Volvo fleet enter Bermuda Triangle

by Lizzie Green on 16 Apr 2006 Still leading the pack in the final 600 miles of the Volvo Ocean Race leg five from Rio de Janeiro to Baltimore, ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) is 600 miles east of the Florida coast and 260 miles south west of Bermuda, in the area known as the Bermuda Triangle.

Although legend has it that many ships have mysteriously disappeared in this region, this should not happen to ABN AMRO ONE and movistar (Bouwe Bekking) although they are making very slow progress.

Conditions yesterday were a wake-up call for the chasing pack as they waved good bye to the champagne sailing they have had for the last few days and saw the return of 20 – 25 knots of wind and a lumpy sea state. Once through the high pressure ridge, there is more of the same to come as they start to cross the Gulf Stream.

'These are the conditions we term ‘fire hosing’,' says Paul Cayard from Pirates of the Caribbean. 'The water flies off the bow and hits you in the face and does so with the force of a fire hose. Getting constantly hit by the fire hose is quite tiring, but it is indicative of good speed being made. At this stage of any leg, everyone is pretty much able to put with anything that gets you to the dock fast,' he explains

The motion onboard has been very violent with the boats well heeled over. The temperature has dropped to 21 degrees C and the tropical cruise is definitely over and when the fleet picks up the new north westerly breeze, it will feel cold.

The volatile weather conditions, which brought squalls and massive wind shifts, meant that the crew onboard Brasil 1 hoisted every sail they have except the J3 and J4. Sail changes become tiring and difficult in these conditions and it takes everyone working together and an intense few minutes of effort to get the sail safely on the deck which is the most important part. 'You still have to drag the 200m2 sail back aft and pack it properly, which is a job in itself,' says Ericsson’s navigator Steve Hayles. 'All while being hit hard by every wave sweeping up the deck and undoing your last few minutes work.'

Onboard ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse), things got a little messy during a sail change. 'In the rushing around that ensued in this latest squally, things got a little messy downstairs today,' explains navigator Simon Fisher. 'As the spinnakers were dragged aft to try and help the boats bow out of the water, a misplaced boot resulted in the contents of one of the fire extinguishers ending up all over the inside of the boat. Before we knew it, people were filing out of the hatch covered in white power and the hatches had to be opened in order to get some fresh air!'

There have been more losses again this afternoon as the fleet enters the high pressure ridge. Movistar is now 43 miles behind ABN AMRO ONE, losing 16 miles in the last six hours. Third-placed Pirates of the Caribbean is now 161 miles behind the leader and has lost 28 miles this afternoon, sailing the slowest in the fleet. Ericsson (John Kostecki) who is three miles ahead of Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) has lost 11 miles and Brasil 1 10 miles in the last six hours. The only boat to make a gain is ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) who has yet to enter the ridge.

LEG FIVE  DAY 14,  15.04.06, 1600 GMT POSITION REPORT

	YACHT	Latitude	Longitude	DTF	SMG	24 Hour Run	24 Hour Speed	DTL	DTLC	SGPTS	PLPTS	PTLPTS	ETA	POP	PREDICTED POSITION OVERALL
1	ABN1	30 30.87N	069 45.07W	00624	09.8	296	12.4	00000	+00000	3	7.0	10.0	17/04/06	62.5	1
2	MOVI	29 58.19N	069 12.52W	00667	07.1	302	12.6	00043	-00016	3.5	6.0	9.5	17/04/06	40.5	2
3	POTC	28 22.68N	067 54.38W	00785	05.5	321	13.4	00161	-00028	2.5	5.0	7.5	18/04/06	39.0	4
4	ERIC	27 52.92N	067 23.92W	00825	08.3	304	12.6	00201	-00011	2	4.0	6.0	18/04/06	29.5	6
5	BRA1	27 50.98N	067 20.55W	00828	08.3	310	12.9	00204	-00010	1.5	3.0	4.5	18/04/06	33.0	5
6	ABN2	27 46.51N	066 26.08W	00861	11.2	346	14.4	00237	+00006	1	2.0	3.0	19/04/06	39.5	3