Hot, Wet and Hungry

by Volvo Ocean Race Office on 21 Oct 2001 Within 24 hours time, illbruck has broken her own top 24 hour run of 310
miles already three times, standing right now at 335 miles, or an average
speed of 13.96 knots. This run is not exceptional for a V.O.60 design and
gives only evidence of a very slow leg. On the next leg the yachts are
expected to improve another 50%.

Grant Dalton, skipper of leading yacht Amer Sports One is thoroughly
enjoying his unexpected role: “Up until Trinidade I considered a loss to
illbruck of five miles quite acceptable after the preparation time they
have had compared to us. But now that we have had a sniff of our nose in
front, the competitive instincts take over and you get mad as hell……Each
wave is anticipated and the sheets are played to get the boat on and
accelerating. The Southern Ocean is going to be a hell of a ride as I get
the sense that these boats are quite a bit faster than the boats from last
time [1997-1998 Whitbread Race].”

Also the crews on the boats behind enjoy the fast sailing as that’s what
they came for. Ross Field of News Corp described lively: “We're on our way
doing 16.5 knots with a shy kite [spinnaker] on in 22 knots of wind. I
can hear the water powering over the deck, Scottie [Jeff Scott] steering,
Joe [Spooner] and Jez [Fanstone] on the pumps (grinders), Gundy [Jon
Gunderson] trimming (and talking) and Justin [Slattery] on the main.”

A cold front almost overhead of the leaders is keeping them moving with 15
to 20 knots of northerly wind. This is expected to back about 15 degrees
on the passage of the front before backing further as the day progresses.
To the north the front has lost most of its wind and the main effect will
be rain with the wind becoming light and variable.

The overall picture does not become any easier or more optimistic for a
fast finish. The high pressure to the southeast is weakening and moving
slowly away, whilst the low pressure to the south is filling and becoming
more of a trough. Looking to the west, the high pressure is strengthening
and moving towards the race fleet. If this were not enough, slack low
pressure over South Africa is expected to move off the coast early next
week possibly making the last 400 miles a parking lot.

ASSA ABLOY and Tyco still have some wind but it is likely to drop leaving
them to watch the southerly yachts move away. For Steve Hayles and Mark
Rudiger (the navigators) they must soon accept that the first three have
got away and it is a battle between themselves, whilst always remembering
the three behind, as Tyco Skipper Kevin Shoebridge told: “The future is
looking good for the lead boats who will probably extend by a large
margin. The rest of the fleet will be affected by a southerly change which
will be followed by a period of more light air.” After the unsuccessful
expedition to the north, ASSA ABLOY finally came back south, trying to
engage Tyco in battle.

The humour has not lost Team SEB, even though they would have definitely
more fun being at the top of the fleet. In the latest email, skipper Gurra
Krantz wrote: “If djuice and Amer Sports Too are interested, we are
willing to trade (at a very handsome rate) freeze dried food against any
type of chocolate, delivered in any shape and size.” Having no meat on
board and the only flesh being themselves, they started to imagine what
dish to cook out of each other. Gurra continued: “For our Kiwi guests we
serve small boys, made out of Gareth Cooke and David Rolfe, dipped in
tomato sauce.”


Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 28, 10.00hrs GMT

PS Yacht DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL PO

1 AONE 1416 120 14.5 331 0 8

2 ILBK 1446 111 14.1 335 30 7

3 NEWS 1532 114 10.3 307 116 6

4 TYCO 1679 115 12.3 251 263 5

5 AART 1726 118 11.9 295 310 4

6 TSEB 2089 109 05.1 183 673 3

7 DJCE 2090 104 05.4 188 674 2

8 ATOO 2114 170 05.6 175 698 1


PS – Position; DTF – Distance to Finish; CMG – Course made good; SMG –
Speed made good; TFHR – 24 hours run; DTL – Distance to leader; ROC – Rate
of Closure; ETA – Estimated time of arrival; PO - Points

ILBK illbruck Challenge

AONE Amer Sports One

ATOO Amer Sports Two

AART ASSA ABLOY Racing Team

NEWS News Corporation

TYCO Team Tyco

TSEB Team SEB

DJCE djuice dragons