Outimage Australia - VOR 2008-2009 - Fishing Nets Slow Russians’ Progress

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Outimage Publications ocean yacht racing coverage of the VOR 2008-2009.

Fishing Nets Slow Russians’ Progress
10:00 GMT Wednesday, December 3, 2008.

"We are on the emerald highway home and nothing is going to stop us from enjoying our last few days at sea. Even the rain that is falling now will not break our spirit," said MCM Mark Covell from onboard Kosatka as they close on the finish of leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race in Cochin.

Ben Costello, fixing the mainsail onboard Team Russia, earlier on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India.

Photo © Mark Covell / Team Russia / Volvo Ocean Race.

Ben Costello, fixing the mainsail onboard Team Russia, on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India. Photo copyright Mark Covell / Team Russia / Volvo Ocean Race.

Earlier, the team had the unwelcome experience of being caught in a fishing net, when sailing in 12 knots of breeze. The crew had to drop the sails, including the mainsail, which was a five-crew operation to stop the boat. Then, navigator Wouter Verbraak from the Netherlands was lowered into the water to cut the net free.

In the darkness, it was hard for Verbraak to make out where the net was and there was a serious risk of him becoming entangled with it as he dove a metre down to attach a sheet round the net so that the crew could pull it free.

The final destination for team Russia and more fishing nets, this time lining the harbour at the entrance of Cochin, India, the third stopover port for the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09.

Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.

The final destination for team Russia and more fishing nets, this time lining the harbour entrance of Cochin, India, the third stopover port for the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. Photo copyright Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.

"The scary bit about it all is that there were no lit buoys on either side of the net and no more than some working lights on the fishing boat. On the next leg we can expect to see many more of these boats, so specialised boathooks and cutting devices are already widely discussed," Verbraak said, adding that he doesn’t wish to repeat his night time dive inside a fishing net.

At 10:00 GMT today, Team Russia had 48 nm to run and were sailing at 12 - 13 knots. The team is expected to finish in Cochin in approximately four hours time.

Visit www.volvooceanrace.org for all the latest news!

The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 will be the 10th running of this ocean marathon. Starting from Alicante in Spain, on 4 October 2008 with in-port racing, it will, for the first time, take in Cochin, India, Singapore and Qingdao, China before finishing in St Petersburg, Russia for the first time in the history of the race.

Spanning some 37,000 nautical miles, stopping at 11 ports and taking nine months to complete, the Volvo Ocean Race is the world's premier yacht race for professional racing crews.

The official website: www.volvooceanrace.org

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