Volvo Ocean Race - Ericsson 3 snaps top mast runner

by Various Volvo Ocean Race Competitors on 16 Apr 2009
Latest news from the Volvo Ocean race fleet on leg 6 to Boston. Drama on Ericsson 3 as her top mast runner snapped.

ERICSSON 3 LEG SIX DAY 5 QFB: received 15.04.09 1450 GMT

'Bang!'

It is last night, darkness, 12 knots of wind. Suddenly a very loud bang goes through the boat. I’m sitting in the media station fixing the electricity and have just restarted the media desk. I instantly swear that I can’t press the crash button, this seems to be dramatic.

It almost felt like the mast was about to come down. When we came up on deck it turns out that it was not far from it. The topmast runner had snapped.

Magnus Woxén was standing by the helm at the time and it almost landed on his head, but he and everyone were ok and since Martin Strömberg, who was trimming at the time, instantly eased the sheets, the mast was ok. Seconds after that we dropped the masthead zero and hoisted a genoa.

Bowman Martin Krite directly started to think about looking for the spare topmast runner and figure out the best way to fix it.

After some preparation he climbed up the mast and attached the new topmast and we were good to go again. We could all the time sail at almost 100 per cent with the genoa and we didn't lose much due to this.

The bang that came from the breakage was the loudest I have experienced since I stepped on this boat. Even so it was not enough to wake up our skipper Magnus Olsson, boat captain Jens Dolmer and helmsman Thomas Johansson...

Gustav Morin MCM
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DELTA LLOYD LEG SIX DAY 5 QFB: received 15.04.09 0958 GMT

Are those guys drunk?

Following our wallowing tracks one might think that we have supplemented our freeze dried food with some caipirinhas from Brazil. Certainly a little cocktail at sunset would be very welcome indeed, but I can guarantee you, there is not a drop of alcohol to be found on our boat. So what is up with our drunken man's track?

Some call it myth, some live by it, and onboard it is known as the diurnal variation [fluctuations that occur during each day]. Some of the more funny guys amongst us bastardise it to di-urinal variation, but the understanding is the same. If you believe the theory this variation in the wind speed and direction is typical for the trades and goes through a daily cycle. The mornings bring more wind and more left wind, the afternoons bring lighter and more right wind. At the same time the evening brings squalls and more left wind again, and night time has some lighter and more right wind.

As we are now all close reaching, the differences in boatspeed for a slight change in wind angle are quite significant. With the winds doing their daily dance, instead of staying on course and adjusting the sails, we are following their lead.

We know that it is OK to be a bit below course in the mornings and evenings and maintain our speed as we can expect to be lifted and lighter again later. Significant gains can be made by sailing this way, but it can be risky business as well if the expected lift in the afternoon doesn't come.

Yesterday and this morning have been perfect examples, and one might start to actually believe in this seaman's tale. It all helps my nerves, as it means that the models that are not very good at picking up this oscillation are not complete rubbish and can be used for the bigger picture plan.

Today looks to be a crucial day for the fleet. We are passing the most eastern tip of Brasil, and it is here that the differences between being inshore or offshore are felt best. We have invested in a more offshore position, which has meant slower sailing and more distance travelled and today we will have to see if we can reap the benefits of this. The forecast certainly shows light winds along the shore this afternoon, so at the moment we are making sure we are keeping our easterly position to the fleet.

Models however are notoriously poor in this area, and it always throws a little curve ball just when you think you have figured it all out. Nothing to do but to keep sailing hard, stay focused and monitor the fleet. Not long now to the scoring gate and boy, are the guys onboard keen to keep our second place!

Wouter Verbraak - navigator
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PUMA LEG 6 DAY 5

I wish I could say we were sailing really badly. Fact is, these boats are all raising their games all the time and this drag race to Fernando has been decided so far on a couple of fairly random wind shifts and a cloud or two. It is simply that close.

Since the first night break by Tel-Blue and Green Dragon, we have gone through a couple transition zones where the winds got a bit fluky and a couple clouds made heroes or zeroes out of il mostro.

First the zero part. One squall on night three put a five to seven mile separation between ourselves and the two Ericsson boats, to which we are constantly glued. But off they went, over the horizon at night in a squall that gave them a significant breeze advantage and headed us about 60 degrees. BOOM, DONE, GONE. Time to re-group.

A painful day later, after watching all in front get slowly and painfully further ahead - same thing but in reverse. One night-time sched showed a five mile gain for the good guys (PUMA) for no apparent reason except that E3 had sailed into a cloud ahead and got shut down for a bit. Kind of them to wait for us, as Magnus Olsen did say at the skipper’s press conference- his plan was to be glued to us the entire leg. I doubt even he thought it was going to be this literally.

Since then we have gotten back into similar water with the group and had several good scheds in a row, albeit very small gains, but gains none the less. The difference in speed out here is ridiculously small, which magnifies the small mistake or bit of misfortune that much more. It is very puffy and fluky which keeps the winches on deck constantly moving and screeching. We will all be deaf once this race is over. Any ease on a winch is brutally loud.

But the mood on board went from quite sober to remarkably upbeat with a few good scheds. We are in the hunt and understand completely how the chips have fallen so far. We simply have to avoid that one big mistake - somehow.

Of course the scoring gate at Fernando is important but being close to the pack as we enter the doldrums is critical. The boats that have a lead popping out on the other side into the northeast trades will have quite a jump and historically a fairly insurmountable lead. We have to figure out a way to be in that lead pack- really a very simple theory but a bit more complex to deliver.

We have 450 miles to Fernando, then a sprint to Boston. I’m starting to smell the clam chowder from here.

Kenny Read (Skipper)

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ERICSSON 4 LEG SIX DAY 5 QFB: received 15.04.09 1330 GMT

Day four is almost over on Ericsson 4 and the frantic sail changes and gear changing of the previous few days seems to be slowing down. We are entering a period of more stable breeze and the sailing is very pleasant on deck - shorts and tee-shirts are all that is required (unless of course you are going forward to the always wet bow area of Ericsson 4). Time to reflect a little on the race so far and what the future may hold.

The last two stopovers have been very short, Qingdao by design and Rio by virtue of our extra long voyage on leg five. This has put a lot of pressure on shore crews to complete job lists and the sailors are given precious little time to recover before putting to sea again. Particularly in Rio there was barely enough time to regain weight (although four trips to Porcao helped in this department!) let alone any conditioning or strength lost on the previous leg. This means that most of the sailors on leg six will still be at sub-optimum physically, add to this the tra