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Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09

Bang The Corner @ Sun Oct 12 14:03:00 +0100 2008

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Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race

Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 from Alicante, Spain

It was high octane action as Mother Nature supplied the start with some testing conditions. Here is a taste of what happened on the water at the start of the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race.

There was high drama right at the start of the 37,000 mile race around the planet. Even before the first warning signal for the first offshore leg; to Cape Town, South Africa. Inside the safe confines of Port Alicante, the breeze was blowing hard with waves smashing into the breakwater. A vicious storm that had been raging for several days had whipped up the waves to well over 3 metres in height and the wind speed was not far off gale force. This was going to be a baptism of fire for the eight yachts in the 10th edition of the race.

The first yacht to raise its sails was Green Dragon, Americas Cup and Olympic helmsman, Ian Walker, was at the helm as they strutted their stuff; manoeuvring inside the tight confines of the harbour entrance then suddenly….bang! The strop taking four tons of load from the headsail snapped and the sail went crashing to the deck. Quick as a flash, one…. then two crewmen were hoisted up the 30 metre rig to sort out the problem. A huge bombardment of fireworks and thunder crackers must have made communication with the crew aloft impossible.

Ian Moore; navigator for Green Dragon and late of Americas Cup Team New Zealand, came on the radio; “ Race Committee, Race Committee, how far away is the start line from the harbour wall?” Enquired Moore with a sense of urgency. “About two miles” was the unemotional response from the Race Officer.

With just enough time to make the start line, Green Dragon decided to abandon their attempt to fix the problem and go for the start line; they couldn’t use their fractional halyard which meant they had to put up a far larger sail than planned, putting the yacht close to the edge, nearly out of control in a rapidly rising tempestuous sea. Allegdely, they then had a problem with the canting keel forcing them to start on port. It looked like the luck of the Irish had deserted them!

With the wind speed gusting over 25 knots, the start gun fired, the hopes and dreams of millions of well-wishers was willing the yachts a safe passage to Cape Town, some 6,500 miles and 23 days away. Soon they would be gone but thousands of spectators were treated to a short windward leeward leg before the fleet disappeared over the horizon.

Erricson 4 completed the short course first, hoisting a fractional spinnaker and staysail, they reached away, spray washing down the deck like a fire hose as they hit a speed of 25 knots or more. Puma were not far behind but a gybe peel to a smaller kite looked like it cost them several boat lengths on their rivals, next it was Telefonica Blue; blast reaching with a fractional code zero and staysail, next Ericsson 3, closely followed by Green Dragon with no option but a masthead spinnaker. They were trucking along at a ballistic speed but losing height to the fleet with a headland looming. Delta Lloyd and Team Russia were some way behind. It was interesting to note that there was a huge variety of sail combinations.

At speeds of 25 nautical miles an hour it wasn’t long before the Volvo Open 70s disappeared from the view of the spectator boats but they were chased by a Spanish navy destroyer. At 27 knots the ship was having trouble keeping up with race yachts as they lit up the south coast of Spain. The breeze continued to build and was now close to gale force.

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PUMA Ocean Racing/Sally Collison

Aloft in a helicopter, Sally Collison was taking some amazing aerial photographs of Puma. “The pilot was first class.” Explained Sally, “at one stage we were flying backwards in front of Puma, the black hull was clean out of the water, right up to the mast; it was the most amazing sight.”

As dusk fell the wind speed started to come down but if you thought this would mean the crew could take a rest, you would be very wrong. A cat and mouse chase, at night, began to unfold as the eight Volvo 70s went in search of more wind to try and win the race to Gibraltar, the gateway to the Atlantic Ocean. Constant gybing means all hands are on deck and besides the excursion of manoeuvring the boat, there is moving the stack; two tons of gear must be moved from one side of the boat to the other, by hand on a wet pitching and rolling deck. This procedure is back breaking, in the race to Gibraltar through the night it may have required the crew to do this over and over again.

Ericsson 4 and Ericsson 3 look to have won the race to Gibraltar, hugging the shore line looks to have paid off. Every minute they are in the Atlantic longer than the competition will put them about 400 metres ahead of their rivals. The International and Nordic crew from Ericsson look to have won the first skirmish and Telefonica Blue have reportedly slowed down due to damage to their steering. Green Dragon were in third place approaching Gibraltar, a tremendous effort after their early set backs, apparently they have managed to get the yacht back to 100%.


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Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race

There will be other battles during the leg to Cape Town and many, many more before the fleet reaches St.Petersburg in Russia in June 2009.To follow the race go to
http://www.volvooceanrace.org

The Volvo 70s will be sending back text, pictures and HD video from the yachts thanks to the advanced capabilities of FleetBroadband, Inmarsat’s new maritime broadband service – delivered to the yachts by Stratos mobile satellite services via Thrane & Thrane SAILOR satellite equipment – This will allow an expected global audience of more than 1.8 billion people to follow the world’s premier yacht race on HDTV, radio and the internet. FleetBroadband, supplemented by Inmarsat Fleet 33 and Inmarsat C services, will also be used to deliver online navigational and weather updates, report vessel position and course heading for teams and race organizers, and provide essential safety communications for the crews competing in one of the world’s most dangerous sports.


VOLVO OCEAN RACE 2008-09

Bang The Corner @ Sun Oct 05 15:43:00 +0100 2008

WIN-WIN SITUATION FOR TELEFÓNICA BLUE IN VOLVO OCEAN RACE ALICANTE IN-PORT RACE
Portsmouth (England) – 4 October 2008

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Copyright Volvo Ocean Race/Rick Tomlinson

Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/Iker Martinez) made it a win-win situation in today’s in-port races held in Alicante, Spain, and now head the leaderboard of the Volvo Ocean Race.

After two races held in the bay of Alicante in glorious Mediterranean sunshine, leading from start to finish in race one, and winning an intense battle from Puma to take race two, Telefónica Blue finished in first place overall in front of their home crowd.

“It was a very difficult day, the wind shifted a lot but we had a good time, both boats did very well and we enjoyed ourselves,” said Bouwe Bekking after his win.

Tension has been mounting in Alicante, Spain, all week in anticipation of today’s in-port race where the eight-strong Volvo Ocean Race fleet showed their form for the first time.

The short windward/leeward track set close to the shore was lined by over 500 spectator craft and thousands of people watched from the many vantage points on the shore. The quay walls which gave an excellent view, were packed, and huge crowds gathered around the big screen in the race village as well as around the screens showing the race live in nearby hotels. Four helicopters hovered overhead, beaming back live footage to http://www.volvooceanrace.tv.

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Copyright Volvo Ocean Race/Rick Tomlinson

The first of two races got away at just after 1300 local time in a light south-easterly breeze, and was led from start to finish by Bouwe Bekking and Iker Martinez with local boat, Telefónica Blue, putting in an impressive performance.

The battle for second place in race one was hard fought but at the gun it was Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri) who claimed second place with Green Dragon (Ian Walker) in third. Both Telefónica boats have their training base in Alicante and their experience in this light and fluky breeze was evident, sailing high and fast throughout.

Green Dragon displayed some impressive speed in these conditions and led the fleet across the pin-end of the start line, while the rest of the fleet did not look so comfortable in this wind range.

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Copyright Volvo Ocean Race/Rick Tomlinson

Race two was postponed just 30 seconds before the start as the wind shifted violently and then carnage ensued at the committee boat end of the line when the gun eventually fired. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp) collided with Delta Lloyd (Ger O’Rourke) and both boats were holed close the water line. Team Russia subsequently took a penalty turn and Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander) had to dip back across the line after being OCS (on course side) when the gun fired.

Puma (Ken Read) smoked away from the fleet looking very impressive, flying her massive Code Zero headsail with ease, but Telefónica Blue was hot on her heels. This short course was very effective in churning out the action today as the rest of the fleet struggled to hoist and drop their massive headsails at the turning marks and the latest generation of Code Zero sails caused problems across the fleet as the boats experimented.

Telefónica Black and Green Dragon scrapped as they approached the spectator fleet in third and fourth place while Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael) sailed confidently in clear air and Green Dragon was spat back into fifth as the group approached the top mark for the second time.
Telefónica Blue closed to within a boat length of Puma as they approached the mid-course gate for the final time and Puma struggled to hold onto their lead. Telefónica Blue finally rolled Puma as the American team went slightly wide at the gate and Telefónica Blue snatched the advantage to claim a double victory.

Puma skipper Ken Read said, “We are really pleased with the day. It was an ugly first race, but we’re happy with a third overall. The guys like each other and, after so much time, it’s good to go racing. It was a hard day and you have to put yourself in the right spot.”
The duel for third place between Telefónica Black and Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael) continued, while Ericsson 3 and Green Dragon continued to scrap and the two damaged boats, Delta Lloyd and Team Russia held a private fight at the back of the fleet.

The points for the day were calculated from the finishing positions in both races.

1. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/Iker Martinez) 4 points
2. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri) 3.5 points
3. Puma Il Mostro (Ken Read) 3 points
4. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael) 2.5 points
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker) 2 points
6. Delta Lloyd (Ger O’Rourke) 1 point
7. Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander) 0.5 points*
8. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp) 0.5 points
*one point has been deducted from the Ericsson 3 score as per the jury decision number JN04 2 October.

Two races were held with a mid course gate set as a pinch point in the windward/leeward race course. Points from both races were amalgamated to give an overall score for the day’s racing. Tie breaks were decided by finishing positions in race two.

The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 is the 10th running of this ocean marathon. Leg one will start from Alicante in Spain, on 11 October 2008 and will, for the first time, take in Cochin, India, Singapore and Qingdao, China before finishing in St Petersburg, Russia for the first time in the history of the race. Spanning some 37,000 nautical miles, stopping at 11 ports and taking nine months to complete, the Volvo Ocean Race is the world’s premier yacht race for professional racing crews.
http://www.volvooceanrace.org


SPICE RACE POSTPONED

Bang The Corner @ Sun Oct 05 15:38:00 +0100 2008

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SPICE RACE POSTPONED

After meeting with Class 40 racers, both here and in Le Trinité, France over the weekend, the Royal Southampton Yacht Club and “Spice Race” promoter, Tony Lawson, have agreed to postpone the start of the 4321 mile race from the Solent to St Georges, Grenada, until November 2009.

Speaking from Race Headquarters in Surrey Tony Lawson said “The decision to delay the race was a mutual one. Both the Royal Southampton and myself were committed to providing nothing less than a first class event. Whereas we had enough boats for an inaugural race we did not think there were sufficient entries to support the associated social, educational and charity programmes we had wanted for here and Grenada .It is a disappointment but our efforts to date have given us a great deal of information and we will build on this for next year.”

RSYC Commodore Colin Lewis added, “While the club is disappointed we totally endorse the decision to postpone the race and look forward to continuing or association with this exciting project in the run up to next year”.

Asked why the expected number of 10-15 boats had not been achieved Mr Lawson commented , “For this sort of event the Spice Race always had a very optimistic lead time. The race was originally a response to a gap in the Class 40 calendar and the wish for me and a number of other owners to do something with our boats this winter rather than lay them up. Unfortunately, the deteriorating economic situation made it difficult for some of the early supporters to fully commit to the race in terms of both time and money. Some of the yachts proposed shipping back to meet other commitments here in Europe but the cost of freight from the West Indies escalated. Sadly, I think the general concensus among owners was that we had better stick closer to home and keep an eye on next year’s summer programme and hope for more settled times.

Asked about the future of the race, Tony Lawson went on to say -
“The emphasis will change. Whereas the event will still be open to all Class 40 racers and IRC yachts there will be a focus on fully crewed National Women’s Teams. We hope to have teams from the U.K, France, Holland, America, Norway and Germany, all of whom are currently represented in the Class 40 fleet. We believe that this will be the first event of its type – an offshore race of classic proportions with women’s teams battling for honours over the 4321 mile course. With a more generous lead time and showcasing women’s offshore sailing, we feel that there is a better chance of sponsorship as well as providing the girls with the offshore experience they seek. On the bright side we have already been approached by companies wanting to get involved. Meanwhile, the Government of Grenada has changed and some of its key members are keen sailors. We hope to cement our relationship there. Camper and Nicholson’s new marina will be further advanced with nearly all 350 berths completed. We will continue to work with them and our other existing partners.

Over the next few weeks we will be contacting national yachting organisations as well as leading women sailors with a view to establishing teams”


Interested parties should contacthttp://www.spicerace.com


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