Boom, bust and battling on for Volvo fleet

by Cameron Kelleher on 20 Nov 2008
The fleet is counting the cost of the last 24 hours of boom and bust as the southern ocean continues its hostile takeover of events on board.

Like the global economy, there have been casualties – both structural and psychological – as the leaders charge towards the scoring gate at longitudinal 58 degrees east.

PUMA’s Ken Read began his email this morning by describing il mostro’s second major hit from the Roaring Forties with … 'Greetings from the monster hospital ward. And the hospital is not necessary for humans … just for our beautiful boat.'

Among the ruins there are more broaches to be found than in your grandmother’s jewelry box.

The latest, is captured by Ericsson 3’s Media Crew Member, Gustav Morin. 'Last night, in complete darkness, we had a quite dramatic broach,' he reports. 'We were sailing in steady 30 knots and rough seas when a big squall came in.

'In just a few seconds the wind increased to over 40 knots. Mange (Magnus) Olsson was helming and when he felt the wind coming he said a prayer: ‘No broach, please God, no broach’.'

Now we have one more guy on painkillers

Morin continues … 'Bowman Anders Dahlsjo lost his grip and got smashed into a winch handle down to leeward. The handle bent badly and Anders was in agony, holding his hands over his ribs. Now we have one more guy on painkillers.'

As always, it was veteran Olsson who brought calm to calamity by climbing down the hatch and declaring: 'I would be lying if I said I'm not longing for starting heading north soon.'

And north, to Cochin, it will be soon, once the fleet have banked their points from the scoring gate.

PUMA were still shown as top of the leaderboard but given their well-chronicled plight, which has reduced their boat speed to 15 knots, they will be ambushed any time soon.

By the 16:00 GMT Position Report, the Ericsson twins, E4 at +27 miles Distance to Leader (DTL) and E3 (+33), were best positioned for maximum points, profiting as they were from the mishaps that befell PUMA and Green Dragon. Telefonica Blue, also veering northwards, were in the mix at +20.

The north-south divide of the fleet is 127nm between PUMA, the northernmost boat, and the Dragon. Telefonica Black (+35) and Delta Lloyd (+67) have elected to stay with the northern faction.

'India still looks a long way away on the chart.’

Team Russia (+99), enjoying a solid mid-20 knot breeze and has begun their climb north, leaving Green Dragon (+96) as the southernmost boat in the fleet.

Green Dragon’s Ian Walker has been cataloguing the incidents which will shape the to-do list for Cochin. 'Four days into leg two and the Southern Ocean is living up to its name. One broken steering system, one Chinese gybe, one broken boom and now three knock downs but we are still charging along for the scoring gate.'

Despite the wounds, crew and boat are soldiering on. There was even time for some gallows humour amid the hardship of repairing a broken boom.

'I feel a bit like the Black Knight, the Monty Python character, who refuses to be beaten and keeps on fighting as his arms and legs are cut off one by one by his adversary.

'We want to get as many points as we can at the scoring gate before worrying too much about how we will get to India. India still looks quite a long way away on the chart.'

Over 3,000 nautical miles in fact.

So, all the talk of the past 48 hours has been about a cat getting creamed – twice – and a dragon having the fire in its belly extinguished. But what of the rest?

There was some friendly sibling rivalry between the Telefonica twins, according to the Black boat’s Media Crew Member, Mikel Pasabant. 'When dawn came, we saw a navigation green light to our port side. It was none other than our friends on Telefonica Blue.

'We sailed beam-to-beam, no more than two miles away from one another. They sailed a bit northward of us, probably because they are with a different sail, and with different strategy. We still want to go a bit east-southeast, and we will see what happens when heading north with the expected gybe ahead.'

'The wind will still be here when I wake up.'

Pasabant added that they had been a man down for the past 24 hours after Maciel ‘Cicho’ Cicchetti’s ribs came off second best in a collision with a bunk. 'We will have him trimming on deck shortly, eager as he is to recover completely. We have to tie him up to make him rest.'

There were bruises too on the big sister ship. Frenchman Laurent Pages injured his shoulder while driving. 'He was clipped on, but not in the right spot and was washed back the length of his safety line, and he had enough pace to do the damage,' said skipper Bouwe Bekking.

From Andreas Hanakamp, the Volvo Ocean Race press-officer-turned-first-in-command on Team Russia, a plea.

'In our historical weather analysis, we haven’t had any route leading us so far east, but to be honest, we enjoy it, even with the little adventures we had. It’s a clear sign to the race organisers: ‘give us back the Southern Ocean legs’.'

On Delta Lloyd, rookie and Under-30 crew member Ryan Houston, is revelling in the conditions. 'Tonight is another windy night out here,' he says. 'The waves are very choppy and the wind speed ranges from 25 to 35 knots. It's sailing that keeps you on your toes.

'I'm looking forward to a couple hours in my bunk, resting. The wind will still be here when I wake up.'

And so will the Southern Ocean.