Warning signs appearing for Volvo Ocean Race fleet

by Volvo Ocean Race media on 21 May 2009
The breeze is up and the Volvo fleet is rocketing downwind towards a predicted finish in Galway, Ireland early on Sunday morning. It’s the kind of sailing that everyone has been looking forward to and it is almost certainly the last time the boats will have the chance to show off their paces in the open ocean.

'There is something magical that happens out here, miles from anywhere. There is a definite edge to life that you don’t get racing in coastal waters,' said Rick Deppe, MCM onboard second-placed Puma.

It is smiles all round too on Delta Lloyd, who are in the lead today. 'This sailing makes you want to do this race again,' said navigator Wouter Verbraak. 'The sailing conditions are absolutely stunning. Downwind, 25-30 knots, flat water and a red morning sun,' he said.

But, the old adage goes ‘red sky at night – sailor’s delight. Red sky in the morning – sailor’s warning’, and Wouter says the warning signs are already there.

'A thin layer of clouds is steadily approaching and growing thicker. The weather models of modern technology confirm the sailor’s rhyme. They are predicting winds to build to 30 knots tonight and more tomorrow,' he confirmed.

Ahead of the cold front, the crews are playing the fortunes of the Gulf Stream, which, if in the right place, can give a boat a boost of nearly three knots. Scrutinising satellite images and recording surface temperatures gives a rough guideline as to where to look for the best current, the temperature gauge being the best tool as it shows the transition from colder to warmer water.

'The trick,' says Wouter 'is to find a good patch of current and try to stick with it by following its temperature trail.' No fun for the navigators, who are constantly monitoring the situation and not able to sleep.

Yesterday afternoon, Telefónica Black (third place today) was neck and neck with Ericsson 4 (fourth place today), running with masthead gennakers. 'The guys have just completed a back down right in front of us,' wrote a puzzled Ericsson 4 bowman, Phil Jameson, as Telefónica Black careered around broaching before eventually the crew sailed the boat backwards.

'Look,' shouted Telefónica Black’s David Vera, 'there is a big turtle stuck on the leading edge of the keel, unbelievable.' One by one, the crew peered through the endoscope to see a three-foot full size ocean turtle trapped on the front side of the keel blade and desperately trying to free itself.

'Fernando Echávarri was at the helm and doing everything to help free the turtle, swinging the keel from side to side and finally putting the boat into a full broach in the modest 15 knot wind.

No luck, the turtle was still stuck, pressed onto the keel by 13 knots of boat speed. 'Let us stop the boat and back off,' suggested Echávarri. The crew dropped the spinnaker on the foredeck, put the bows of the boat into the wind and, with the help of a staysail, sailed the boat backwards.

'There it is, just next to the boat,' cried David. The crew could all see the seemingly unhurt turtle swimming around the surface in gentle circles. 'What a ride for the poor animal,' wrote navigator Roger Nilson. 'It looked happy and we waved goodbye and hoisted the kite and off we went again. Just another day in the office… who said it is boring to be at sea?'

However, turtle incidents aside, no one is forgetting that this is the North Atlantic and gales here have caused the demise of many a ship. This ocean demands and receives deep respect and the helmsman’s current smile masks a worried face as the fleet blasts towards Galway. 'Better get some good lunch in and enjoy the sailing on deck before it all takes a turn for the worst,' said Wouter. 'Keep your helmets ready, it’s going to be wet. We are going in!'

DELTA LLOYD LEG SEVEN DAY 6 QFB: received 21.05.09 1231 GMT

Gulf Stream games ahead of big winds tomorrow

'This sailing makes you want to do this race again.' The smile on his face is telling as Nick Bice comes down after an hour of driving. The sailing conditions are absolutely stunning. Downwind, 25-30 knots, flat water and a red morning sun. With water temperatures up to 18C even the gloves and hats are off. This is the North Atlantic showing its pretty face.

Not that I get to enjoy much of it. I am stuck in the nav station monitoring the movements of the big anaconda. With her movements very irregular, the Gulf Stream deals us different cards all the time: 2.7 knots of current with us, then minutes later only 1.3 without much warning. Sure, we have the latest satellite pictures with the sea surface temperatures, but that only gives a rough guideline as to where to look for the best current. The best tool is the water temperature gauge that shows the transition from colder to warmer water. The trick is to find a good patch of current and try to stick with it by following its temperature trail. The result: constant monitoring and not much sleep….but very cool!

The happy smiling face of the Atlantic is about to change. Soon we are going to see her other side. The one that sent many a ship to the bottom of the ocean, the one that demands our deep respect. We have seen that face, and it can be pretty ugly.

The warning is in that same beautiful morning setting. 'A red morning, a sailors warning.' That warning sign is small but now clearly visible on the western horizon. A thin layer of clouds, steadily approaching and growing thicker. The weather models of modern technology confirm the sailors rhyme. They are predicting winds to build to 30 knots tonight and more tomorrow.

As we have known about the front for a couple of days, we have already made preparations for things to come. Yesterday we spent an hour folding the upwind sails into smaller packs, so that we can stack the boat more aft. The flat bottoms make these boats fast in medium and light air, but the downside is that they become ‘noisy’ in stronger winds. We need every kilo of stackable weight as far possible back as we can and we have made it our mission of the day to figure out ways to get even more weight back.

So all smiles covering worried faces as we are blasting our way towards Galway. Better get some good lunch in and enjoy the sailing on deck before it is all taking a turn for the worse. Keep your helmets ready, it’s going to be wet, we are going in!

Wouter Verbraak - navigator

Leg Seven Day 6: 1400 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

1. Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermúdez/ESP) DTL 1186 nm
2. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +2
3. Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) + 3
4. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +6
5. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +9
6. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +36
7. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +46

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