Volvo Ocean Race - On a Wing and a Prayer

by Event media on 20 Nov 2008
The Volvo gets interesting – The way F1 gets interesting in a heavy downpour. As the boats career down the southern alley the cracks are beginning to appear – literally in the case of Puma.

The flying shoe has suffered another hard landing that has cracked the central structure and could prove terminal for any hopes of finishing this leg in race mode. Over on the Green Dragon, Ian Walker is continuing on a wing and a prayer with jury-rigged steering and broken boom.

It is one wipeout after another as the Volvo fleet endures yet more heinous conditions as it races towards the scoring gate on leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race to Cochin in India.

Puma has crashed off another wave, but, this time, the damage is rather more serious.

'We flew off yet another nice little wave and came down to another loud crack. This time, not from the bow section, but in the main section of the boat, just behind the keel frame,' explained skipper Ken Read, who was having breakfast with Chris Nicholson and Justin Ferris at the time.

Ken says that the boat is now a monster hospital ward, not necessarily for humans, but ‘just for our beautiful boat’. The crew managed to fix the damage done two days ago, but time it is rather more serious and will take longer to fix. Read says the actual fix may be more of a band-aid, rather than the fairly solid splint that the team applied to the broken front longitudinals.

'If the fix takes as long as we think, we will have to re-route to Cochin, missing most of the points that we could have gotten at the scoring gate and having to bypass the next low coming our way,' Read explains. Simply put, this is not good.

'Andrew Cape and I are hard at work trying to see if there is a tactical solution around this, in order to stay remotely in the race. We shall see. The first priority is the safety of the boat and crew and, because of that, we are looking to get away from the next low pressure that is coming in from behind,' he said.

Ian Walker’s crew on Green Dragon, who damaged their boom badly yesterday, is still charging towards the scoring gate at longitudinal 58 degrees east. 'Four days into leg two and the Southern Ocean is living up to it’s name,' says Ian, who chalks up one broken steering system, one Chinese gybe, one broken boom and three knock downs on the drama register. They also have a leaking daggerboard case, which has split. On top of that, half the crew have sore throats and head colds.

But, still, the team is not giving up. They have just under 300 nautical miles to run to the scoring gate. 'We seem to have the boat going pretty well, but we are vulnerable to being knocked down in the frequent squalls as we are fairly committed to carrying a full main and there is no easy way to ease it,' Walker said.

One of our challenges is going to be gybing. We are still discussing how we are going to do this - if at all - maybe we will granny round. We are also trying to sort out how we can reef if we need to. Tom Braidwood is itching to get going on fixing the boom, but for now, we are focusing on sailing fast to the scoring gate.

This focus on racing hard is great for moral and everybody is determined to make the best of what we have. For now then, we are hanging on in there waiting for the wind to drop and shift to allow us to gybe and head back North. Our aim is to get as many points as we can at the scoring gate before worrying too much about how we will get to India. It still looks quite a long way away on the chart!

Meanwhile, onboard Ericsson 3, six-time race veteran Magnus Olsson is praying to the Wind Gods. 'Last night, in complete darkness, we had quite a dramatic broach. We were sailing in steady 30 knots and rough seas when a big squall came in,' describes Gustav Morin.

'In just a few seconds, the wind increased to over 40 knots. Magnus was helming at the time and when he felt the wind coming, he said a prayer: ‘No broach, please God, no broach.’ A big gust hit us and forced the bow deep under water. We were heeling badly. But it felt like the boat just continued to accelerate. It was one of those times when you feel that the boat is sailing you, and not the other way round,' he said.

The crew, although attached to the boat by their harnesses and lifelines, were washed down the length of the deck. Bowman Anders Dahlsjö lost his grip and smashed into a winch handle. The handle bent badly and Anders was in agony, holding his hands over his ribs. 'Now we have another guy on painkillers,' said Morin matter of factly.

In contrast, Team Russia is enjoying a solid mid-twenty knot breeze and has begun their climb north, leaving Green Dragon as the southernmost boat in the fleet.

Sickness and ‘flu-like symptoms have been rife among the fleet, which makes this tough leg even more of an endurance test. 'It’s strange for so much to be going on and not even noticing it,' said Guy Salter, MCM onboard Ericsson 4, who has had a fever and sickness. 'We had a broach yesterday (apparently) and also damaged one of our headsails, but all I have noticed is the odd slide forward in the bunk when we plough into the back of a wave,' he said.

Meanwhile, onboard Telefónica Blue in the north, Bouwe Bekking says that life is busy onboard. 'Some would even say ‘chaotic’. With sail making, sickness and injuries, everyone’s day is full, keeping the boat in one piece and headed down the track.'

Hopes of a good score at the waypoint gate seem to be slowly slipping away for this team, but Bekking says that with many, many miles to go before they arrive in India, he is hopeful that the team can pull off a good overall result in this leg. 'This is what I am trying to focus on to stay positive,' he says.

Lighter conditions soon will no doubt suit the boat better and a return to the sunshine and warmer climes will no doubt raise the spirits of everyone onboard. 'Right now, it is cold and grey outside, and cool and damp inside,' Bekking says.

Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) has been sailing abeam of Telefónica Blue this morning, no more than two miles away from each other.

Many of the fleet have seen Albatrosses. One flew between the bowsprit and the stay onboard Ericsson 4. 'I thought we had run the poor thing over until it came out the other side. It’s bad luck to harm these giants, as rumour has it they are the spirits of lost seafarers and we don’t want to upset any of those,' Salter said.

Lots of albatrosses have been circling the wounded PUMA too, giving a fantastic show. Are they looking out for the boat? Ken Read hopes they are not the ‘vultures of the high seas..’

Ericsson 3 has the highest 24-hour run of 505 nm today and has also averaged the highest boat speed in the last hour of 22.8 knots. The north/south divide of the fleet is 127nm between PUMA the northernmost boat and Green Dragon in the south.

Ericsson 3 is now 3 nm to weather of Ericsson 4 and Ericsson 4 is 55 nm to weather of Team Russia. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) has elected to stay with the northern split of the fleet.

Volvo Ocean Race Positions - Leg Two Day Five: 18:00 GMT

1. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) DTF 3252
2. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +16
3. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +32
4. Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +38
5. Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +41
6. Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +60
7. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +95
8. Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +103