11:34 AM Sat 21 Mar 2009 GMT
The Ericsson 3 crew has added to their lead overnight as they enjoy more favourable conditions than their pursuers. It's been a powerful 24 hours for the team as they close in on the finish line, now less than 1,000 miles away.
The distance to finish for the leg-leading Ericsson 3 crew has dropped below 1,000 nautical miles as of the 07:00 GMT position report on Saturday morning. The team has over 11,000 miles behind them, and just 957 to run until the finish line off the Marina da Gloria in Rio de Janeiro.
For the past day or so, the key for Ericsson 3 has been their position between two high pressure systems. The one in front is still a potential problem, and it looks like they'll have to deal with it before the weekend is over. But the one behind has swallowed up the chasing pack, allowing Ericsson 3 skipper Magnus Olsson to bank some precious miles. He may need to spend some of them before the leg is out, but for now, his team is literally gone with the wind.
Their teammates on Ericsson 4 remain the most vibrant threat, still holding on to second place. But over the past 24 hours, Torben Grael's men have dropped an additional 50 miles and now sit a full 126 miles behind. Guy Salter, the media crew member on Ericsson 4, had to resend his report from yesterday due to a technical gremlin. His email arrived overnight, and gives some insight into conditions on board yesterday.
'At present we are running on port in a very sloppy and mixed up seaway in 14 knots of wind,' he wrote. 'We are anticipating a gybe onto starboard (meaning his report was likely written near noon yesterday) with the weather predicting a relatively fast starboard tack into Rio - although I'm sure this will change ,as all sorts happens when you get within striking distance of land!'
By late afternoon, Ericsson 4 had indeed gybed onto starboard although whether they'll hold that line all the way to Rio is, as Guy wrote, a very open question at this point.
Third placed PUMA has dropped miles to both Ericsson boats, and will need some kind of a park-up scenario where the leaders hit very light conditions, as skipper Ken Read alluded to Friday, to make a pass.
Green Dragon has been the most adversely affected of the leading bunch by the more southerly of the two high pressure systems. The evidence is in the Data Centre, which shows the 24-hour run for the Dragons to be just 251 miles. They're joined by PUMA as the only two boats posting sub-300 mile days.
In contrast, Telefonica Blue is enjoying life much more now that Cape Horn is behind them. Temperatures are slowly climbing and for the moment, the wind is cooperating. So much so that they've chewed up 100 miles on the Dragons ahead of them.
The weekend could be crucial in setting up the final run to the finish. Estimated ETA Ericsson 3 to finish is Tuesday afternoon, with a handsome lead of more than 12 hours over the next predicted finisher, Ericsson 4. But with nearly 1,000 miles to go, there's plenty of sailing to be done yet.
GREEN DRAGON LEG FIVE DAY 36 QFB: received 21.03.09 0835 GMT
'We lost 43 miles to the fleet.' Not the kind of message I like to come on deck with for the boys, but today it has been the harsh reality that as a navigator you have to deal with. Waving a white flag and phrases like 'don`t shoot the messenger' are pretty much of no use, the crew is going to take it out on you. 'Nice mess you got us into, Wouter.'
Yes, it is a real mess, but a case of choosing your poison. Take a big hit now, or tay east and take an even bigger one 12 hours later was pretty much the choice.
The stretch from the Horn to Rio is really living up to its reputation of providing us with a complete minefield of light winds, erratic weather models and unexpected twists. It really is a game of snakes and ladders out here, with big gains and losses on the scheds being the order of the day.
Already far before Cape Horn, we have worked hard on our mindset for these last 2000 nm. It is all about short term plays, being aggressive in the strategy and sail changes, and making a huge effort to sail the boat as hard as we can. The intensity is high as everybody realises that a few miles gain or loss can be the difference between jumping through a weather window or missing out on one.
Today we have missed a window with the high pressure that has drifted across the course, with Puma only five hours ahead of us just making it through, and us getting eaten by light winds. It is hurting us badly.
Opportunities, however, lie ahead, with a small low developing of the Argentinean coast. We are already feeling the effects of it as winds are more lifted than in the model. It is only in the satellite pictures that we are picking up this little feature, but it could be a nice ladder for us to gain back some of those precious miles.
When restacking the boat earlier today, the urgency of getting to Rio clearly presented itself to me with the number of food bags now reduced to two plus a small spare. With each bag providing two days of food, a hungry last couple of days are now pretty much a given. Hope that ladder is a good one, we will need it.
Wouter Verbraak - navigator
TELEF?NICA BLUE LEG FIVE DAY 36 QFB: received 21.03.09 0028 GMT
Hi there,
With Cape Horn now behind us the focus is clear - get to Rio as quick as possible!! Everyone seems newly invigorated by our return to the Atlantic and spirits seem high.
It is nice that we can finally count down to the finish of this leg now in days, not weeks, or week in singular at least. Things too seem a little more pleasant now we have returned to the Atlantic. From start to finish we have had a beautiful sunny day with barely a cloud in the sky. This evening we were treated to an amazing sunset and the temperature has improved a little as well making life just that little bit easier...
Earlier today we passed close by to the Falklands, to have seen land twice in two days is quite a treat! Nice too to see something British too, even if there was some debate as to whether they should in fact be Argentinean! Needless to say the English speakers sided with the UK and the Spaniards with the Argentina!
Today too saw us make some gains on the guys in front. We managed to close up the gap between us and the Green Dragons by about 100 miles. They are still a long way ahead but to see the deficit come down a little as they battle with high pressure ahead gives us a little glimmer of hope of catching them and also provides us with some fresh motivation to keep pushing ourselves hard. As if wanting to get to Rio after over month at sea wasn't motivation enough!!
Cheers,
Simon Fisher - helmsman
Volvo Ocean Race Positions - Leg Five Saturday Day 35 - 07:00 GMT
1 Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) DTF 957 nm
2 Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +97
3 Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +248
4 Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +409
5 Telef?nica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +741
www.volvooceanrace.org
by Volvo Ocean Race media
Click on thumbnails to enlarge and find more photos:
   |
Mount Wellington, TAS
Kitesurfing - Twintips
Stand Up Paddle - Wave & Cruising Boards
Windsurfing - Boards