Guo Chuan/Green Dragon/Volvo Ocean Race
We had tried to re-enact an aquatic version of Lionel Ritchie’s Dancing On The Ceiling when we Chinese gybed
Thursday 20 November 2008 16:30
By Cameron Kelleher
Just when the majority of the fleet were feeling a little punch-drunk from the past 48 hours of sparring with the Southern Ocean, Ericsson Racing Team delivered the old one-two at the second leg scoring gate this morning.
Ericsson 4 were first to land a points-scoring blow, at longitudinal 58 deg E, at 03:45 GMT. Sister ship Ericsson 3 followed suit around three hours later.
The Juan Kouyoumdjian-designed boats are just like big red buses. You don’t see one for days, then two come along together.
Green Dragon, on the ropes for the latter part of this leg after breaking their boom, clinched the final podium place at 08:40.
Team Russia (09:36) was fourth, Bouwe Bekking’s blue boat (11:40) won the battle of the Telefonica twins, while PUMA was pipped for sixth by Telefonica Black (12:25) – by just nine minutes. Delta Lloyd rounded out the order at 13:21.
While the scoring gate booty enabled Ericsson 4 to grow their overall points tally to 18 (hit ‘scoreboard’ tab in the Data Centre), there was a fresh look to the rest of the pecking order.
For the time being at least, the three points pocketed by Ian Walker’s Dragons have elevated them to second position overall alongside PUMA on 14 points – a gain of one place.
”We are thrilled to get third place and three points at the Mauritius scoring gate,” Walker said. “This has been our sole focus since breaking the boom two days ago.
”We seem to be able to sail downwind with spinnakers quite well and even now reaching with one reef seems OK. It’s upwind sailing that we must hope to avoid.
'I just have to stop the guys cutting the boat up'
”We hope to start the repair to the boom when conditions improve and when the temperature rises a bit for the glue and resin we have onboard to cure. I am not wildly optimistic but I think the lads are looking forward to the challenge. I just have to stop them cutting the boat up in the process.”
Having cleared the gate, each boat’s waypoint shifts to the finish line which impacts on their Distance to Finish and Distance To Leader (DTL).
The wind has eased into the low twenties as the bows point northwards. Next stop Cochin – a matter of just under 3,000 nautical miles away.
For the record, by the 16:00 GMT Position Report, Ericsson 3 led the way from PUMA (+22 DTL), the northern-most boat, E4 (+29), Green Dragon (+52). Telefonica Black, furthest south of the pack was at +98. The rest were tightly bunched in between.
Tactical choices for the second half of leg two will be influenced by the high pressure, which has been bobbing and weaving to the south of Madagascar since Tuesday, and which the fleet will do best to duck around.
“Having the right wind speed and angle is critical, even though the fleet will be compressed later on,” Team Russia’s Andreas Hanakamp said. “This could well change, and, at the end, you want to come out of the compression as much ahead as possible.”
The location of the high will deliver 12 hours of light winds along the rhumb-line course between the boats’ current positions and Cochin, but then the teams can look forward to a few days of wine and roses in the trades. Well almost.
'It has been a sharp shock leaving Cape Town'
Team Russia’s Media Crew Member Mark Covell’s recent brush with the Southern Ocean is still dominating his keystrokes. “Yes we may have tried to re-enact an aquatic version of Lionel Ritchie’s Dancing On The Ceiling when we Chinese gybed and rolled over to wash the spreader cameras (Lads, next time just ask, I have a special cloth),” he wrote.
"But after all that, the crew are still pushing on, comfortably as one. Watch on, watch off, no complaining, no questioning, they leave that to the Media Man.
"It has been such a sharp shock leaving Cape Town, like a teenager confident and cocky on the way to a new University. We finished our first leg high school, full of confidence and looking forward to the next term with a brash, bring it on, I have big plans attitude.
"With only one week into this ocean leg, battered by our Freshers’ week, fresh winds and no sleep, no heating and not even a pot noodle to get excited about. Running out of money and no folks to call home to for a loan. It’s all been a bit of a growing-up experience."
Moods on board are improving all round as the air temperature rises, the boats begin to dry out and the layers of sodden clothing are peeled off. The Southern Ocean is an afterthought for now until it makes its reappearance in leg five from Qingdao in China to Rio de Janeiro, which takes the fleet round Cape Horn.
With the gate points banked and the pressures on board easing, Telefonica Blue navigator Simon Fisher has also been reflecting on the past few days.
”After not enough sleep and almost certainly too many coffees, I began wondering in the early hours of the morning if this whole race is some crazy psychological experiment,” he revealed.
”But our mood has improved due to our turn towards the north. After our gybe last night we are officially headed for sunnier climes. The sun is out now out and the sky is largely free of clouds.
”Balaclavas have now been exchanged for smiles and sun cream. With thoughts of temperatures getting hotter, the boat inside being drier and conditions that maybe suit us better, everyone on board is happy.”
And from Delta Lloyd skipper Roberto ‘Chuny’ Bermudez, a Spanish lesson.
The man who took over the helm from Ger O’Rourke in Cape Town heaped praise on his crew by describing them as “bloody excellent”. He added that a “good emphatic word to better describe them in Spanish would be cojonudo!"
The rough translation is probably too risqué for a family web site but suffice to say the boys are doing just fine.
Leg Two (Cape Town to Cochin) Scoring gate positions/points:
1 Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael, Bra) – 4 pts
2 Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander, Swe) – 3.5
3 Green Dragon (Ian Walker, GB) – 3
4 Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp, Aust) – 2.5
5 Telefonica Blue (Bouwe Bekking, Neth) – 2
6 Telefonica Black (Fernando Echavarri, Sp) – 1.5
7 PUMA (Ken Read, US) – 1
8 Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez, Sp) - .5