5:46 AM Fri 28 Nov 2008 GMT
 | 'Brad Jackson helming Ericsson 4 in the Doldrums, on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India
The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 will be the 10th running of this ocean marathon. Starting from Alicante in Spain, on 4 October 2008, it will, for the first time, take in Cochin, India, Singapore and Qingdao, China before finishing in St Petersburg, Russia for the first time in the history'
Guy Salter/Ericsson 4/Volvo Ocean Race © |
ERICSSON 4 LEG TWO DAY 13 QFB: received 27.11.08 1237 GMT
Warm times aboard today as we leave the rain clouds of the doldrums and head into clear blue skies. Several of the boys have moved their mattresses up on deck now in the hope that sleeping temperatures are slightly more bearable than down below. The boat is humming to the sound of our little bunk fans desperately trying to get some air flow happening below decks.
Race wise, things are still going well. We have lost some of the lead earned yesterday but still hold a commanding position and are really hoping for an increase in pressure that may allow us to get the average speed up. 665 miles to go. Not far, similar to a Sydney Hobart race, but at 6kts boat speed, the finish is looking a long way off.
Spirits are still high aboard and conversation has turned to what lay ahead for us at the Cochin stop over.
Take care,
Ryan Godfrey - bowman
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TEAM RUSSIA LEG TWO DAY 13 QFB: received 27.11.08 1210 GMT
Tough day at the office? Yes, absolutely! The wind is all over the place, the quickscat satellite wind pictures are not available, and our competition in the west that should be in less breeze is gaining on us, big time! The Doldrums are making themselves felt with huge squall systems followed by dead calms. Think the Atlantic doldrums are a challenge? Try these for a laugh.
For most of the last four hours, the wind has been below 5 knots. When we have 7 knots of breeze, everybody sighs a breath of relieve as we feel the boat slowly accelerates to eight knots, then we are getting places. ..The models are not looking very promising at all either, as it has the Doldrums light wind area do a super nova over the next days. ETA India? No idea at the moment. One thing is for sure it is not looking like the 30 November like it did four days ago!
So how do we deal with this all? Well, we are lucky to have a team that is determined and super focused. Trimming, driving and calling the wind is rotated at least every hour to keep everybody sharp. Jokes are shared around as well, to take the edge of it all. It is these stages of the race, where keeping positive and looking for that next little patch of wind, the next cloud line and the next squall count. You can bet everybody is having a rather challenging time out here, so make the most of it and you will have a good chance toe do well.
One of the big things to get us home are the squalls. There are plenty to deal with, but not all of them are friendly. In our world, we deal with either 'suckers' or 'dumpers'. The first ones generally really do badly and we try to stay away from them, where as the second version are like a God send.
The sucking clouds are typically dark black clouds that have no rain underneath them. Most frequent in the afternoon, when the clouds are building up, like a vacuum cleaner, they suck up all the air around them. Sometimes this means that there is a bit more wind along the flanks and back of them, but in general, they just swallow you and make your sails go flap-flap for the next hour.
Dumping clouds are a whole different story all together. We love them! Typically, these clouds come with a fair bit of rain and wind, so we can get a good boost through the light winds. Don't get caught underneath them though, as the wind kills all the wind..
So, especially in the morning and evening, we are active cloud-chasers. Every cloud gets sized up and gets points. One for a really bad sucking cloud, 10 for the top dog 25-knot gust clouds. Find one of them to ride for an hour and you are looking good on the next sched.
This morning we had a few good ones up in the sevens and eights. This afternoon, however, things are much too quiet with very little to propel us to Cochin. So looking forward to the evening when winds are slightly stronger and the eight and nines come out. We've got to get out of this place!
Wouter Verbraak - navigator
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TELEF?NICA BLUE LEG TWO DAY 13 QFB: received 27.11.08 1159 GMT
Hi There,
We have been moving now since shortly before dawn. Things might be looking up. We have even made some inroads into the boats way off to the east of us, giving us renewed hope and energy for the remaining miles to come.
The conditions should suit us as we have covered many hundreds of miles in the Med this summer in similar stuff! The feeling of dread every three hours has now been replaced with excitement with everyone onboard keen to know if we have gained some more miles out here on our westerly track. I have been fortunate to be the bearer of good news for the last few scheds.
Every three hours there is a news and weather update as I disappear downstairs only to return on deck, paper in hand to deliver the news, and then answer all sorts of questions usually follow: Who was higher? How much wind has so and so got? Why did we gain? Who was the fastest? All questions that I'm always happy to answer, even more so when the results are swinging in our favour.
With only 700 miles to go I suspect the 'how far now' question is coming too, probably followed by 'when are we going to arrive?' The key to answering the second of these two questions is now the main job in hand - working out what the weather is going to do over these last few days. So far, the weather has been ever-changing, sometimes inaccurate and at best unstable giving us little solid stuff to go on. This all adds to the challenge however - if we can be smart then we can certainly gain. If not well, the opposite I guess!
Life on board is pretty pleasant now too. The stress of being parked has left us (hopefully for a while at least) and it is warm and dry on deck... The sun is shining and there are few clouds in the sky. I think we must be a seasonably- affected bunch. Everyone's mood improves with the sun and it would seem that there is keen interest in the sea temperature too, as it seems to appear on the instrument displays regularly. Fortunately, for us, it is only going to get warmer and, whilst this means it is going to be a little stickier downstairs, a more generous supply of diesel this leg has allowed us to have the fans running to give us a blast of cooling breeze in our bunks. Luxury for the time being at least!
Cheers, for now,
Simon Fisher - navigator
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Cape Leeuwin, WA
Foiling - Components (Wings,Masts,etc)
