Onboard Blog: Team Russia's Race Qualifier

Day 5: Skipper Andreas Hanakamp - Dodging a Low

It was a fantastic ride all the way from the Shetlands to the Irish Sea. In beam reaching conditions "Kosatka" excelled and even though we ran north of Ireland in lighter winds and a nasty swell from several directions, we clocked an easy 420 mile day.

Constantly we have been monitoring a low pressure system that rolled in from the Atlantic Ocean, setting ourselves up to round it's center in the west and ride the back down cross the Irish Sea towards the Scillies. Once again the boat is shaking all over when sitting in the mid twenties and clocking higher top speeds. Impressive waves have built up in the 45 knots of breeze further to the west.

On board all ok, everybody is enjoying the ride and we run a queue for the helm. Even in these conditions, the boat is easy to control, accelerates instantly and shakes off water; the bow digs up without losing speed. We are very pleased so far with the design the Humphreys office came up with. One thing to improve before the start of the race in October is to reduce water ingress. As water is rushing over the boat at firehose speed, every opportunity to get inside is found, making the inside a wet cave.

Day 3: Skipper Andreas Hanakamp - It's never quick enough

We soon found the south easterlies that accelerated Kosatka towards the north. While it was still Code 0 as they were very light, we were soon going through Code 3 and A2. For a night and half a day the huge 500sqm sail pulled us towards the Shetlands, the halfway and rounding mark for our qualifier sail. It was VO70 sailing at its best; flat water, 15 knots of breeze and the same in boat speed. In the background, the hiss of the water rushing past the hull, a light spray being evaporated by the unique Humphreys rails at the bow and a broad flat wake past the stern.

We rounded Shetland today at 14:30 in sunshine, blue sky and 12kts of breeze. Only a little sad that we are rushing past islands that look very inviting and which I wanted to visit for a long time. But these thoughts easily disappear considering what lies ahead and the amazing project I am involved in. The Shetland Islands will certainly wait for the time the Volvo is over.

Routine has set in on our third day at sea and the technical issues with the watermaker and generator engine all seem to be resolved. It is easy to imagine how it will be in the Race when it is five thousand miles instead of two. In the morning the strategy meeting with Stig, Guillermo and Wouter, the rig check at the first watch change by Oleg, the boat check from Jochen and Nick. Every two hours two fresh guys on deck, while two who have been up for four hours go down. In between sail changes and gybes with full crew presence on deck.

My role is supporting, bringing together, keeping the flow of communication going. Doing my share in helming, trimming and grinding between working with Wouter on strategy and keeping the communication with Michael (Woods) on shore going.

Tomorrow early morning will be decision time how we will handle the low-pressure system that comes in from the Atlantic. We hope it accelerates so we can ride its back. If not we will have to consider working against headwinds on its eastern side.

Day Two: Skipper Andreas Hanakamp

The low that gave us a quick ride into the North Sea changed its mind, filled up and left clouds, rain and no wind in its wake. But anyway, while the on-watch was working on getting through the windless area, the off watch had enough to focus on the inside of the boat as unforeseen challenges lay hidden in the engine bay.

First was the DC hydraulic pump for the keel where a solenoid surrendered to the constant flow of seawater and stopped working. Second the water maker gave us a hard time, as it couldn't get enough water to run properly. The flat underwater body of the boat and the high speeds she is sailing most of the time caused this.

After finally working things out, the starter motor of the small engine got stuck which took until this morning to sort out.

In the meantime a northerly breeze kicked in, letting us go west under Code 0 in search of the SE flow that should be closer to the island. Depending on the breeze over the next 12 hours we will decide whether we continue our attempt at the record time around Britain an Ireland, which would led us as far north as the Shetlands.

Position this morning at 06.38 (15 August 2008)
Latitude: 56° 6’ 51.35” N
Longitude: 2° 25’22.61”E

Day one: Skipper Andreas Hanakamp

There was lots of pressure in the air when we left Portland Harbour to cover the 2,000 mile qualifying sail Volvo requires from teams wishing to sail the Volvo Ocean Race, starting October this year.

Steady 40kts, gusting even higher, let us start with two reefs in the main and a jib top heading east. Just the head of the jib top ripped off soon after we set off, the load distribution between sail and its cable was not perfect, giving Ben (the sailmaker, not the chef) a job for the rest of the day. Ben handstitched a new webbing on.

The English Channel lay past us in eight hours. At sunset we passed through the Dover Straits under a full moon, with the breeze slightly easing and the waves easing off. We changed for the A6 and later for a reaching fractional as the breeze headed.

The boat is soaking wet as are we, constant spray that is thrown up by the sprayrails, producing a cloud of spray while keeping the solid green water off the boat.

We are in the middle of the North Sea at, having covered 370 miles since Portland. Ahead we expect the wind to become lighter before filling in from the SE tomorrow.

You can watch hours of race video at www.VolvoOceanRace.tv, the official Race TV channel for free!