12:54 AM Sun 24 May 2009 GMT
In the Volvo Ocean Race, after all but Telef?nica Black played their Stealth option overnight to cover the timing of the critical gybe, the fleet is now converging on the finish in Galway in what is promising to be dramatic ending to this trans-Atlantic leg from Boston, USA.Accordingly, Galway is prepared for a grandstand finish in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The sailing continues to be fast and wet, but it has been a thrilling and memorable ride across the Atlantic.
'Take what you most love doing in your life and keep doing it for hours and hours, day after day. That is how I would describe the sailing conditions at the moment. No matter what, this remains the best sailing in the world,' wrote an enthusiastic Gabriele Olivo, MCM onboard Telef?nica Blue (sixth place +52nm).
For team of Green Dragon, it will be a homecoming and the team is currently level pegging with Puma for second place, their best showing so far on this 37,000 nm race around the world.
'The race now is all about speed. There are no tactical options,' said skipper Ian Walker who has extra people on deck to put every last drop of energy into the final miles to the finish. 'I am sure no crew is willing their boat forwards more than ours right now,' he said.
Onboard Delta Lloyd, spirits are high. Although the team is in fifth place, it is so close, anything can happen. The team is focused, eager and determined. Navigator Wouter Verbraak sums up the final hours of this leg:
'The last two days have been intense, and we are all feeling the grunt of that. We have to keep pushing hard all the way to the end. This is what ocean racing is all about. The end of another marathon is drawing to a close, with it, the grand slam finale right in front of Galway. Perfect.'
With the speeds still topping 23 knots, routing software is currently predicting a finish for the first boat at just after 0100 GMT tomorrow morning.
GREEN DRAGON LEG SEVEN DAY 8 QFB: received 23.05.09 0853 GMT
Galway should prepare itself for a grandstand finish in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The Dragon has had a good night and we have popped up out of stealth mode only 1 mile behind PUMA in 2nd position. Some boats gybed later than us and some gybed earlier, but it seems we have come good in the middle somewhere.
We have also pushed the boat hard all night with the fractional spinnaker with no mishaps. Despite big waves and 25 - 30 knot winds it was a clearer night with fewer squalls making life easier for all onboard.
We now have a 330 mile drag race to the Aran Isles. The race now is all about speed - there are no tactical options. We are running extra people on deck and putting every last drop of energy into the last 360 miles to the finish. I am sure no crew are willing their boat forward more than ours right now.
Ian Walker - skipper
ERICSSON 4 LEG SEVEN DAY 8 QFB: received 23.05.09 1452 GMT
Before leaving Boston, I was told that I should write one of the first emails from the boat. The reason being was that I wanted to thank everyone in Boston for a fantastic and memorable stopover. The best yet in my mind.
I was going to thank my family for their support, the local people of Boston and all the people that came from far and wide across the US and other parts of the world to see and be part of the action. I also wanted to thank all the volunteers for their efforts. Sure it's great to be involved, hanging out with some well-known yachties and being part of the festivities....but when the Boston weather turned bad for the best part of a week they were still there helping out, sitting out in the cold and getting their jobs done. So, thanks to everyone involved...it really was a top quality event.
So, why so late in the piece? Well, it has been exceptionally busy on board this leg, and when I did have a chance to get typing, I chose the bucket instead...to bail that is! This boat is so damned wet inside you would not believe it! And when it's wet its gets colder and there is more condensation and so it gets more and more wet.
We have sailed this boat pretty hard before obviously, but there is something about the north Atlantic sea state that make sit extremely difficult to keep these boats under control in otherwise normal conditions. The biggest ingress of water happened the last night when we nose dived hard into the back of one wave. This filled the cockpit up to our knees, which isn't so bad if the boat is moving forward. But when you leap straight into the back of another wave and stop, all the water from the wave before turns around and creates a tidal wave down the main hatch....gushing past our washboard like a busted floodgate.
Then you have about 9 buckets of water to bail out. This is on top of all the little leaks and the extra water coming off the wet gear of all the guys as they come down the hatch. This tidal wave effect happened at least twice an hour for about eight hours.
It has truly been a taxing leg, with wind and wave conditions, sail changes and general manoeuvres and the usual stresses taking their toll on crew and gear....and it ain't over yet, so I had better get back to it. Thanks again everyone...
David Endean - pitman
Leg Seven Day 8: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
1. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTL 231 nm
2. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +39
3. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +39
4. Telef?nica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +52
5. Delta Lloyd NED (Roberto Berm?dez/ESP) +57
6. Telef?nica Black ESP (Fernando Ech?varri/ESP) + 84
7. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +88
www.volvooceanrace.org
by Volvo Ocean Race media/competitors
Click on thumbnails to enlarge and find more photos:
   |
Cape Leeuwin, WA
Foiling - SUP Foilboards
Foiling - Wind Wings
Kitesurfing - Kites
