SailingPR - Sailing & Regatas

Today was another kind of initiation, we had our first real heavy full on massive flat out big broach.

As we love the bigger breeze we kept going south since yesterday and had steady 30 knots today. The first squall topped out at 38, when Nick (Bubb/GBR) handed over to me, when he was quite happy with the feel of the boat under a reefed main, the A6 spinnaker and the storm jib set as staysail.

He was right, on the wheel the boat felt much better than in the navstation, so we kept going, more aggressive when the breeze was down, conservative when the breeze was up. A cloud line brought the wind up to 42 knots and the speed topped out well over 30 knots and we got ready to drop the kite. By the time we were ready, the breeze had gone down to 35 knots and everything was fine. At the watch change, I handed the wheel over to Stig (Westergaard/DEN) and I went for the grinder to assist Wouter (Verbraak – navigator). As before, we were submerged from time to time when the boat shot through massive waves.

Facing aft on the grinder, I heard Stig screaming ‘we Chinese’ as the boat slowed down almost to a standstill up to the mast in solid green. Then everything went into slow motion, not a violent knock down but the boat slowly turning, heeling more and more over to the wrong side, the boom high up in the air until coming over and the kite flying around the forestay to the new leeward side and flapping in the 35 knots breeze. Fate was inexorable, nothing left to be done, but wait for the inevitable. The stack of sails on the aft starboard corner of the boat was under water, the starboard spreader camera as well as the keel and the sails were holding the boat on 90 degrees to its designed floatation.

I climbed the vertical deck (as I normally climb rock) to free the runner, Wouter handed me a knife to cut free the lashing, Cam (Camron Wills/RSA) pulling the runner tail and Oleg (Zherebtsov/RUS) grinding it. Meanwhile, Jeremy (Elliot/IRL) and Mikey (Mike Joubert/RSA) managed to get the keel moving to the other side to righten up the boat again.

Once up, the boat accelerated to 15 knots and all on deck got to the foredeck to take town the A6 that had meanwhile wrapped around the headstay. Once this sail had gone inside, we gybed Kosatka back, got the Q9 out of the bag, had another little issue as it unfurled before it should, unreefed the main and were back on track.

Nobody got hurt, only the pulpit is bent and quite ugly, no other damage (Thanks Rob for the strong boat!). Mark (Covell MCM) managed to record some of it on video, so watch this programme in the near future.

Andreas Hanakamp - skipper

Conditions have progressively got harder over the last 24 hours as we head towards the Southern Ocean. For Green Dragon things were getting better. At 10 am we crossed ahead of Puma by about 6 miles as they gybed North East and we recorded the longest distance in the latest position report.

Our sail combination was obviously fast although we were on the edge with the spinnaker up in over 30 knots. You can tell down below when things are about to go wrong and I was just getting my waterproofs on when there was a huge bang and the boat went into an involuntary Chinese gybe. You might think this is al lright for a boat with such strong Chinese connections but a Chinese gybe is what we all fear most as it is when the boat crash gybes and leaves you on your side with everything including the keel on the wrong side.

As the mainsail hit the weather runners, water started pouring in down below through the ventilation hatches due to the side decks now being underwater, but the boat miraculously turned back the right way, gybed back and righted itself. Everyone’s immediate reaction was that we had broken the rudder, but as it turned out the steering blocks had sheared away down below leaving Neal with no steerage on the weather wheel.

As the boat speared out of control Anthony Merrington (aka Youngster) managed to grab the leeward wheel just in time and straighten us up. Able to steer from only the leeward wheel we managed to drop the spinnaker and affect an immediate repair. Everyone was harnessed on and everything secure so no harm was done. Tom Braidwood, Damian Foxall and Justin Slattery didn’t hesitate to drill right through the hull and secure a new block. Fortunately the only real cost was perhaps 5-10 miles and we are now back up and running with another bar story to tell. I should point out that Damian has never sailed from Cape Town without having to turn back into Port Elizabeth in all his previous Volvo races so we still can’t relax unless the jinx returns. I thought it had.

Ian Walker - skipper

Monday 17th November

The World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSRRC) confirmed today that
Ericsson 4 were the holders of the new Monohull 24-hour record.

Ericsson 4 recorded 596.6 nautical miles in 24 hours between a start
position at 290 49.21 S; 230 42.41 W at18:55 on Monday, October
28,2008 and a finish position at 310 53.14 S; 120 22.21W at 18:55 on
Tuesday, October 28, 2008, while sailing the first leg of the Volvo
Ocean Race, from Alicante in Spain to Cape Town in South Africa.

The previous record 562.96nm was held by ABN AMRO TWO, skippered by
Sebastian Josse in the 2005/96 Volvo Ocean Race.

The Volvo Ocean Race Race Headquarters had originally calculated that
Ericsson 4 had recorded 602.66nm in 24 hours at 18:54 on Wednesday
29th October. The WSRRC received the time and position reports from
the Volvo Ocean Race and have now ratified the the 24-hour
Monohull World Record set by Ericsson 4 at 596.6 nm.

According to the WSSRC rules the Race Organizer may take on the task
of monitoring positions, alerting the WSSRC to possible records and
supplying them with the necessary data, which has been the case in
this instance.

Commenting on the ratified record Volvo Ocean Race Chief Executive
Knut Frostad says:

“This 24 hour record is a fantastic achievement - shattering the
previous record by over 33nm, or 6%. As Race Organizers it is
important to ensure that our data tracking systems are accurate and
that the information we supply is stable. It is unfortunate that our
calculated 24h distance in this case seem to not have been correct,
we are looking into reason for this, however we are always aware of
that any record are subject to ratification by the WSRCC before
becoming official.
Nevertheless the ratified record proves that the Volvo Open 70 Class
are the worlds fastest monohulls. It is a fantastic set by the crew
on Ericsson 4.”

“We are not participating in this race to break speed records, still
we are delighted that the crew of Ericsson 4 managed to set a new
World Record and break the old record by some 33 miles. Although the
conditions were not ideal, listening to the comments of the crew it
was an intense experience to average 24.85 nm over the 24-hour
period, and to have achieved this while the they were one crew member
short is a great reflection on the quality and stamina of the crew of
Ericsson 4 as well as the boat itself,” commented Richard Brisius,
Managing Director of Ericsson Racing Team. “While it has a symbolic
value in having sailed more than 600 nm, in the right conditions we
very much feel that it is something that Ericsson 4 is capable of.”
he concluded.

Both Ericsson 3 and Ericsson 4 are now racing the second leg to
Cochin in southern India.

The morning of the start I woke up at 0500, I tried to go back to sleep but it just didn’t happen. The sun was shining through my window and I made the most of my final few hours in a nice luxurious bed! I did the final check around my room before leaving, to make sure I hadn’t left anything behind, and made my way to the Waterfront. I had packed my bag for Singapore; you have to have a lot of forward planning on this trip. Our containers, which are used by the team at every port, leap frog each other around the globe.

This bags we put in the container in Cape Town will be the bags we will see again in Singapore. It¹s really important to put the right bag in the right container, there have been a few instances when someone on the team is looking quite frantic and then realises that they have put something fairly important in the wrong container and it is thousands of miles away!

After checking my equipment several times, I was happy I had everything I needed onboard. The time flew by and we were all soon on the dock and awaiting our team song to be played, our names to be announced and the lines to untied. The V&A Waterfront was filled with people coming to see us all off. The crew’s families were all there as well, and it was really moving for them all to say goodbye. Saying goodbye to the children was clearly hard for many of team and I know that some of them won’t be seeing them again until we arrive in Singapore at Christmas.

The initial forecast showed some perfect weather conditions as we headed south. We face two days of gales and, quite a contrast from the send off we saw in Cape Town, blue skies and hundreds of spectators boats it was truly amazing. For some of the team, the last few days have been long, after breaking the spreader on Thursday the team has been working around the clock to replace it. It was a crucial repair, but we are all very glad that it was completed and that we are once again out here racing with the best of them!

PUMA had a fantastic start off the line, but Table Bay threw in a little surprise for them as they were stopped in their tracks, allowing the fleet to overtake them. Before we knew it, we were waving goodbye to the beautiful Table Mountain, which vanished gradually in the distance. I guess this is goodbye to Cape Town, see you all again in India!

Guo Chuan – Green Dragon MCM

I probably shouldn’t write this blog entry while I’m in a bad mood, however, I’ve been told that people think that my blog entries are better when I’m a bit overly emotional -which is, pretty much, all of the time. However, I prefer to write when my emotions are on the positive side, which is typically not a problem.

I’m a persistent optimist… but today I’m in a bit of a funk. For your entertainment value and in a way of doing some personal ‘venting’, I’m going to press on with my thoughts. This could be therapeutic since I can’t share these thoughts with the guys, since I want them to keep pushing the boat hard and don’t want my funk to rub off onto them…After all I did promise that I’d write this blog in a very honest and uncensored way…so, here it goes:

As a fleet, we have been sailing south into a nice, westerly wind. Last night there was an opportunity to make an aggressive tactical call. I would have preferred to be positioned to the south side (right) of the fleet, but it was a bit of a risky call.

The move would have involved a tack sailing away from three boats that were within sight of us- all sailing on our same tack. We played a conservative card to stay within sight of the boats along side us. This was part of our pre-race game plan; sail alongside other boats to do some performance benchmark testing. However, I’m a maverick and feel confident in making bold calls when I think that I’m right.

But to leave three boats and to sail on the opposite tack, away from the group, is a tough call to make…but then again, I was sure that tacking, and moving into the westerly position was the correct move. What to do? Go for the kill or stay with the fleet and test? We tested, while the Puma and Green Dragon hunted. As I expected Puma, Green Dragon gained about 5 miles as a reward for splitting with the fleet. Damn it!! That was ‘my’ move….gerrr. When we woke up this morning, we could still see Telefónica Blue, and Ericsson 3. Testing continued.

Throughout the day, the wind speed built through the high teens and into the low 20’s: a nice day of downwind sailing. We spent most of it with our A4 (the big masthead spinnaker) flying, and by gauging our performance on the boats around us, by visually seeing gains and loses on a real time basis since. Testing… testing… testing.

Then the wind built into the high 20’s. Too much wind for our A4. We had to switch to the A6: Code name ‘the lemon’. Test conclusion: This sail is horrible. Telefónica Blue and Ericsson 3 sailed out of sight and over the horizon. Testing complete.

This sail has a very narrow sweet spot. No, let me take that statement back. I think that I hinted that our A6 has a ‘spot’. There isn’t a spot at all. Our A6 would make a better tent than a high performance racing sail. Each sail, like a golf club, is made for a particular shot. The shot that we want to play is VMG downwind sailing in a lot of wind. This sail is ‘wallows’ at VMG angles…when you come up to give it power it becomes unstable. Furthermore, it forces us to sail an angle that we don’t want to sail (frustrating for a navigator). In the last position report, since we put up this sail, the fleet has gained between 2 and 5 miles on us.

In the next couple of hours, a cold front will pass us. With its passing, we will see winds increasing into the low 30’s and a dramatic wind shift to the southwest. This will change our trajectory from south east to east. As a fleet, we will be heading directly towards our scoring gate, which is about 1600 miles to the east. The forecast also shows that ‘the lemon’ will be flying for the next 48 hours. We hope that in the bigger breeze ahead this sail will develop a less bitter – ‘sweet spot’. Time will tell.

I’m sure that I’ll feel better tomorrow, both emotionally and physically. I’ve developed a cold over the past 2 days. It’s most likely a reaction to the five immunisation shots that I was required to receive, by racing rules, just before we left Cape Town. I have lost my voice, gained a fever, a headache and, generally, feel like ****.

Thanks for allowing me to vent to you. I can’t let the boys know how sick I am or how frustrated I am with this sail. As a team, we need to keep the boat moving fast and to stay positive. I know my emotions carry over to the team, so I’ll keep smiling, encouraging performance and personally, find the fastest path to India that I can….It’s time for me to go up on deck to do some sailing.

Cough … cough — Smile.

Matt Gregory - navigator

Hi There,

Wow - this leg has gone by fast! It is hard to believe that we are already through our second night at sea - the time has gone by so quickly. Cape Town and all the delights it had to offer are now but a distant memory, many hundreds of miles behind our transom. After 12 good days on shore, it’s great to be back out at sea. I’ll miss the food though. I think all I did in Cape Town was eat! Sadly, the freeze-dried isn’t quite measuring up to the South Africa cuisine although the biltong we have on board is a welcome reminder of the last couple of weeks.

It has been tough out here so far, close. We were exchanging tacks for the first day and then in full view of each other as we powered downwind on the second day. With the pressure building though, the fleet is starting to spread out a little and a few of the boats who seem to go well in the big breeze are starting to shine. As for us, maybe this isn’t our strongest suit but we are learning to hang in there and are focused on going as well as we can.

On board is wet, but luckily the weather is kind and not too cold and the nights seem short and well lit by the moonlight. Right now, we are being conservative and steady ready to pounce when the conditions start to swing our way…

As for me, life is good, after very little sleep for the first 36 hours, I managed few quality hours in the sleeping bag last night and that seems to have made all the difference. I’m feeling good and looking forward to what lies ahead. For sure, this is going to continue to be the closest of races so it is going to pay to be alert…

Cheers for now,

Simon Fisher - navigator

Crazy wave state, but we hang on to the masthead gennaker even though we are being thrown around each crest like mad.

By the downloaded current grib it seems like we are in a warm water eddie with strong south going current and yes, for sure, the water down here is much warmer than in Cape Town, but the relatively pleasant constant spray now will soon change to a more harsh spray as we get into colder water soon again. The unpleasant part of the current is that it pressures the waves to strange unpredictable towers and the sea looks somewhat like the lava fields on Lanzarote, but blue and living.

Gustav is doing the tough job of putting everything down on tape. He is in revenge mode like the rest of the team onboard. He is uncertain whether our shore team got all material since he didn’t win the media award, anyhow, next time he says and hammer down words on the Mac as the water drops drip down from the deck above him.

We have just passed Telefónica Blue, in true sport like this that’s always great energy to the team, but we want to play the game safe and change to fractional chute now just before the dark and front arrives.

Anders Lewander - skipper

Well, here we go again. Although we have only been gone 24 hours, the Cape Town stopover seems like it must have been a dream…and a very pleasant, but short, one at that. It is always hard to leave Cape Town. The locals, the food, the Bascule Bar, and of course the families and friends.

This time however, I felt less knots in my stomach on leaving. Maybe because we are not taking the usual Southern Ocean sleigh ride to Australia, or maybe I am just better prepared on my third race than I was on my first. Or, maybe, I have no idea what this leg and the Cochin stopover could potentially hold for us.

It may not be the usual Southern Ocean leg, but we have started in typical style. A bit of funky weather under the shelter of Table Mountain, a beat down the coastline, crossing the ridge and into the westerlies. We currently have 25 knots and have averaged 21 knots for the last 3 hours or so.

I prefer this gybe on our boat. The toilet is much easier to use when it is on the leeward side. The galley is much harder to use, but you don’t have your pants down in the galley, so you can deal with it.

Thanks to everyone in Cape Town who made the stopover so worthwhile, and again, thanks to our shore crew for all their work during the stop.

Dave Endean

Another spectacular send off. Cape Town had some lofty expectations to live up to and not only did the city, the country, and the people live up to them, they blew us away. We can’t thank all the folks we met enough- both the locals and the troops at PUMA. It was sad to leave. And as always it was sad to leave our families and friends, not to mention the shore team who did a spectacular job getting the boat in great shape over a tough couple weeks. I bet the shore team wasn’t too sad to see us leave!

With that said, we are leaving with a vengeance! I am actually struggling to write this note because we’re getting thrown around the boat like a pair of dice hitting a craps table. Our start couldn’t have been better- gorgeous day and a quick lead for the fine yacht ‘il mostro’. But it didn’t last long…the infamous wind hole under Table Mountain played her tricks on us and we went from having a large lead to being stuck in a glue pot watching a few others sail by. We had a strategy- expecting the hole, but the strategy to get offshore quickly didn’t exactly work to plan. Anyway, after a gorgeous beat down the coast with eight Volvo 70’s tacking along the mountains in 20-25 knots of wind, we caught up with the race leader E3 just at sunset right off Cape Point. A great day if you liked to sail.

Also as anticipated, the night brought a shift in the weather and a chance to get across a ridge into the Southern Ocean westerlies being carried by a large low pressure system coming from the west. Well we did it. A morning check in with E4 about a half mile from us (no shocker!) and a building breeze led us to where we are now. Careening down waves in 27 knots of breeze against 2+ plus knots of current called the Agulhas Current, trying to write this note. And, it’s a bit moist on deck…nasty right now actually.

One small issue on board is a bit of a flu that has taken hold- not very much fun for a few of us. And the great news for the rest of the group is they can almost be guaranteed to get the cold eventually, based on the unavoidable hygiene on a lovely V-70 petri dish. Which is why this may be one of the more bland notes you will (hopefully) read from il mostro. I need some more Advil! My head is killing me, and it’s not just the flu. I just smashed it into a winch structure under deck getting my foul weather gear off. You would think that I would know it was there by now!

Ken Read - skipper

Compared with our first 24 hours leaving Alicante, the first 24 hours of this leg have been relatively event free. Despite this, it has been quite tiring on the crew, as we have had an abundance of sail changes.

We used most of our sails before getting away from Cape Town. Tactically what had looked like a minefield has not panned out too badly. We made a brave call to sail for about 3 hours in completely the wrong direction to get into the westerlies earlier and were thankfully well rewarded. Now the whole fleet is charging along in 20 - 25 knots of westerly and we have just dealt with the worst of the Agulhas Current.

It is nice to have some other boats in sight compared with the last leg and it is even nicer that we seem able, in these conditions, to hold the two Telefónicas and ERT 3 behind us. Puma and ERT 4 have a good break from the fleet with speed to burn.

Other than a bit if an uncomfortable trip up the mast for Justin to solve a reefing problem there is nothing much to report. There are the normal first day blues as we struggle to get used to the food and sleep patterns and, for most of us, the realisation that we will not see our families until Christmas. Cape Town is a fantastic stopover and it will always be hard to leave.

Ian Walker - skipper