The never ending leg

Volvo Ocean Race leaders still a day out of Rio

Wednesday March 25th 2009, Author: James Boyd, Location: United Kingdom

Image above courtesy of Expedition and Predict Wind

Positions at 0655 GMT

Pos	Boat	Skipper	Lat	Long	Spd	24 hr	DTF	DTL
1	Ericsson 3	Magnus Olsson	26.38.41S	043.42.48W	9.3	256	225.3
2	Ericsson 4	Torben Grael	28.22.18S	043.52.43W	9.8	216	329.4	104.1
3	Puma	Ken Read	29.51.18S	043.46.83W	10.8	208	417.5	192.2
4	Green Dragon	Ian Walker	34.48.86S	049.33.83W	11.3	147	788.6	563.3
5	Telefonica Blue	Bouwe Bekking	37.59.32S	044.13.78W	2.3	109	906	680.7

While the wind is still set to go light en route to the finish, now around a day's sail away, Magnus Olssen and his Nordic team on board Ericsson 3 are looking in good shape to clinch the seemingly endless leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race, now into its 39th day. Over the last 24 hours they have made the most of the breeze and have extended their lead from 59 miles in front of their teammates on Ericsson 4 to 104 miles this morning. It is hard to see exactly how Ericsson 3 has managed this. It could be as simple as they have found just a little more pressure being that much further north that has enabled them to average two knots faster than their team mates, who seemed to lose 10 miles on them at each sched over the course of yesterday afternoon and last night, only reversing the trend at the latest sched.

If Ericsson 3 claim victory it will be just deserts for the Nordic team and especially their navigator and afterguard for making the bold call to hang a sharp left at the scoring gate off New Zealand and then cling on to their lead for the remainder of the race. It goes to show that following the pack may be the safest option but doesn't always result in race wins. And why after his lengthy association with the race is the first time that Magnus Olssen has skippered a boat in it?!

Meanwhile the back of the fleet there is yet more misery and despair. Green Dragon is up to speed now, but spent most of yesterday wallowing off the mouth of the river Plate going nowhere slowly. Since then it has become the turn of tailenders Telefonica Blue at present caught in the clutches of a high pressure system some 300 miles southeast of the Dragons. Oh dear.

Bowman Ryan Godfrey reported yesterday from Ericsson 4 :

Keep on rolling, that’s all we have to do. For the past 24 hours we have just managed to stay in enough breeze to keep the mileage ticking over at a steady rate. In these conditions it seems like that is all you can hope for. If you can avoid stopping in a light spot, then you are rewarded with a good gain on the opposition at the following sched.

The weather is quite spectacular really, clear blue skies and balmy warm nights. What I would have done for a few hours of these conditions as we were approaching Cape Horn! Unfortunately this comfort has come at the cost of boatspeed and going slow is the last thing we want now after 12,000 miles. Thirty eight days is enough on a boat this size with10 other men living in each other’s pocket.

We are all over being at sea now, and it is only the focus on trying to catch Ericsson 3 that is distracting us from really getting sick of the situation. Sleeping on our flimsy, uncomfortable pipe cots is becoming a chore and the thought of a nice, firm bed in Rio is playing on my mind. Food, don’t even get me started!

It has been great to get some news from ashore and keep a perspective on what is happening in the world outside our 70’ bubble. The public well wishes from Ericsson's website have been a nice surprise.

Ok, back to work and see you all very soon I hope,

Rick Deppe reported yesterday from Puma :

Right now the only thing connecting Qingdao and Rio is a thin red line on Capey's (Andrew Cape) computer and I can’t for the life of me think of two more different places to sail between than our Leg 5 start in China, and the finish in Brazil.

China, cold and grey emerging from years of communist autocracy, yet steeped in thousands of years of culture and still on a huge high from last year's amazing Olympics, with a rapidly emerging economy, readying itself to take on the world as the next super-power. It was certainly a strange place to be for a yacht race though, seeing everyone wrapped up in big jackets and wearing long pants, almost unheard of so far in the race. The Chinese people were incredibly warm and sincere. Thanks especially to Wilson at the Sea View Garden Hotel for all his help and to Vivienne from Puma for being wonderful hosts to that country.

When we sail around the corner into Rio and see the 'Christo Redempto' high on the hill, we will be arriving for a few weeks in another emerging economy and a country that will be another major player on the world stage in the years to come. Rio is sultry and sexy with an underlying dangerousness to it. In Brazil once you realize that nothing will work or run on time and that the whole pace of life runs to the unique samba rhythm that is the pulse of Rio, a little piece of you will always want to return.

Rio is a brilliant place, and that makes it all the harder to be out here right now. I was there last year on another sailboat race and spent a fantastic day touring around. I can’t wait to take my family up to the top of the Corcovado where the view is unbelievable and spend some lazy days fattening myself back up and getting to know Rio a bit more.

Ian Walker reports from Green Dragon:

We are still in the grips of the ever expanding high pressure. Last night and this morning was the calmest I have ever seen the sea. We went hours and hours without even seeing a ripple on the surface.

The crew continues to work hard to move forwards as every mile we get north will help us get in the wind sooner. Right now it looks like we will have to endure another six days to get to Rio. Not good considering our first ETA four days ago was tomorrow!

Our fuel situation has become critical as the alternator on the generator isn't working and we have to charge off the main engine which takes more fuel. We have switched off all non essentials and are trying not to move the keel (which draws a lot of power) and have calculated we have six days left. I think it will still take us six days to get to Rio but I am scared of making any more predictions. We have approximately five meals left and a bit of porridge so nobody will starve, but this is on top of being hungry for weeks - each watch now has its own ration pack and a black market is rapidly developing.

I continue to be impressed by the team's professionalism and good humour in the face of adversity.

The highlight of today was a school of yellow fin tuna circling the boat and Phil Harmer's attempt to spear one with a knife taped to a batten. Unfortunately the only net result was some lost porridge thrown in the water to try and attract them closer. We should have used Beef Jerky but couldn't bring ourselves to throw it over the side as bait. Maniac (Chris Main) is determined to catch a turtle but thus far we have stopped him from jumping in on top of one as they swim past. I am not quite sure what we would do with it if he did catch one and I suspect they are a protected species so we will refrain. Besides I like turtles.

I am not one to dwell too long on any misfortune. Last night I lay on the foredeck looking up at the mast and sails listening to my iPod pondering our situation and I thought of all the thousands of people who would love to go sailing across an ocean on a fantastic boat like this and those who never had that chance. We have that opportunity and we will continue to make the most of it despite less than ideal circumstances. See you in Rio soon I hope!

Simon Fisher reports from Telefonica Blue :

It has been a good day today. Despite light winds that have been threatening to thwart our progress, we have been making modest speeds for much of the day and, as a result, are still closing on Rio and our nearest rivals Green Dragon. With now only 50 miles to Green Dragon, the race is very much on and it has given us plenty of added excitement to the finale to this leg. What could have been a case of just counting down the miles to Rio has become for us an exciting duel to the finish. The next 24 hours however will be pretty telling as we continue to negotiate our way through the mine field of high pressure that still lies ahead of us.

In spite of the slowed progress, the light winds do bring some advantages though. We are now thoroughly dried out after the rigours of the Southern Ocean and 4-6 knots and flat water make for excellent sleeping conditions which is something that is definitely welcomed by everyone. However, despite the increased comfort in the sleeping bag, we are all hoping that these light winds won't last too much longer and we can get to more reliable breeze sometime tomorrow.

With that said, I'm off now to my bunk to enjoy some sleep and listen to a few tunes on my iPod before getting up in a few hours to coax the boat ever closer to Rio!

Bouwe Bekking reports from Telefonica Blue :

Just to set the record straight after reading some articles, so that the families don’t have to worry.

We still have a complete menu for five days, meaning full breakfast, lunch and dinner. Plus a variety of snacks. On top of that we have pasta, extra muesli and some bags of the least favourable warm meals, plus plenty of protein powder, so no worries from our side in case it even takes longer. I think the misunderstanding has come from that our crew is talking and dreaming about real food, and the craving to eat big steaks and other nice things, but they can stuff themselves here with 5000 calories or more per day, if they like!!

Also we have enough fuel so we can run everything, including the airco (fans). Just remember, all boats have another 135 litres of so-called emergency fuel as well. If a boat would run out using their normal tanks, it has the option to use the emergency fuel, but it will most likely cost them some sort of a penalty.

So it is still light and shite: our favourite weather and a saying I have learned from friends on a Danish boat I race with. Whatever the forecast would be, they always make the best of it and approach it positively. Another 24 hours light weather for us and then it looks like a reach into Rio. The routing is still not very clear of an exact arrival, so let’s keep it somewhere on the 29th.