Ericsson 3 in hiding
Leg 5 Day 40 - 15:06 GMT Wednesday, March 25, 2009. |
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| It is now day 40 of this 12,300 nautical mile jaunt from Qingdao, China to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In what are now the closing stages, the leading boat Ericsson 3 has opted to play her stealth card. She has gone into hiding and will only reappear 24-hours later, or once she is within 50 nm of the finish in Rio. |
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Navigator Aksel Magdahl reflects on the weather onboard Ericsson 3, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro.
Photo © Gustav Morin / Ericsson 3 / Volvo Ocean Race.
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This is the first time on this leg that the stealth card, newly introduced for the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race, has been played. Ericsson 3 began her ‘StealthPlay’ to give it its official title, immediately after the 10:00 GMT position report this morning and her position in the fleet and all her onboard data will now be secret.
However at 10:00 GMT this morning, the last position report before she ’disappeared’ from the world’s radar, Ericsson 3 had 194 miles to run to the finish as was parallel with Sao Paulo. She was averaging a double-figure boat speed of 10.5 knots and had achieved a run of 262 nm in the past 24 hours. |
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Maintenance work onboard Ericsson 3, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro.
Photo © Gustav Morin / Ericsson 3 / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Her nearest and deadliest rival, Ericsson 4; with the hugely talented Torben Grael at the helm in what are his home waters; was a safe 103 nm behind her. But spicing things up in the last hours of the leg, Grael too opted for StealthPlay shortly after today’s 13:00 GMT positions were released and now the whereabouts of the man who has five Olympic medals to his name and who knows the waters off Rio like the back of his hand, will also be unknown for 24-hours.
At 13:00 GMT today, prior to announcing their StealthPlay, Ericsson 4 had 254 nm to run to the finish, with third-placed PUMA a further 86 miles astern. |
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Ericsson 4 at sunrise, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro.
Photo © Guy Salter / Ericsson 4 / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Yesterday, PUMA’s skipper Ken Read was questioning the motives of the Wind Gods. "Do they really need to play with us like this?" he asked.
He answered his own question when he said, "We have a choice. We always have a choice, but now, we really have a choice. We can feel sorry for ourselves and bitch about the weather and the winds and everything else that is preventing us from the ’all we can eat in Rio’, or we can suck it up and deal with our situation the best we can. Continue to race and continue to do our jobs." |
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The crew of PUMA Ocean Racing discussing food rations, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro.
Photo © Rick Deppe / PUMA Ocean Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Read’s crew clearly chose the latter option and Read is very proud of all involved. "Not a single ‘feeling sorry for ourselves’ comment. We continue to race," he said.
The top four boats, including the beleaguered Green Dragon have all been set free of the high pressure and are making good speeds towards the finish, while Telefónica Blue is the latest victim of the light spot and her speed is nearly half that of the Dragon’s, at 7.5 nm average over the last three hours. |
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Tom Braidwood helming in his Birthday hat, onboard Green Dragon, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro.
Photo © Guo Chuan / Green Dragon Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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After closing to within 50 nm of Ian Walker and his men yesterday, Bouwe Bekking’s blue boat has now slipped back to 164 nm, as she too now has to fight her way through the high pressure.
"What could have been a case of just counting down the miles to Rio has become for us an exciting duel to the finish," declared Telefónica Blue’s helmsman Simon Fisher. |
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David Vera during a sail change onboard Telefonica Blue, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro.
Photo © Gabriele Olivo / Telefonica Blue / Volvo Ocean Race.
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As well as keeping Telefónica Blue at bay, Green Dragon has her own issues onboard. Their fuel situation has become critical as the alternator on the generator isn’t working and crew has to use the main engine, which takes more fuel.
"We have calculated we have six days [of fuel] left," says skipper Ian Walker, who reckons it will take them the full six days to reach Rio.
Ericsson 3 is expected to complete this leg in the early hours of tomorrow morning, followed by Ericsson 4 and PUMA later the same day. Computer routing software is predicting a finish for both Green Dragon and Telefónica Blue on 28 March, but with 450 nm still to run and the possibility of the wind fading, the finishing order for these two is far from a done deal. |
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Andrew McLean checking the generator, onboard Green Dragon, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro.
Photo © Guo Chuan / Green Dragon Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Leg 5 Day 40 - 13:00 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(Boat name / country / skipper / nationality / distance to finish)
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson / SWE) StealthPlay
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael / BRA) DTF 254 (now in StealthPlay)
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read / USA) +86
Green Dragon IRL / CHI (Ian Walker / GBR) +459
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking / NED) +623
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bérmudez / ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri / ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp / AUT) DNS |
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Phil Jameson at the clew of the spinnaker, onboard Ericsson 4, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro.
Photo © Guy Salter / Ericsson 4 / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Cape Horn Scoring Gate
(Boat / date / rounding time / gate points)
Ericsson 3: 17.03.09 1222 GMT: 4 points
Ericsson 4: 17.03.09 1448 GMT: 3.5 points
PUMA: 17.03.09 2046 GMT: 3 points
Green Dragon: 18.03.09 0215 GMT 2.5 points
Telefónica Blue: 19.03.09 1339 GMT 2 points
Visit www.volvooceanrace.org for all the latest news! |
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