10:52 AM Sat 22 Nov 2008 GMT
Read about life onboard during leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race to Cape Town.
TELEF?NICA BLUE LEG TWO DAY 8 QFB: received 22.11.08 0410 GMT
Hi There,
It has been an exciting 24 hours with two of the fleet in view, Green Dragon on one side and Puma on the other. We are approaching a gybe and everyone is playing their own little strategies, some high and fast some going lower and slower so it makes for an interesting time in the nav station constantly monitoring our performance trying to stay on top of the changing conditions.
To be honest, I am thoroughly enjoying being up with the pack and fighting it out, almost for the first time since this race has started do I feel that we are really in the hunt. Each boat seems to have their conditions where they are slightly stronger, so it is all about managing the fleet and not getting suckered into playing someone else's game. I know that soon we will be reaching again and most likely that will be good for us!
Racing aside (dare I say it!), life is very good. The wind has got lighter so the big dry out has begun, all round the boat you can find bits of clothing hung up as everyone desperately tries to get stuff dried out before we begin reaching once more on starboard. The thermals are now close to coming off too, something I am very much looking forward to, as it will mark the end of being slightly damp for the best part of a week now.
I am slightly regretting not buying any shoes for the warm conditions like 99% of the crew did in Cape Town - a consequence of not being that big a fan of shopping and a firm believer in taking the minimum amount of stuff possible on a leg. For starters, its is less weight and, even better, it is less stuff to leave lying around the boat!
Even the food seems to be getting better. Perhaps it is because I am getting back into the swing of things, but the freeze-dried doesn't seem nearly as bad. Maybe it is the fact that there is one more curry on the menu or, perhaps, it is because of all the snacks we have this leg. There has been a steady flow of dried fruit and Biltong into my mouth for the whole trip, which has been very good indeed. I dare say it is a good idea to make the most of eating beef while we sail as in India a cow is something to worship and not to eat!
Anyway, better go, sched coming up and maybe a quick trip to the snack box!
Cheers,
Simon Fisher - navigator
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ERICSSON 3 LEG TWO DAY 7 QFB: received 21.11.08 2206 GMT
Everything is relative, like Einstein said. Luxury for example. For some people luxury means driving around in a Bentley, living in a castle and having a bunch of butlers serving meals and drinks every time you ask for it. On VO70 you appreciate another kind of luxury.
As soon as we started sailing north, from the Southern Ocean, the weather started changing. In 24 hours the temperature has changed from having to where full wet weather gear to be able to jump on deck barefoot and in t-shirt, without freezing your butt of in seconds. The wind has decreased some and the sea state is very pleasant. It's almost flat water and instead of rocking, shaking and getting airborn downwind we are heeling 15 degrees on a steady reach.
That is luxury. At least for me.
The conditions are actually perfect for the working environment for the media crewmembers; quite easy to move around the boat, no need to wear heavy clothes or constantly having to sit under a fan.
Luxury is also to have good food onboard. We had problems on the first leg with some dishes that were almost too spicy to eat, and we were just on the limit amount wise.
Now we have another brand of freeze-dried food and it's fantastic. It's almost like eating a regular meal. You can feel the slices of meat and you actually see and feel the vegetables. Favourite so far is roasted chicken with vegetables and mash potatoes on the side. I can really see the difference on the crew when the food-programme is working and when it's not.
Good food and a good organisation around it is essential. For example the meals have to come regularly and you should adjust the food times according to sunrise and sunset.
We are still happy with how we sail the boat and proud that we have managed to stay in first place for a long time now. It really feels fantastic. But times will turn tougher.
The wind seems to decrease for us in the front and stay strong for the rest of the fleet. Pretty frustrating to once more be watching the opponents making big gains on us, sched after sched. It's a d?j? vu from the first leg when the bungy-effect never let us go. But like Anders Lewander just said:
- We are strong psychologically and we know that big losses soon can turn into gains again. Once again, it's all about fighting and never giving up.
Gustav Morin - MCM
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DELTA LLOYD LEG TWO DAY 7 QFB: received 21.11.08 1845 GMT
It will be a busy on deck and at the nav desk on the Delta Lloyd tonight. Two sail changes and a gybe are on the menu.
For the past 36 hours, we have been a very happy crew as we gain on the fleet with every position report. The boat is on fire....(metaphorically speaking, of course)... Our fractional code zero has been a workhorse for us. While still making gains, early this afternoon, we changed headsails to our R1 - high clue reacher. This sail allows us to sail about 10 degrees higher true wind angles than our fractional zero. This is a move we thought was necessary to make sure that we stay in touch with the fleet by sailing a parallel course.
Right now, we are positioned to the right of the fleet, and our predictions of more wind on this side seem to be right, based on the latest position reporting of wind speeds and direction from each boat. We still have 22-24 knots of wind, while the other boats seem to be in the 16-18 knot range. Hopefully, we can hang onto this pressure for another couple of hours, and continue to chip away at the fleet.
...The sail changes and the gybe will be necessary as we get lifted (wind shift from west to east through the south) all night long. The scenario will play out like this:
Currently:
TWA: 100
TWS: 22knots
TWD: 315
Sail: R1
2-3 hours from now
TWA: 115
TWS: 20knots
TWD: 300
Sail: fractional zero
5-7 hours from now:
TWA: 135
TWS: 18 knots
TWD: 240
Sail: A4 masthead downwind running sail
Gybe:
Tomorrow
Wind continues its swing to the east...we change from our downwind A4 to some sort of reaching sail ....
Matthew Gregory - navigator
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PUMA LEG TWO DAY 7 QFB: received 21.11.08 1038 GMT
Well here we are... It's cold, bumpy, I'm miserable and the boat feels as though it is falling apart around me, although of course it is not, it's the Volvo. What did I expect? These are hard yards for me aboard Il Mostro. Ugh. How I wish I could go back and do Cape Town again. Two weeks - less in fact - is not enough time to enjoy such a brilliant city and country, I can definitely say that I didn't take advantage of all that it has to offer - apologies to those who were there to support me.
Enough whining: leg two, let's kick some ass as they say, although I say that with full realisation that success or failure in the race is out of my hands - my job and the other 7 media crew members of each boat is to record the action as it happens win or lose.
During the stay in Cape Town, we had chance to check out all of the collective media that has been created by all the teams including the landlubbers. I thought the TV shows were great and am blown away by all the great images, video and writing that is coming off the boats, congratulations to Guy Salter on Ericsson 4 for a well deserved win in the leg one media competition...... excuse me, I think I'm going to throw up.... and to Sander Pluijm on Delta Lloyd for his nomination for the same prize, it's going to be a tough competition to the finish..
Talking about tough... the leg so far has been just that , conditions have not let up since we started and that's a good thing so far as the race and our speedy arrival in Cochin are concerned. Its also been tough with all the repairs going on aboard the yacht Casey Smith (AUS), who is the boat captain of Il Mostro, has done a brilliant job of keeping us in the race, and his efforts and skill means that we will probably make it to India, maybe even win... we will probably all die of some horrible lung condition though... the boat was full of carbon dust for a while. All in a day's work for this crew... The sailing conditions have been very tough and the crew has currently turned into what I lovingly call 'sailing robots'... Sail-Sleep-Eat... repeat.
I'm writing this blog whilst I upload some video that we shot on the boat regarding the spate of pirate attacks that seem to be occurring more and more in the hot zone off the East Africa coast that we seem hell bent on getting to as quick as possible .... Wonder if we'll be raided and held for ransom... wish Jerry (Jerry Kirby/USA) was here.. Then again, maybe not.
Rick Deppe - MCM
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