Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) is stretching out a substantial lead in leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race as the team rides a weather system, which is sweeping them quickly towards Cape Horn and maximum points at the next scoring gate.
Magnus Olsson and his men have now pulled out a lead of 208 nautical miles as they continue to average a boat speed of 24.3 knots, almost four knots faster than the chasing duo of Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) and PUMA (Ken Read/USA). Their latest 24-hour run of 516 nautical miles is 83 nm better than overall race leader Ericsson 4 in the same period.
In the last 24 hours, their lead has nearly doubled, while the rest of the fleet made losses of between 14 nm at the best and 45 nm at the worst. Their pace is fast and furious, but the rest of the fleet has now also been able to set big downwind sails and give chase.
One 20 knot leap by the boat felt like we were fully airborne and after Horatio’s (Horatio Carabelli/BRA) checks of the keel rams, a few sheared bolts probably attest to the hull being clear of the water. I know that’s what my teeth felt like when we landed.
Ericsson 4 and PUMA remain engaged in battle, a little over 200 miles astern of the leader. At 1300 GMT yesterday, PUMA led from Ericsson 4 by seven miles, but today, when the grey mist cleared briefly, the Ericsson 4 could see PUMA two miles behind. They have since extended the margin by 12 miles.
“One 20 knot leap by the boat felt like we were fully airborne and after Horatio’s (Horatio Carabelli/BRA) checks of the keel rams, a few sheared bolts probably attest to the hull being clear of the water. I know that’s what my teeth felt like when we landed.
I expect we will be close to them again before the second ice waypoint,” predicted Ericsson 4’s navigator Jules Salter. “It will be interesting to see how this duel in Ericsson 3’s wake pans out in the next few grey days. It won’t be simple and easy that is for sure,” he said.
Rick Deppe on PUMA had his thoughts on the day “I spent the morning training Salty (Rob Salthouse/NZL) to be a back up MCM. We’re thinking of a switch out in Rio. Maybe at the Horn if he’s ready. Not sure if he’s had enough of it on deck, or if I’ve had enough of it down here in the hole. Either way he’s already half way there because he always has great ideas, now he just has to learn all the different programmes, and we’ll be good to go.
PS: Just kidding about Salty’s new position, we need him right where he is.
Its amazing how many of our crews user names end with a Y or the Y sound -Salty, Kenny, Capey, Jerry, Ricky, Casey, Michi, Willy, Sidney! Of course that still leaves Rob who could become Robby and Justin… hmmm. So much for that train of thought.
It just occurred to me that we’re going to miss Mardi Gras in Rio, and that’s disappointing. But it could also be a good thing. This will put me at three for three in Brazil (missing Mardi Gras), although Capey (Andrew Cape – navigator) just reminded me that when the Whitbread stopped in Sao Sebastiao in 1998 they ran a Mardi Gras style parade for the visiting fleet. As I recall it was quite impressive.
Needless to say, not much going on here today, we are just blasting along at 20 knots in the dense fog that has been with us for days now. I can’t help thinking about the first time we sailed 400 miles in a day on the Whitbread 60. It was really quite terrifying. Fast forward 10 years to now and it seems quite routine to sail that distance and each 400 miles takes a big chunk out of the DTF (Distance to Finish) and brings us closer to the corner (Cape Horn). It’s ironic that people look forward to the Southern Ocean and then once there, just want to get the hell out of it.
Today was my day as minister of the interior. I was able to give the galley and head as well a the whole boat to leeward a good going over with hot water and the Chinese version of Dettol disinfectant. Just the smell alone made things a little more bearable and hopefully having a clean boat will pay dividends down the road if we can keep the germs at bay.
The whole forward part of the boat, where we don’t really hang out that much is experiencing major condensation. It’s caused by the temperature difference between the cold water rushing by the outside of the hull and the warmer air inside the boat. When we dive south after the next ice gates this will start to become even more of a problem in the rest of the boat. Something to look forward to. Not.
The fleet is clearly split with Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) and Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) both down at 45 degrees south, while Ericsson 3 is at 43S and Ericsson 4 and PUMA at 42S.
Green Dragon and Telefónica Blue are both in a position with big breeze and the right angles to cash in and regain some of the massive losses they have suffered to the leading trio.
Bekking says there is a long way yet to go and, because his team is in different breeze from the leaders, they have a different set of options open to them as they approach the second ice gate. “We will see what we can do with those,” he says.
Earlier Telefónica Blue had a near miss with a whale just at sunrise and within a minute of the crew hoisting their large A3 spinnaker. They had already trapped a fish in their paddle wheel, which measures the boat’s speed through the water.
“Just like when we were racing through logs and other debris coming into the Malacca Straits on leg three, we are all very relieved that all these obstacles disappear at night time…” said navigator Tom Addis.
Moral onboard has improved and, despite the grey skies and occasional rain, the weather is not too cold. “It isn’t too wet, and the miles are falling away,” says Simon Fisher. “Cape Horn now does not seem quite so distant and we have the bit between our teeth once more.”
Leg Five Day 24: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) DTF 5,227 nm
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +208
PUMA USA (Ken Read/USA) +222
Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +346
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +499
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS