Ericsson 4 Leaves Doldrums

As Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) is finally set free from the Doldrums, on leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race, the back-markers are still fighting rainsqualls and wind-sucking black clouds, but there is renewed hope and energy for the crews as the end of the Doldrums is in sight and the race for the other podium places heats up. Onboard PUMA (Ken Read/USA), the crew helplessly watched Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander/SWE) sail away. The situation was made worse when the crew of Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) saw PUMA ahead of them become engulfed in a rain cloud, like a fly in a spider’s web that stopped the cat dead in her tracks. Green Dragon managed just to skirt the cloud by 100 metres and gained approximately 15 nm in two hours.

Again in the Doldrums

The breeze went from the south right to the north then to the west and finally back in the southeast, with not a lot of pressure, around 4-5 knots of breeze. The advantage belonged to Ericsson 4, who had made a massive gain thanks to a well-positioned rain shower. She disappeared early in the morning, and when she emerged, she had made a gain of around 45 nautical miles. With Ericsson 4 long gone, Ericsson 3 reports being at almost a standstill. On the outer flanks of the group are the two Telefónica boats 68 nm to the west of PUMA, and Kosatka Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) 60 nm east of Green Dragon.

Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 821 nm
Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +48
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +58
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +60
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +64
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +75
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +114
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +122

Vendee Globe

Gitana Eighty has lost 11.4 miles to Seb Josse (BT), 17 miles behind he was still making two knots faster as the 1000hrs GMT poll arrived and speeds of those chasing and to his east have so far remained stable. To the west Mike Golding has just experienced a spell of lighter winds and hard work to keep the speeds up. Some skippers admit that they prefer to be a bit further back, although not too far, of course, in order to observe before making their move. The weather situation in the southern Atlantic,is complicated and confused. At the end of November, the zone of high pressure has settled in for the duration and is likely to force the leaders to adopt a route taking them away from the shortest course.

Positions on Tuesday 25th November
1. Gitana Eighty (Loick Peyron) 20,263 DTF
2. BT (Sebastien Josse) 13 miles from the leader
3. Brit Air (Armel Le Cleac'h) 43.7 miles
4. Paprec Virbac (Jean-Pierre Dick) 45.7 miles
5. PRB (Vincent Riou) 52.1 miles

Good Conditions

At the end of what has surely been one of the toughest-ever legs of the Volvo Ocean Race or even The Whitbread as it used to be known, the eight-strong fleet has finally pointed their bows north, away from the wet and wild winds of the Southern Ocean. At least for a short while anyway.

The wind has decreased some and the sea state is very pleasant. It’s almost flat water and instead of rocking, shaking and getting airborn downwind we are heeling 15 degrees on a steady reach. As the fleet compresses, once again, many boats are in sight of each other.

But just when everything seemed to be going right for Bouwe Bekking and his men on Telefónica Blue, it all went wrong again. The boat was loving the conditions, the crew were pushing hard, and slowly, but surely, climbing back up the leaderboard, when the crew heard a big bang, and everything changed, as snapped one of the daggerboards, the boards which prevent the boat from slipping sideways. The team is underway again, but sailing much slower than they would like. The jury is clearly out on Green Dragon as to whether the crew should attempt to repair their broken boom or not. Skipper Ian Walker says the boat is still going well with no boom.

Positions:

Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) DTF 1885 nm
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +7
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +34
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +43
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +53
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +98
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +135
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +154

"No broach, please God, no broach"

It is one wipeout after another as the Volvo fleet endures yet more heinous conditions as it races towards the scoring gate on leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race to Cochin in India. PUMA (Ken Read/USA) has crashed off another wave, but, this time, the damage is rather more serious.

The crew of PUMA Ocean Racing make repairs to their boat after sustaining serious structural damage in rough seas, for the second time in 24 hours.

Previously, they crashed off a wave which caused several cracks in the longitudinal frames of the bow section. They bent the bow pulpit and shredded an asymmetric spinnaker in the process. The fix took seven hours but cost PUMA Ocean Racing little in time to their rivals at the head of the fleet.

Volvo Fleet in Trouble

The past 24-hours have been the most testing in the Volvo Ocean Race so far, as the fleet battled high winds and a confused sea on leg two to Cochin in India. The worst effected was the Green Dragon team (Ian Walker/GBR), who broke their boom shortly before 1100 GMT this morning. This came after they survived a spectacular Chinese gybe yesterday. PUMA, Ken Read’s red and black boat, has been another casualty. He says wryly that last night would have been great if you were a sailmaker or a boatbuilder looking for work. After blowing their asymmetric spinnaker into pieces, an hour later the boat took off. Seven hours later, and the bow has been repaired onboard, and the spinnaker has been patched back together. Onboard Team Russia, the crew suffered their first ‘real, heavy, full-on massive flat-out broach’. “The boat slowed down almost to a standstill, up to the mast in solid green water.

Positions
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 3513 nm
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +0
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +15
Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +20
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +28
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +41
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +80
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +86

Volvo Leg 2 Started

Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008/09 started Saturday, November 15th. This time the fleet faces 4,450 nautical miles from Cape Town, South Africa, to Cochin, India, the first completely new and unknown leg of the race to be sailed by the eight participating boats. No knowledge of these waters means that the teams will have to rely on statistics instead of experience. Large fishing fleets of small wooden vessels represent as big a hazard here as the ‘liquid Himalayas’ of the traditional southern route. A scoring gate south of Mauritius and along the meridian of 58-degrees east represents a further opportunity to collect points on the leg and keeps the fleet away from known areas of piracy.

PUMA (Ken Read/USA) scorched off the start line, leading the fleet from Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA). With her huge red masthead gennaker set and going like a freight train, PUMA blazed the trail, with water pouring over the deck and a small number four jib working as a staysail set underneath the gennaker. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) was in third position, and Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) was up with the pack, while Delta Lloyd with new skipper, Roberto Bermudez/ESP made a disappointing start. Unfurling their big headsail first, Green Dragon benefitted from good speed in her position down to leeward of the fleet, while some of the other teams struggled to manage these huge, unwieldy sails.

Torben Grael’s Ericsson 4, flying a more conservative fractional gennaker, was sucked up under Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) in the big chop, whipped up by the wind and the armada of spectator boats. PUMA, however, made the right choice of sail and almost laid the first mark before the crew furled the sail shortly before rounding the first of three marks on the triangular course set in Table Bay. Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander/SWE) mishap when the jib got caught on the radar dome, ripping the sail and detaching the dome from the mast. Overnight the sail has been satisfactorily repaired, but the crew is still trying to come up with a solution to repair the dome.

World Sailor of the Year

ISAF and Rolex are proud to announce that the female and male winners of the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2008 are: Alessandra Sensini (ITA) and Ben Ainslie (GBR).

Ben Ainslie made history once again this evening as the first person ever to have won the Award three times in his career.

"It's so difficult to describe my feelings in this moment," said Sensini upon being named the female ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year. "It's an honour to stand on the same stage as the best sailors in the world and receive this recognition. I remember seeing the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and dreaming of being on the podium with my country's flag. I've now completed 5 Olympics, that's 20 years of adapting to new technologies and changes and to be here now, tonight, is so important and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart."

"Like Alessandra I would like to give a big thank you from my heart to everyone who made this happen," Ainslie said, gesturing to his parents and his sister who joined him at the Award ceremony. When asked what his plans are for the future Ainslie's ambitions were clear: "The next goal for Britain is to try for the America's Cup- we have a great British team. There are a lot of America's Cup heroes in this room and we hope to see you on the water in the near future," he added with a smile.

33rd America's Cup

A large majority of the teams entered in the 33rd America’s Cup today achieved another milestone in the process of getting the event back on the water during a second Competitor Meeting at the Société Nautique de Genève in Switzerland.

Ten of the 12 entered challengers present at the meeting, along with the Defender Alinghi, expressed a unanimous will to work together constructively towards a class rule and regulations that satisfy all entered competitors.

Amongst other topics, it was agreed that:

• The Arbitration Panel be expanded to five members, with the two additional members being appointed by all the entered competitors through a democratic process


• The Race Committee has been agreed by all the entered competitors


• Other America’s Cup Race Officials, the Technical Director and Umpires will be selected following a similar process amongst ISAF officials


• Two pre-regattas will be organised in 2009 before the 33rd America’s Cup in 2010

All participants expressed their satisfaction with the process and their confidence in ongoing plans progressing towards a 33rd America’s Cup. They also urged BMW Oracle Racing once again to drop their lawsuit and enter this process.

The next Competitor Meeting is scheduled for December.

Eight Retired from Vendee

It may have been a tough, physical first night for the 30 skippers who started the Vendée Globe in Les Sables d’Olonne yesterday but a malicious cold front is forecast to hit them during this afternoon and into tonight which will give them a severe test as they try to escape November's grim clutches in the Bay of Biscay.

While Marc Guillemot on Safran has held his lead, his decision to tack to the south while the fleet seeks to maximise their westing gives him the edge, but the leading boats show very little speed difference. Mike Golding’s decision to follow Guillemot with two tacks last night seems to have paid off, the British skipper on Ecover has made up ten places from last night’s rankings and is now lying 13th and sitting between Guillemot and the main pack.

The tally of skippers forced to head back to Les Sables d'Olonne since the start has risen to eight following the news that Kito de Pavant's Groupe Bel as well as Yannick Bestaven on Aquarelle.com have both been dismasted. Derek Hatfield on Algimouss Spirit of Canada is returning with electrical problems. Hugo Boss returning after suffering structural damage. Alex Thomson's Hugo Boss has structural damage to the hull of his Open 60 and is returning towards Les Sables d'Olonne. While around 200 nautical miles from Les Sables d'Olonne, Michel Desjoyeaux - the skipper of FONCIA - informed his team that he had decided to turn back to port. A small leak in one of the ballast tanks caused an electrical problem making it impossible to start the engine to recharge his batteries.

Vendee Globe Started

The sixth edition of the Vendée Globe got underway at 13h02 today (Sunday), on a gloomy day of variable south-westerly breezes with confused choppy seas inshore and a heavier swell out at sea. But the overcast conditions couldn’t dampen the atmosphere, with hundreds of thousands of spectators lining the sea walls and clambering onto precarious vantage points to give the 30 skippers the famous Les Sables d’Olonne send-off. After emotional farewells on the pontoons, the sailors were treated to a crescendo of applause, cheering, horn-blaring and flag-waving from the crowds as they made their way out to sea.

It’s been a tough first night in the sixth Vendée Globe, with the fleet facing headwinds of 20-30 knots and 4-6 metre seas, and two boats already returning to port — Dominque Wavre on Temenos returned soon after the start with electrical problems, but was able to fix them and rejoin the race shortly after 11pm, whilst Bernard Stamm has also been forced to turn back after a collision with a fishing boat damaged his bowsprit.

This morning’s position update shows Marc Guillemot (Safran) still the leader. Most of the fleet are heading directly west as fast as possible, except three — leader Guillemot, and British contenders Mike Golding (Ecover) and Sam Davies (Roxy), who have each put in two tacks to stay on a more direct south-westerly course.

Joyon Breaks Record

Francis Joyon sailed the maxi trimaran IDEC across the finishing line off San Salvador at 02:06 UTC on Friday to break the solo Discovery Route record by 15 hours and 15 minutes, subject to ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council.

Francis Joyon (FRA) had left Cadiz, Spain at 05:30:57 seconds UTC on Tuesday 28 October, before crossing the finishing line in San Salvador, the Bahamas to complete the 3,885nm Discovery Route, named after the historical track taken by Christopher Columbus, at an average speed of 16.4 knots. With a running time of 9 days, 20 hours and 35 minutes, he betters the current record, set by Thomas Coville (FRA) onboard the 60-foot trimaran Sodebo in 2005 at 10 days, 11 hours, 50 minutes and 46 seconds, by 15 hours and 15 minutes.

It is another record in an incredible year for Joyon, who smashed the singlehanded round the world record in January, a feat which has seen him nominated for the 2008 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards. The male and female winners of the 2008 Award will be announced in Madrid, Spain next Tuesday 11 November.

As when Coville set his record, it was night and following a relatively easy circumvention of San Salvador that Joyon crossed the finish line of the Discovery Route. A small boat was waiting in the Caribbean, with Clifford Fernandes, a delegate from the World Speed Sailing Record Council onboard, firing the gun to signal the completed passage of the giant multihull.

Joyon and IDEC got off to a flying start on their record attempt, passing through the Canary Islands little over 24 hours after starting the record attempt in Cadiz. However from that point on the route proved much more complex, with the French skipper having to take a very northerly course. In the end, he actually covered a distance of 4,304 nautical miles, at an average speed of 17.7 knots.

Vendee Globe All Ready

Everything is ready for the Vendee Globe that starts this Sunday. Mike Golding is the only skipper of the magnificent seven to have finished twice, third in 2005.Alex Thomson started in 2004 and had to retire. Of the seven boats, no fewer than five of the 18 new builds are new for this Vendée Globe cycle: ECOVER 3, AVIVA, Artemis, Bahrain Team Pindar, and Hugo Boss, not including the British owned BT.

Volvo Fleet Finished

Ireland’s Ger O’Rourke’s last minute Irish/Dutch entry, Team Delta Lloyd safely crossed the finish in Cape Town to night at 2303 GMT (0103 local time), to finish the leg in seventh position. Although they have been at sea for just 23 days, 10 hours, 09 minutes and 22 seconds (23.10:09:22), it must surely have felt like a lifetime, given the amount the crew had to learn about the boat and about themselves in such a short time. Team Delta Lloyd now ties with Team Russia, four points all, but the tie is broken in favour of Delta Lloyd who has more consistently higher results across the in-port race and the first leg.

Leg One Finishing Order into Cape Town
1. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA)
2. PUMA USA (Ken Read/USA)
3. Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE)
4. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR)
5. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED)
6. Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT)
7. Delta Lloyd IRL (Ger O’Rourke/IRL)

Overall Leaderboard (Provisional)
1. Ericsson 4: 14 points (FINISHED)
2. PUMA: 13 points (FINISHED)
3. Green Dragon: 11 points (FINISHED)
4. Telefónica Blue: 10 points (FINISHED)
5. Telefónica Black: 6 points (RACING)
6. Ericsson 3: 5 points (FINISHED)*
7. Delta Lloyd: 4 points (FINISHED)
8. Team Russia: 4 points (FINISHED)

Ericsson 4 Wins Leg 1

It’s a win for Torben Grael/BRA and his international crew from Ericsson 4 as they crossed the finish line at 0554 GMT (0754 local time) as dawn rose in Cape Town today. The team took 21 days, 17 minutes and 54 seconds to complete this, the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started from Alicante (Spain) on 11 October. At 6.500 nm, leg one is the second longest leg of the race.

The leg win is worth 8 points, which, when added to the points already on the board for Ericsson 4 from the Alicante in-port race (2.5) and 3.5 for passing the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha in second place, brings their overall tally to 14 points. Ericsson 4 leads the race overall, just one point ahead of PUMA (Ken Read/USA) provided she finishes in second place.

At 1744 GMT (1944 local time) today, PUMA, skippered by America’s Ken Read, a first-time skipper in this event, crossed the finish line today in Cape Town to take second place in leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race, after 22 days, five hours, 44 minutes and 50 seconds (22:05:44:50).