Frustrating times for the Ericsson boys

by Annabel Merrison, Ericsson Racing on 15 Feb 2006 The Ericsson Racing Team is currently sailing in sixth place after falling off the back of a low pressure system. The leading boats are still in the system increasing their lead all the time. ‘The richer get richer’ but it’s not over yet.

The Ericsson Racing team is currently sailing towards Wellington, 91 miles behind leader ABN Amro One and 16 miles behind fifth placed ABN Armo Two. These are frustrating and challenging times for the Ericsson boys, who are without doubt putting all their passion and energy into the race, without collecting the dividends for their effort.

‘We have fallen off the back of the cold front’, commented a disappointed Neal McDonald this afternoon by satellite phone. ‘We are sailing in great conditions, with beautiful weather and big waves. But ahead of us, the others are still blasting towards Wellington, inside the weather system. There is nothing we can do about it - the richer get richer.’

The morale on board is still good despite the context. ‘There are still 500 nautical miles to go until the corner, so it’s not over. Our last and only chance is that the boats in front of us park up by Cook Strait and that we come back on them from behind with some new breeze.’

The ten crew members were called on deck twice this afternoon, as Ericsson gybed on two occasions. The boat is now sailing in a central position, having been the southern most yacht since sailing out of Port Phillip Bay.

‘Unfortunately, we were in the wrong place on the course at the wrong time,’ commented McDonald. ‘We didn’t have enough boat speed when we needed it, and so we missed out on the breeze further east. We were with Pirates one morning and then we saw them disappearing on the horizon without being able to match their speed – it was very frustrating.’ McDonald continued, ‘We stopped the boat just before nightfall and had to reverse to get rid of some weed on the rudder, which we thought may have been slowing us down.’

Daily Log

Written by Neal McDonald:

‘A devastating day for Ericsson. Having battled through a rather rough first night, persevered with the frustratingly light exit to the bay and ending up in reasonable shape and in a good frame of mind - the boys on Ericsson have had a pretty nasty day today.

‘At first light we saw the Pirates to the north of us and only marginally ahead - our courses converged and we looked as though we were going a little better than them. We both had to do a couple of sail changes as conditions got lighter. And then our world fell apart. We simply watched the Pirates sail away from us. Slowly but surely until they were 12 miles ahead at the next position report. This is a cruel sport. We tried everything - eventually stopping the boat and backing it up to see if we had anything on the keel or rudder. To add insult to injury the leaders appear to be stay in just a bit more wind than us - the rich get richer and we were never really that well off to begin with! A bad day and certainly not according to plan.

‘We have to tough it out and make sure any opportunities to get back at the leaders do not escape our clutches. The guys are giving it all despite the situation - they just keep pushing on all the same - never give up that's our motto.

Neal McDonald - Skipper