Volvo- Green Dragon pushes on to Leg 4 finish in Qingdao

by Lucy Harwood/Ian Walker - Green Dragon on 29 Jan 2009
Leg 4 is certainly living up to all expectations; the most challenging leg so far has thrown all that it has the Volvo Ocean Race fleet and it is not over yet! With just over 500 miles remaining for Green Dragon, four boats are still sailing to Qingdao.

The latest victim of the conditions was Delta Lloyd, who reported structural damage to the bow of the boat late last night forcing them to suspend racing. They are now safely tied up alongside Ericsson 3 in Taiwan.

Green Dragon have the equivalent to a Fastnet Race remaining, and spirits onboard remain high considering the extent of what they have been through. Phil Harmer summed up the feeling onboard after sailing through toughest leg of his life. 'I feel very lucky and proud to be part of a team with such amazing team spirit and determination. We are all competitive people on this boat, but we are also all good friends. When one is down, the rest are there to pick him up again, and that why this team is so good to be a part of. It is also what I believe the race is all about and this leg for all of its highs and lows, will stick with me forever. Mostly because of the people I am sailing with, and for that I’m lucky and grateful. Looking forward to seeing and speaking to you all in Qingdao in a few days time.'

Green Dragon is now north of Taiwan and making its way across to the coast of mainland China at a steady 11.3 knots. They have escaped the clutches of the Kuro-Shio current and conditions have started to ease to under 20 knots and a relatively flat sea state. Forecasts suggest they shouldn’t see more than 20 knots before the finish, but it will be a cold final section as the crew are hit by a northerly wind fresh from Siberia, and face the continued upwind slog to Qingdao. Yesterday saw another punishing night onboard, the crew battled on nursing the boat through 25 knots of wind against tide, and large breaking waves. It was a less than pleasant experience onboard, and a testing night for everyone. 'For those on deck it was pitch black and wave after wave just barrelled down onto us. The helmsman had a near impossible task to try and steer around waves he couldn’t see but could maybe sense or feel. For those down below they had to listen to the crashing and banging and endure the terrible moments when you feel the boat go up in the air and you are waiting to see how hard to lands'.

With yet more boats retiring from this leg, it has been a challenging time for skipper Ian Walker who walks a fine line between staying in the race and keeping his boat and crew safe. There have been some tough decisions to make in the last 72 hours.

Elsewhere Telefonica Blue are still holding onto a slim 29 mile lead over Ericsson 4 who are chasing hard. But they have their own battle with Ken Read’s Puma who have made some amazing gains in the last 48 hours to place themselves just 1 mile behind Torben Grael and his men. It is unlikely that the Dragon will be able to catch the leading boats, unless further damage threatens their positions. The battle for the podium will continue as the top three boats have under 230 miles remaining until the finish in Qingdao.

GREEN DRAGON LEG FOUR DAY 11 QFB: received 28.01.09 0321 GMT fromIan Walker - skipper.

After three or four days of hellish conditions, we are at last feeling a break. The wind is down below 20-knots and at last the waves are such that we can sail near to 100% (or we could, if we hadn't broken our forestay which stops us flying our J3 and genoas!). Speed is crucial for us to outrun the next system coming towards us in two days.

For the first time since leaving Luzon, we are stacking the sails and trying to optimise speed. Last night was the worst yet, as we were in 25-knots of wind against tide, and large breaking waves. The helmsmen had speed limits of seven knots on starboard and eight on port to try and reduce the slamming of the bow.

Even with the keel in the centre and only a storm jib and double reefed mainsail, the boat was hard to handle. Twice we have been knocked backwards by waves and once the whole cockpit swamped by a wave breaking over the boat. This was our worst moment yet, especially for those down below as Budgie (Ian Budgen/GBR) was asleep and sat up shouting 'the mast has come down'. My heart sank until I realised we were still moving and heeled over - he was asleep and having a nightmare!

In truth it was a nightmare. For those on deck it was pitch black and wave after wave just barrelled down onto us. The helmsman had a near impossible task to try and steer around waves he couldn't see, but could maybe sense or feel.

For those down below, they had to listen to the crashing and banging and endure the terrible moments when you feel the boat go up in the air and you are waiting to see how hard to lands. Lying in a bunk is hard enough, sleeping is next to impossible.

I couldn't rest, spending much of my time up in the bow monitoring the repair and any flexing of the bow panels. This has been my biggest challenge ever as a skipper. The responsibility of the boat, the programme, the sponsors and of course, potentially the lives of those on board rest in the hands of my decisions.

Should we stop and let conditions abate? Should we press on? How fast should we go? What is the wind and waves going to do? Which route should we take to get most shelter? How much punishment can the boat take? Are we doing the right thing? I am lucky to have a great crew, who share in the decisions and have never wavered from the task in hand.

So far, what we have done seems good, but we still have 600 miles in a wounded boat to go. Having said all this, we are now going faster towards Qingdao than at anytime in the leg. We feel like we have escaped the worst, but must not rest on our laurels. The boat could be damaged in ways we do not know and there is a big 'cold push' (gales from the North) due in two days.

I feel for the teams that have had to stop in Taiwan and for Telefónica Black. Twice we were nearly faced with this reality, and I am sure we were only ever one boat-breaking wave away. Thank goodness they are all safe and well. Leg four is certainly living up to the tag line 'Life at the Extreme' and I for one will be very relieved to see the back of these last 600 miles – as everybody onboard loves to say at this stage 'we have one Fastnet Race (605 miles) to go.'

Leg Four Day Eleven: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 186 nm
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) + 29
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +30
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +324
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) - Suspended racing
Ericsson 3 - Suspended racing
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) – Did not finish

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