Bang the Corner :: Photography

VOLVO OCEAN RACE 2008-09
posted : 1 day ago

Guo Chuan/Green Dragon Racing/Volvo Ocean Race

Green Dragon Skipper-Ian Walker

4 days into leg 2 and the Southern Ocean is living up to its name. 1 broken steering system, 1 Chinese gybe, 1 broken boom and now 3 knock downs but we are still charging along for the scoring gate at longitude 58 East. I have to confess to being slightly nervous about our predicament but the forecast is good and we will soon be heading North (ish). We seem to have the boat going pretty well but we are vulnerable to being knocked down in the frequent squalls as we are fairly committed to carrying a full main and there is no easy way to ease it. It is also setting very full and this affects the balance of the boat. It wasn’t an easy night for the guys on deck - and the temperature is falling fast.

Down below everything is sodden as we have several leaks (one of which is the hole we drilled in the side to jury rig the steering!). We also have a leaking daggerboard case, which has split. I feel a bit like the character the Black Night from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, who refuses to be beaten and keeps on fighting as his arms and legs are cut off one by one by his adversary. We now have about 400 miles to the scoring gate and we lie in 3rd position (in terms of Easting) with a slender 25-mile lead over Puma and about 40 miles over the Russians. Our aim is to defend this as best we can and over the last 12 hours we have done just that. One of our challenges is going to be gybing - we are still discussing how we are going to do this - if at all - maybe we will granny round. We are also trying to sort out how we can reef if we need to. Tom Braidwood is itching to get going on fixing the boom but for now we are focusing on sailing fast to the scoring gate. This focus on racing hard is great for moral and everybody is determined to make the best of what we have.

For now then we are hanging on in there waiting for the wind to drop and shift to allow us to gybe and head back North. Our aim is to get as many points as we can at the scoring gate before worrying too much about how we will get to India. It still looks quite a long way away on the chart! Oh yes - I don’t wish to sound like a whinging pom but as if things can’t get any worse I should also mention that somebody has brought a bug on to the boat and half of us now have sore throats and headcolds - I suspect it won’t be long before we all do - Joy!
RORC Caribbean 600 Race
posted : 14 days ago

*Super-Maxi’s to do battle in RORC Caribbean 600
Start: Antigua 23rd February 2009*

The Royal Ocean Racing Club’s inaugural RORC Caribbean 600 looks set to stage the first battle between the two 100ft super maxi’s Leopard and Speedboat.

Chris Sherlock, boat Captain of Mike Slade’s Leopard announced recently: “It is likely that we will be racing against each other for the first time in the RORC Caribbean 600 which starts in Antigua on 23rd February 2009.”

As the event mini-site went live and Pre-Notice of Race became available on-line, interest in the race has been flooding in since the announcement earlier this year by the RORC and Antigua Yacht Club to hold the first ever offshore race to circumnavigate the Caribbean Islands.

The race has attracted great interest from all over the world: George David’s maxi yacht Rambler, which won the 2007 Rolex Middle Sea Race, is joining the battle with Leopard and Speedboat. Peter Harrison’s 115ft super yacht Sojana is a definite entry and classic yachts such as the 155ft schooner Windrose and J Class Velsheda also intend to join the race scheduled to fit snugly between other major events in the busy Caribbean racing calendar.

Eddie Warden Owen, the Chief Executive of RORC is delighted with the response to the race announcement: “The quality of the boats interested in joining the race is very good and I am delighted that Leopard and Speedboat will do battle for the first time in our race. For these big boats, the number of islands to round will make it a very tough race for the crew, as all the sails in the inventory are likely to be used at some time in the race. The race will be run under IRC and CSA and by the expressions of interest we have received, I would expect to see a large and impressive fleet of offshore race boats.”

The 605nm non-stop race comprises 13 legs around the Leeward Islands and will also be hotly contested amongst the smaller classes, with expressions of interest received from a number of yachts including the Corby 45 Incisor of Wight; High Tension, Bernie Evan-Wong’s Mumm 36; the Stimson 42, GYR-P42 Caspian Services and Markus Seebich’s Class 40 Pogo 1.

Full details and the latest news can be found on the new RORC Caribbean 600 mini-site which can be found at:http://caribbean600.rorc.org/

Pre-Notice of Race and details of all the yachts intending to compete, plus a detailed study of the race course is available online for this exciting new race.
VOLVO OCEAN RACE
posted : 18 days ago
Sally Collison

CELEBRATION AS ERICSSON 4 WINS LEG ONE

It’s a win for Torben Grael/BRA and his international crew from Ericsson 4 as they crossed the finish line at 0554 GMT (0754 local time) as dawn rose in Cape Town today. The team took 21 days, 17 minutes and 54 seconds to complete this, the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started from Alicante (Spain) on 11 October. At 6.500 nm, leg one is the second longest leg of the race.

The leg win is worth 8 points, which, when added to the points already on the board for Ericsson 4 from the Alicante in-port race (2.5) and 3.5 for passing the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha in second place, brings their overall tally to 14 points. Ericsson 4 leads the race overall, just one point ahead of PUMA (Ken Read/USA) provided she finishes in second place.

On stepping ashore, Grael said: “It’s really fantastic to be here. It was a great trip with lots of speed and I am very happy with what we have achieved. I think we had PUMA in visual for about 70 per cent of the race and I am very glad that we were ahead at the scoring gate and at the finish. It feels great to win.”

Navigator, Jules Salter added, “It’s really good to be here. It is always good to be in Cape Town. It was an eventful race; I really can’t remember most of it, but it feels really great to be in the lead from the very beginning.”

It’s been an eventful and dramatic opening leg of the event for Ericsson 4, which included evacuating a crewman with an infected knee on day seven (17 October) and breaking through the 600 nm 24-hour barrier to record a new world record of 602 nm in 24-hours (subject to official ratification) on day 19 (29 October).

After leading the fleet at the start, Ericsson 4 made a detour to the Cape Verde islands to evacuate trimmer/helmsman, Tony Mutter/NZL, who had an infected knee. From that moment, the crew was a man down, sailing with a crew of nine men and missing the helming skills of Mutter.
Losing an estimated 50 nm to the fleet while the evacuation took place, Ericsson 4 then began the long haul back up the leaderboard and, by day 8, 18 October, they were back in third position, 56 nm behind PUMA. The vagaries of the Doldrums then caused havoc as the boats wildly oscillated up and down the leaderboard trying to make the most of squally conditions.

It wasn’t until they rounded the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha, off the coast of Brazil, that Ericsson 4 pounced on PUMA and stole her lead, just momentarily, on the distance to finish data. Although Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) went to the top of the table for a few moments based on their easterly heading, the real fight remained between Ericsson 4 and PUMA.

As the two leading boats sailed south, skirting the South Atlantic High, PUMA was clinging to Ericsson 4’s coat tails. The two racing yachts were often in sight of each other, even though over 3,000 nm of the course had already been sailed.

“We have had some interesting skirmishes with PUMA throughout this race and again we find ourselves within four miles of each other, with them in the ascendency,” wrote Ericsson’s British navigator, Jules Salter, on day 17.

As the depression in the South Atlantic aligned itself perfectly to fire Ericsson and PUMA towards Cape Town, records were clearly up for grabs, although Grael said at the time that his focus was on winning the leg, and not setting new records. PUMA was back in sight of Ericsson and neither team had any intention of backing off. “We knew they would be back,” said PUMA’s skipper Ken Read. “We will keep the pressure on,” he said.

By day 19, Ericsson 4 had broken loose, and PUMA was trailing them by 34 nm when Ericsson set the new 24-hour world record. As Ericsson rode the front, they extended away, displaying a foot perfect display.
Ericsson 4 continued her dominance at the head of field right into Cape Town where she finished 135 miles ahead of PUMA. Current estimates show a late afternoon (local time) finish for PUMA today, Sunday.

Rick Tomlinson/Volvo

The next position report will be issued at 1300 GMT or as soon as the next boat finishes, whichever is the sooner. Positions are available every three hours onhttp://www.volvooceanrace.org .
VENDEE GLOBE
posted : 19 days ago

HUGO BOSS re-launched two weeks after Thomson thought his Vendée was over

1st November 2008

After Alex Thomson’s yacht, HUGO BOSS was dramatically struck by a fishing vessel 15 days ago, Alex thought his four years of preparation and training, and his dream of the Vendée were over.

However, today there is hope for the record breaking yachtsman with most of the HUGO BOSS repairs complete. The boat was lifted back into the water this morning at 7.30am. This will allow the team a further week for sea trials and finalizing the repairs with the aim to get Alex to the Vendée start line.

“I have had so much help from the sailing community, specialists, local suppliers, other Open 60 teams, Team Origin and the local community here in les Sables d’Olonne. It is fantastic that the boat is back in the water. But we have a few more stages to go yet with the repair and testing - my focus and drive are to make it to the Vendée start line. I couldn’t have got here without the support from everyone around me, and I will be forever grateful.”
Alex Thomson, HUGO BOSS Skipper

Since the incident, a team of up to 40 people have been working around the clock at a local boat yard, called Alliaura Marine, to complete the repairs.
The repairs to HUGO BOSS have been undertaken in a record time with the help and support of a huge variety of businesses both local and international, and individuals who have offered assistance.

After much timing planning the repair, the build team set about cutting a section the damaged area of the hull, approximately 3.5m x 2m. Once this was removed it was prepared for the new single skin to be fitted. After the bulkhead sections had been replaced and laminated, the team prepared for the painting. The final touches were completed and the HUGO BOSS branding was replaced.

“We have been extremely lucky. If the boat has been struck ½ metre to the aft, it would have been impossible to repair the damage. To do the repair that quickly is difficult- the planning has to be spot on. If we had made one mistake it wouldn’t have happened. It has been the organization from everyone that has meant it has happened in record time – from SP Systems getting straight onto the structures, Paul Quinn planning how we could fix it, and then keeping the processes on time. Although it is a repair, it is still a very good boat. Once Alex gets sailing again I am positive he will overcome this hurdle.”
Said Jason Carrington, Shift Leader for the HUGO BOSS repair

The team were lucky they were able to retrieve the mast after the damage, and excellent progress continued alongside the work on the hull. Southern Spars New Zealand, produced the new section of mast. PRS Machining of Gosport, pulled out all the stops to provide Alex with the final part of the jigsaw - a new mast plate to replace the old one which was damaged when the rig came down. After the mast was repaired in one piece the layers of laminate could be applied. Other suppliers including Future Fibres have worked hard to deliver components to the team on the ground, including replacing all the rigging to the boat in time for the race start.

The rigging team was able to work on the ropes which attach to, or go through, the mast. The electronics team replaced all of the new mast hardware, strobe lights and the tricolour.

Now all the structural repairs have been completed and the boat has been lifted back into the water, it is crucial to the preparation for the Vendée Globe that the team at Alex Thomson Racing has the opportunity to test the boat on the water before the start of the race on November 9th.

“It’s quite incredible to think only 8 days ago they started to cut out the damaged section, and now it looks amazing. It may not look brand new but there certainly won’t be any water coming in! I can’t actually believe we have the boat back in the water and we will be getting out sailing the next few days.” Said Alex

HUGO BOSS was just 2 miles outside the harbour of les Sables d’Olonne when the incident happened, on the 17th October. HUGO BOSS was waiting to transfer some of the technical team onboard at daylight having just crossed the channel from their homeport of Gosport, UK ready for the start of the Vendée Globe. The fishing vessel, registered in France, struck HUGO BOSS forward of the cap shroud on the starboard side, severely holing HUGO BOSS and bringing the mast down.

Firstly a massive thank you to Hugo Boss for their continue support of Alex, without which this project wouldn’t be possible.

Thanks to the below specialists:

Boatbuilders
Chey
Taff
Neville
Andy C
Toby Briggs
Iain Mitchell
Ryan Taylor – Boat Developments
Minsey – Boat Developments
Pete Robinson

Project Manager
Paul Quinn

Shift Leader
Jason Carrington

Preparateur
Iain Henderson
James Hayes

Rigger
Ryan Parkin
Frazer Brown
Sarah Lynch
Will Jackson

Logistics
John Dalton

Local Fixer
Tim

Electricians
Ashton Sampson
Mateus Picorenell
Greg Skelton
Al Green

Southerns
David Barnaby
Jean Francois

Many thanks to the Open 60 teams who despite their own busy schedules have helped with providing labour and products:
Pindar
Brit Air
Aviva
Artemis
Ecover
Aquarelle
BT
Gitana

Thanks to the below businesses, specialists and suppliers, who have pulled out the stops to help Alex and his team:
Local boat yard, owned by Alliaura Marine called ‘Feeling’
Stéphane Hanot who is the Commandant de Port at Sables d'Olonne
Dr Richard Freemantle of Marine results for NDT surveying
David at Atlantic Scapandry Services - the divers who recovered the rig and sails
Joel, Jeannot and the guys at CCI port du Commerce
Southern Spars NZ
Multiplast
Feeling Yachts especially Pascal and Alain
Norths Sails France
Karver
PRS machining
Lloyd and Think Worldwide
Future Fibres
Peters and May
Sofrica – who provided warehouse space for spliceworld
Christian Brit – ACA marine.
Team Origin
Lyros
Blewstub
Marineware
Cobra security
Diverse yachting
Ronstan
Grapefruit graphics
Paolo and Gurit/SP
Duranteau cranes
Thierry at SEMAF
PRB for the use of the trailer to move the boat
Complete Freight
Volvo Car UK for the invaluable use of the XC90 Volvo’s
Everyone from the Alex Thomson Racing team

Special thanks to Julian, Christophe, Veronique and the Vendee Organisation
VOLVO OCEAN RACE
posted : 20 days ago
Guy Salter/Ericsson 4

*ERICSSON 4 BREAKS THROUGH 600-NAUTICAL MILE BARRIER*

30th October at 1854 GMT, Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) broke through the magic 600 nm barrier, when she extended her historic 24-hour run to reach 602.66 nm, however, as with all sailing records, the exact distance will have to ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council before it can be made official.

Grael and his crew, which is one man short since Tony Mutter was taken off the boat at the Cape Verde islands last week with an infected knee, have been pushing the boat hard for well over 24 hours. They first toppled the record of 562.96 nm set by Sebastian Josse and the crew of ABN AMRO TWO in the 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race at 0355 GMT this morning with a run of 566.57nm. They raised the bar repeatedly and, by 1300 GMT, 593 miles were on the board as the magical 600-mark grew nearer. By 1425 GMT, they had clocked 594.23nm as they moved onwards and upwards.

Guy Salter/Ericsson 4

Guy Salter, MCM onboard Ericsson 4 said tonight, “It’s not everyday you get to have a ride as we have had over the past day or so. To get a new 24-hour record has been superb, but the reality of that feat out here hasn’t really sunk in. We know we have a record but what is more on the fella's minds is getting to Cape Town and hopefully at the front of the pack, avoiding damage to ourselves and the yacht. All the boys look really drained - sleep is not the easiest on Ericsson 4 – I can only describe the motion as I would imagine re-entry on the space shuttle is like.”

Meanwhile, further back in the fleet, the westerly gale continued to whip up seas in excess of eight metres. Sailing at around 25 knots, Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) launched off a particularly large wave, momentarily lost control of the boat and crash landed only to find that one of the rudders had sheared off and part of a daggerboard and the bowsprit were gone. None of the crew was injured and the damage to the yacht was quickly assessed. The crew has mounted an emergency rudder and are continuing on course to Cape Town, albeit rather more slowly.

Telefónica Syndicate Head, Pedro Campos, said that the safety of the crew was the first priority and reported that all are well and unhurt. He confirmed that the damage to the yacht was not thought to be structural in any way but, understandably, the crew is very disappointed to have to nurse the yacht into Cape Town. He praised the crew for their professionalism and the seamanlike manner in which they dealt with the situation.
VOLVO OCEAN RACE
posted : 24 days ago The Green Dragon Team have had an exceptional first leg, so far! Including maximum points at the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha.

Ian Walker may be an Olympian and America's Cup sailor but this is his first major offshore and he sounds like he is enjoying the novelty!

"It feels great to finally be pointing somewhere near Cape Town. I've nothing against South America but the party is going to be in South Africa and it’s now time to get over there.

We have worked for days to position ourselves furthest south in the hope of more wind as we head east, and it seems to slowly be paying. In fact our biggest problem is probably going to be too much wind in the south, so we may have to keep our plan in check. For the next day or so this won't be a problem so we will wait and see how it develops.

It’s taking me a while to get my head around all the weather systems being upside down and round the wrong way in the southern hemisphere but I think I am getting there. One thing is for sure the pressure on the barometer is dropping and the average speeds are going up.

It’s amazing how adept you get at guessing the hull speed from in the nav station. Under 10 knots boat speed all is quiet and you think you aren't moving at all - you can't hear above Justin's (Slattery) snoring. Up to 15 knots, the water starts to rush quite fast outside the hull and you can hear the wind in the rigging, 15 to 20 knots boat speed and the hull starts to shudder and you get the odd surf and lurching motion for and aft.

Over 20 knots and the hull starts to slam even downwind - this is often followed by a stopping feeling as you plough into the wave in front. At about 25 knots the crunchometer kicks in. This is when you come off the back of waves and the flat bottom section of the hull lands with a bang, the whole centre of the boat bounces up and down (inc Guo in the media station) and you hear a loud crunch. The crunch is the vertical carbon fibre panels of the head disintegrating in compression and this only lasts about a day. After then the whole sidewalls of the head are destroyed leaving nothing to crunch and all goes quiet. A few hours ago the crunching started but the wind has now abated and the head will get a temporary stay of execution.

Ian Walker - skipper

http://www.volvooceanrace.org
VOLVO OCEAN RACE
posted : about 1 month ago
Guo Chuan/Green Dragon Racing/Volvo Ocean Race

*Dead heat to the Doldrums*

It has been a stomach-churning 36 hours for the Volvo Ocean Race navigators and skippers as the light, fluky conditions of the Doldrums take their toll on the fleet. The leaderboard is a minefield, with boats moving up and down as if on an elevator. Team Russia, for example, vaulted up to third place on the 0700 GMT report, but had slid to seventh by 1300 GMT. It seems as though if you’re a navigator who is unhappy with his position, you just need to wait until the next position sked.

Unfortunately for some, despite appearances, the leg standings are far from completely random. Ian Walker’s Green Dragon crew made a concerted effort to get to the west to cross the doldrums and are currently reaping the rewards of that strategy in a big way. That being said, this is a long way from being over.

Out to the west with the Dragons are Ericsson 4 and PUMA. Both have paid a high price to get there, sailing at right angles to the next waypoint and thus bleeding miles and places off the leaderboard. But both clearly see the west as the place to be, and will look at their fall down the leaderboard as a necessary sacrifice.

One hint of what could have caused the two previous leg leaders to take such drastic action can be found on the leaderboard on the homepage. The PTTL column (Predicted Time to Leader) runs each boat’s position through weather routing software to see how much time it would take to get into the lead. The answer for both PUMA and Ericsson 4 is favourable compared to the rest of the fleet.

Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race

Simon Fisher on Telefonica Blue is one who is counting his blessings today. Left for dead at Gibraltar when they undertook a twelve hour pit-stop, his team has clawed back up to fifth on the leaderboard, and is right back in the thick of the action.

“It’s been good, obviously we were down the back end after the pit-stop and we’ve just had to sit and wait,” he said during an interview this morning. “The last 24 hours have been pretty good for us, the boat has been going nicely and we’ve found good winds, so we’ve really improved on things.

“All the boats have gone light and we’ve all had a park-up so now it’s just a question of who is going to get out and get into the wind and into the south. Once you get down to this latitude, there’s not much you can do to outrun the clouds. So our plan is just heading south and getting out as fast as possible. I think the next 24 hours will be critical. It’s a bit about luck and who gets the breeze first. Everyone’s working hard to get the speed up to get out of here.”

It may surprise some readers to learn that the Doldrums isn’t characterised by uniform calm conditions. Instead, large quiet spots are broken by thunderstorms, squalls, and heavy showers. Frequent sail changes are the norm and the heat is unbearable. The rain can be an occasion to shower and get clean, but in general, it’s an unpleasant place to be. Sometimes, however, the wind Gods do smile on you, as the guys on Telefonica Black found out.

“With a massive (squall) on the radar in front of us, we all got prepared: the trimmers preparing sails for peelings, the helmsman pointing the boat to where the watch on duty said, and everyone on deck putting harnesses on. Even the media crew member prepared his ‘arms’ as if on pre-war notice: still cameras, handheld camcorder and the infrared stern cam!” wrote Mikel Pasabant.

“Then, as we were approaching the huge target on radar, it started to split up in two as if letting us go by without disturbing us. As it happened, we crossed exactly through a ‘gate’ which opened as if on purpose, with massive storm clouds on each side! Thanks, Neptune. It seems as if you are with the ‘Blackies’ on Telefonica Black!”

Telefonica Black represents just about the middle of the fleet in terms of the west to east spread. Out furthest to the right is Team Russia, and out at the edge of the course, Delta Lloyd.

“We did a good job getting south and going into yesterday evening we were actually furthest south which was our goal, to get out of the Doldrums as quickly as possible and to get back into the trade winds,” said Matthew Gregory this morning.

“But the guys behind have compressed and now we’re in a big string (spread out from west to east). I think the guys who come out first and get going will put some miles together really quick. Hopefully, we’re that guy. There’s a lot of suspense right now and the next 24 hours should be pretty exciting for everybody watching.”

Leaderboard at 16:00 GMT

Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) DTF 4019
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +25
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +33
Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +40
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +43
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +45
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +51
Delta Lloyd IRL (Ger O'Rourke/IRL) +90
HUGO BOSS DISMASTED
posted : about 1 month ago

Hugo Boss dismats following a collision

While sailing two miles off Les Sables d’Olonne, Alex Thomson was hit by a fishing boat, which rammed into the side of Hugo Boss causing her to dismast. The monohull is now moored in the commercial harbour, where an inspection will be carried out…

It was around 2h30 (local time) on Friday morning that Hugo Boss was struck by a fishing boat, leading to the monohull dismasting and causing some major damage to the starboard side. The boat was towed to the commercial harbour in Les Sables d’Olonne, where she is due to be inspected later today.

=> A press conference will be arranged at Vendée Globe Race HQ at 17h00 (Boulevard de l’Île Vertime – Sables d’Olonne) with Alex Thomson, who will explain what exactly happened and give us more information about the intentions of the Hugo Boss team.

http://www.alexthomsonracing.com
LATEST VOLVO OCEAN RACE VIDEO
posted : about 1 month ago

Just click on the link below for a 25 minute video on the runners and riders in the Volvo Ocean Race, produced by Boats on TV.
http://www.joost.com/home?playNow=219hxto#id=219hxto
Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09
posted : about 1 month ago

Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race

*Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 from Alicante, Spain*

It was high octane action as Mother Nature supplied the start with some testing conditions. Here is a taste of what happened on the water at the start of the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race.

There was high drama right at the start of the 37,000 mile race around the planet. Even before the first warning signal for the first offshore leg; to Cape Town, South Africa. Inside the safe confines of Port Alicante, the breeze was blowing hard with waves smashing into the breakwater. A vicious storm that had been raging for several days had whipped up the waves to well over 3 metres in height and the wind speed was not far off gale force. This was going to be a baptism of fire for the eight yachts in the 10th edition of the race.

The first yacht to raise its sails was Green Dragon, Americas Cup and Olympic helmsman, Ian Walker, was at the helm as they strutted their stuff; manoeuvring inside the tight confines of the harbour entrance then suddenly….bang! The strop taking four tons of load from the headsail snapped and the sail went crashing to the deck. Quick as a flash, one…. then two crewmen were hoisted up the 30 metre rig to sort out the problem. A huge bombardment of fireworks and thunder crackers must have made communication with the crew aloft impossible.

Ian Moore; navigator for Green Dragon and late of Americas Cup Team New Zealand, came on the radio; “ Race Committee, Race Committee, how far away is the start line from the harbour wall?” Enquired Moore with a sense of urgency. “About two miles” was the unemotional response from the Race Officer.

With just enough time to make the start line, Green Dragon decided to abandon their attempt to fix the problem and go for the start line; they couldn’t use their fractional halyard which meant they had to put up a far larger sail than planned, putting the yacht close to the edge, nearly out of control in a rapidly rising tempestuous sea. Allegdely, they then had a problem with the canting keel forcing them to start on port. It looked like the luck of the Irish had deserted them!

With the wind speed gusting over 25 knots, the start gun fired, the hopes and dreams of millions of well-wishers was willing the yachts a safe passage to Cape Town, some 6,500 miles and 23 days away. Soon they would be gone but thousands of spectators were treated to a short windward leeward leg before the fleet disappeared over the horizon.

Erricson 4 completed the short course first, hoisting a fractional spinnaker and staysail, they reached away, spray washing down the deck like a fire hose as they hit a speed of 25 knots or more. Puma were not far behind but a gybe peel to a smaller kite looked like it cost them several boat lengths on their rivals, next it was Telefonica Blue; blast reaching with a fractional code zero and staysail, next Ericsson 3, closely followed by Green Dragon with no option but a masthead spinnaker. They were trucking along at a ballistic speed but losing height to the fleet with a headland looming. Delta Lloyd and Team Russia were some way behind. It was interesting to note that there was a huge variety of sail combinations.

At speeds of 25 nautical miles an hour it wasn’t long before the Volvo Open 70s disappeared from the view of the spectator boats but they were chased by a Spanish navy destroyer. At 27 knots the ship was having trouble keeping up with race yachts as they lit up the south coast of Spain. The breeze continued to build and was now close to gale force.

PUMA Ocean Racing/Sally Collison

Aloft in a helicopter, Sally Collison was taking some amazing aerial photographs of Puma. “The pilot was first class.” Explained Sally, “at one stage we were flying backwards in front of Puma, the black hull was clean out of the water, right up to the mast; it was the most amazing sight.”

As dusk fell the wind speed started to come down but if you thought this would mean the crew could take a rest, you would be very wrong. A cat and mouse chase, at night, began to unfold as the eight Volvo 70s went in search of more wind to try and win the race to Gibraltar, the gateway to the Atlantic Ocean. Constant gybing means all hands are on deck and besides the excursion of manoeuvring the boat, there is moving the stack; two tons of gear must be moved from one side of the boat to the other, by hand on a wet pitching and rolling deck. This procedure is back breaking, in the race to Gibraltar through the night it may have required the crew to do this over and over again.

Ericsson 4 and Ericsson 3 look to have won the race to Gibraltar, hugging the shore line looks to have paid off. Every minute they are in the Atlantic longer than the competition will put them about 400 metres ahead of their rivals. The International and Nordic crew from Ericsson look to have won the first skirmish and Telefonica Blue have reportedly slowed down due to damage to their steering. Green Dragon were in third place approaching Gibraltar, a tremendous effort after their early set backs, apparently they have managed to get the yacht back to 100%.

Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race

There will be other battles during the leg to Cape Town and many, many more before the fleet reaches St.Petersburg in Russia in June 2009.To follow the race go to
http://www.volvooceanrace.org

The Volvo 70s will be sending back text, pictures and HD video from the yachts thanks to the advanced capabilities of FleetBroadband, Inmarsat's new maritime broadband service - delivered to the yachts by Stratos mobile satellite services via Thrane & Thrane SAILOR satellite equipment - This will allow an expected global audience of more than 1.8 billion people to follow the world's premier yacht race on HDTV, radio and the internet. FleetBroadband, supplemented by Inmarsat Fleet 33 and Inmarsat C services, will also be used to deliver online navigational and weather updates, report vessel position and course heading for teams and race organizers, and provide essential safety communications for the crews competing in one of the world's most dangerous sports.

VOLVO OCEAN RACE 2008-09

RORC Caribbean 600 Race

VOLVO OCEAN RACE

VENDEE GLOBE

VOLVO OCEAN RACE

VOLVO OCEAN RACE

VOLVO OCEAN RACE

HUGO BOSS DISMASTED

LATEST VOLVO OCEAN RACE VIDEO

Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09

Older news

your lightbox