TEAM RUSSIA LEG TWO DAY 4 QFB: received 18.11.08 0530
So often, when people in Cape Town realised I was involved with a team, I was asked about the race, wished well for the next leg and told how impressed people are with what we are doing. Start day showed this feeling amongst South Africans impressively. Our departure was a big thing for the citizens of the stopover as it was for us. I am already looking forward to coming back and hope to have more time; honestly, the stopover was much too short.
The triangle the fleet sailed was a great show, but we had been over ambitious trying to outsmart the rest of the fleet by tacking away and looking for more breeze offshore. The fleet slipped through under Table Mountain while we were left becalmed in the transition zone, sometimes seeing the breeze line just 50 metres away being unable to catch it. Only when the fleet was on the horizon, the Gods considered the price high enough and let us follow the pack.
Again, we were fighting the onboard technology for the first two days into the leg.
First, the keel developed its own habit of where to position itself and slowly but steadily dropped down. The drop rate increased and soon it was almost permanent pumping with the DC unit to keep it on max cant. Nick Bubb took the problem on and after manipulating the pressure relieve valves, the keel was under control.
Meanwhile Mark reported a buzzer bothering him with an annoying noise, which should indicate an electrical power leak according to Livewire, the designers and manufacturers of the onboard media system. Not long after, we felt a slight electrical shock when touching the moist surface of the anti-slip pad on the navstation.
It took time to isolate electrical circuits and get to the ground of the problem. Only after switching off one Sat C, internal lighting and one GPS unit was there no measureable electrical potential between the hull and the batteries. Once the conditions get easier, I will try to solve the problem and have all systems up and running. All this distracts from racing, maybe it is part of the game called Volvo Ocean Race.
After 36 hours routine, sleep and watch patterns have settled once again and we are travelling with the fleet eastwards. The fleet has soon split into the northern and the southern group and it will be very interesting who is going to be favoured when finally pointing bows towards India.
Andreas Hanakamp - skipper