Focused on
the finish
leg 5 Day 35 - 15:05 GMT Friday, March 20, 2009. |
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| As the miles to Rio start to click off and the close of Volvo Ocean Race leg five fast approaching, Magnus Olsson and his team onboard Ericsson 3 are keeping focused on the finish; maintaining just a cursory glance over their shoulders at the chasing pack. |
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Ericsson 3 holding on to their lead
with 1,500 miles to go, 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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They have managed to draw out a bigger buffer of 87 nm now, over Brazilian skipper Torben Grael’s Ericsson 4 as they continue to head north. But the weather ahead is dominated by two high pressure systems and race meteorologist, Jennifer Lilley, says the fleet can expect another slow down before they reach the southeasterly trade winds.
Lilley is expecting the fleet to pass north of the first high by late today. Beyond that, the tactics will become even more challenging as the second high will be too far east for the fleet to stay on the favoured side. |
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Eivind Melleby and Arve Roaas catch
a fish, 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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"As a result, the wind speeds will decrease and the fleet is likely to bunch up, as everyone is forced to sail upwind, through the light air on the back side of the second high. By the beginning of next week, the southeasterly flow should start to build around the north side of the high and the fleet can expect favorable winds for the finish," she says.
After five weeks at sea, the possibility of a slow down before the finish will be frustrating and provide Ericsson 4 with a dangerous opportunity to catch Ericsson 3. But for now, speeds are in the late teens with Ericsson 3 recording the best 24 hour run of 441 nm. |
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Ericsson 4, earlier in rough weather
on their approach to Cape Horn, 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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| Ericsson 3 is planning for a finish early next week. "The boat is really bruised and battered after this wrecker of a leg and it needs to be taken care of quickly. With the routing we are going for now, we expect to land in Rio on 24 March, which gives us nine days until the in-port race. The boats are not the only part that is exhausted. The crew are, if possible, in even bigger need of some rest," said MCM Gustav Morin. |
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Casey Smith hanging off the bow (and
I don't think he is there to clean his teeth! Editor),
kind of onboard PUMA Ocean Racing, 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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As the fleet negotiated
the Falkland
Islands yesterday, Ian Walker, skipper of Green
Dragon, was wondering if history would repeat itself. Finding
themselves having to tack to clear the northern edge of the islands,
the team had to dodge unmarked reefs. Around a hundred years
ago, Walker’s great grandfather had been shipwrecked here
as a boy and had to swim ashore as the ship went down.
As the team negotiated a very tenuous passage, inside some islands and through some reefs which would cut 10 miles off their course, Walker was worried. |
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Green Dragon rounding Cape
Horn, 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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"I have to admit the thought of explaining how a second member of the family had become shipwrecked on the Falklands had crossed my mind," he said. But he never doubted his Dutch navigator, Wouter Verbraak, who was very confident in the accuracy of the charts.
Meanwhile, Telefónica Blue is making good progress and is the only boat in the fleet not to lose miles to Ericsson 3 in the last three-hour period. The team has had a reoccurrence of a problem with the checkstay, the stay that controls the bend in the mast. It was originally damaged when the team broke the forestay earlier in the leg. |
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Green Dragon celebrate rounding Cape
Horn, during 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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David Vera was dispatched up the mast at night, in waves of two to three metres to assess the damage. Skipper Bouwe Bekking confirmed that all was well, but the team was planning a second masthead sortie once daylight had broken.
"We are taking these kinds of setbacks with a smile on our face, nothing that we can’t face and we will tackle it and move on," said Bekking stoically. |
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Telefonica Blue feeling the full force
of the Southern Ocean as they approach Cape
horn, earlier
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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Leg 5 Day 35 - 13:00 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(Boat name / country / skipper / nationality / distance to finish)
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson / SWE) DTF 1207 nm
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael / BRA) +87
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read / USA) +193
Green Dragon IRL / CHI (Ian Walker / GBR) +272
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking / NED) +738
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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The toy horse which was given to
Xabier Fernandez sits on top of Telefonica Blue's
Cape Horn sign, with Cabo De Hornos clearly seen
in the background. The horse has become a mascot
for the crew onboard and will be re-united with Xabier's
son when they reach Rio de Janeiro, before they set
off with it again on leg 6.
Photo © Gabriele Olivo / Telefonica Blue / 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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