Risky Business For Telefónica Blue
Leg 3 Day 5 - 14:49 GMT Wednesday, December 17, 2008. |
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| Its 1,950 nautical miles from Cochin to Singapore and on day five of leg three in the Volvo Ocean Race, the Telefónica Blue team (Bouwe Bekking / NED) are in a very vulnerable position. Although retaining their position at the head of the fleet, they are strung out to the south and separated by over 100 nm from the rest of the fleet. |
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Telefonica Blue leading the fleet at
the start of leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean race, from Cochin,
India to Singapore.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| As to Why Bouwe Bekking and his men are taking this option, they believe they can make a gain with an expected southeasterly windshift. If the windshift does not materialise, then they are in trouble as in the south, they will have lighter winds that the rest of the fleet. But if it works, then there are huge gains to be made. |
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One of the many sail changes onboard
Telefonica Blue, on leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race,
from India to Singapore.
Photo © Gabriele Olivo / Telefonica Blue / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Is it risky? "Yes, very risky," says Bekking. "We didn’t have a real opportunity to tack to the north, so we stuck to our guns and believe what we see on the weather charts."
The crew is trying to be patient. "It is a matter of breathing in and out and staying calm," explains Bekking.
"We have all faced worse moments in our sailing lives." The waiting game will be over in about 24-hours and then the team will see if their strategy is paying off. |
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High concentration on board while Jordi
Calafat shows a possible wind shift would affect the
position within the rest of the fleet.
Photo © Gabriele Olivo / Telefonica Blue / Volvo Ocean Race.
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The fleet is hard on the wind, not the fastest point of sailing. With the Pulau We scoring gate at at the entrance to the Malacca Strait and 516 nm directly upwind of Telefónica Blue, its about two and a half days sailing at her current speed.
At 13:00 GMT today, Bekking had pulled out a lead of 39 nm over overall race leader Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael / BRA), who had moved into second place. |
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Close reaching onboard Ericsson 4 at
the start of leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Photo © Guy Salter / Ericsson 4 / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| Meanwhile, there is a proper dogfight for the third spot. Green Dragon (Ian Walker / GBR), although losing the second place the team held at 13:00 yesterday, is engaged in battle with Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander / SWE). Lewander has moved Ericsson 3 up a place to third and is three miles ahead of Green Dragon and Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri / ESP) is level pegging. All three boats are in sight of each other. |
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Green Dragon at the start of leg 3
of the Volvo Ocean race, from Cochin, India to Singapore.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| Further back, Kenny Read / USA has taken PUMA to the north, losing a place in the process. He is about to cross the track of Ericsson 4, but is 16 nm behind. |
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Mikel Pasabant water testing onboard
Telefonica Black, on leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race,
from Cochin, India to Singapore.
Photo © Mikel Pasabant / Telefonica Black / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| The gap then widens considerably to Kosatka Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp / AUT) who are way up in the north, and is 99 nm behind Telefónica Blue. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez / ESP) is following a more conservative track within the middle of the group, but trails by 106nm. |
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Sail changes onboard Team Russia, on
leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from India to Singapore.
Photo © Sergey Bogdanov / Team Russia / Volvo Ocean Race.
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With 1,087 nm to run for the leader, progress is slow. But its better now that they are free of the adverse current of the past few days.
Boats speeds hover around the 11-knot mark, although Kosatka is averaging 12.3 knots. |
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Bowman Morgan White preparing the
tackline for the next sailchange onboard Delta Lloyd,
on leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race from India to Singapore.
Photo © Sander Pluijm / Team Delta Lloyd / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Leg 3 Day 5 - 13:00 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(Boat name / country / skipper / nationality / distance to finish)
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking / NED) DTF 1087
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael / BRA) +39
Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander / SWE) +47
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker / GBR) +50
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri / ESP) +50
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read / USA) +55
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp / AUT) +99
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez / ESP) +106
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