Kostecki disappointed, Ericsson fifth

by Volvo Ocean Race event media on 19 Apr 2006 Ericsson has been beset by clouds this leg, losing miles and losing places in the dead winds they bring, but as they arrived fifth into Baltimore they couldn’t escape a cloud that has hung over their heads since Brazil.

Will John Kostecki remain as skipper, will Steve Hayles actually leave the team as he suggested in Brazil, and will Neal McDonald continue to sail in a team which ousted him as captain to make way for Kostecki?

All these questions emerged during the last stopover and now, a port later, we are still no closer to answers on at least two of three fronts. Furthermore, the team’s management group, Atlant, will wonder why, after such drastic crew changes in Brazil, such a talented team could only manage a fifth-placed finish.

The answers will certainly be revealed in the coming days as the post-mortem into the result is carried out, but for now the murky skies persist.

They are certainly not clear on the future of Kostecki. He admitted the result was 'disappointing' and explained the decision of who will skipper the team for the remaining legs is to be taken by the management group. In Rio he said he would 'love to stay on,' but there is confusion over his commitments to illbruck, who are sailing in the TP52 class.

He said, 'My position is the same as it was in Brazil. We will debrief in the next couple of days to see what is best for the boat. I’ve had a lot of fun and would like to go on.'

The team can certainly feel happy about the McDonald 'situation'. Rumours in his home-town of Hamble, southern England, suggested he was ready to jump ship, but he has scotched them as completely 'unfounded'. His decision to stay on the boat and restate his commitment to the project, despite his demotion to watch captain, is, as his crewmates have all said, a true measure of the man. In his new role as watch captain he said, 'I loved it. Great sailing.'

The foggiest horizon, however, remains on the next move of Hayles, the navigator. He has patched up his differences with Guillermo Altadill, with whom he had an altercation with during the last leg, but he wasn’t happy with his team’s handling of the situation. In Brazil he said he would leave the campaign when they reached Baltimore, a comment he subsequently refused to confirm or deny, and when the boat arrived in Baltimore this afternoon he wouldn’t be drawn on whether he would like to stay on the boat.

Hayles said, 'We have got to sit down now and get the collective thoughts of the team on whether there will be any changes.'

When pressed over any desire he has to remain onboard, he pointed to his previous answer and said, 'That’s all I can say on it.'

The immediate issue facing Atlant, however, is how to improve performances. Kostecki admitted this leg was 'disappointing', but rightly pointed to a lot of positives. 'We got fourth at the scoring gate, and on the whole sailed very well. The mood and morale onboard was good throughout. We had a lot of bad luck throughout. Not just losing out to Brasil 1 at the end, but we got caught under big clouds throughout and it affected us. A couple of times we just missed a front and the leading boats took off. But there’s not a lot you can do about that.'

Hayles added, 'We have to remember that our performance in this leg is much more positive than our fifth place seems to indicate. The performance of the boat was solid, and there are definitely good signs of improvement. Unfortunately, we finished fifth and this doesn't look good on the paper, but we have never been so close to a podium position in an offshore leg since the start. Our improvement is due to the time spent sailing together, and learning about the boat, as well as to the restructuring of the team.'

An unfortunate, yet decisive, part of their leg came when the team was 200 miles away from the finish and they blew their upwind headsail, costing them their 25 mile lead on Brasil 1 and fourth place.

Hayles said, 'That was really tough. We had sailed really well until then so it was disappointing for all of us. But sailing is like an aircraft. The sailing the race is one thing but it’s all about the landing. We need to finish well, not just race well.'

Having barely slept for 48 hours he added, 'We are exhausted. The last night was really hard, and we all gave it everything we could. It is very tough to finish behind Brasil 1, when yesterday, at some stage, we were 25 miles ahead of them.'

Ross Halcrow, who was brought into the crew in place of Jason Carrington in Rio as the team sought more trimming expertise, pointed to the sails as a key reason behind the results leaving the team bottom of the leaderboard. 'We changed from Doyle Sails to North Sails just before the race started in Spain and we have had to develop our inventory and programme as we go along. It’s not the ideal situation for us, but we are learning with time.

'We will eventually catch up with the others who have had more time to learn their programmes, but at the moment we are struggling a bit.'

Hayles suggested, however, the sails were not the chief reason. 'We have improved all over and that is testament to the team. I wouldn’t say the sails are the only reason, it’s a combination of little things. A lot was bad luck though, with clouds and fronts.

'It will get sorted in time.'

Atlant will now set about doing the sorting.