- Top-Tagesmeldung -
Southampton, England, February 14, 2002 2300 GMT
News Corp’s Rudder Snaps Off
At 2030 GMT on February14, Team News Corp lost her rudder some 1200 miles
out of Rio.
At the time the boat was sailing at speeds of up to 22 knots on a shy
spinnaker reach with full indexsail, when all of a sudden the rudder
sheered off below the hull. There was no other damage, than a blown out
spinnaker. There are no injuries.
There is no apparent cause for the failure, but hitting the ice in the
Southern Ocean may have contributed to the failure.
Obviously the crew of Team News Corp is very disappointed particularly as
they were in line to charge into third place with the increased pressure
from the west.
With the forecast weather, Team News Corp expects to be in Rio within
eight days.
Team News Corp is continuing to race and is pushing the boat as hard as
possible.
For further information, please contact Volvo Ocean Race headquarters to
get a direct link to the yacht or Ashley Abbott, Team News Corp
communications person.
Ross Field
Co-skipper Team News Corp
Pressemitteilung der illbruck Challenge am 19. Tag der 4. Etappe des Volvo Ocean Race
14. Februar 2002
„illbruck“ zieht vorn einsame Kreise
Vorsprung vor „Amer Sports One“ auf 71 Seemeilen ausgebaut / „Tyco“ dicht
auf
Rio de Janeiro – 1.199 Seemeilen fehlten der Leverkusener Hochseeyacht
„illbruck“ am Donnerstag Mittag noch zum dritten von vier möglichen
Etappensiegen beim Volvo Ocean Race Round the World. Nach 5.500 Seemeilen
der zweitlängsten Teilstrecke von Auckland durch den Southern Ocean am Kap
Hoorn vorbei hatte die Crew um Skipper John Kostecki und den Münchener
Vorschiffsmann Tony Kolb am 19. Tag einen Vorsprung von 71 Seemeilen vor
der „Amer Sports One“ (Finnland/Italien) herausgearbeitet. Während das
deutsche Boot taktisch geschickt inzwischen das gesamte Feld kontrolliert, muss der härteste Verfolger jetzt sogar um Platz zwei fürchten. Die „Tyco“(Bermudas) war bis auf drei Seemeilen an die „Amer Sports One“ herangekommen.
„Das ist ein Verdienst der gesamten Mannschaft, die vor allem in den
harschen Bedingungen des Southern Ocean hervorragende Seemannschaft
bewiesen hat“, erklärte „illbruck“-Wachführer Stuart Bannatyne die
Leistung. In einer langen Email von Bord ließ der geborene Neuseeländer
nochmals die Höhepunkte der vergangenen zwei Wochen Revue passieren: „Ein
spaßig spannender Ritt auf weißen Schaumhügeln. Unser Topspeed erreichte
36,1 Knoten (gut 60 km/h)!“ Zu keiner Zeit sei das Team jedoch ein
unverantwortliches Risiko eingegangen, dass Mensch oder Material hätte
gefährden können.
Der Lohn ist eine inzwischen zwölftägige Führung auf der vielleicht
härtesten der insgesamt neun Etappen. Noch wollte jedoch niemand an Bord
das Fell des Bären verteilen, bevor er wirklich erlegt ist. Auf dem Rest
der Strecke in den Zielhafen Rio de Janeiro wartet noch eine Zone mit
nördlichen Winden, in der eine geschickte Kreuzstrategie vonnöten sein
wird, um das dann wahrscheinlich wieder weiter auseinander fahrende Feld
zu decken. Mit einer Zielankunft wird für den späten Montag Abend
gerechnet.
Nachfolgend die Email von Bord von Wachführer Stuart Bannatyne:
Ein Team steht für gute Seemannschaft
13. Februar 2002, 23.34 Uhr
Wir erreichen jetzt viel wärmere Gewässer. Der Wind hat gedreht und kommt
von hinten. Die Temperaturen sind milder an Deck, und die Erinnerungen an
den rauhen Southern Ocean verblassen mit jeder Meile, die wir in Richtung
Norden fahren. Zeit, die klassischen Erfahrungen aus dem Southern Ocean zu reflektieren.
Wir hatten wirklich alles, Eisberge in beeindruckender Regelmäßigkeit,
glücklicherweise aber nie nachts. Letztendlich hatten wir das
Markenzeichen des Southern Ocean während der gesamten Überquerung der
südlichen Breitengrade: ein ständiger Vorwindritt bei stürmischen Winden.
Es war oft spaßig und spannend, ein Ritt auf weißen Schaumhügeln untermalt
von häufigen Böen mit Schnee, Hagel und Graupel. Das Adrenalin schoss uns
bei jeder neuen Frontlinie durch den Körper, die am Horizont aufzog. Wir
fragten uns jedes Mal, wie viel Wind diese wohl bringen würde.
Glücklicherweise haben wir ein großartiges Team und schafften es, aus
jeden Sturm ohne Drama heraus zu kommen, einmal sogar mit einem Spinnaker
in einer kurzen Böe von 47 Knoten (orkanartig). Danke Hooray (Ray Davies), dass du uns (beim Steuern) nicht umgekippt hast!
Ich kann mich besonders gut an einen Nachmittag erinnern, als ich das Boot
ein paar Stunden unter Traumbedingungen steuerte. Der Wind wehte
durchschnittlich 37 Knoten mit gelegentlichen Böen um die 42 Knoten
(Stärke acht bis neun). Die Wellen rollten in gutem, gleichförmigen
Abstand mit etwas Platz zwischen ihnen, die dem Boot eine halsbrecherische
Geschwindigkeit erlaubten. Mit Sturmspinnaker und gerefften Großsegel
fuhren wir im Schnitt 23 Knoten Bootsgeschwindigkeit mit regelmäßigen
Ausbrüchen in die 30er bis hin zu einer Topgeschwindigkeit von 36,1
Knoten! Ich muss zugeben, ich habe jede einzelne Minute geliebt. Solche
Segelbedingungen sind nirgendwo anders auf der Welt zu finden. In diesen
paar Stunden war ich mehr als glücklich, hier zu sein!
Wir haben lange darüber diskutiert, wen wir in dieser Etappe für den Sjöö
Sandström-Preis für herausragende Seemannschaft nominieren sollen. Wir
können aber keine einzelne herausragende Person benennen. Also nominieren
wir unsere gesamte jetzige Crew für die herausragende Leistung, Mensch und
Material sicher und unversehrt durch den Southern Ocean gebracht zu haben.
Wir klopfen auf Holz, damit es auch für den Rest der Etappe so bleibt. Wir
mussten niemanden in den Mast schicken (sehr riskant und ein
unseemännisches Manöver bei diesen Bedingungen); wir verloren kein Segel,
sondern konnten immer alle reparieren; wir liefen nie aus dem Ruder,
behielten den Mast im Boot und wichen Eisbergen aus; wir hatten keine
Verletzungen an Bord und schickten niemanden ins eisige Wasser; und wir
riskierten es auch nicht, nachts bei starker Strömung durch felsige Inseln
hindurch zu navigieren. Ich denke, das war wirklich eine sehr sichere
Passage durch den oft tückischen Southern Ocean und darüber hinaus eine
illbruck-Crew mit guter Seemannschaft.
Und für morgen, einen glücklichen Valentinstag an all unsere Geliebten.
Wir wissen, dass ihr mit Sicherheit genauso dankbar seid wie wir, dass wir
unversehrt durch den berüchtigten Southern Ocean gekommen sind.
Stuart Bannatyne
Weitere Informationen:
Andreas Kling
akling@illbruck-Challenge.com
http://media.illbruck-Challenge.de
http://www.illbruck.com
Southampton, England, February 14, 2002 Day 19
Is romance dead or just too busy?
- - Valentine’s Day in the Volvo Ocean Race fleet - - thoughts on
seamanship by illbruck - - djuice’s pink winning gold medal for Norway - -
bad Valentine’s day for Kevin Shoebridge
With the thoughts of the shore and support teams turning towards
Valentine’s Day, only two of the boats have sent messages back in their
crew emails. Is romance dead, or perhaps the crews have got their minds
firmly locked into the tricky tactics of the final part of this leg and
ensuring that they keep their boats in the breeze and gaining on every
advantage?
Top of the romantic leader board, was a message from Josh Alexander,
bowman on ASSA ABLOY sending a quite simple message to the mysterious
‘Min’, “Happy Valentine’s Day” wrote. A close second was Stu Bannatyne
from illbruck who sent through a more general message to those ashore,
“And as for tomorrow, a very happy Valentines Day to all our loved ones,
we know you are at least as thankful as us that we made it through the
notorious Southern Ocean unscathed.” Paul Cayard from Amer Sports One
also sent through a general, “Happy Valentine’s Day,” and also noted, “No
one out here even mentioned it this morning.” Just three messages in
total by 1330 GMT on February 14 2002!
A stern warning was received from Amer Sports Too to those who had not
already sent their loved ones a romantic email, “For those of you who
haven't yet, you've got 12 hours left of time on GMT, so make a girl
happy. Only for a moment though, we've got boats to catch...”
The thoughts on illbruck were more towards their nominations for the
seamanship award, “We have discussed at length amongst our crew who we
should nominate for the Sjoo Sandstrom seamanship award for this leg and
we struggled to come up with one standout person. So here it is, we
nominate our entire crew for an outstanding effort to come through the
Southern Ocean safely and unscathed. Touch wood we can keep it all
together for the reindexder of the leg. We never had to send anyone up the
rig (very hazardous and un-seamanlike manoeuvre), we did not lose any
sails, we had no wipeouts, we kept our mast in our boat, we dodged
icebergs, we have had no injuries on board, we didn't send anyone into the
icy cold waters and we didn't take any risks navigating through rocky
islands at night in strong currents. So there it is, I think a very safe
passage through the often treacherous Southern Ocean and beyond by the
illbruck crew, a journey teeming with good seamanship.”
Steve Hayles on Tyco, was also more into the here and now and the
immediate future tactical situation and was totally unaware that it was
Valentine’s Day. Kevin Shoebridge had written back earlier that they had
seen a gain and were now aware that they could take a bit of a knock on
the boats further offshore, “Things are getting interesting as we close on
Rio, with only 1350 miles to go and the fleet is still very close as far
as distance to sail goes. There is a big spread east to west with News
Corp and djuice being over 200 apart [from the boats in the west]. Someone
is right and someone will be wrong, but I imagine we are still a few days
away from knowing the outcome.” It was also not a very happy start to
Valentine’s Day for him as he kept getting a soaking, “Personally I have
had a shocking 24 hours. It started with a blocked toilet yesterday. This
was followed by being drowned by 10 gallons of water coming in through a
cockpit vent and landing on me in my bunk. Just after I had changed into
my dry gear in the nav station, another 5 gallons came in that hatch; so I
was soaked again. To finish the day, I found my gear bag floating in the
bilge mixed with a cup of diesel.”
djuice, the guys in pink, were also concerned about the tactical scenario,
but pleased with the gains that they had made, “One thing is for sure, it
will be close, and absolutely nothing is over for this leg. The options
are wide open, and we are back in the game, and happy to be so.” It looks
that their introduction of pink into sports fashion conquered Norway.
Yesterday, Kjetil Andre Aamodt could be seen wearing a black racing dress
with large pink stripes when winning an Olympic gold medal in alpine
skiing.
The situation on Amer Sports Too, however, is rather different as Lisa
McDonald wrote, “It makes me laugh, these girls are some of the world’s
toughest female sailors who have just emerged from dodging icebergs at
mock speeds in the depths of the Southern Ocean. Valentine’s Day rolls
around and one by one, as the emails from loved ones come in, they go soft
as putty and for a brief moment collapse into a puddle of emotional mush.”
Lisa continued how many messages had been so well received by the team,
“It's the little things which make the world go round out here; our team
has received little love notes from all corners of the world and as near
as 400 nautical miles away. There is not often time to think of home,
family or friends while racing, and knowing that they are there following
our every pace to the next port is what keeps us going,” and finished with
a congratulatory note, “For those of you who have sent your valentines
luvs… well done blokes.”
Southampton, England, February 14, 2002 2200 GMT
Mille Miglia
With just over 1000 miles to go, the closest competitor is 100 miles
behind illbruck, what an impressive performance by the German yacht with
her American skipper John Kostecki. And even as accepting the lead, the
other yachts are converging towards illbruck’s track to follow.
Paul Cayard was agonized when Amer Sports One was parked for six hour,
while expecting the other yachts to move along with 14 knots. Even
frenzied working couldn’t prevent losing one place to Tyco. Right after
the last sked, djuice was elated to find themselves in fourth position,
but as quick as they had won it, they were moved back to fifth. What seem
to be erratic movements on the leader board is caused at least partly by
the unpredictable movement of two ocean currents. At about the 40th
latitude, the Falkland current from the south, meets the Brazilian
current’s equatorial waters. The huge temperature difference influences
the development of wind and weather systems. ASSA ABLOY could make the
biggest gains of the whole fleet.
SEB has entered the Cockburn Channel and is expected in Punta Arenas
tomorrow morning.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 19, 2154 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 39 44.96S 049 12.88W 01056 016 13.4 273 0 +0 19 FEB 02 29
2 TYCO 41 05.68S 050 34.48W 01153 028 14.6 251 97 -7 19 FEB 02 19
3 AONE 41 39.92S 049 46.24W 01173 031 09.6 232 117 +24 19 FEB 02 24
4 AART 41 32.24S 050 48.40W 01182 034 15.3 251 126 -9 19 FEB 02 20
5 DJCE 41 57.20S 049 23.36W 01185 014 08.9 247 129 +27 19 FEB 02 14
6 NEWS 41 09.32S 052 08.12W 01185 034 13.6 246 129 +0 19 FEB 02 19
7 ATOO 46 23.44S 057 46.48W 01577 008 14.3 287 521 +2 21 FEB 02 7
8 TSEB 54 21.96S 071 21.88W 02423 070 06.7 174 1367 +55 01 MAR 02 12
Southampton, England, February 14, 2002 1600 GMT
djuice’s Climb
Jean Yves Bernot has navigated djuice into the most easterly position of
the fleet, rewarding the crew with the most constant conditions and
lifting them into third position. With the big split in the fleet it will
be interesting to see whether they manage to consolidate their gains.
Amer Sports One, ASSA ABLOY and Tyco have to fight with very shifty wind
conditions, suffering from being becalmed, while illbruck storms away and
News Corp even took a mile back from the leaders. Amer Sports Too still
sails along in southwesterly breeze.
SEB is ten miles away from the entrance to Cockburn Channel, which leads
into the Magellan Strait. Cockburn Channel is just two miles wide and is
scattered with rocks, reefs and little islands. Lighthouses should
facilitate night navigation and enable a safe passage. SEB is bound for
Punta Arenas on the western shore of Magellan Strait.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 19, 1554 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 41 01.48S 049 42.24W 01136 022 10.6 275 0 +0 19 FEB 02 29
2 AONE 42 28.92S 050 25.68W 01229 005 07.0 252 93 +22 19 FEB 02 25
3 DJCE 42 48.84S 049 40.64W 01238 018 10.6 276 102 +0 19 FEB 02 16
4 TYCO 42 22.32S 051 29.60W 01240 008 05.9 250 104 +29 19 FEB 02 17
5 NEWS 42 16.44S 053 09.72W 01265 027 10.7 244 129 -1 19 FEB 02 20
6 AART 42 47.56S 051 57.64W 01271 041 07.9 240 135 +18 19 FEB 02 18
7 ATOO 47 47.40S 058 04.04W 01655 027 10.2 300 519 +2 21 FEB 02 7
8 TSEB 54 35.72S 072 26.28W 02448 090 07.6 179 1312 +22 01 MAR 02 12
Southampton, England, February 14, 2002 1000 GMT
djuice sneaks back to fourth
djuice and Amer Sports One have managed to hold onto the breeze for around
six hours longer than the boats inshore, News Corp, ASSA ABLOY and Tyco.
Maximising this gain and working hard to stay in the stronger wind, djuice
has managed to regain her fourth position, after slipping back to sixth
yesterday.
Kevin Shoebridge’s prediction from Tyco earlier came true, but he also
emphasised that the outcome of the west route versus the east route would
still not be clear for a few days yet. One thing is certain, the crew of
illbruck are working extremely hard to keep the fleet behind them and have
also managed to hang onto the slightly stronger wind longer than the boats inshore.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 19, 0959 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 42 00.20S 050 13.28W 01199 032 11.6 285 0 0 19 FEB 02 29
2 AONE 43 10.72S 050 30.60W 01270 353 10.2 267 71 +13 19 FEB 02 25
3 TYCO 42 57.32S 051 36.12W 01274 027 09.4 284 75 +12 19 FEB 02 18
4 DJCE 43 48.92S 050 07.56W 01301 002 09.5 269 102 +12 19 FEB 02 15
5 AART 43 23.24S 052 40.04W 01316 045 07.1 268 117 +28 19 FEB 02 19
6 NEWS 43 13.52S 053 49.24W 01329 035 06.1 254 130 +32 19 FEB 02 19
7 ATOO 48 41.48S 058 45.60W 01716 025 09.9 326 517 +9 21 FEB 02 7
8 TSEB 54 36.04S 073 44.40W 02489 091 07.5 180 1290 +26 01 MAR 02 12
Southampton, England, February 14, 2002 0400 GMT
Flying up to Rio
With Tyco having closed some distance on Amer Sports One in the last 12
hours, the race is tight for second place, and both boats are now pushing
illbruck hard having closed 11 miles on her since the last position
report.
Tyco reported fresh breeze earlier, which had given them this gain on Amer
Sports One, but were expecting to lose a little back to them as the breeze
fills across towards her some 70 nautical miles further east. Both Amer
Sports One and djuice have tried to edge a little further to the west
towards the fleet to hook into the stronger pressure quickly. ASSA ABLOY
and News Corp to the west have lost a few knots of windspeed over the last
couple of hours.
Amer Sports Too has been flying and gained 31 nautical miles on race
leader, illbruck, in the last six hours.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 19, 0359 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 42 58.64S 051 03.40W 01267 013 10.2 285 0 0 19 FEB 02 29
2 AONE 44 11.36S 050 20.96W 01325 001 12.7 272 58 -11 19 FEB 02 25
3 TYCO 43 47.48S 052 11.12W 01330 041 12.5 286 63 -11 19 FEB 02 18
4 AART 43 52.96S 053 20.80W 01356 041 11.6 282 89 -6 19 FEB 02 20
5 DJCE 44 47.32S 050 10.04W 01357 002 12.5 273 90 -10 19 FEB 02 14
6 NEWS 43 43.56S 054 18.24W 01365 043 10.6 271 98 0 19 FEB 02 19
7 ATOO 49 35.28S 059 23.88W 01775 047 16.2 322 508 -31 21 FEB 02 7
8 TSEB 54 35.12S 075 01.52W 02531 090 07.6 179 1264 +19 28 FEB 02 12
|
