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8:02 PM Thu 27 Nov 2008 GMT
There are just 700 miles remaining for the Volvo Ocean Race leading pack as they exit the Doldrums and head north west towards the finish of leg 2 in Cochin. It was a relief onboard for Ian Walker and his crew as they finally edged out the Doldrums and into more consistent conditions.
Ericsson 4 were the first out, as they pulled a 30 miles leading on the remaining fleet, soon to follow was Delta Lloyd who have edged up the leader board, ranking fourth on the leaderboard early this morning. Ericsson 3, PUMA and Green Dragon all struggled but by first light the Dragon was free and on the hunt north. By the 1000 GMT polling Green Dragon were sandwiched between the fleet, holding onto third position 57 nm behind Grael and his men on Ericsson 4.
But the race is far form over, there are more changes to be seen over the next few day, a 'drag race' to the finish, and for the crew onboard Green Dragon it has been over a week of sailing without a boom. The crew have decided to continue towards the finish without trying to affect a repair onboard. They are focused on holding their position and working to securing as many points as possible on this leg, this has been a huge achievement given the challenging conditions this leg has thrown at the fleet.
Race Forecaster, Jennifer Lilly predicts that after a period of reasonable westerly breeze the brakes will come back on - probably tomorrow afternoon for Ericsson 4, So it looks like there's at least one more cycle of the squeeze box between here and the finish line.
For Green Dragon the last 700 miles still have the potential to throw up some surprises, the forecast shows the breeze closing down again before the finish, with some for the front runners facing the prospect of five knots or under for the last 300 mile stretch into India. The bigger concern or Green Dragon is the potential for some upwind sailing towards the end, but this will also affect their closest threat Telefonica Blue who will not relish any upwind sailing without a daggerboard.
Latest update from Ian Walker:
'At first light this morning we came through a massive rain cloud and poked our nose into a North Westerly breeze. This was the sign we were waiting for that we were exiting the Doldrums for the second time this race. Fortunately we seem to be quite good at getting through the Doldrums as we have climbed up the leaderboard to third.
It was an agonising 150 or so miles where flat calms were interspersed with rain squalls and wind from every part of the compass. We had 2 shocking clouds that stopped us in our track but nothing compared to the hole, which engulfed PUMA about 10 miles from us. We managed to just skirt it by 100 metres or so and gained about 15 miles in 2 hours - there was nothing PUMA could do as a huge cell grew above them and stopped them dead. We did have our bad moments - not least when I was steering and got caught in a downdraught under one cloud. It is the first time I have gone full circle in a boat without tacking or gybing - all in 20 knots as the lads furled the code zero.
It culminated in us being stuck head to wind with our soon to be patented 'multiple bridle no boom mainsheet system' pinned in the middle and a spinnaker sheet wrapped around the rudder! 1 hour later the rain cleared the wind came back and we got going again - not very good. So here we are now in a drag race with Telefonica Blue who somehow managed to escape the wider doldrums in the West, Ericsson 3 who must look at how Ericsson 4 got away in disgust and Delta Lloyd who we can see about 10 miles behind. Their crew changes seem to be working wonders as they are doing a great job. It is certainly still a fast boat.
Looking at the weather forecast there could be all sorts of fun and games to be had in the 735 miles to go and I wouldn't rule out anybody just now. For us we are really happy to be in a boat race after 10 days without a boom. It is funny that nobody seems to mention it anymore apart from the odd wise crack like 'ease the vang' or 'pull on the outhaul'. Oh how we laugh....'
Ian Walker - skipper
Leg Two Day 13: 1000 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 666 nm
Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +54
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +57
Telef?nica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED)+64
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +67
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +75
Telef?nica Black ESP (Fernando Ech?varri/ESP) +142
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +143
www.greendragonracing.com
by Lucy Harwood
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Cape Byron, NSW
