Volvo Ocean Race 2001/2002 zurück zur Übersicht VOLVO OCEAN RACE - Kapstadt-Sydney - 3. Wochenbericht Southampton, England, November 30th, 2001 Week 3 Welcome to Australia Team SEB has been the centre of attention on week three of the Volvo Ocean Race. Gurra Krantz’s flying green machine moved into the lead several days before the leg two waypoint of Eclipse Island and is still at the front as the yachts plough downwind before 35 knots of breeze across the Great Australian Bight, less than one thousand miles from Sydney. But the business of yachting almost took a backseat to all the other Eclipse Island shenanigans of the past few days. The Keith Kilpatrick saga continued and concluded. As the Amer Sports One crewman’s condition improved after several days, Roger Nilson, a qualified doctor and Amer Sports One navigator, decided that it would be better for his patient to reindex onboard to the Australian coast. Early on Tuesday morning (27th November), SEB was the first yacht to round Eclipse Island, three miles off Albany at Australia’s southwest tip. The Swedish flagged Volvo Ocean 60 cleared the uninhabited rock at 0348hrs GMT (around 1145 hours local Perth time). By then Krantz had built up an 11-mile lead over John Kostecki’s illbruck crew. SEB’s jump on the fleet was made the previous night when she was the first yacht to break free of a high pressure belt around one hundred miles south of the waypoint. "A tactical choice last night paid off and we reached the new, stronger breeze before the rest of the fleet,” explained ‘Gurra’ later that day. As soon as SEB passed the island, she tacked to head back south for the stronger winds that would hopefully take them across the Great Australian Bight and to Bass Strait, some 1300 miles away at the time. “It feels like we have been down in the Southern Ocean, come back up to civilization, taking a deep breath and are diving back down again,” continued Gurra. “It was a big thrill for all of us to be first round the island but unfortunately there are no points for that so we have to be first all the way to finish and that will take quite a bit of work”. But next day it was revealed that Marcel van Triest, navigator onboard SEB, left the boat approximately 10 miles before Eclipse to return home to the Netherlands due to the loss of a close family member. He is expected to return for the third leg of the race to Hobart and then onto Auckland, New Zealand, due to start on 26th December. The race rules allow for a crewmember to leave the boat in such circumstances. "We have altered the watch systems onboard to accommodate for these unexpected changes, to a set-up which has been previously planned in case of illness or injuries onboard," said Krantz. He continued: "It is of course a sensitive and unwanted situation, but in these circumstances Marcel's situation and human values are the deciding factors. Thanks to our preparations we believe we can still keep our competitiveness in the fleet.” The illbruck Challenge rounded Eclipse at 0518hrs GMT but first made a pit stop one mile off, rendezvousing with their shore manager to receive supplies. This was predominantly for repairing the damage that the team has been struggling with since the first night of leg two when the boat took on serious amounts of water through a broken bow inspection hatch. While the team had made temporary repairs to the leak in the bow of the boat, the crew had been bailing water constantly since the first night when the situation almost forced the team to return to port. The severe thrashing in heavy seas that night also caused the wind instruments at the top of the mast to break off. The team has been sailing without wind instruments and Satellite B capability since November 11, the first night of the race. The Satellite B allows the team to send onboard photos and video from the boat to race headquarters, which is required under race rules. In addition, the port steering pedestal broke when a huge wave crashed over the boat while watch leader Mark Christensen was helming in the rough seas of the Southern Ocean. Bowman Stu “Waffler” Bettany cut his forehead and required several stitches and mastman Jamie Gale was thrown across the boat hurting his back during the events of the first night. Additional medical supplies were needed for Bettany’s injury. “This has been the first opportunity where we have been close enough to land to allow for such a rendezvous,” said skipper John Kostecki. “For safety reasons, we felt it was important to reinforce our temporary repairs and to fix the navigational lights and wind instruments. The lack of Satellite B has interfered with our ability to communicate and send onboard images which is an important aspect of this race. While we have the Southern Ocean behind us, there is still quite a bit of sailing ahead of us including the often dangerous Bass Strait in the final approach to Sydney. After all we’ve been through so far on this leg, we could not risk putting the crew’s safety at risk for the final 1,800 miles to Sydney.” ASSA ABLOY followed round the waypoint in third place at 0545hrs, News Corp at 0600hrs and djuice at 0740hrs. Later that day, Keith Kilpatrick was eventually transferred from Amer Sports One onto a 48-foot powerboat while the yacht was still some 15 miles away from Eclipse Island. The transfer from the Nautor Challenge yacht to the powerboat was completed with the use of a RIB. Firstly the RIB went to the port stern quarter of Amer Sports One, where skipper Grant Dalton helped Keith Kilpatrick, wearing a dry-suit and a life jacket, who was able to step aboard the smaller boat. The RIB then slowly motored across to the powerboat where Keith was transferred to safety and comfort. Kilpatrick was taken straight to Albany harbour, where an ambulance was waiting and delivered Keith to Albany hospital where Dr. Alistair Holms examined him to decide on the next course of medical treatment. “I feel okay, but very weak,” said Kilpatrick after stepping on the powerboat. “I still haven’t tried eating anything. I’ve been on liquids only for eight and a half days. Someone of my size could do with a lot more to eat than just soup and water. Roger [Nilson] has been a great counsellor as well as a doctor, he helped me when I was beating myself up about missing watches.” Describing the last week and his illness to the media team on the powerboat, he said: “It was a Monday lunchtime when I’d just gotten off the 8 – 12 watch. Roger was serving and I told him I felt a little upset. I didn’t think anything of it and went to bed, got up for my next watch and started really feeling bad about three-quarters of the way through it. I went down below and didn’t have any dinner, then after half an hour lost everything I had in my stomach. “All through the night I was being ill until I had nothing left in my stomach and all of Tuesday I had cramps. Wednesday morning I asked Roger when he thought it was all going to stop as I was in a lot of discomfort. “We actually thought it was food poisoning until Wednesday and Roger decided it was a little bit more than that. He called the doctors in England, who suggested giving me a little water - boom, it came right back up. “I took a little morphine to relax me and try to relieve a little of the pain and then that afternoon we put the IV [intravenous] drip in. We only had three litres of IV on the boat so Michael Woods [at Volvo Ocean Race headquarters] co-ordinated an air drop with the RAAF and by six the next afternoon we had all the IV drip we needed. That saved the day,” explained a grateful Kilpatrick. “The idea of me getting off now is so that I have seven or eight days to recuperate and get to the level that the boys will be when they get off in Sydney. I am looking forward to the next leg.” On Wednesday morning, new developments centered on actions taken earlier in the leg that have since come to light. Amer Sport Too and djuice were notified by the Race Committee that it intends to protest them for contravening the International Regulations For Preventing Collisions At Sea during the first hours of leg two. It is alleged that both Amer Sports Too and djuice sailed into the traffic separation zones off Cape Town, in contravention of the Collision Regulations. Following receipt of the Notification of Protest, djuice skipper Knut Frostad issued the following statement from onboard. "According to the charts with the plots for djuice's course from the start, it shows that after the gate exit, djuice crossed the traffic lane together with every boat in the fleet. However, djuice tacked in the Traffic Separation Scheme before exiting the area in question.” Frostad goes on to say, "We have never had any intention of breaking the rules. I was not aware we had crossed illegally until we received this notice, and immediately acknowledged the race committee’s stand and performed a 720-degree penalty turn, in accordance with Standard Sailing Instructions (SSI) 1.6.1 (c)." Frostad continues, "We were never close to any vessel or near a collision which in essence is why the Collision Regulations exist. We did not interfere with any other competitor and we cannot see we gained an advantage by doing this." The race committee do not officially have to lodge protests of this type until 24 hours after the last boat finishes, but it is felt that by alerting djuice and Amer Sports Too to the situation now, the protest may be convened shortly after the boats arrive in Sydney. Traffic separation zones are established by international convention in areas of high traffic density. They are clearly marked on the charts and serve to keep vessels travelling in opposite directions apart. Their observance is a legal responsibility of all vessels. The observance of traffic separation schemes is an integral part of the Collision regulations. With the later stages of the race taking place in the congested waters of the English Channel, North Sea and the Baltic, where there are a proliferation of Separation Schemes, the Race Committee are clearly anxious to make the observance of the Collision Regulations a top priority. Back on the race track, while going north paid over the first stage of the leg, it seems that diving back to the south after Eclipse Island is the new winning move. SEB were being hounded by leg one winners and leg two comeback kings illbruck, who opted for the same tactics, charging southeast after Eclipse. “We’re trying to keep our fingers on the pulse and try to react to everything illbruck does and her strategy to pass us,” explained watch leader and step-in navigator Matthew Humphries. “We are trying our hardest to make sure we stay in this position. It’s going to be a close race with them to the finish and it will be 110% the whole way.” The closest battle for fleet position is currently between third and fourth. It is contested by British friends, but rival skippers, Jez Fanstone and Neal McDonald. Both yachts have taken the lead momentarily at some point of the leg since Cape Town, but lost valuable miles over the last two days by not diving south with SEB and illbruck. Fanstone and McDonald have since opted to cut their losses and join the southern sleigh ride towards Bass Strait. While Jez and Neal are friends ashore and were teammates on Silk Cut in the 1997-1998 Whitbread Race, both are determined to claim a place on the podium in Sydney. “Jez is a good friend of mine, I sailed with him in the last race and I’ve known him for years so it’s been fun hanging out with him. We have had lots of close calls, we’ve cross tacks twice and cross gybes twice, we’ve been in waving distance to them quite a lot,” added Neal. Late on Friday evening, News Corp blew out the masthead spinnaker that is required for maximum speed in the those hard running conditions, providing ASSA ABLOY with an oppourtunity to surf on by. Meanwhile, in Sydney, preparations are well underway for the reception of the fleet next week. Legendary Australian America’s Cup yachtsman and businessman, Sir James Hardy has been appointed Mayor of the Volvo Ocean Race Sydney Stopover Village. Sir James will officially open the Sydney Stopover Village in Darling Harbour on December 1st with the yachts expected to arrive around December 4th. “It’s a great privilege to be associated with this prestigious event and an honour to be hosting the world’s most experienced yachtsmen and women,” said Sir James Hardy. “Australia and Australians have a fine ocean yacht racing history and this Village offers an outstanding opportunity for the community at large to participate, free of charge, in this exciting event,” he added. “The Sydney Stopover Village will be a colourful festival of entertainment and hospitality and will celebrate sporting excellence. It will allow Sydney-siders the opportunity to show the United Nations of the world’s sailing fraternity, Australian yuletide hospitality at its best,” continued Sir James. NSW Minister for Tourism and Minister for Small Business, Sandra Nori added: “The Stopover Village will be a wonderful haven for all the competitors, but it will also prove to be an economic boon for Sydney.” The Sydney Stopover Village is managed by Waterways Authority, drawing on the support of Sydney Harbour Foreshores Authority and Tourism NSW. At 22.00hrs GMT on Friday (30th November), The ever-threatening illbruck team look like they could steal SEB’s hard earned lead as the yachts continue to surge towards Bass Strait in 25 knots of breeze. As the sun rose over the crews in the Great Australian Bight, SEB held a 13 mile advantage over John Kostecki’s team but the latter seem to be in an overtaking lane, further south and going two knots quicker than their Swedish rivals. Kostecki’s men have sliced nine miles off their SEB deficit over the last six hours alone. News Corp’s blown spinnaker after a wild broach earlier this afternoon has cost Jez Fanstone all but three miles of his lead over friend and rival Neal McDonald and the fourth placed ASSA ABLOY crew. But with still 750 miles to go to the finish line in Sydney Harbour, no position is yet cast in stone. “There is always a chance until you hit the line,” reflected djuice’s Stig Westergaard earlier. It appears that the fleet will enter Bass Strait, some 220 miles away, between Tasmania and King Island. Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 20, 22.00hrs GMT PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO 1 TSEB 40 38.56S 139 38.56E 756 105 15.2 366 0 +00000 03 DEC 01 11 2 ILBK 41 27.40S 139 40.16E 769 095 16.7 390 13 -00009 03 DEC 01 15 3 NEWS 40 53.44S 138 25.00E 814 098 16.6 379 58 -00011 04 DEC 01 12 4 AART 40 49.96S 138 20.12E 817 090 16.8 390 61 -00016 04 DEC 01 9 5 DJCE 40 25.52S 137 20.44E 858 093 16.1 374 102 -00012 04 DEC 01 6 6 AONE 40 39.68S 136 54.92E 879 094 15.8 362 123 -00009 04 DEC 01 10 7 ATOO 36 38.96S 126 56.84E 1366 098 08.4 136 610 +00033 06 DEC 01 3 PS – Position; DTF – Distance to Finish; CMG – Course made good; SMG – Speed made good; TFHR – 24 hours run; DTL – Distance to leader; DTL-C – Distance to leader change; ETA – Estimated time of arrival; PO – accumulated Points ILBK illbruck Challenge AONE Amer Sports One ATOO Amer Sports Two AART ASSA ABLOY Racing Team NEWS News Corporation TYCO Team Tyco TSEB Team SEB DJCE djuice dragons Volvo and Volvo Ocean Race Background The Volvo Car Corporation has its headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden. 27,400 people worldwide are employed by Volvo Cars and in the year 2000, the company's sales increased to 422,100 cars. Volvo is one of the world’s leading suppliers of commercial transport solutions. The group manufactures trucks, buses, and construction equipment, power systems for marine and industrial use, and aircraft engine components. Founded in 1927, Volvo currently has about 79.000 employees, manufacturing operations in 30 countries and a worldwide market and service organisation. The Volvo Ocean Race is run every four years. It starts in Southampton on September 23rd 2001 and finishes in Kiel, Germany, on June 9th 2002. Over a period lasting some nine months, the Volvo Ocean Race will reach a broad audience around the world via modern communication technology. Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE