VOR Heading to Fiji

The Volvo fleet is rumbling down the track towards Fiji, which is not a mark of the course or a scoring gate, but it is a significant milestone mentally for the five crews racing in this 12,300 nm leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, the longest in the 36-year history of the event. After passing Fiji, there is still approximately 1000 nm to run to the first of two gates, where the first points will be scored. The western-most boat in the fleet, fourth-placed Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED), is having to sail at the tightest angle since the start of the leg and the yacht feels more constrained than before. Competition is very close. PUMA (Ken Read/USA) and Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) are just 23 and 24 nm from Ericsson 4 and both Telefónica Blue and Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) are making some fast runs. Everything is still open for the first scoring gate at 36 degrees south. Now the thinking is that the teams are out of the worst of the ‘squall zone’, and the sailing is starting to settle down.

Squalls Bring Gains &Losses

All five boats racing down the South Pacific Ocean in leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race are engaged in a battle with nature. The doldrums and the associated clouds and squalls are causing big gains and huge losses across the fleet as the boats get pushed further away from their optimum courses by the unstable weather. With clouds, come big gains and losses. Two days ago, Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) sailed into PUMA’s world and has been their constant companion ever since.

Making the most of the conditions and very much back in the game is Ian Walker’s Green Dragon. The team is 86 nm to the east of Ericsson 4’s track and averaging a steady 13.5 knots. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) is in fourth place, but closing quickly and averaging 10 knots of boatspeed. Bekking is still playing it conservatively, following the pack and not making any radical decisions. Their track takes them 84 nm west of the tracks of PUMA and Ericsson 3.

1-Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael)
2-Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson)
3-PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read)
4-Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking)
5-Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker)

Qingdao to Rio Day 10

It’s day 10 of the 12,300 nm leg of the Volvo Ocean Race from Qingdao to Rio, and Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) has fought off her opponents and still leads the race south as the team crossed into the southern hemisphere. However, there has been plenty of excitement on the race track and also some narrow escapes with wildlife in the last 24 hours. Controlling the pack, Ericsson 4’s crew are describing the sailing conditions as glorious. The crew of third placed Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) is fully back in the game.

Ian Walker/GBR and his Green Dragons are reaping the reward of their easterly course as they reel in the leaders, gaining 147 nm from 1300 on Saturday to 1300 GMT today. The team is still well over 100 nm to the east of where the leaders passed and this could mean big gains or huge losses if things go against the team. They have overtaken Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) who is sailing in the wake of the leading trio, but not without a very close incident with a huge whale first thing this morning. As the fleet races on through the endless atolls and islands, the crew of Telefónica Blue was rather shocked to receive a message on their navigational warning system, which indicated volcanic activity very close to a position the team crossed two days ago.

Boissieres Finished

At 14h35'50" GMT Sunday 22nd February Arnaud Boissieres, the skipper of Akena Verandas, crossed the finish line of the 2008-2009 Vendee Globe in seventh place after 105 days 02 hours 33 minutes and 50 seconds of racing averaging 11.04 knots on the water covering 27,841 miles. He sailed the 24,840 theoretical miles at an average speed of 9.85 knots.

Hard Night For Green Dragon

Saturday 21 February has been a difficult night aboard the Green Dragon, but Ian Walker and his men feel they may soon start to reap the benefits of their easterly positioning. Gaps are apparent at the front and the rear of the field as boats find themselves in different weather patterns on the approach to The Doldrums. Meanwhile, Green Dragon's Damian Foxall is
honoured by his countrymen. The front-runners, Ericsson 4 and PUMA, are midway between the Islands of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands situated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International dateline and still north of the equator. With 2,500 miles of this 12,300 marathon covered, Ericsson 4 has stretched its advantage over PUMA to 50 miles, a loss for PUMA of over 40 miles in the last 24 hours. Ericsson 3 has also lost ground and now has a deficit of 101 miles.

Volvo Update

It is still a hot port-gybe reach for the five boats engaged in the charge south during leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race. The fleet is currently 1200 nm north of New Ireland in the Solomon Islands, the area where the doldrums are lurking and light and shifty breeze await.

Top boat is Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA), with PUMA (Ken Read/USA) positioned neatly on her starboard hip, 45 nm to the northwest, but only 10 nm astern. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) has chosen the middle road, while Ian Walker still has Green Dragon in the east, 156 nm further east than PUMA. Bringing up the rear is Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED), who is ploughs a lonely furrow almost exactly the wake of Ericsson 3, but 267 nm behind Ericsson 4.

Reaching, although rather monotonous, does have its advantages. There are no sails or gear to stack when the boat tacks, and it looks as if this will be the case for at least another week.

Marc Guillemot Took 3rd Place

Marc Guillemot (Safran) crossed the Les Sables d'Olonne finish line at 01h21min36sec GMT on Sunday to clinch a hard won third place in this epic sixth edition of the Vendee Globe solo non stop around the world race.

Guillemot managed to wrest third from Sam Davies, GBR, (Roxy) by a net 1 hour and 19 minutes and 25 seconds. Guillemot received a time compensation of 82 hours for diverting from his course to assist in the evacuation of injured Yann Elies 800 miles south of Australia in the Southern Ocean.

Samantha Davies, GBR, (Roxy) crossed the finishing line at 00hrs 41mins 01 secs as the third competitor to complete this epic sixth edition of the Vendée Globe solo non stop around the world race and return to Les Sables d'Olonne. Ironically Davies had to wait two days and two hours (50 hours) to see whether she hang on to third place in this sixth Vendée Globe as the final result depended on Marc Guillemot's finishing time.

British yachtswoman Dee Caffari, 36, onboard Aviva celebrates as she sets a new world record as the first woman to have successfully completed a solo, non-stop circumnavigation both ways around the world. She managed to complete the voyage even after sail delamination caused two huge holes in her main sail. The jubilant solo skipper and former PE teacher crossed the Vendee Globe finish line after 98 days at sea. She has been sponsored by the world's fifth largest insurance group Aviva since her first world record voyage in 2005/06. She started her current race, the Vendee Globe on 9 November 2008 from Les Sables d'Olonne, France.

ETNZ Winner of Pacific Series

The Race Committee delayed the next start while it waited for conditions to moderate. However, three hours later with the wind gusting over 30 knots, it abandoned racing for the day and said it would shorten the best-of-seven final to a best-of-five. Racing resumed the next day.

Alinghi, Defender of the 33rd America's Cup, congratulated Emirates Team New Zealand on winning the inaugural Louis Vuitton Pacific Series Cup in Auckland, New Zealand.

Alinghi won the first match of the best of five series, but ETNZ took the next three to claim the LVPS Cup. Next for these 33rd America's Cup teams are the pre-regattas scheduled for July and October this year, followed by the Spanish Challenger of Record's annual regatta in November.

Volvo Leg 5

Ericsson 3 skippered by Magnus Olsson finished Leg 4 on start Day for Leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Qingdao, China, to Rio De Janeiro. They arrived in Qingdao at 10:01 GMT or 18:01 local time. At 19:50 local time, (11:50 GMT) Ericsson 3 crossed the start line of leg five, nearly seven hours after PUMA, Ericsson 4, and Green Dragon. It will be another 12,300 nautical miles for this crew until they can relax.

In a dramatic opening to leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race, minutes before the start gun fired, Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) dropped her sails and returned to port, leaving a fleet reduced to three boats to contest the start in Qingdao. Minutes before the five-minute warning signal, the crew of Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED), currently second in the overall standings and winner of the last two offshore legs, dropped their mainsail and skipper Bouwe Bekking turned his boat back towards Qingdao. He had informed the Race Committee that his team were suspending racing, which under the rules, must be for a minimum of two hours.

The boat was immediately hauled out of the water assess the damage caused when the boat went aground briefly, at a speed of six or seven knots. A crewman immediately went into the water, but was unable see clearly the extent of the problem and Bekking made the decision to suspend racing. The boat could possibly need a full structural check, something which could take up to 24 hours.

At first mark, PUMA had gained control and, with a man at the top of the mast searching for wind, rounded 53 seconds ahead of Green Dragon. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA), sailing with the same crew that started the race in Alicante, was in third place, seven seconds behind. The team resumed racing last night, 19 hours behind the fleet. At 1300 today, they were 202 nm in arrears, amounting to approximately nine hours in the current conditions.

Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) was first over the line in a slow-motion start in-front of her home town crowd, only to relinquish to the lead to PUMA (Ken Read/USA) as the reduced fleet began their epic journey of 12,300 nautical miles around the infamous Cape Horn and into Rio de Janeiro in Brasil.

Ericsson 3 Back On Course

It’s been a race against odds for the past two weeks to get Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) repaired, back in the water and to Qingdao in time for the start of leg five. The team restarted leg four on 11 February at 2344 GMT from position 25 51.94N 121 52.97E. The boat will cross the line in Qingdao, repack the boat and then restart leg five as soon as possible.

Alinghi Passes to Final Stage

Alinghi, Defender of the 33rd America's Cup, competing in Auckland, New Zealand this month in the inaugural Louis Vuitton Pacific Series has raced its way into the Finals beating rivals BMW Oracle Racing 2-0 in a best of three competition. The Swiss team now passes into the final stage against Emirates Team New Zealand for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series Cup which begins on Friday and wraps up on Saturday. In the LVPS Finals draw this evening, Alinghi drew NZL92 as their race yacht for the rest of the series while ETNZ will race NZL84. Emirates Team New Zealand drew the preferred starboard entry for tomorrow's first race.

In Port Race

Even in the light and shifty breeze off Qingdao in China today, it was all on for the four Volvo Open 70s as they raced in the third of the in-port race series of the Volvo Ocean Race. Monday’s (9 Feb) racing was an exciting blend of lead changes and close match racing, with Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) finally topping the leaderboard after two races.

After a two-day delay due to lack of wind and poor visibility, race one finally got underway after a short postponement. It was Telefónica Blue (Iker Martinez/ESP/Bouwe Bekking/NED) and Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR), both flying jibs, who crossed the start line first with PUMA (Ken Read/USA) and Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) setting code zero sails, crossing on port tack - a move that ultimately paid off for Torben Grael, who was the ultimate victor in this race.

At the first mid-course gate, Ericsson 4 had the advantage over Telefónica Blue who, on port tack, had to cross astern of Ericsson 4. PUMA struggled with speed with the code zero and never really recovered from their second row start. At the first windward mark, it was Ericsson 4 from Telefónica Blue, Green Dragon and PUMA.

At the second gate Green Dragon changed everything as they challenged Ericsson 4 from their central position in the course, reducing the deficit to just one boat length in the shifting light breeze.

At the second windward mark, Green Dragon had gone from a very solid third place to the lead, but immediately after the mark rounding, Ericsson 4 rolled over the top of them and regained the lead.

The race split into two separate match races in the final run to the finish. Ericsson 4 versus Green Dragon for first and second place and, a long way back, PUMA versus Telefónica Blue.

At the final mid-leg gate, Green Dragon held the lead in a slow, but thrilling climax to this in-port race which was in the hands of two of the world’s best match racers, Torben Grael and Ian Walker.

As the wind dropped in the final approach to the mark, Green Dragon gybed, dropped her spinnaker and hoisted a code zero sail, but it was Ericsson 4 who crossed the finish first, 37 seconds ahead.

In third place, PUMA finished 11 seconds ahead of Telefónica Blue, a disappointing position for Bouwe Bekking.

It was all change for race two, where speed off the start line was key on a course that was much shorter than that of race one. Ericsson 4 pushed PUMA over the line at the start, but it was a great start for Telefónica Blue, and a port tack start for Green Dragon was just what Ian Walker wanted. Ericsson 4 came off the line with better pace than Telefónica Blue who had the stronger position.

However, at the windward mark, it was all change again as Telefónica Blue had the advantage and rounded first, followed by Green Dragon, with Ericsson 4 putting the pressure on, and PUMA trailing.

On the second beat, Telefónica Blue had nearly a half leg advantage, and after a fourth place in race one, it was critical that Telefónica Blue could finish race two within the time 90-minute time limit in order for her score to count.

On the final beat, Telefónica Blue held on to her lead to win the race comfortably.

Ericsson 4 eventually took second place, which was good enough for a win overall in today’s series, PUMA moved up to third and it was disappointment for Green Dragon who finished fourth after such a good result in the first race. A tiebreak between Green Dragon and PUMA favoured PUMA as the rules required the results from the second race to be used in this situation.

The next race in the in-port series will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 4 April after the finish of leg five (12,300 nautical miles), which starts next Saturday, 14 February.

Vendee Globe

Marc Guillemot announced this morning that there was some serious damage to Safran, concerning her keel after he noticed that it was loose in its box and had slid down a few centimetres.

Late this morning, Marc Guillemot called his shore team to inform that he had lost the keel.

Marc Guillemot has filled the ballast tanks on his monohull to lower at the most the centre of gravity and is sailing under small jib with three reefs in the mainsail.

The boat is now configured to sail without a keel and is continuing to Les Sables d’Olonne at reduced speed. By the end of the week, the weather should improve with essentially downwind sailing.

3rd Victory for Greeks

It was three out of three for Greek Challenge on Monday and a fantastic end to their participation in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series. The America’s Cup newcomers from Greece met the South African team for the third time, and were victorious in the sail-off for 8 challenger spot in this prestigious event.

Similar to the other two races, the prestart was aggressive but again Brady got the upper hand, crossing the line with great style in what was described as one of the most convincing starts of the regatta. The Greek stretched out a lead in the first beat, at times leaving Shosholoza 120 meters behind.

The crew carried out an excellent spinnaker hoist after the mark and soon Brady put a lid on Cian’s ambitions in the run, rounding the leeward gate comfortably ahead.

Trying to play it safe, the Greeks sailed conservatively in the 2nd beat, giving Cian the opportunity to momentarily come back. Shosholoza then tried to get the umpires in the game by forcing a possible port-starboard incident at the second weather mark but didn’t succeed. The Greek boat was on the left layline powering on towards the mark while Shosholoza was slowing down on the right one. The two boats were on collision course but Brady had more than enough space to safely round the buoy ahead of the South African team.

Greek Challenge didn’t give their opponent any breathing space in the last run, making sure they matched them gybe for gybe. A good tactical call on the last stretch allowed the Greek boat to take advantage of a puff of wind on the right side of the course and gain an additional couple of boat lengths, crossing the finish line half a minute ahead of Shosholoza.

The Greek team leaves Auckland on a very positive note. The sailing team was formed a mere month ago, trained only one week in Valencia onboard the K-Challenge boats and then another few days in Auckland, prior to the start of official racing. The goal of sailing competitively has been achieved by the Greek team and the 3 wins are the icing on the cake. The foundations have been laid for more success in the future.

Brit Air Finished 2nd

Continuing rough conditions across the Bay of Biscay have made this a long and stressful final week at sea for Armel Le Cleac'h on Brit Air. With winds averaging 35 knots (gusting to 45 in squalls) and 5 to 6 metre high waves on the beam, Armel le Cleac'h has chosen to sail cautiously towards the French coast, and the finish. Battling it out for third place on the water, Sam Davies, GBR (Roxy) and Marc Guillemot are also looking forward to finishing. For the moment, the advantage seems to be tipping back in favour of the French skipper, who has managed to get around the Azores high via the west. Sailing downwind in a 25-knot southwesterly wind, the VPLP-Verdier designed Safran was sailing at 15 knots boat speed, while Roxy was still tacking upwind close to the high-pressure area in fading winds.

After the cool, calm delivery of Michel Desjoyeaux just over five and a half days ago to win his second Vendée Globe, Les Sables d’Olonne welcomed the rookie with a bite, Armel Le Cléac’h, who brought Brit Air across the finish line at 08:41 hrs GMT Saturday February 7 morning under perfect blue winter skies and a watery sunshine, to finish in a well deserved and highly creditable second place. A skipper just 31 years old, whose patience and prudence masks an innate predatory instinct and timing, which has seen him regularly succeed as runner up after other favourites have fallen, but he still admitted today that his mother worried if he had been eating enough.

LVPS Round Robin2

Racing in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series took on fresh intensity today as a newcomer team from Italy defeated hosts Emirates Team New Zealand and champion Swiss team Alinghi snatched a last minute victory from Britain's TEAMORIGIN.

The biggest upset of the day came as the newcomer, Damiani Italia Challenge, steered by Francesco Bruni convincingly put away undefeated Emirates Team New Zealand in the best tacking duel seen in this series after winning the start.

The ten international teams were racing in the first of five day's competition in the second round of the match race regatta on Auckland Harbour. After a long wait for a northerly breeze to fill in they raced in conditions that ranged from ten knots for the first of five races to 18 knots by the end of the day.

China skipper Ian Williams narrowly held off Shosholoza's Paolo Cian until the start of the second run when the South African boat had gennaker problems that saw them trawling the big chute like a giant drogue.

There were two other races. Cup champion Russell Coutts dished out a master class on starting technique in his matchup with Italy's Luna Rossa sailed by Peter Holmberg. The Americans won by 58 seconds.

There was a closer race between Gavin Brady steering the Greek Challenge and the French boat Pataugas K-Challenge with Sebastian Col at the helm. The French prevailed all around the course.

Greek Helmsman on AC Boat

After Saturday’s first ever victory, Greek Challenge wrote another page in the history of Greek sailing. For the first time ever, a Greek sailor took the helm of an America’s Cup yacht during a world-class event. Theodoros Tsoulfas, prominent offshore Greek sailor, helmed the Greek Challenge yacht in the team’s last race of Louis Vuitton Pacific Series Round Robin 1, against Team Origin from the UK.

Gavin Brady, the New Zealander that steered the yacht so far in the Series, switched positions with Tsoulfas on Tuesday and called tactics in what turned out to be a very tricky and shifty day. In addition, 11 out of the 17 crew were Greeks, marking another first. Never before in the Series, Greek sailors were the majority onboard.

The race was closer and tighter than what one would have expected, especially against an outstanding helmsman of the caliber of Ben Ainslie, 3-time gold Olympic medalist. Greek Challenge crossed the starting line on the right and Origin on the left, slightly ahead. During the first beat, the Greeks managed to stay on Origin’s trail, rounding the first weather mark a mere 14 seconds behind the British yacht. Despite being a novice, Tsoulfas was able to stay close and round the leeward gate 17 seconds behind Ben Ainslie. In the second half of the race, Greek Challenge slipped back and crossed the finish line 58 seconds behind the British yacht.

Greek Challenge finishes Round Robin 1 with 1 win and 3 losses. Due to the penalty received in the race against Alinghi, Greek Challenge has no points and will now compete in the Silver Fleet, together with China Team, Shosholoza and Pataugas K-Challenge. There will be no racing on Wednesday and the Greek team will come back on the water of Waitemata harbor on Thursday, facing Pataugas K-Challenge.

Jourdain Quits

After 84 days of racing, in second place since December 16th , Roland Jourdain took the hard decision this morning to bring his Vendee Globe to an end and stop at the Azores. After losing part of his keel last Thursday, the skipper of Veolia Environnement has done all he can to ensure the stability of his boat and his own safety in some very difficult sea conditions.

Michel Desjoyeaux Wins

Sailing a course distance of 28303 miles, averaging 14.02 knots, French solo skipper Michel Desjoyeaux has shattered the Vendee Globe solo round the world race record today on his way to becoming the first solo skipper ever to win the solo non stop around the world race twice.

After winning the race in 2000-01 on PRB, eclipsing the young emerging British skipper Ellen MacArthur by 1 day 28 minutes, Desjoyeaux joined the 30 strong field for this race, the biggest entry ever round the world race in sailing history, as one of the clear favourites.

Desjoyeaux crossed the finish on Sunday 1st February at 15:11.08 GMT , after 84 days 03 hours 09 minutes of racing. Foncia completed the race in twenty knots of breeze under sunny skies, greeted by a massive armada of spectator boats before being warmly welcomed by huge crowds who gathered along the waterfront and harbour area of Les Sables d'Olonne, where the race departed at 1202 GMT November 9th 2008.

The gruelling race has taken a high toll of the 30 skippers who started the non stop solo round the world race. As Desjoyeaux finished this afternoon, nine are climbing northwards in the Atlantic ocean while some 7,700 miles behind two are expected to pass Cape Horn and leave the Pacific tomorrow. Eighteen skippers have been forced to abandon. In early December Yann Elis had to be evacuated off his Generali when he sustained a broken femur while working on the bow of his boat, and Jean Le Cam was rescued when he capsized off Cape Horn by Vincent Riou, the 2004-5 winner of the race.

AC33 Rule Boat

The AC33 has been designed through consultation between the Defender, the Challenger of Record and the 17 other entered teams. Designers and team managers from the 19 America’s Cup syndicates met regularly in Geneva, Switzerland, and Valencia, Spain, since the design process began in early November 2008.

This group agreed to develop a boat similar in cost to the America’s Cup Class Version 5.0 boat, but with a more exciting performance. The AC33 Rule evolved to a race yacht of 26m maximum length overall, with 5m of draft and a displacement of 17.5tonnes.

The sail plan area is greater than with the ACC Version 5.0 but without overlapping headsails, and as with the AC90 Rule contemplated in 2007, the boat has a bowsprit and the spinnaker area is limited only by sheeting constraints, not by measurement of dimensions. Given the lighter displacement, the AC33 will be more demanding to sail upwind, and will provide sparkling performance on the runs. Maximum beam is 4.8m, which will seem wide to people used to the appearance of the Version 5.0 yachts, where the last generation of yachts had a beam not much more than 3m in many cases.