled over 25 degrees, and literally no wind on the water. A perfectly smooth, glassy ocean. And not one bit of visibility. I think the phrase is ‘pea soup fog’. Very wet and just above freezing in temperature, but surreal none the less. You had to concentrate on the instruments with a real intensity, because if you started to wander there was nothing visually to help get back on track. Very odd, but a really cool night to sail, literally and figuratively. I will remember that one for a while.
Good news by the way, I can type again with my chopped off finger. I think I was asked about my finger more than any other question over the past three weeks. I am happy to report that it has grown back and typing is my own special therapy to get the nerves to start working correctly. I can tell you the finger still does not like the cold though!
Kenny Read - skipper
ERICSSON 3 LEG SEVEN DAY 4 QFB: received 19.5.09 1428 GMT
Everything lined up perfectly for full points at the scoring gate until early yesterday morning when a couple of big whales appeared out of the thick fog. We managed to avoid the first one, but we only saw the tail of the next one as it dived just in front of us. We hit with both the keel and the daggerboard, and the boat came to a complete stop with some bad noises from our appendages. We could see that the keel fin fairings were damaged or off in a big area, but the daggerboard looked ok. We hope the whale got away only with some bruises; we did what we could to avoid it.
With the rough fin, we immediately lost our lead and slowly went to the back of the bunch with terrible performance numbers for the next 24 hours. When we tacked this morning, Anders went down to take a look at the daggerboard and it became apparent that also that had been significantly damaged in the impact. Actually, a piece of it was missing.
At the moment we have locked our radar on to Green Dragon and Delta Lloyd who are just in front of us, but they are slowly pulling away. Hopefully the frontrunners will get slowed down a bit rounding the exclusion zone, but the speed loss from the keel damage will follow us for the rest of the leg.
We have been worse off before in the race though, so spirits are OK.
Aksel Magdahl - navigator
TELEFÓNICA BLACK LEG SEVEN DAY 4 QFB: received 19.5.09 0115 GMT
Another foggy day at 44:30 north. Good news that the water temp is up from nasty 4.3 Celsius this morning to acceptable 10.4 right now. Heater still working!
Also good news that no more ice cold spray flying along the deck as the wind has dropped and headed, moved left, as predicted. We are now coming under influence from the high pressure system centred 500 nm ENE of us.
During a large part of the day we had the wind 20 degrees further right at the masthead compared with deck level. This is due to the fog. Suddenly the fog lifted away and we could steer a 20 degree higher course with out any change in wind direction at top of mast! When no fog the air mass at 30 metres comes down to the surface, an interesting phenomenon.
At lunch today James (Jaime Arbones) found that we had a small aquarium on starboard side of the deck. A recess in the deckhouse had filled up with water and in that small pool of water we found a tiny little fish swimming around, looking very lost! The 10 cm fish had a very lucky day as James gently lifted it by its tail and dropped it back into the ocean. Probably it had travelled about 40 nm with us and might now have a hard time finding its friends...
We are now only 60 nm from the scoring gate which simply is crossing the longitude 52 38 west. We decided yesterday not to focus on the scoring gate, and instead focus on the south west corner of the ice box at 43 N and 50 W. If wind direction does not change too much, it is a possibility that the four leading boats to the north of us could be behind us after we are forced to tack into a south westerly direction. Delta Lloyd would be close to us if we tack as she is SW of us...Time will tell.
After the ice box it looks like the high is moving off to the SE and that we will be picked up by a new low that should bring us almost all the way to Galway. The low will offer fast running conditions which is not our favourite conditions...We certainly need to be ahead at the ice box...!
Oops..! As I write this we hit something hard on port side...just a hard crash, not stopping the boat. We hoisted the daggerboard and found some small damage at the back end of the board and a greasy, oily smell from its leading edge. Seems like we hit some animal again...
Today David has made a stronger seal for the wet box above the keel - the box that filled up with water a few hours after the start. No problem now, but when we are going fast, after the ice exclusion zone, there will be more water pressure on the lid of the wet box...Should now be strong enough.
That was all from the Black boat close to enter Grand Banks.
Yours
Roger Nilson - navigator
DELTA LLOYD LEG SEVEN DAY 4 QFB: received 19.05.09 0825 GMT
It has been almost two days since we saw the last boat off the southernmost point of Nova Scotia. Since then, we have been charging along in a surreal world of fog and grey water. The sails dripping with water and a constant light drizzle making the already cold wind feel even colder.
We have maxed out on clothing and have only the smallest slit of our faces uncovered to look at the instruments on the mast. We might as well be blind folded as the numbers are mostly telling lies. The cold water is playing tricks with the wind. While there is 20 knots at the top of the rig, the water is like a mirror with not a ripple on the surface. Things are improving a bit as we cross from six degrees water into 10 degrees. The fog lifts a few more metres, and we can now see 100 metres instead of the usual 50 or less.
Tactically the scoring gate is complicating matters. With valuable points on the table going fast towards the gate is tempting, but will be costly for the long term. As the positions between Telefónica Negro and Green Dragon are pretty much fixed, we decide to go for the long term and go a more southerly route.
Crossing the scoring gate in sixth is not what we hoped for, but we are happy to have passed the Dragons after our tanker incident at the start. We are with the pack and ahead of us lies a tricky bit of sailing through more fog, light winds and variable currents.
We don’t expect big splits in the fleet, but there are big gains and losses to be made in the details. Later today and tomorrow we will be entering the zone where the cold water from the north meets the much warmer waters from the Gulf Stream. This enormous river is known for its unexpected twists and turns. Hit it right and you get a good 3-4 knot boast for a few hours. So it is all the play for to get to the first corner of the ice exclusion zone. Now after we have crossed the scoring gate a new challenge.
Wouter Verbraak - navigator
GREEN DRAGON LEG SEVEN DAY 3 QFB: received 18.05.09 1655 GMT
It is amazing what a difference a few degrees of water temperature makes. The water has just gone from 5.5 degrees to 10.5 degrees as we are currently right on the edge of where the freezing cold Labrador Current meets the more tropical Gulf Stream.
The whole boat instantly feels warmer above and below decks and, more importantly, it has led the fog to thin out so we can see where we are going for the first time in days. It is easy to appreciate how much the UK and Ireland owe to the Gulf Stream and its warming waters. Warmer sea temperatures immediately means more wind in the sails so progress which has been slow at times recently is improved. The status of Green Dragon has also improved.
At first light this morning we swapped the daggerboards back round putting the repaired port daggerboard in the port case. We are very confident in the repair and the only very small downside is a less than perfect surface finish to the repaired part of the foil. Maybe next time we'll bring car filler, paint and a polisher!
Whilst damp and cold I cannot think how lightly we are getting away with this part of the trip. I would not like to be in this part of the world in a northerly gale and one cannot help but think of the Perfect Storm which took place on the Grand Banks not far from our current position. I take my hat off to anybody who fishes this part of the world for a living (apart from the lobster fishermen of course).
The race remains tight and we are hoping that the leaders get distracted by their battle for the scoring gate and allow us to gain some precious miles towards the waypoint. We are in a pretty close fight with Delta Lloyd who are seven miles ahead and a few to leeward and appear to be heading up towards our line rather than heading directly east towards the scoring gate. The next few days look like they will be made up of much of the same before the downwind ride to Ireland begins.
Ian Walker - skipper