News

March 10, 2006

Skipper Paul Cayard at the helm silhouted against the setting sun on Volvo Open 70 The Black Pearl Leg 4 ©Justin Clougher


A LITTLE CLOSER


Fri, 10 Mar 2006 19:30:00 UTC

Position update 1900GMT

It has been a tacking battle for the fleet in the last three hours.

Mike Sanderson and his boys continue to lead the pack and ABN AMRO ONE is now 63 miles from Rio de Janeiro.

In the three hours since the last position report, second-placed Pirates of the Caribbean dropped back six miles on the leader, although Brasil 1 and ABN AMRO TWO, in third and fourth, have clawed back four and six nm respectively on the Dutch boat.

This middle pack is battling it out to pick the right side of the shifts in the light and fluky conditions but as day fades to night, so too will the wind fade, stretching the last 100 miles into an agonising crawl to the line.

Back in fifth, Ericsson has lost another eight miles to the frontrunners while movistar, 1,140 nm from Rio, is charging along at a very respectable 17 kts.

On the Black Pearl, skipper Paul Cayard spoke of his frustration with the unpredictable conditions. “It has been very slow going for the past 24 hours. Added to that there seems to be no pattern to the weather. There is no trend. The wind is blowing basically directly from Rio so we are making very slow progress to the finish. If there were some pattern to recognize- it would be a lot less stressful. We could make a strategy and execute.

“We seem to be blocked by the high bubble and if this is the case then there are a myriad of possibilities as to what will happen. So we have to try to stay between our opposition and the finish so that as they close in on us we at least have a chance of getting picked up by what ever it is they have. Knowing where they are or where they are going hour to hour is a bit hard to do when we only get a report every six hours – but at least we get that. So we are basically in a holding pattern.”

Next update 2200GMT.

Position update 1600GMT

ABN AMRO ONE seems to have made the best job so far of skirting the high pressure system to their east and is now in light wind reaching conditions, sailing at eight knots in seven knots of wind. Behind them the other boats are hard on the wind still and struggling to get to the better breeze in front.

ABN AMRO ONE is entering the comfort zone with fewer miles to go to the finish than they have between them and second place Pirates; distance to finish 89 nautical miles, distance to Pirates 113 miles. At their current boat speed of seven knots, ABN AMRO ONE could be off the city in about 12 hours.

Brasil 1 are smelling home ground now and while they have lost a little to the leader, they have gained nine miles on Pirates to be only 16 miles in arrears. In respect of ABN AMRO TWO behind them, they have pulled out from seven miles on at the last poll to 12 miles at 1600GMT. Torben and the boys in the blue and yellow boat are on fire and will be hoping that they can close down the Pirates lead in the time they have left. At the rate they are going it is perfectly possible that Brasil 1 could be the second boat into Rio

Can Brasil 1 catch ABN AMRO ONE and make the whole country go wild?

Anything is possible if the expected parking lot develops just outside the entrance to Guanabara Bay. Our spies in Rio at the moment tell us that there is about six knots of sea breeze blowing, fuelled by the high land temperatures – around 32 degrees – but this usually dies at night.

This was a good poll for Ericsson as now Neal McDonald’s boat has taken 21 miles out of ABN AMRO TWO. They have closed up to 39 miles behind and are sailing faster. If we go back to the last week of the Southern Ocean we recall that TWO suffered some major mainsail problems and had to resort of plenty of messy repairs with sticky-back mylar and Sikaflex. Perhaps that sail damage and the light winds add up to increased drag and less drive, making the second Dutch boat slower and perhaps vulnerable to Ericsson’s charge.

At the 1600GMT poll, the order was ABN AMRO ONE leading Pirates by 113 miles, Brasil 1 second at 129 miles, ABN AMRO TWO third at 141 miles, Ericsson at 180 miles from the leader. movistar are rattling along in the rear at 16 knots in 19 knots of wind, some 1100 miles from the leader, but now only 820 miles from Ericsson and 1189 miles from the finish.

EMAILS

Emails from the boats are sparse in number, but Knut Frostad from Brasil 1 made up for this with a 650 word essay, this is an extract, “It’s a very intense atmosphere onboard Brasil 1 right now. Lots of times I have been asked; what is the worst about this race?. They expect to hear about the cold storms in the south. But no, the worst is simply no wind. Less wind gives you fewer options, and higher probability that the competitors have more of it.

“Last night we entered into a tight battle with ABN AMRO TWO, slowly catching them up from behind and in the end positioning ourselves to weather in a controlling position. This was the first time we have seen any boat by our own eyes since the day after the start in Wellington. For sure being close to someone sparks some extra energy onboard. Tacks and re-stacking goes faster than normal. All kinds of devices, such as night vision binoculars, radar and hand bearing compasses, are up and running to make sure we know their moves at any time.

“As all predictions show very light and variable winds from now on, until a stronger southeasterly fills in from behind, it really feels like walking on very thin ice. We know for sure that whoever is behind, have a good chance of catching up, and we know that failing to judge any rain cloud around us right, could cost us a lot of miles. Now, we have repaired the radar, and hopefully we are better prepared for the next one. Talking about rain clouds, we just saw a waterspout about a mile away from us. Pretty impressive feature, seeing water being sucked up fro the sea, straight into the air – not a good place to swim.

“So, as we are very keen to advance on the scoreboard this leg, we still have to be very careful right now, making sure that we always place ourselves conservatively to the new wind we think will fill in. The two major weather models we use, show quite different scenarios. For sure when we get closer to the coast, we have a few smart and local heads onboard, but that is still far away, at least with the speed we are doing now.

“Still some food left onboard, and although we wish the finishing miles where much faster, we have to admit that a really slow finish creates some opportunities we want and need. So, Rio will have to wait for us a little more.”


© Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006
Updated 10/03/06 21.55