A Flat Out
Drag Race
Leg 5 Day 5 - 14:59 GMT Wednesday, February 18, 2009. |
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Fast, warm reaching is on offer today for the five-boat Volvo Ocean Race fleet as it races on through the Pacific Ocean on leg five, the longest leg of the course at 12,300 nm.
Ken Read is delighted that PUMA is able to keep in touch with race leader Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael / USA), who is known to excel in fast reaching conditions. PUMA is only four miles behind Ericsson 4, making up four miles in the last 24-hours and the pair is beginning to open up a substantial lead over the chasing three. |
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PUMA Ocean Racing on leg 5 of the Volvo
Ocean Race.
Photo © Rick Deppe / PUMA Ocean Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson / SWE) is a safe 142 nm astern of Ericsson 4. Although they have added 63 nm to their deficit since 13:00 GMT yesterday, it is still good enough for third place. In spite of the loss of miles to the leader, the atmosphere onboard is one of high spirits, as the team presses the boat as hard as they can.
The wind has been shifty and Gustav Morin MCM reports that it has been difficult to keep good speed and make the right choice of sails. "We have between 10 - 20 knots of wind and the angle has constantly been going back and forth from 30 to 55 degrees," he said. |
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Ericsson 4 keeping just ahead of some
heavy weather during Leg 5 from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro.
Photo © Guy Salter / Ericsson 4 / Volvo Ocean Race.
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The two new crewmembers onboard Ericsson 3, Norwegian Arve Roaas and Sweden’s Magnus Woxen are blending well with the old crew and are enjoying racing the latest generation of Volvo Open 70. They are beginning to feel more comfortable about housekeeping rules such as knowing where to put their boots and socks while sleeping, how to fit into a sleeping bag and climb up into a bunk with only 20cm headroom.
For Ian Walker’s Green Dragon, it has been a tough 24-hours and the team has paid a high price for its northerly position. They are now 207 nm adrift of the leading pair, losing a further 82 nm in the past 24-hours. |
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Ericsson 3 in heavy weather, on leg
5 of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Photo © Gustav Morin / Ericsson 3 / Volvo Ocean Race.
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"We didn’t mean to be quite so far north, but we had a long period of light and lifted winds two days ago, that ushered us north," explained Ian Walker. He said that the crew was very philosophical about the miles lost and that his team’s game plan of sailing, what they believe is the right way irrespective of other boats, will not change.
Late starter, Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking / NED) still has plenty of catching up to do. "We are slowly coming into better breeze, so we may be able to stop the bleeding soon, but we still aren’t seeing any major passing lanes," explained navigator Tom Addis. |
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Stacking onboard Telefonica Blue, on
leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Photo © Gabriele Olivo / Telefonica Blue / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Although the last few days of sailing may not have offered an opportunity for tactical decisions, at least the miles are clicking down. The wind will steadily head the fleet, which will slowly curve down to the south to pick up the southeast trade winds.
Onboard PUMA, the goal is to meet up with the trade winds far enough to the east to prevent the boat from being hard on the wind. They will also try to position themselves to the east of some light air near the doldrums. |
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In the cockpit the Green Dragon crew
are in full foul weather gear including goggles in
heavy sea conditions, during Leg 5 from Qingdao to
Rio de Janeiro.
Photo © Guo Chuan / Green Dragon Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| As the temperatures rise, shoes are being swapped for boots, thermals for shorts; and sun cream and sunglasses are making their first appearance. Life onboard the racing yachts has settled down after the first bumpy 36-hours. Speeds hover between the 16 - 18 knot mark and the fastest 24-hour run belongs to PUMA at 442 nm, although Ericsson 4 has recorded a maximum boat speed of 26 knots. |
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Bowman Jerry Kirby standing on Skipper
Ken Read's shoulders whilst working on the mainsail
en route to Rio De Janeiro in leg 5 of the Volvo
Ocean Race.
Photo © Rick Deppe / PUMA Ocean Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Leg 5 Day 5 - 13:00 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(Boat name / country / skipper / nationality / distance to finish)
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael / BRA) DTF 10886 nm
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read / USA) +4
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson / SWE) +142
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker / GBR) +207
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking / NED) +284
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bérmudez / ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri / ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp / AUT) DNS.
Visit www.volvooceanrace.org for
all the latest news! |
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