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Volvo Ocean Race Leg 1 - illbruck back in the lead
Update from Richard Clarke, illbruck
Thai Chicken Curry and Champagne Yachting
Yes...just got off an awesome 6 hours on deck. Perfect example of
Champagne yachting...15-23 kts winds and nice surfing waves. Boat speed
was always near 15 kts with peaks into the 20s and all this in shorts and
nothing else. I have not worn boots for a week as there has seldom been
water on the deck and now there it is a welcome relief from the heat. The
trades are fitting the bill as a great place to sail; I just wish that it
took a little less time to get here. To add some icing to my perfect watch
we just found out that we have recaptured top spot and distanced ourselves
from the others.
To top off a great sailing shift Thai Chicken Curry was the meal for
dinner tonight. Definitely my favourite as it is a nice number with a
beautiful coconut red curry sauce with chicken, green beans and peanuts
all served with jasmine rice (I have been at sea for too long). Now, all
that would make this day perfect would be a beer and crawl into bed with
my wife. Well there is no beer or wife so I will have to crawl into my
bunk and be content with the soothing serenade of the squealing spinnaker
sheet on the primary winch, the rattling of the grinders and the whining
water ballast pump.
Update from Gurra Krantz, SEB
Work, Work, Work
First of all, we have a sending problem on our Satcom-C. We receive fine
but most messages fail when trying to send. Therefore I send this QFB via
e-mail.
Still on our easterly route we have experienced some fantastic racing on
our own. The race is as usual between the position reports, and our
comeback from trailing the fleet was of course a sweet one. Still we have
to work on the westerly separation and that has already shown very costly.
ILBK has passed us and we will, most likely, see a couple of more skeds
where we will lose to the fleet. We have not the same pressure here in the
east. We had wind from 040 with 15 knots that turned during this morning
to 085 with 19 knots, which was a relief when trying to go [south] west.
Since then we have had a big drop in wind speed and another left hand
shift which again makes it hard to get southwest. Sail high in light to
keep the speed in the waves, sail VMG when you can, sail really low when
breeze is up and you have favourable waves, gybe when the wind shifts to
the left, gybe back when it shifts the other way, change to a lighter
spinnaker to sail lower, work, work, work. We have reduced the separation
from 380 to 200 miles. Still working on that, not to get caught too far
east for the Doldrums. As I write this, the breeze is picking up and I
read 15 knots from 060. Keeps us on track but we do not get the bow down
enough to SW. Next position report will be very interesting. Will the
others have stopped at all?
Update from Mark Rudiger, Team Assa Abloy
WE'RE FREE, WE'RE FREE!!
Throw off the chains, call off the dogs, we're launched, we're outa here!
Unbelievable sailing again last night! We've been released from the grips of the ridge of the century. Surfing along in moderate trade winds finally.
We are happy how we came out of it, and now have Illbruck in our sights to show us the way not to go thru the doldrums.
We think we'll beat SEB there and are concentrating and working our tails off to keep TYCO at bay. We can see them just on the horizon aft to windward.
The next big thing to watch is where everyone elects to make the critical passage thru the doldrums located about 400 miles ahead of us. There is a block there at the moment moving west and hopefully giving us a reach thru like we enjoyed last time on EF. I can remember Cayard wondering what all
the fuss was about.
We have to weigh out our strategy against covering and passing tactics. Not only for the fastest way thru to the other side, but where you want to be when you get into the south-easterly's.
There is a lot of speculation on what's going thru the minds of the other boats.
SEB desperately trying to hold on to lead with a less than optimal wind angle, and forcing them to pass the doldrums maybe further east than perfect.
Illbruck enjoying the best spot but knowing they are likely to be the first ones to find the holes and with some heavy breathers coming in from behind.
News Corp praying for the header to let them out of jail so as not to have to gibe and loose twenty miles or more to the front runners.
Amer One not really having any good options the moment other than hoping for us all to park up and find a way by. I'm sure we haven't heard the end of Dalton's moaning about fat boat, not enough prep time, SEB stopping for headboard etc.
The girls were flying into the fleet and looking good for a rematch, but sliding back again but happy to be moving.
And finally djuice, undaunted by position and breakdown, we wonder if they got their water maker fixed or is that one of the reasons they have chosen to shoot the gap through the Verde Islands. No water, no race, plain and simple. All these boats only carry enough fresh water to operate at
optimal performance for about two days. The water maker is our life link, and at he moment we 're happy we have one developed by my old friend and ex-partner Bill Edinger.
So as for us, we need to stay close to illbruck's line and not let Tyco gain any gauge to the left or right. We need to anticipate their moves so we can minimize reactive course changes.
All the while it's getting hotter, and hotter. Hope my little fan holds out in the clammy nav dungeon.
Update from Steve Hayles, Team Tyco
Hot, Fast Sailing About To End
After a day of very pleasant sailing in the more traditional trade winds,
that those who have been in this part of the world are familiar with, our
driftathon of a couple days ago is all but forgotten.
It has hardly been cold down here so far but probably not as hot as we
would have expected until today. Temperatures are now soaring and life
below decks is getting uncomfortable.
I am pleased to report though that our rationing program instigated by
Jono is proving very easy to live with and we have created ourselves a few
more meals for the end of what will be a long trip. It does seem that ETAs
(Estimated Time of Arrival) are directly linked with your current speed so
talk has gone back to it being a more normal length leg.
In reality we are at least a couple of hundred miles behind where the
leaders were at this point in time during the last race (1997-1998
Whitbread) so although very dependant on conditions in many days time that
we cannot forecast yet, we will no doubt be a little late into Cape Town.
There is still a large proportion of this leg left with our next hurdle
being the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITC), which is a rather long way
of referring to the Doldrums.
Every boat will have its plan of attack for getting through here and into the southeast trades as painlessly as possible but no doubt the fleet will emerge from the other side with tales of differing fortunes. It is a fact that this is a very unpredictable part of the world on a scale that matters to us and no doubt some boats will fare better than others.
Not much else to report from onboard Tyco today and the only thing left to do is congratulate the England football team on their qualification for the world cup.
Nipper (Guy Salter), myself and Tim Powell in particular were delighted with this little piece of news today. Sounds like a close run thing with a result secured very late in the day. It makes you wonder how late in the day victory in this leg will be secured?
Update from Ross Field, News Corp
The Wonders of Modern Technology
We have now settled into trade wind sailing - 17 knot Northeasterly
heading towards the doldrums (Tropical Convergence Zone).
We have located the doldrums on weather maps and satellite pictures and
are monitoring the movement, via the Internet, so we can move thru without
losing wind.
We have the onboard computers spitting out the performance numbers, a GPS
(Global Positioning System), in conjunction with our onboard systems,
giving us our exact direction and speed over the ground, how much current
we have and leeway we are making, our exact time of arrival ---- more
information than I have time to describe.
How did they navigate in the first Whitbread Race, now the Volvo?????? I
often ask myself this question and admire those sailors who raced around
the world with only a sextant, a set of site tables, a weather fax and a
crude instrument system. Imagine being in the Southern Ocean for weeks
on end, no sun for any sextant shots, and only operating on DR (dead
reckoning)!!
Thank goodness for the GPS and all the instruments we have now. A
navigators job is easy - now a more of a tactical role. Between Nick
White and myself we download masses amount of information and, hopefully,
it enables me to make the right decision on where to place Team News Corp.
Update from Grant Dalton, Amer Sports One
Three Spoons For 12 Guys
It's been an action packed day onboard today, or at least the monotony has
been broken. But firstly the arrival of the trades late yesterday
afternoon. The only problem for us is that the boats in the south have
been in them longer and have had them stronger as they are further south.
The rich getting richer as it's called - a commonly used expression of the
first leg of this race. This close still after 2 weeks at sea is actually
amazing. As the trades lighten off again in a day or so we should close
back together again as well.
Now the action. Firstly an unnamed Australian managed to throw most of the
spoons over the side when he was doing the dishes. You may think that this
is not a problem, use the forks, problem is there are no forks, just
spoons, or 3 left anyway so we now need to find an imaginative way of
eating otherwise the meals are going to take an awfully long time to
complete.
The other thing that happened is that the handle fell off the kettle while
Roger was making coffee, sending hot water over his feet. Luckily just a
few small blisters and being a doctor he can also look after himself. But
we will need to fix the kettle at some stage.
Update from Jacques Vincent, djuice dragons
It is not fun being last
This morning I woke up just before 0800, had my huge Muesli breakfast outdoors; it was sunny and windy enough to fly the kite, what a good start for a day in the tropics.
What an illusion it was!
Very soon thousands of dragons blew their flames on us, my brain was
boiling hot. I started dreaming very deeply about the air conditioning of
those nice cruisy family Volvo cars I have seen in Norway. In Australia I
will have to meet aboriginals as I am sure those smart people have some
good tips to help me cope with a burning sun. Drinking water is essential.
There is onboard different opinions about the quantity we should drink: it
goes from 1.5 to 8 litres.
A nice gust brings me back to reality. Djuice is chasing every wave to surf for extra speed; we swap many times in a watch between helming, trimming and grinding and towards the end of my watch one of the Cabo Verde Island appeared on the horizon.
It is not fun being last but I enjoy the company of my watch mates and the team spirit is still good and strong. No doubt we will fight our way back.
More Information:
- YachtsandYachting.com Volvo Ocean Race Information Page
- www.VolvoOceanRace.org
See also: E SCOW for sale
