4:57 AM Sat 29 Nov 2008 GMT
The lastest news from the boats competing in the Volvo Ocean Race, leg 2 to Cochin India.
ERICSSON 3 LEG TWO DAY 14 QFB: received 28.11.08 1753 GMT
Passing by the nav station this afternoon, after 4 hours of a gust being 3 knots of wind and glancing at GPS, brought memories flooding back of only days ago. Top speed for trip, 39.4 knots! Not 3.94 knots.
If I remember correctly, we were in the nav station every few hours, 'How much longer do we have this breeze for? When do you think it is going to drop off? Now it is replaced by; 'when are we going to get some breeze and do you think we will have it for more than 5 minutes?'
This afternoon was marked by the second crossing of the equator in this race and a re-awakening of King Neptune. He was not amused to be disturbed so early in the race for a second time and took some severe punishment to the only crewmember of Ericsson 3 to have not yet crossed the equator, young Martin Str?mberg.
Martin was, without compassion, lashed to the aft media aerial and after not being able to give the latitude of Cape Horn, laden with the heathen brew. As extra punishment for being a sail maker, Neptune's latest helper in a long line of helpers going back as far as lady Cod Fish, James the Hairdresser (Martin Krite) from Southern Sweden, famous for its fashion in hair design, came on deck to unleash the latest in heavy metal basher mullock hair styling.
It was only minutes before our victim was refashioned into a 1980's Def Leopard fan look alike. If any of our shore crew is reading this, Martin will need a black def leopard Singlet, one pair of tight black jeans and Doctor Martin boots as soon as he hits the dock.
King Neptune was satisfied with the massive punishment handed out. He let us pass on our way and disappeared into the bowels of Ericsson 3.
All in all, a very entertaining afternoon. As for the remainder of the leg, well it feels as we have a long way to go!
Richard Mason - watch captain
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ERICSSON 4 LEG TWO DAY 14 QFB: received 28.11.08 1648 GMT
We are experiencing a little difference in wind from forecast to what we actually have - and for once, it is in our favour.
Flying along in flat water at 20kts is a great feeling and these boats quickly remind you of just how aggressive they can be. Even in 5knots of wind, we can see the speed up to 10kts, and now in 17 knots we are low 20s and high teens constantly.
It's easy to get complacent about how many miles these boats quickly eat up and spit out. We have seen more current than expected as it flows between the Maldives 200nm to our left. What awaits us up the coast of India is anyone's guess, and there is a chance that we will be playing close to the shore as, if the predicted light winds appear, then we will need the local land and sea breezes to get us to Cochin, hopefully in 1st place.
We have put a lot of miles on the rest of the fleet in the past 2 days, but could easily see this all vanish under one cloud. In the last 20 hrs our ETA has changed by more than 2 days, so as far as knowing when we will finish - that's anyone's guess
Guy Salter - MCM
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TELEF?NICA BLACK LEG TWO DAY 14 QFB: received 28.11.08 1208 GMT
As we approach the equator, we have had a recall from King Neptune, as, in our crew, there is one sailor who has not crossed it yet, so His Highness is eager to know him.
The problem he has is that he is to face His Majesty alone! Everybody in TELEF?NICA NEGRO has crossed the equator before, except for our friend Gonza (Gonzalo Aruajo/ESP) ... he he... As you can see, the BLACKIES are, as you may imagine, upset because of the result of the race, even though they have tried hard all through the course. But they still have enough energy for traditions, and by the way, why not some laughs!
When we cross the Equator, there will be about 600 miles to go to the finish line, and the forecast is for light winds, which makes it a little more painful. Anyway, we are learning a lot of things so that they will not happen again, and we will see.
When dealing in normal conditions, we think we are OK, so we are happy somehow. The pace now is quiet, as wind is very light, but there is some activity on board as we wait for King Neptune and his pirates.
Yesterday and this very morning, we dealt with some squalls similar to those of the doldrums in the Atlantic, but with much more rain, we think. It was funny to watch the massive clouds appearing on the radar, some as huge as 15 miles from one side to the other, then came the change of wind as we got underneath them with all the rain and gusts, and then they disappeared as fast as they had come.
So let's see what happens tonight.
The BLACKIES from the Indian Ocean
Mikel Pasabant - MCM
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TELEF?NICA BLUE LEG TWO DAY 14 QFB: received 28.11.08 0111 GMT
All of a sudden, we are in 2nd place, the guys in the east parked up badly and we take the glory for the time being, but I am holding my breath, especially as during the last couple of hundred miles into the finish, everything can happen.
Looking forward to reaching port, and to see what Cochin is like. Of course have heard the bad news, but I have only heard and seen nice things about the people from India. We are going to a new country and we have to give them a fair chance so they can prove that they can put up a good show and great stopover.
Just 3 miles to go to the equator, for another crossing, and I think this time we might see Neptune appear in person, the 'first timers' say it is too late, but this will be their first crossing from South to North, so no discussion and we give them double!!!
Had Laurent (Laurent Pages/FRA) driving yesterday for 20 minutes, one arm in the sling, the other on the wheel, you could see he enjoyed it tremendously.
Cheers,
Bouwe Bekking - skipper
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TEAM RUSSIA LEG TWO DAY 14 QFB: received 28.11.08 0805 GMT
Who can sail without the wind?
Who can row without oars?
Who can part from a dear friend,
Without shedding a tear?
I can sail without the wind,
I can row without oars,
But I cannot part from my dear friend,
Without shedding the tears.
Whilst stuck in no wind and our easterly option not looking at all flash, I gave my wife a call. The first thing she said was: 'I see you are completely stuck, and I know you absolutely hate losing, but do you want me to put things in perspective? I have kept this news from you, as I know it really hurts you and you have enough to deal with, but now seems to be a good time. We lost our good friend Anders Bing last week.' She then sent me the song above which was sung at the funeral yesterday. Five hundred people were in the church and I so wish I could have been there too.
The song couldn't be more appropriate for Anders, who we all will miss as a dear friend and a source of inspiration. A joke, a friendly chat and a smile never more than a few seconds away. Anders lived life and made it shine for the people around him.
The song fits life on board very well. Drifting along in two - three knots of breeze and seeing the rest of the fleet make gain after gain is absolutely devastating. It is the good company of the other crewmembers that keeps you going and get through the low points as a team. Jokes, fun, and bets are a constant. In difficult times, one needs a clown or two to down play the situation and show what is really important.
One such a highlight today is Oleg on the helm, with a big smile on his face just as we get going again with some more breeze. You can tell he is really enjoying the moment and that sends a great vibe through the crew. Our motto at this moment is 'Sail with what you have, focus on the now, let's have a nice sail for the rest of the stretch to Cochin and see how things pan out'. Very much the way Anders lived his life. I take great inspiration from that. We will all miss you Anders, I certainly shed some tears last night, you brought so much sun to our lives!
Wouter Verbraak - navigator
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GREEN DRAGON LEG TWO DAY 14 QFB: received 28.11.08 0506 GMT
Oh dear!
The good news is that after 13 days of racing, we are in a battle for third position in sight of Ericsson 3 and Delta Lloyd. We can just see Puma about 12 miles astern too.
The bad news is that the wind is dropping to nothing again and the forecast is worse. At one stage, we were due to finish tomorrow, according to the router, but now I think we will be lucky to finish in one week. Fortunately we provisioned for 19 days, but it is time to consider our food and diesel supplies (without diesel we cannot make water).
The Indian Ocean is certainly living up to its reputation - we just hope something changes today or in the forecast.
We are now 45 miles from the equator and it is very hot onboard. You cannot walk on the deck without shoes. If the speedo drops below 1 knot again it is definitely time for a swim - not least because I stink. Talking of stinks we have had an increasing stink of bad fish onboard and earlier today we finally found the culprit - a flying fish had flown straight up the halyard tunnel off the cockpit some time ago. Andrew Mclean did the honours and returned him to the sea.
As for our current plans, they vary from the ultimately professional attitude of staying patient, fighting for every inch and maintaining the intensity in desperately trying circumstances, to putting on the engine and heading for a cool beer and fresh food in the Maldives. We are still focussed on the professional approach but I suspect that in a week's time, when we are still stuck out here, option two will look pretty good. For now, I'm going to sleep in the hope that things will be better when I wake up.
Ian Walker - skipper
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DELTA LLOYD LEG TWO DAY 14 QFB: received 28.11.08 0036 GMT
Last night we hardly moved at all. We were bobbing like a cork. Three boats were within sight of us: Ericsson 3, Green Dragon, and Puma. Considering our slow pace, it is exciting racing out here. Every zephyr moved us forward a couple metres at a time. Each metre was a gain on the others. We keep chipping away...little bit by little bit.
It was a night of metres and not miles. Which made Cochin, 700 miles away, seem like a far off land. When we are still in the water, the Mark Time (aka estimated time of arrival) on my computer reads; 'Ha Ha Ha. Never!' I can then hear it mutter 'Sucker' under its breath. My computer has a strange sense of humour and sometimes I think that it is mocking me. Perhaps I'll turn it off for a while to show it which one of us is the boss.
'Take that computer. Who's the sucker now? Huh? '
Matthew Gregory - Navigator
 | Martin Watts (l) and skipper Chuny watching Morgan White closely, as he changes the sheet on the masthead C-O, on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race - Sander Pluijm-Team Delta Lloyd- VolvoOcean Race © |
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by Various Volo Ocean Race competitors
Click on thumbnails to enlarge and find more photos:
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Cape Byron, NSW
