Longing for Rio
Leg 5 Day 39 - 14:42 GMT Tuesday, March 24, 2009. |
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| As leg five draws out even further due to a complete lack of wind, the crews are longing for the finish in Rio and everything that it brings: results, families, cool beers, big steaks, showers, warm beds, and not necessarily in that order. |
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Ericsson 3 cruising towards Rio de Janeiro, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Photo © Gustav Morin / Ericsson 3 / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| Ericsson 3 still holds her lead (DTF 424 nm) and although there have been a few blips in the last 24 hours, no one has taken any significant miles out of her deficit and the chasing pair are due south of her. Ericsson 3 has only covered 172 nm in the past 24 hours and while Ericsson 4 has gained seven miles (DTL 65 nm), PUMA languishes a safe 154 nm astern. |
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Rob and Rick, UK Mothers day, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro.
Photo © Jerry Kirby / PUMA Ocean Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| "The light airs are making our lives a mess," wrote MCM Gustav Morin this morning. For many of the crew, their families will be arriving in Rio and they wanted to be there to take care of them when they arrived. For others, the chance of returning home for a break are becoming slimmer as time runs out with each windless day. |
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Ericsson 3 in warmer waters on the home straight to Rio de Janeiro, 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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"Since we are late in, most of the families will arrive before us and all the fathers onboard are talking more often about their kids and wives," Morin says.
Jules Salter, navigator on Ericsson 4, has almost lost track of the number of days he has been at sea. He is frustrated with the weather maps, which only seem to make part sense. "When you expect a gain, you make a loss," he says. |
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Ericsson 4 with their Code Zero up, 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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But, he warns, "inventing weather is ‘bad science’ and expecting to know more than the men and women in beige at the weather centres is pretty dumb, but you have to try and do something."
"If your hokum theory lines up, you can make a plan for the next few hours. Usually the plan works for about two hours, then the wind shifts and drops and you are back to square one, trying to conjure up another scenario from your onboard observations," Salter added. |
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Horation Carabelli and Brad Jackson grinding at sunset 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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The real boat race now seems to be between becalmed Green Dragon (DTF 918nm) and the limping Telefónica Blue (DTF 983 nm), who has made a more sophisticated repair to the checkstays on the mast. The team is looking for a surprise ‘comeback’, reckoning that Green Dragon is fighting more current than the maps show.
"Right now they [Green Dragon] are still well ahead, but it will be a good laugh if we could actually manage to pass them," said skipper Bouwe Bekking, who has closed to within 65 miles. |
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Telefonica Blue at sunset, 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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Unlike the other teams, who are rationing food and diesel, Telefónica Blue has been well provided for by MCM Gabriele Olivo, who even brought onboard a huge bag full of mature, three-year old parmesan cheese to add variety to the daily snacks as well as some grated pieces to make the freeze dried food more enjoyable.
Not a day has passed when leftover food has been thrown away and there is enough food for the team to have extra breakfasts if they want to, something that would be the envy of the rest of the fleet; if only they knew.
They do now! |
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Green Dragon slow as they hit calm weather, 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 39 - 13:00 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(Boat name /country / skipper / nationality / distance to finish)
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson / SWE) DTF 424 nm
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael / BRA) +65
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read / USA) +154
Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker / GBR) +494
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking / NED) +559
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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Skipper Ken Read checks the trim 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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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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