Pressemitteilung der illbruck Challenge am 15. Tag der 4. Etappe des Volvo
Ocean Race
10. Februar 2002
„illbruck“ als Erste ums Kap Hoorn
65 Seemeilen vor „Amer Sports One“ / „Tyco“, „News Corp“ und „Assa Abloy”
dicht auf
Feuerland – Gut fünf Stunden vor den nächsten Verfolgern hat die
Leverkusener Hochseeyacht „illbruck“ am Sonntag Morgen um 9.38 Uhr
deutscher Zeit das legendäre Kap Hoorn an der Südspitze Südamerikas
gerundet. Damit baute die Crew um Skipper John Kostecki ihren Vorsprung
auf der vierten Etappe des Volvo Ocean Race weiter aus. Am Nachmittag lag
die „Amer Sports One“ (Finnland/Italien) bereits 65 Seemeilen zurück. Es
folgten dicht dahinter die „Tyco“ (Bermuda/70) vor der „News Corp“
(Australien/81) und der „Assa Abloy“ (Schweden/84). Noch sind mehr als
2.000 Seemeilen bis zum brasilianischen Zielhafen Rio de Janeiro zurück zu
legen, wo die ersten Boote am 18. oder 19. Februar erwartet werden.
Es hat viele, viele Seefahrerleben gekostet, das sagenumwogende Kap Hoorn.
Das gefährliche an der Landzunge sind nicht allein die häufig stürmischen
Winde, sondern das Zusammentreffen verschiedener Meeresströmungen aus dem
Southern Ocean (südlicher Pazifik) und dem Atlantik. Dadurch laufen
steile, unberechenbare Kreuzseen auf, die schon so manches Schiff in
Bedrängnis brachten. Ganz so schlimm war es nicht, als die Volvo Ocean
60-Racer Feuerland an backbord liegen ließen. Im Gegenteil: Eine frische
Brise sorgte eher für moderate Bedingungen, nachdem die Yachten mehr als
eine Woche durchs Eismeer geritten waren.
Auch das Glück war mit den Tüchtigen am Sonntag, denn die „illbruck“
erwischte eine günstige, mitlaufende Tidenströmung beim Runden, von der
die Nachfolger nicht mehr profitierten. Dadurch vergrößerte sich die
Distanz, die übers Wochenende kontinuierlich Seemeilen für Seemeile
angewachsen war, zusätzlich. Paul Cayard, Taktiker des härtesten
Verfolgers auch in der Gesamtwertung, „Amer Sports One“, fürchtete sogar
weitere Vorteile in den folgenden Stunden für das deutsche Boot: „Es
dürfte gerade noch vor den vorhergesagten nördlichen Winden in die
Estrecha de la Mer einlaufen, während wir wohl schon kreuzen müssen.“
Allerdings steht hier noch die wichtige taktische Entscheidung bevor,
entweder außen um die Falkland Inseln herum zu segeln, oder innen durch
die Wasserstraße. Da der Wind im Norden entlang der südamerikanischen
Küste zudem immer leichter werden soll, ist alles andere als eine
Vorentscheidung gefallen. Einzig „SEB“ (Schweden), die nach einem
Mastbruch aufgeben mussten, und die Frauen der „Amer Sports Too“, mehr als
500 Seemeilen zurück, haben keine Siegchancen mehr.
Weitere Informationen:
Andreas Kling
akling@illbruck-Challenge.com
http://media.illbruck-Challenge.de
http://www.illbruck.com
Southampton, England, February 10, 2002 2200 GMT
djuice Joins Fleet In Atlantic
Djuice was the last yacht to round Cape Horn today at 1801 GMT. They
sailed the closest course to the famous Cape of all six yachts that have
already passed.
At the front of the fleet the northerly wind has already set up and
started building. All the yachts behind have to beat the way illbruck was
sailing under spinnaker. Tyco and Amer Sports One are within a mile of
each other and will be fighting to enter the Le Maire Strait first. News
Corp and ASSA ABLOY are in the same situation.
Strong north-westerly winds are pushing Amer Sports One towards the Cape
Horn, which lies 400 miles to the east of the all female crewed yacht.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 15, 2200 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 54 04.56S 064 40.20W 02107 024 09.9 300 0 +0 18 FEB 02 29
2 AONE 55 08.44S 065 29.20W 02175 044 09.2 282 68 +3 19 FEB 02 25
3 TYCO 55 09.84S 065 28.76W 02176 042 09.7 313 69 -1 19 FEB 02 18
4 NEWS 55 16.20S 065 57.96W 02192 043 09.0 278 85 +4 19 FEB 02 21
5 AART 55 18.08S 065 59.96W 02194 042 09.2 317 87 +3 19 FEB 02 19
6 DJCE 55 41.68S 066 17.56W 02218 070 11.8 334 111 -11 19 FEB 02 13
7 ATOO 56 21.16S 079 29.24W 02661 084 12.2 348 554 -15 20 FEB 02 7
8 TSEB 55 58.24S 090 28.00W 03028 084 06.7 177 921 +21 28 FEB 02 12
Southampton, England, February 10, 2002 1600 GMT
Five Yachts Back In The Atlantic Ocean
Four more yachts have rounded the notorious Cape Horn after illbruck has
shown the way this morning. Amer Sports One was not far behind at 1348
GMT, followed by Tyco less than three minutes after. News Corp in fourth
position led ASSA ABLOY, who rounded at 1526 GMT, by 12 minutes. The next
major decision for the boats is inside or outside the Falkland Islands.
Illbruck approaches the Le Maire Strait, still sailing with southwesterly
winds. Djuice will pass Cape Horn within the next three hours.
Amer Sports Too feels the full force of a Southern Ocean depression and is
pushed eastwards by storm force wind. If they continue with their current
pace they could pass the 400-mile barrier for the first time in this race.
Amer Sports Too has got 475 miles to Cape Horn.
By midnight the wind will turn to the north in the waters east of Cape
Horn and is expected to increase by tomorrow morning out of the northwest.
- - ends - -
Photos of the yachts rounding will be available in high resolution at
http://media.vemuk.com after 1800 GMT.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 15, 1554 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 55 00.20S 065 22.80W 02166 043 12.3 350 0 +0 18 FEB 02 29
2 AONE 55 49.00S 066 38.64W 02231 076 12.1 329 65 +3 18 FEB 02 25
3 TYCO 55 54.48S 066 38.92W 02236 053 13.8 359 70 -7 18 FEB 02 18
4 NEWS 55 56.68S 067 04.36W 02247 081 12.4 327 81 +1 18 FEB 02 21
5 AART 56 00.24S 067 06.56W 02250 066 14.2 360 84 -9 18 FEB 02 19
6 DJCE 56 06.24S 068 18.44W 02288 079 14.9 355 122 -15 18 FEB 02 13
7 ATOO 56 28.80S 081 43.88W 02735 088 16.8 346 569 -26 20 FEB 02 7
8 TSEB 56 02.64S 091 39.24W 03066 073 06.9 174 900 +36 28 FEB 02 12
Southampton, England, February 10, 2002 Day 15
Decisions, decisions ….
Tactics and strategy for the navigators and tacticians on the Volvo Ocean
Race are never easy at the best of times. Weather routing – which
weather model to choose or adapt? Boat to boat tactics and strategy –
which is the favoured side where we want to be for the next shift, which
could be well over 100 miles or 24 hours away. Land ahead – how best to
avoid it, by taking the maximum gain without hitting the bricks in some
cases, or making the optimum landfall, again from a considerable distance,
which could even be from 500 miles away. Currents and tides – how to use
them to the maximum advantage whether they are local or even ocean. Most
racing sailors will at some time in their careers, have had to assimilate
information, absorb it like a sponge and then produce the right output,
but this is with very basic information in comparison to the V.O.60
navigators, slaving over a bank of computers and electronics and loaded
down with almost too much information.
Add into the equation a land mass such as Cape Horn, together with its own
local conditions, and the fast changing weather patterns of the Southern
Ocean, which the fleet are just leaving, and you provide a full time job
for two people with no difficulty. “I have been real busy working on the
routing, the sail chart and the polars [angles for optimum boat speed]…
The amount of information now available is unbelievable. Several grib
files and 200 weather maps, satellite pictures, and other sources of
information, every day. You can definitely keep two people busy 24 hours
a day analysing this stuff,” wrote Paul Cayard from Amer Sports One
earlier in this leg.
On the approach into Cape Horn, News Corp opted for a northerly route and
Ross Field wrote, “It is a very critical time at the moment as we're
gybing downhill to Cape Horn. We're working on the weather to make sure
that we have a good approach. Each sked that comes in provides us with
valuable information on the movements of the other boats. illbruck and
Amer Sports One have made their move to the north, whilst Tyco and ASSA
ABLOY stayed south. We still believe that the northerly position is good.”
Tyco, lost out a little in the south, in part due to blowing out two
spinnakers, “Having survived the rigours of the Southern Ocean properly,
we have just had a very bad period losing to the boats around us through
sail damage and other mishaps,” reported Steve Hayles.
Onboard djuice, the first timers were anticipating the rounding of Cape
Horn, “Onboard spirits are pretty high since we have quite a few
crewmembers that haven't been around the Horn before. They all want to see
it. I just want to get around it and start sailing towards home (Europe),”
wrote Mikael Lundh.
From Amer Sports One yesterday, Paul Cayard summed up the difficulties of
the calls on the best route forward at the time, and how sometimes, just
one windshift can block off any other option, “The big strategy game was
how far south to go for the long port gybe into the Horn. All models
agreed that at some point you had to get down on the port layline as there
will be a right shift over the last 500 miles in and less wind at the Horn
so you want to come in hot. The question was how soon to hit that
layline. 500 miles is a long layline to call.”
From 477 miles away, things were looking good for the boats in the north,
he continued, “So we are all locked in and waiting for the answer. So far
the upper middle looks good, with us and illbruck making big gains on ASSA
ABLOY and Tyco, but News Corp is still gaining on us. The wind could be
lighter at the Horn and the guys on the outside may come on strong. Also,
Tyco and ASSA ABLOY may have a plan to take the Horn and Falklands Islands
wide to the east to set up their run up to Rio. If this is the case we
will not be able to make a judgement on their positioning for a few days.”
With the benefit of hindsight, the final outcome of this tactical decision
is that illbruck, having sailed a near perfect leg has romped away from
the majority of the fleet, rounding at 0838 GMT this morning. Amer
Sports One was not far behind at 1348 GMT, followed by Tyco less than
three minutes later. News Corp in fourth position lead ASSA ABLOY, who
rounded at 1526 GMT by 12 minutes. The next major decision for the boats
is inside or outside the Falkland Islands.
For now the options are being calculated extremely carefully; all the
variables are being weighed up and checked again and again before any
calls are made. Paul Cayard, wrote of their and illbruck’s imminent
rounding of the Horn and the tidal scenario, “The current in the Estrecha
de la Mer can be very strong...up to five knots on spring tide, which is
what we have. At night the wind can be very light and fickle so one could
get parked there in an adverse current pretty well.”
“It looks to me like illbruck is perfectly positioned to make a big gain
down here. Their 60 mile lead will get them into the Estrecha, if they
chose to, with about 16-18 knots wind and just before the maximum
northerly flow. We will arrive 5-6 hours later, with 5-7 knots in the
Estrecha and a foul current. That will hold us up and let the boats
behind catch up while illbruck will be off toward the Falklands at pace.
We may have to consider the outside of Isla de los Estados because this
could create a breakaway opportunity for illbruck, just like we did four
years ago.”
So perhaps the tidal gate will allow illbruck to break free and the rest
of the fleet to close up still further. After the rigours of the
Southern Ocean, the crews are going to have to work extremely hard to gain
places in the second stage of leg four.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 15, 0959 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 55 54.44S 066 50.72W 02240 057 14.0 383 0 0 18 FEB 02 29
2 AONE 56 05.72S 068 42.84W 02302 062 13.5 353 62 +4 18 FEB 02 25
3 TYCO 56 44.04S 068 37.96W 02317 061 14.3 356 77 -1 18 FEB 02 18
4 NEWS 56 08.72S 069 14.68W 02320 063 13.6 359 80 +3 18 FEB 02 21
5 AART 56 35.24S 069 25.44W 02333 065 15.2 356 93 -11 18 FEB 02 19
6 DJCE 56 22.56S 070 55.52W 02377 071 14.7 341 137 -5 18 FEB 02 13
7 ATOO 56 32.36S 084 45.92W 02835 079 15.3 331 595 -4 20 FEB 02 7
8 TSEB 56 15.04S 092 51.44W 03104 114 08.4 171 864 +34 28 FEB 02 12
Southampton, England, February 10, 2002 1000 GMT
illbruck first to round Cape Horn
At 0838 GMT this morning illbruck rounded Cape Horn at the southern tip of
Argentina. Paul Cayard wrote from Amer Sports One that he believed
illbruck would get around the tip with favourable current, which might not
be the case for the rest of the fleet due to go round in the next few
hours, “It looks to me like illbruck is perfectly positioned to make a big
gain down here. Their 60 mile lead will get them into the Estrecha de la
Mer, if they chose to, with about 16-18 knots wind and just before the
maximum northerly flow. We will arrive 5-6 hours later, with 5-7 knots
in the Estrecha and a foul current.” This could give illbruck a big gain
on the rest of the fleet as the current in the Estrecha can run up to 5
knots on a spring tide.
Amer Sports One should be the second boat to go round the Horn at around
lunchtime, followed by News Corp and Tyco who are in a close battle for
third place and likely to be very close together. ASSA ABLOY should make
it mid afternoon, and djuice during the middle of the evening. Amer
Sports Too is now less than 600 miles away from Cape Horn and therefore
should go round in the next couple of days.
Southampton, England, February 10, 2002 0400 GMT
Fast and wet at Cape Horn
With the leading boats now less than a 100 miles away from Cape Horn, the
forecast conditions appear that it will give a fast, but very wet
rounding. Winds are currently in from the west at around 20 – 25 knots
and are expected to back into the north and increase to 40 knots, giving
the V.O. 60s one of their wettest points of sailing. As the fleet then
approaches the Falkland Islands, a further 350 miles, the next major
tactical decision will be whether to take the inside route or the offshore
route. This will depend on the wind speeds and direction, as the boats
get closer to the Falklands.
illbruck with around 65 nautical miles to go to Cape Horn has gained
another 13 miles on Amer Sports One, in second place, in the last six
hours. Tyco, however, has gained on News Corp and with less than one
mile separating them, this will make the gains and losses over the next
six hours crucial for third place.
Amer Sports Too now has around 660 nautical miles before she reaches Cape
Horn.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 15, 0358 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 56 39.16S 068 56.84W 02322 067 15.5 387 0 0 18 FEB 02 29
2 AONE 56 43.48S 070 51.20W 02380 070 13.2 353 58 +13 18 FEB 02 25
3 NEWS 56 46.24S 071 25.32W 02399 067 12.6 362 77 +17 18 FEB 02 22
4 TYCO 57 24.72S 070 54.56W 02400 067 14.9 345 78 +3 18 FEB 02 17
5 AART 57 14.88S 071 58.52W 02426 055 15.1 347 104 +6 18 FEB 02 19
6 DJCE 56 50.56S 073 26.92W 02464 065 14.8 331 142 +5 19 FEB 02 13
7 ATOO 56 49.36S 087 24.52W 02921 077 14.1 326 599 +10 20 FEB 02 7
8 TSEB 55 55.48S 094 11.72W 03152 093 08.6 169 830 +43 28 FEB 02 12
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