"No Broach,
Please God, No Broach"
Leg 2 Day 5 - 15:00 GMT Wednesday, November 19th, 2008. |
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It is one wipeout
after another as the Volvo fleet endures yet more heinous conditions
as it races towards the scoring gate on leg two of the Volvo
Ocean Race to Cochin in India. PUMA (Ken Read / USA) has crashed
off another wave, but this time, the damage is rather more serious.
"We flew off yet another nice little wave and came down to another
loud crack. This time, not from the bow section, but in the main
section of the boat, just behind the keel frame," explained
skipper Ken Read, who was having breakfast with Chris Nicholson and
Justin Ferris at the time. |
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"Has anyone seen the boat?" (ed).
The deck of PUMA Ocean Racing, covered in water, on
leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Cape Town, South
Africa to Cochin, India.
Photo © Rick Deppe / PUMA Ocean Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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"That didn't
sound good," said Justin. "Nope" said Ken. "Maybe
it was just an unloaded sheet snapping up on deck?" offered
Chris Nicholson. Justin looked down and said, "Or maybe
it was this large crack splitting the main longitudinal frame?"
Ken says that the boat is now a monster hospital ward, not
necessarily for humans, but ‘just for our beautifulboat’.
The crew managed to fix the damage done two days ago, but this
time it is rather more serious and will take longer to fix.
Read says the actual fix may be more of a band-aid, rather
than the fairly solid splint that the team applied to the broken
front longitudinals. |
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Rob Salthouse (left) from New Zealand
and Casey Smith from Australia. The crew of PUMA Ocean
Racing make repairs to their boat after sustaining
serious structural damage in rough seas, for the second
time in 24 hours.
Photo © Rick Deppe / PUMA Ocean Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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"If the fix
takes as long as we think, we will have to re-route to Cochin,
missing most of the points that we could have gotten at the scoring
gate and having to bypass the next low coming our way," Read
explains. Simply put, this is not good.
"Andrew Cape / AUS (navigator) and I are hard at work trying to see if there
is a tactical solution around this, in order to stay remotely in the race. We
shall see. The first priority is the safety of the boat and crew and, because
of that, we are looking to get away from the next low pressure that is coming
in from behind," he said. |
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PUMA Ocean Racing Navigator Andrew
Cape sleeps, whilst skipper Ken Read battles to stay
awake at the navigation station, on leg 2 of the Volvo
Ocean Race, from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin,
India.
Photo © Rick Deppe / PUMA Ocean Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Meanwhile, onboard
Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander / SWE), six-time race veteran Magnus
Olsson is praying to the Wind Gods. "Last night, in complete
darkness, we had quite a dramatic broach. We were sailing in
steady 30 knots and rough seas when a big squall came in," describes
Gustav Morin MCM.
"In just a few seconds, the wind increased to over 40 knots.
Magnus was helming at the time and when he felt the wind coming,
he said a prayer. ‘No broach, please God, no broach.’ A
big gust hit us and forced the bow deep under water. We were heeling
badly. But it felt like the boat just continued to accelerate. It
was one of those times when you feel that the boat is sailing you,
and not the other way round," he said. |
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Skipper Anders Lewander and Martin
Stromberg repair Ericsson 3's jib below decks. The
jib got caught on the radar, ripping the sail and bringing
the radar down during a tack shortly after they crossed
the start line on leg 2 from Cape Town, South Africa
to Cochin, India.
Photo © Gustav Morin / Ericsson 3 / Volvo Ocean Race.
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The crew, although
attached to the boat by their harnesses and lifelines, were washed
down the length of the deck. Bowman Anders Dahlsjö lost
his grip and smashed into a winch handle. The handle bent badly
and Anders was in agony, holding his hands over his ribs. "Now
we have another guy on painkillers," said Morin matter of
factly.
Ian Walker’s crew on Green Dragon, who damaged their
boom badly yesterday, is still charging towards the scoring
gate at longitudinal 58 degrees east. |
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Ian Walker's Green Dragon sufferers
a broken boom as the fleet continued to wrestle with
strong gusts and treacherous seas as the second leg
of the race to India turned spiteful.
Photo © Guo Chuan / Green Dragon Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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"Four days
into leg two and the Southern Ocean is living up to it’s
name," says Ian, who chalks up one broken steering system,
one Chinese gybe, one broken boom and three knockdowns on the
drama register. On top of that, half the crew have sore throats
and head colds.
But still, the team is not giving up. They have just under
300 nautical miles to run to the scoring gate.
"We seem to have the boat going pretty well, but we are vulnerable
to being knocked down in the frequent squalls as we are fairly committed
to carrying a full main and there is no easy way to ease it," Walker
said.
In contrast, Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp / AUT is enjoying a solid mid-twenty
knot breeze and has begun their climb north, leaving Green Dragon as the
southernmost boat in the fleet. |
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Tom Braidwood and Damian Foxall repair
a leaking daggerboard case onboard Green Dragon, on
leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Cape Town, South
Africa to Cochin, India.
Photo © Guo Chuan / Green Dragon Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Sickness and ‘flu-like’ symptoms
have been rife among the fleet, which makes this tough leg even
more of an endurance test. "It’s strange for so much
to be going on and not even noticing it," said Guy Salter
MCM onboard Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael / BRA), who has had a fever
and sickness.
"We had a broach yesterday (apparently) and also damaged one
of our headsails, but all I have noticed is the odd slide forward
in the bunk when we plough into the back of a wave," he said.
Meanwhile, onboard Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking /
NED) in the north, Bekking says that life is busy onboard. "Some
would even say ‘chaotic’. With sail making, sickness
and injuries, everyone's day is full, keeping the boat in one
piece and headed down the track." |
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Sail changes onboard Telefonica Blue,
in 38 knots of wind, with Pepe Ribes on the bow and
Iker Martinez and Simon Fisher preparing the sail,
on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Cape Town, South
Africa to Cochin, India.
Photo © Gabriele Olivo / Telefonica Blue / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Hopes of a good
score at the waypoint gate seem to be slowly slipping away for
this team, but Bekking says that with many, many miles to go
before they arrive in India, he is hopeful that the team can
pull off a good overall result in this leg. "This is what
I am trying to focus on to stay positive," he says.
Lighter conditions soon will no doubt suit the boat better
and a return to the sunshine and warmer climes will no doubt
raise the spirits of everyone onboard. "Right now, it
is cold and grey outside, and cool and damp inside," Bekking
says.
Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri / ESP) has
been sailing abeam of Telefónica Blue this morning,
no more than two miles away from each other.
Many of the fleet have seen Albatrosses. One flew between the
bowsprit and the stay onboard Ericsson 4. "I thought we
had run the poor thing over until it came out the other side.
It’s bad luck to harm these giants, as rumour has it
they are the spirits of lost seafarers and we don’t want
to upset any of those," Salter said.
Lots of albatrosses have been circling the wounded PUMA too,
giving a fantastic show. Are they looking out for the boat?
Ken Read hopes they are not the ‘vultures of the high
seas..’ |
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Pepe Ribes checking the water maker
onboard Telefonica Blue. Many of the crew had become
ill due what could have been rust found in the water
maker.
Photo © Gabriele Olivo / Telefonica Blue / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Ericsson 3 has the
highest 24-hour run of 505 nm today and has also averaged the
highest boat speed in the last hour of 22.8 knots. The north
/ south divide of the fleet is 127 nm between PUMA the northernmost
boat and Green Dragon in the south. Ericsson 3 is now 3 nm to
weather of Ericsson 4 and Ericsson 4 is 55 nm to weather of Team
Russia. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez / ESP) has elected to stay
with the northern split of the fleet.
Leg 2 Day 5 - 13:00 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name / country / skipper / nationality / distance to finish)
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read / USA) DTF 3271
Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander / SWE) +24
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking / NED) +25
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael / BRA) +29
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri / ESP) +34
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez / ESP) +75
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker / GBR) +95
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp / AUT) +103
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