The race is on to Cape Horn, and for Ericsson 3, keeping the chasing pack astern is becoming something of a problem. They are closing, and closing quickly.
Today at 1300 GMT, Torben Grael’s Ericsson 4 had closed to within 33 nautical miles of stablemate Ericsson 3, who has led the leg since taking a brave northerly course after crossing the first scoring gate on day 19, 4 March. But, it is Ian Walker’s Green Dragon, who is posting the fastest 24 hour run of 477 nm, knocking 58 nm out of Ericsson 3’s lead in the last 24 hours.
Ericsson 3 has 854 miles to run to the Cape Horn scoring gate, where what looked like certain leader’s points a few days ago seem now to be in doubt.
The entire fleet is benefitting from some true southern ocean weather and is now making rapid progress towards the legendary Cape. According to Ken Read from PUMA, the effect of low pressure has, for a change, done exactly as predicted and Ericsson 3 has been brought to heel as the chasing pack are now nipping at her heels.
Ken says, ” We are approaching The Horn. Seems like we have been approaching for about a month. Actually, it has been just about a month.
With a little boost from a tight low pressure system we are going to have a quick ride to the Horn from here. That is the good news as all aboard are getting a bit anxious about turning the corner and heading back into warmer climates. So as long as there is light at the end of the tunnel for the next couple days, the heavy running shouldn’t all that bad.
We have a bit of a race on our hands as well, if you haven’t noticed. This low has done what was predicted and brought the leader and the back of the group all together in about the same spot…all focused on the same point on this low. As the low has come down though it has spread out a bit and also slowed some which has done two things. It will make the entrance into the west side of the system much more palatable. Meaning we will be at much broader angles entering the system rather than the hard on the wind prediction that the weather forecasting was showing us a few days ago. But what that does is also widen the range of positioning that will work for each of the boats once in the breeze. And what that really means is that the group of four of us may not be quite as bunched up as previously predicted. Closer together to be sure, but not exactly on top of each other.
On board I think we are all looking forward to our first tropical rain shower to get off some of the grunge, as well as a shave on the other side of the Horn. This light air has certainly given us a bit of a breather over the last 48 hours, enough to air out the boat and dry some things off. But, that is about to change as the fire hose will be on for at least a few days and maybe longer.
I have to admit that I am becoming more fascinated by this landmark that we are about to round (about to round means in 1000 miles which gives you an idea of how warped our sense of time and distance has become). What I didn’t realize was that Cape Horn is actually one of hundreds and maybe thousands of small islands that litter the west side of Chile. As Chile turns into Argentina, the coastline smoothes out and up the east side, which is all Argentina, it is all smooth with no islands at all.
The number of documented passages that have created heroes or ended in tragedy while rounding this landmark is unparalleled. I guess this is all part of the allure. If these islands could talk they would tell some harrowing tales I would guess. From early explorers to the original trade routes to the west coast of the US. An unimaginable amount of high sea’s tragedy happened here in storms so fierce that they wouldn’t let the ships out of their grasp. We are looking forward to Cape Horn allowing us passage in reasonable weather.
So, as we begin putting our foot on the accelerator in the building breeze we hope to tick off the final mileage in just under three days. That will be a great treat. And did I mention that we are all ready for the warmth. No more complaining about sweating while sitting here at the nav station typing for the rest of the trip to Russia. I promise.
in proper Southern Ocean conditions at last. “The rookies must have been wondering if all those stories about it were true,” writes skipper Torben Grael. “But now, with 1000 miles to go, it looks like we are going to have a good taste of it. It will be a sprint with the boats quite close together specially considering the amount of days at sea (29 now) already.
Then after the most famous cape in the world, if things go as planned of course, we will be going north for good, up the South American coast and finally into Rio. It seems quite far away still.
Arriving there sooner will save us from eventually rationing food and give us a slightly bigger stopover, which in my case not being back since the start is a big plus. So much to do, so little time. Stopovers this time are way too short. And with three days dedicated to warm up, in-port and pro-am, even shorter. No good.”
Meanwhile, from their position at the back of the fleet, the crew of Telefónica Blue is watching the action at the front as it unfolds. The team has cleared the second ice waypoint and has gybed south to sail into better breeze, but they are in a different weather system from the leaders, who are just over 700 nm ahead.
It will be an interesting few days ahead for us, especially to follow what the leaders are going to do, with the tricky wind patterns ahead of them.
We can sit in the driving seat and just watch. For us it is a bit more straight forward, as we are sailing in another system and more or less only have one way to go to the Horn.
Finally last night we cleared the ice waypoint, and could gybe south, to sail into more pressure. Slowly but surely the breeze has been building and now we are in a steady 25 knots, making good progress.
The guys have done really well the last few days, considering the light air we had, just poking some s***t towards our navigator, who is starting the grow a few grey hairs. Welcome and join the club. It will be funny to see some pictures from the guys just before the start in Alicante and when we arrive in Rio, to see how much greyer everybody has become. Let’s blame the salt water for it and not the stress which we face sometimes.
Like today, it would so tempting to sail full noise, with all the canvas we have and just send it down the mines, but we are careful, and everybody on deck can see the big picture. Unless we arrive in one piece in Rio, we will never beat the other guys as we only have a small jib and from Rio onwards, we start with a clean piece of paper, as there are lots of points to be earned to the finish of the race.” says skipper Bouwe Bekking.
Of course, it is tempting, in these conditions to fly as much sail area as possible and push the boat to the limit, but, says Bekking, unless Telefónica Blue arrives in Rio in one piece, they will never beat the others. They are limited to only a small jib once round the Horn, but, as Bekking says, “From Rio onwards we start with a clean sheet of paper as there are lots of points to be earned to the finish of the race. “
Once the fleet clears Cape Horn, which, contrary to popular belief is not just one Cape, but mass of small islands that litter the western side of Chile, the fleet will be say goodbye to the Southern Ocean until the next Volvo Ocean Race, and head north for good.
Leg Five Day 30: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) DTF 3111 nm
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +33
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +92
Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +211
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +709
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS