Volvo Fleet Sailing Hard

It was the night from hell for the Volvo Ocean Race fleet, as the cold front swept over the fleet, and one by one, the eight boats were left with huge seas and vicious squalls.

While Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) rode the front, extended their lead to 76 nm from PUMA (Ken Read/USA) and broke through the magical 600 nautical mile barrier, claiming yet another 24-hour world record, Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) lost a rudder, wiped off their bowsprit and damaged one of their daggerboards, cutting away the spinnaker in the process.

As daylight broke, and the crew were tiring, Green Dragon buried her bow so hard that the A6 spinnaker came back and stove in the pulpit and forward stanchions before ripping to pieces.

Record Break!

At 1310 GMT today, Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) obliterated the 24-hour record run for a monohull when the team recorded a run of 593.23 nautical miles.

The previous record (562.96 nm) was set by ABN AMRO TWO/Sebastian Josse/FRA during leg two of the previous Volvo Ocean Race in 2006. The new mark is subject to ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council.

PUMA (Ken Read/USA), in second place, has covered 561 nm, just short of ABN AMRO TWO¹s record. The new mark translates into an incredible average speed of 24.71 knots in conditions not best suited for a record-setting run.

Skipper Torben Grael and his crew have been pushing the boat hard all night, first eclipsing the previous mark at 0355 GMT. They have been adding to the record since then, although the current 30 knots of wind is likely to ease. This will be the third time that Juan Kouyoumdjian has produced a record-breaking design. The Argentinean was responsible for drawing the lines of the two ABN AMRO boats both of whom held the record in the previous edition of the race, as well as the current Ericsson 4.

For some days now the teams have been anticipating the possibility of a record-breaking run as they ride the current weather system, but concern over damage has led some to back off a little bit.

Last night, Ian Walker/GBR, skipper of third-placed Green Dragon, and a newcomer to this race, wrote: "This is insane. Thirty-five knots of wind, pitch black, 1500 miles from land and we are desperately trying to squeeze more speed from a boat that feels and sounds like it is going to self destruct any second." The boat is currently sailing at around 29 knots. Telefónica Black has ripped two sails. On deck the spray-helmets are out and everybody on deck has their harness clipped on.

Volvo Fleet Ready to Boost

The depression in the South Atlantic has aligned itself perfectly to fire the fleet to Cape Town at record pace. But although the 24-hour record of 562.96 nautical miles currently held by ABN AMRO TWO could be broken, it is a question of which teams can push the hardest, but still keep their boat in one piece. Damage now will be extremely costly as the fleet prepares for big waves and big action. The countdown to the ‘launch’ began over the weekend as the teams readied their boats and steered into the best position to rocket across the South Atlantic. Navigators hoped this south west-south-west course positioned their boats on the launch pad with the best fuel to reach Cape Town. The fuel is, of course, strong, steady winds generated by the pressure gradient between lows moving along the South Atlantic storm track, and the semi-permanent South Atlantic High. Green Dragon, in third place, (Ericsson 4, PUMA Racing Team) is the most southerly yacht in the fleet and skipper Ian Walker says that all the effort his team put into getting south is now wasted.

First Scoring Gate

It has been a hard weekendt. Fighting upwind with a nice uncomfortable wave and some 25 knots of breeze at night after passed the scoring gate of Isla Fernando de Noronha. Ericsson 3 had a hard time. They were fighting in the bottom end of the league and it didn’t feel like the hard work is paying off. Green Dragon on the other hand claimed full points at the scoring gate. Now they are facing over 3000 miles direct line (more like 4200 miles actual sailing to re-cross the Atlantic to Cape Town). It’s been a tricky 36 hours on the Green Dragon as they watched faster boats chip away at their lead and pass to windward. It is easy to lose sight of the fact that it is day 14 and they are still in sight of Puma and Ericsson fighting for the lead. The Irish are punching above their weight and enjoying every second.

The fleet racing in leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race is about to have its first taste of ‘Life at the Extreme’ as the crews prepare to ride a 40 knot westerly gale straight towards Cape Town. Leaders Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) has started to make her turn to the east, followed by the chasing pack of four, PUMA (Ken Read/USA), Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) and Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP). But, while high winds are forecast, the fleet still has to negotiate a light patch of wind, before they can enjoy the sleigh ride east.

Fleet out of Doldrums

One by one, the eight boats racing in leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race popped out the other side of the Doldrums and hooked into the south-easterly trade winds. In a drag race south, the fleet is steadily clicking off the miles towards Fernando de Noronha, around 253 nautical miles ahead of Ian Walker’s Green Dragon and the chance to score more points. Speeds pick up again to around 12 knots. Out to the west, Green Dragon is sailing fast and straight for the islands, reaping the rewards of the westerly position the team opted for, four days ago.

Volvo Updates

There is little wind and the temperature is searing hot in the Doldrums. After a shift to the south east early in the morning all were optimistic that it was the beginning of the end for the doldrums. However, the torture continues as several hours later the crews again doing all they can do to avoid parking up. The boats to the west are slowly gaining though. Things have been going well on E4 for the past day or so. They are in relatively good sailing conditions compared to competitors and are slowly earning back the ground that had sacrificed for a more westerly route several days ago. Meanwhile, there was a sudden huge wind increase and shift for Ericsson 3, that was quickly sailing 90 degrees off course at five times the speed with way too much sail area. Good action for a change compared to the dull last couple of days. But that marked the end of breeze really, so it has been a painful night.

Crew Forced to Evacuate

Ericsson 4, racing in leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race, has dropped off trimmer/helmsman Tony Mutter/NZL in the Cape Verde Islands as the team takes every precaution with his knee that has become infected.

On Thursday, the team medics onboard the race yacht, Phil Jameson and Stu Bannatyne, were called to put their pre-race medical training into use as they drained some fluid from the infected area.

But the injury did not respond to treatment as well as they hoped and the team took the opportunity of their proximity to the Cape Verde Islands to evacuate Mutter off the boat. This was the recommended course of action by the Volvo Ocean Race medical team. The next reasonable opportunity to get him off the boat wouldn¹t come until the rounding of Fernando de Noronha, an Island off the coast of Brazil, some four days away.

This evening, the team made a move off its heading to sail towards Mindelo on the Island of Sao Vicente. Mutter was then transferred to a fishing vessel to be taken ashore for medical supervision.

Skipper Torben Grael/BRA said the decision to ensure proper medical treatment for Mutter was easy. Tony Mutter is understandably very disappointed.

Puma Breaks Away

PUMA (Ken Read) broke away from the rest of the Volvo fleet today and headed for the open ocean. She gybed away from the shore and onto a westerly course at around 1040 GMT and has added over 20 nautical miles to her lead over the last 24 hours. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri) made the move west yesterday and is now 328 nautical miles offshore and the Spanish team’s position is not looking good. The black boat is now 221 nautical miles behind il Mostro, who snatched the lead from Ericsson 3.

Stealth Play!

StealthPlay came into action for the first time on this 6,500 nautical mile leg of the Volvo Ocean Race from Alicante to Cape Town. In the approach to the Canary Islands, Ian Walker/GBR and his crew onboard the Green Dragon played their joker and decided it was time to go into hiding. They will disappear now for 12 hours, reappearing on the 1600 GMT position report this afternoon. Only the Race Office in the UK will know where the boat is, and that is for safety reasons.

At the time that StealthPlay was activated, Green Dragon was only 12 nautical miles from Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander/SWE), the leaders at the time, and set up to the west of the Canary Islands, with Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) just on her starboard hip. Over the past 12 hours, the Canary Islands have caused the fleet to scatter.

Volvo Ocean Race Fleet

Delta Lloyd, currently 6th, strategically positioning themselves on the left of the fleet where they feel they may get to the high wind pressure before the rest of the fleet. They can not wait to get Delta Lloyd up to max speed in the 20 - 30 knots blast reaching.

At last there is wind and the eight-strong fleet racing in leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race from Alicante to Cape Town is beginning to make some nice progress, but it is a fragile lead for Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri) who left the leading bunch and made a bold move to the west. Behind her, the chasing pack of Ericsson 4, the Green Dragon (Ian Walker) and PUMA (Ken Read) are all tightly bunched within a frightening six miles of the leader. Speeds are up to 15 kts as the fleet races downwind along the African coast. In the second group, the threat is from Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking) which is hunting down Delta Lloyd (Ger O’Rourke) and Team Russia. Since leaving the Spanish coast after making a repair, Telefónica Blue has reduced her 12-hour deficit and has closed to within four miles of Team Russia. She is only 58 nm from sistership Telefónica Black, and she could easily make up the distance in barely a few hours.

Volvo Updates

At 10:00 UTC this morning, Ericsson 4 was leading the fleet south, with the gang of four - PUMA, Telefonica Black, Ericsson 3 and Green Dragon on her tail just over ten miles behind. The fleet struggled through the Straits of Gibraltar. It has been as tough as anticipated, with some long, straight and wide passing lanes. Telefonica Blue spent the night in Algeciras, on the western side of the Bay of Gibraltar. The rules require a minimum 12-hour stop, and they didn't need any more time for their shore crew to fix the problem. They re-hoisted the mainsail at about quarter past six (UTC) this morning, and headed out to where they suspended racing, re-starting at 06:53 GMT. But with the rest of the fleet out in the Atlantic with good breeze, Bouwe Bekking is going to see his deficit to the rest of the fleet grow substantially before he gets his machine up to speed.

King Edward VII Gold Cup

In a stunning upset to the three leaders of the World Match Racing Tour, Mattias Rahm (SWE), Johnie Berntsson (SWE) and young Adam Minoprio (NZL) have all advanced to the Semi-Final round of the King Edward VII Gold Cup. World Tour leader and reigning World Champion Ian Williams (GBR) fell prey to Match Cup Sweden winner Rahm in five matches, the longest of any in this round. And two teams of the seemingly invincible French Match Racing Team – Mathieu Richard and Sebastian Col – fell in four matches to Berntsson and Minoprio, respectively. Racing on Sarurday 11 Oct was delayed for an hour awaiting the easterly breeze to fill fully in Hamilton harbour, but once in it developed into a pleasant 8-10 knots, perfect for match race sailing. Shifts and puffs were still determining factors in many matches, however, so like in the three earlier days in this competition the leaders were rarely safe without having substantial margins over their rivals, and the action was often quite close in all four pairs. The upsets continued on Sunday as Johnie Berntsson (SWE) and Adam Minoprio (NZL) advanced to Final round. On yet another spectacular day of match race sailing on Hamilton Harbour, Johnie Berntsson (SWE) has defeated Adam Minoprio (NZL) in a decisive 3-1 Final. In Petite-Final action, Ben Ainslie (GBR) and his Team Origin held off an aggressive Rahm to win the first-to-three point series in three straight matches.

King Edward VII Gold Cup

In conditions which featured blustery north breezes approaching 25 knots in strength, the action was fast and furious in Hamilton Harbour for the first day of Round Robin racing at the King Edward VII Gold Cup. With 24 invited teams divided into three group of eight, this event has the largest field of competitors of any on the 2008 World Match Racing Tour, and after three flights of racing in each group the regular Tour team are emerging towards the top of the standings. Undefeated in his Group 1, Mattias Rahm (SWE) and his Stena Bulk Sailing Team have not appeared in a Tour event since their win at Stage 4, Match Cup Sweden in Marstrand. Current Tour leader Ian Williams (GBR) and his Team Pindar also had an undefeated day, but due to damage sustained on rival Andy Horton’s (USA) boat in Group 2, the pair’s match was postponed for the next day.

With only one match remaining in the Round Robin, Ben Ainslie’s (GBR) Team Origin, Ian Williams’ (GBR) Team Pindar, and Johnie Berntsson’s (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team are the only three teams of 24 which have definitely qualified for the next Quarter-Final stage at the King Edward VII Gold Cup presented by Argo Group. The top two teams from each group move on to the Quarter finals and the third and fourth place finishers in each group sail off in a “Repechage” round robin on Thursday afternoon for their second chance to win one of the last two Quarter final slots. Following the Quarter-finals on Friday, winners move into the Semi-Finals on Saturday and the top two go to the Finals on Sunday. Amongst the leaders, Ainslie’s record remained unblemished at 6-0 despite tough matches against Rahm and Brian Angel (USA). This is Ainslie’s first match racing event since his gold medal winning Olympic campaign, yet he has clearly been on point in Group 1 and sailing in excellent form.

Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12

The next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race has been confirmed for 2011-12. The announcement was made on Saturday at a press conference in Alicante by CEO Knut Frostad and President and CEO of Volvo Group Leif Johannsen. The timing of the official start for the 2011-12 race is scheduled for late summer/autumn 2011. Details of the exact timing and route will be made in 2010. It is the first time in the history of the Volvo Ocean Race that the next iteration of the race has been announced before the start of the current event.

The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 will be the 10th running of this ocean marathon. Starting from Alicante in Spain, on 4 October 2008, it 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, visiting 11 ports over nine months, the Volvo Ocean Race is the world's premier ocean yacht race for professional racing crews.

Telefonica Won In Port Races

The Telefonica team had cause for double celebration in their home port of Alicante. Bouwe Bekking's Telefonica Blue scored two in-port race victories to take the overall points lead while Telefonica Black stands second. After finishing in a lowly sixth place in the opening in-port race in Alicante, Ken Read and his crew on PUMA threw caution to the wind and hoisted their Code Zero in the second contest. The decision paid handsomely.

Volvo In Port Race Starts Today

The talking is almost done for the eight skippers who will lock horns in the in-port race today. All agree that the battle will be intense as the 2008-09 event turns to serious business. The first in-port race series of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 starts in Alicante today. A change of racing format with a tighter course will test the mettle of the crews and possibly even the patience of the umpires. Team Delta Lloyd skipper Ger O'Rourke has confirmed that outside commitments will prevent him from sailing in three of the offshore legs in this year's event.

Volvo Ocean Race

Telefonica Black have struck the first blow in the battle for bragging rights by winning a practice in-port race in Alicante today.

Fernando Echavarri΅―s crew led from the start and eventually completed the four-mile course in 51 minutes and 10 seconds, 56 seconds ahead of second-placed PUMA Ocean Racing.

Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael, were 61 second behind PUMA in third, while Green Dragon crossed the line 13 seconds after Grael.

Telefonica Blue finished fifth after spending 53 minutes and 27 seconds on the course, but Ericsson 3, the young Nordic crew led by Andres Lewander, could only manage sixth having held second going into the final downwind sprint.

Team Russia crossed after 55 minutes and 35 seconds ¨C 25 seconds behind Ericsson 3 ¨C while Team Delta Lloyd opted to continue their own individual preparations rather than taking part.

ETNZ in TP52 MedCup

Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker, Emirates President Group Services Gary Chapman and ETNZ managing director Grant Dalton announce the team's 2009 TP52 project. Emirates, the Dubai-based global airline, on Wednesday confirmed its continued support for New Zealand and the sport of sailing by renewing its successful partnership with Emirates Team New Zealand. The airline committed to backing Emirates Team New Zealand on the Mediterranean TP52 regatta circuit next year. The team has started building a TP52 yacht in Auckland. It will be launched on February 17 and shipped to Europe in mid-March. It will compete under the Emirates banner, with the award-winning airline and Matteo de Nora, a strategic adviser to the team, funding the project.

Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker said the Grand Prix TP52 circuit is one of the most competitive in the world. An entry on the circuit is the next logical step in the preparation for a next multi-challenge America's Cup. The ETNZ TP52 was designed by the team's principal designer Marcelino Botin and structural and mechanical engineers. Sail and rig designers have also been involved. Members of the sailing team have designed the deck layout and internal systems. Building started at Cookson Boats on the North Shore on 15th September. It will be launched on 17th February next year. Sea trials and testing will follow and the yacht will be shipped to Europe in mid-March 2009.

Volvo Ocean -Virtual- Race

Everybody now has the chance to test their skills against the best offshore sailors in the world with the launch of Virtual Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 – the race’s official game. The virtual race will mirror the 37,000 nautical miles of the world’s premier ocean race and there’s a Volvo C30 up for grabs for the winner along with a number of other prizes. Virtual racers will compete in real time and real weather conditions on the same race track against the Volvo fleet. They get to use the weather data available to choose their headings and sail plan. The game is free to play but players can also purchase additional information with a share of the proceeds going to The Save the Albatross Campaign. The game has been designed to be as close as possible to the real thing.