Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race
It is a very short course for very big, fast boats...It is going to be hard for us but good for everyone else to watch...
Saturday 10 January, 2009 08:30 GMT
Overall winner for the UBS Challenge for the Singapore In-Port Race:
1st Race
2nd Race
(Provisional Results)
Update 07:35 GMT
Ericsson 4 hangs on to take the honours in the second In Port race in Singapore, which gives them the win overall. Telefonica Blue was just pipped at the post for second place by Pedro Campos' Telefonica Black and PUMA followed up in fourth. Green Dragon was sixth, and Delta Lloyd did not finish.
07:15 GMT
Approaching the top mark with Ericsson 4 still leading, covering Telefonica Blue behind them in second place.
Telefonica Black was in a tussle with Green Dragon and there may have been an incident, as Telefonica Black suddenly threw a 360 degree turn.
07:05 GMT
It looks like Delta Lloyd is heading back to port, possibly with sail problems.
07:01 GMT
After several lead changes, Ericsson 4 has overtaken Telefonica Blue on the downwind leg, with Green Dragon just behind them in third and nothing between them and Telefonica Black.
PUMA is rounding in fifth, struggling to catch the leaders in the downwind leg.
The whole fleet got off to a great start in the second race but as they approach the gate they are converging - four boats approaching from the right, and three from the left.
06:46 GMT
Ericsson 4, Telefonica Blue, PUMA and Green Dragon took the right-hand side of the course, while Telefonica Black, Delta Lloyd and Ericsson 3 took the left but all the boats are neck-and-neck.
At the moment the battle at the front appears to be between Telefonica Blue, Ericsson 4, PUMA and Green Dragon.
06:10 GMT
Telefonica Black helmed by Pedro Campos has managed to overhaul Delta Lloyd for sixth place and the first race of the day has been completed.
The second race is scheduled to start shortly; we are standing by for information from the race committee.
06:01 GMT
PUMA has crossed the line to win the first race of the Singapore In Port Race. Ericsson 4 takes second, Telefonica Blue third, Green Dragon fourth, Ericsson 3 in fifth.
There is still a battle on for sixth and seventh, Telefonica Black and Delta Lloyd neck-and-neck as they approach the line.
PUMA is first around the second top mark looking very relaxed. E4 close on her heels but not quite in striking distance yet, round 45 seconds later.
Telefonica Blue rounds the top mark in third, 20 seconds ahead of Green Dragon. Ericsson 3 follows in fifth, Delta Lloyd approaches the mark in sixth and Telefonica Black brings up the rear.
Clouds look much heavier over land and breeze increasing at the top of the course.
05:52 GMT
The breeze has picked up as PUMA continues to lead the fleet up the second beat and throught the gate. Ericsson 4 is second, Telefonica Blue still tussling with Green Dragon for 3rd and 4th, then followed by Ericsson 3.
05:38 GMT
A fascinating battle on the water. PUMA is first around the top mark, obviously the right hand side of the course was the path to take.
The fleet are putting up their big gennakers. Ericsson 4 is second around the mark, Ericsson 3 is fighting it out with Telefonica Blue for third and they are very closely followed by Green Dragon.
Wind conditions very patchy and most of the fleet is going onto port gybe after rounding the mark.
Telefonica Black has now rounded the first mark and has done a great job to recover some ground on the fleet.
05:27 GMT
And they are off! Telefonica Black had a great start off the line, but now looks like it is heading back to the start. PUMA is looking good off the start line but E3 is screaming out in front.
Green Dragon is first to tack to the right to clear their air.
05:15 GMT
After a short delay due to a late wind shift, the 10-minute gun has gone and the fleet has gone into a starting sequence for a start at 05:25.
03:00 GMT
In this post, Mark Chisnell gives his analysis for the day ahead. You can watch our live video stream, listen to Mark's commentary of the race live or alternatively, to Guy Swindell's on-the-water commentary.
Weather
Today’s analysis from Race Forecaster, Jennifer Lilly, is predicting a building breeze for the UBS In-Port racing. It should kick off at around 10 knots, blowing from the north, and gradually veer (rotate clockwise) a little and increase through the afternoon - we could see the peak gusts in the high teens.
There’s a slim chance of squalls, with a shot of stronger breeze followed by rain. But given that the wind will be blowing off the south-eastern shore of Singapore, it will be puffy and shifty anyway.
The geography of the race course means that the fleet should be beating towards the shore, and we’d expect the mean (average) wind to back (rotate anti-clockwise) as they close with the beach. That should benefit the left-hand side (looking upwind), but whether this will be noticeable in a breeze swirling round the skyscrapers of Singapore is questionable…
Tide
The tide will be flowing towards the east-north-east (060) all afternoon, at around 1.5 knots. So the fleet will face what we call a cross-tide beat, with the tide flowing (roughly) at right angles to the wind direction.
In general, the tide will be running more strongly offshore, but because there is a shoal upstream, I’m not sure we will actually see much difference across the race course. But, at least in theory, a stronger tide offshore should give an advantage to boats that sail the starboard tack off the line first. Again, I suspect that this is a subtlety that will be lost in what’s going to be a very shifty breeze.
Tactics
We know from the in-port racing in Alicante that tacking and gybing these boats is very expensive. The fastest way round the course was usually the one that required the least number of tacks and gybes. That will change a little with more wind forecast today than we had in Alicante, but not much. Combine that principle with a short course and the mid-way gate, and the tactical choices are pretty limited.
So in theory the best side of the beat for both the tide and the wind should be the left (looking upwind), but whether anyone will see the benefit of that after taking extra tacks to get there is unlikely – especially when you add into the mix the random element of a gusty wind blowing off the shore.
Overall, I think we can be pretty confident that it’s going to be a day for keeping it simple, both the tactics and the sail handling, with just 12 active crew in very powerful boats on short courses in tricky conditions…
- Mark Chisnell
02:30 GMT Update
Delta Lloyd joined the fleet on the dock at Sentosa Cove to signal the resumption of hostilities in the Volvo Ocean Race with more crucial points up for grabs from the second in port race.
Three weeks in the boatshed following the keel ram damage on the third leg from Cochin to Singapore postponed Delta Lloyd’s race preparations but a trial sail on Friday gave the crew an 11th hour green light for today’s race.
"We will not be pushing the boat hard because it will be silly to break the boat ahead of the next leg," said Guillermo Altadill, Delta Lloyd’s new tactician, who flew in from Barcelona this morning, arriving less than two hours before the boats left the dock.
"These boats are fast and I will be helping to make it go faster but I can’t work miracles," said the Spaniard who put his Barcelona World Race campaign on hold to compete in the next two legs of the Volvo Ocean Race, having completed the first leg on Team Russia.
Elsewhere, pre-race activity at the One-Degree-15 Marina was frantic, with shore teams loading up vital liquids to keep the crews hydrated in the 26-degree heat and tacticians studying exclusion zone maps and weather reports.
At 10:00 local time, the sun was shining, the skies were mainly blue with a few clouds over Singapore though the forecast was for overcast conditions, with light to moderate winds, and a chance of showers or squalls through the afternoon.
Morning gusts were set to fade to a midday lull then build again though the breezes in the region are notoriously fickle which is likely to raise temperatures further among the afterguards and command the full attention of the boat repairers who will be standing by….their fingers crossed.
02:00 GMT Update
Saturday has dawned partly overcast and warm, with a good breeze building over Singapore. The forecast is for wind speeds between 10 and 15 knots for race time in the early afternoon. It's going to be a northerly or offshore breeze, so look for it to be shifty and very, very challenging.
You can follow all of the action of the UBS Challenge for the In-Port Race right here. We'll have live 2D tracking of the boats here.
And you can watch the race, with english commentary, live on www.volvooceanrace.tv. This programme will be archived following the race, so you can replay it later.
Or listen to live audio commentary from the race course in English or Spanish.
Stay here for the latest.
The Delta Lloyd crew prepare sails for the Singapore in-port race.