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10:44 PM Wed 25 Feb 2009 GMT
Volvo Ocean Race. Today Green Dragon skipper skipper Ian Walker celebrates his 39th birthday together with the crew. 'I have actually had a lucky escape as we should be crossing the date line tomorrow or the next day and had it been today it could have seen me celebrating my birthday twice in one year - I didn't fancy turning 40 this year. Sadly there was no tea in bed, no birthday cards and no presents - it would have been a long way for the postie to come.
I did have a few surprises though. Firstly I had a conference call with our CEO and my good friend Jamie Boag who was at a function in Boston and I was treated to a full rendition of 'Happy Birthday' on speakerphone from everybody there including the Mayor of Boston. Next came a bottle of Guiness and a lovely fruit cake smuggled on to the boat by our friends at 'Good Food Ireland'. Good Food Ireland is an organisation that promotes Irish food and cooking all over the world and they have prepared Irish produce for us and many more in most of the stop overs so far. I can still taste the Irish beef given to me as I stepped ashore in Cape Town at the end of leg one' commented Ian Walker.
Birthdays aside, the fleet has compressed and they are all now following the easterly route that that Dragon originally picked. That has consolidated big gains for the Dragon as they have taken over 200 miles out of the leaders.
'It looks like everyone is shaping up to go East of Fiji where a large area of no wind awaits the fleet' Ian Walker says. 'Right now the wind is down to 7 knots, the lightest the wind has been since leaving the shores of Qingdao. We are using this opportunity to give the boat a full once over and dry our gear out. It won't be long before we are anxious to get going again. The lads are already counting the days and to be honest judging by the smell down below I can see why. As it's my birthday I may help things by treating myself to a fresh water wash down and a clean pair of undies - that is the closest I am going to get to spoiling myself on my birthday this year.'
Volvo's expert Mark Chisnell reports:
'It's Doldrums 3.2, and Torben Grael and his team have been forced south, taking a hit on the leaderboard. Chasing hard, Ericsson 3 is currently on top in the hand-to-hand battle with PUMA, and both boats have closed back to within 20 miles of the leader.
At 10:00 ZULU this morning the fleet were all struggling to go south-east towards Fiji in a light, flaky breeze - less than 10 knots (TWS) and blowing anywhere from the north-east to the east-southeast (TWD). If you measure at right angles to their current course (to Fiji), then Ericsson 4, PUMA and Ericsson 3 are dead even - but with 30 miles of lateral separation.
But contrary t early reports the South Pacific Convergence Zone(SPCZ)) is alive and kicking. It was just before the 22:00 ZULU Position Report when the cloud action really kicked off. Ericsson 4 had everything from two knots to 24 knots through to the 04:00 ZULU Report. By then PUMA and Ericsson 3 were being affected as well, but the pattern from the first Doldrums encounter on this leg was repeated. The chasing pair didn't get it quite as bad, and the gap has closed.'
Leg Five Day 12: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 8,830 nm
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +26
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +26
Telef?nica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +62
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +88
by Lucy Harwood
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