Pressemitteilung der illbruck Challenge am 20. Tag der 4. Etappe des Volvo Ocean Race
15. Februar 2002
Ruderbruch der „News Corp“ / „illbruck“ bleibt vorn
„Tyco“ Zweiter vor „Amer Sports One“ / Zieleinlauf Montag Abend erwartet
Rio de Janeiro – Das Volvo Ocean Race hat seit Freitag nacht sein zweites
prominentes Opfer: Die australische „News Corp“ erlitt rund 1200 Seemeilen
vor dem Ziel in Rio de Janeiro einen Ruderbruch. Unter Notruder versucht
die Crew, ihren sechsten Platz gegen die 350 Seemeilen zurückliegenden
Frauen der „Amer Sports Too“ zu verteidigen. Indes steuert die
Leverkusener „illbruck“ an der Spitze des Felds zielsicher auf ihren
dritten Sieg in der vierten Etappe der härtesten Segelregatta der Welt zu.
878 Seemeilen vor dem Zuckerhut hatte die Crew um Skipper John Kostecki
mit den Münchener Tony Kolb als Vorschiffsmann 78 Seemeilen Vorsprung vor
dem neuen Zweiten, „Tyco“ (Bermudas). „illbruck’s“ härtester Verfolger in
der Gesamtwertung, die „Amer Sports One“ (Finnland/Italien) muss 91
Seemeilen zurück den dritten Platz gegen die „djuice“ (Norwegen/94) und
„Assa Abloy“ (Schweden/96) verteidigen. Der Zieleinlauf wird für Montag
Abend erwartet.
„Das Ruderblatt brach unvermittelt direkt unter dem Rumpf vollständig ab“,
berichtete „News Corp“-Co-Skipper Ross Field. Das Boot segelte zu dem
Zeitpunkt unter Spinnaker und vollem Großsegel gut 22 Knoten (fast 40
km/h). Ein Zusammenhang mit der Kollision, die „News Corp“ vor einigen
Tagen im Southern Ocean mit einem Eisberg hatte, wird nicht
ausgeschlossen. Obwohl die Mannschaft derzeit alles gibt, um zumindest den
sechsten Platz ins Ziel zu retten, bedeutet der Schaden einen schweren
Rückschlag beim Kampf um den Gesamtsieg im Volvo Ocean Race. Die „News
Corp“ war als Gesamtdritte mit 16 Punkten in die vierte Etappe gestartet
und einer der aussichtsreichen Widersacher der „illbruck“.
Unterdessen lief an Bord des deutschen Boots weiter alles wie am
Schnürchen. Navigator Juan Vila scheint einen optimalen Kompromiss aus
einem schnellen Kurs, auf dem gleichzeitig die Konkurrenz kontrolliert
werden kann, gefunden zu haben. „Er hat die Satellitenbilder exakt
ausgewertet und das Boot genau in die Mitte des Falkland-Stroms platziert,
wo dieser am stärksten mitläuft“, lobte illbruck Challenge-Meteorologe
Chris Bedford. Obwohl der Wettermann eine Front von hinten aufkommen
sieht, die zunächst die nachfolgenden Yachten beschleunigt, ist er
inzwischen zuversichtlicher, das die „illbruck“ ihre Führung wird
verteidigen können. Bedford: „Die anderen müssen uns durch die
Wetterentwicklung zwangsläufig im Kielwasser folgen. Allerdings liegt
direkt vor Rio nochmals ein Flautengebiet.“
Zum Wochenende erwarten die Teilnehmer zwar deutlich wärmere, dafür jedoch
wieder rauere Bedingungen. Sie kommen nämlich nördlich des 39.
Breitengrads in den Brasilianischen Strom, der gegen die Fahrtrichtung
aufläuft und gegen den frischen Südostwind eine kurze steile Welle
aufbauen wird. Allerdings werden die taktischen Überholmöglichkeiten auch
deutlich eingeschränkt. „Meine Hochrechnungen laufen auf einen Zieleinlauf
der ‚illbruck’ am Montag um 21 Uhr deutscher Zeit hinaus“, tippt Chris
Bedford. Die Landmannschaft steht in Rio de Janeiro bereits Gewehr bei
Fuß, um der erfolgreichen Crew einen gebührenden Empfang zu bereiten.
Weitere Informationen:
Andreas Kling
Tel: 0055/21/9924-1895
akling@illbruck-Challenge.com
http://media.illbruck-Challenge.de
http://www.illbruck.com
Southampton, England, February 15, 2002 Day 20
Pass me the pills… quick
- - Details about News Corp’s rudder failure - - SEB arrives in Punta
Arenas to be shipped to Rio - - Guillermo Altadill of ASSA ABLOY receive
award in Spain.
Depression, stress and exhaustion are likely to be setting in for some of
the crews of the Volvo Ocean Race, along with the ups and downs and day to
day grind of yacht racing. The highs are extreme and can provide an
adrenaline buzz second to none and the lows can be the worst thing that
has ever happened to you in your life at that particular point in time.
Not life threatening, but when you are tired and physically drained, the
lows appear to be far more significant. Any number of events can affect
your well being, from place changing to more tangible difficulties such as
losing rigs and rudders.
For News Corp their worst nightmare has come true. They reported the
loss of their rudder at 2030 GMT on February 14 about 1200 miles from the
finish line in Rio de Janeiro, in a very short message:
“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” reported Ross Field.
This is a devastating blow to the crew of News Corp, following their
collision with an iceberg in the Southern Ocean on February 5. They led
out of Auckland at the start of the leg and after they had hit the
iceberg, reported that they had suffered rig damage. Following immediate
repairs, undertaken in the harsh seas of the Southern Ocean, they managed
to work their way back to third position just before rounding Cape Horn,
and since then have worked hard through every change in wind direction or
speed to claw back from the inevitable knocks and place changing up the
South American coast.
SEB have also suffered during this leg, when they lost their mast in the
ruthless Southern Ocean on February 7. Since then they have been slowly
making their way to Punta Arenas in Chile under jury rig and arrived just
after noon GMT today. Gurra Krantz, skipper of SEB sent a short message
to officially retire from leg 4 as the V.O.60 will now have to make its
way in its cradle on a cargo ship, to Rio de Janeiro. She was also forced
to retire in leg three, following the loss of her rudder and this will
therefore be a double blow to all the sailing crew and shore team for SEB.
At the end of the official notification, Gurra poignantly added, “It was
not easy to press the send button on this msg.” For now it is over to the
shore team, to repair the damage and get the boat ready for the ship to
head for Rio tomorrow. The new mast, which Team SEB has had stored in
Gothenburg, will be air freighted to meet the boat once it has arrived in
Rio. For the sailing crew, it will be an easier journey; they are due to
fly to Rio on Sunday. It will be even more disappointing for the “would
be” first timers, who have missed out on the rounding of Cape Horn. SEB
has arrived this morning in Punta Arenas in the Magellan Strait.
Meanwhile the game of tactical snakes and ladders is still going on for
the rest of the fleet. Minimise the loss and maximise the gain.
Weather systems, fronts and large areas of calm can all play their part in
adding to the level of mental pressure for the navigators and tacticians.
Their role can be a thankless task when the chips are down. Paul Cayard
summed it up from Amer Sports One, “If it [the patch of calm] had squatted
on illbruck we would have had a restart. It seems like it landed on Tyco
and us the most, so illbruck has sprung further ahead.”
These situations tend to provide a feeling of sheer frustration and total
desperation and he continued, “When you are becalmed, you work your ass
off, believe it or not. You change sails, stack and unstack, look for
breeze by sending guys up the rig...it is not an idle time. It is a
desperate time. You know you are losing to someone at the rate of 14
miles per hour. You have to find a way out and most of the time there is
nothing you can do but wait for Mother Nature to take her course.”
Further difficulties with the currents and tidal streams have marred their
recent performance as well, “We have the tail of the Brazilian Current
converging here with the Falklands Current...bad stuff happens here all
the time.”
It is a nail biting time for the entire fleet, as the wind patterns change
and change again and places are won and lost within just a few hours.
Things are not necessarily that easy for the race leader illbruck, who is
constantly looking over her shoulder, worried that one small mistake could
allow the other boats to catch and pass her. A few days ago, Mark
Christensen, nervously wrote, “….a 45 mile lead. Is it enough? Only time
will tell.”
For Tyco and ASSA ABLOY, the gains and losses have given them an anxious
time too and no doubt this will continue right up to the finish line.
Their attention is concentrated on every small detail; the immediate goal
for Tyco is to try and hold onto second position and for ASSA ABLOY to try
and get ahead of djuice. djuice will see the flip side of this and will
be fighting hard to stay ahead of ASSA ABLOY.
For Lisa McDonald and her crew on Amer Sports Too the urge to gain every
additional boat length on the fleet will be their index driving force.
They will be trying to assess and gain on every single opportunity
presented to them and to maximise the benefit of hindsight from earlier
decisions taken by the rest of the fleet. In some respects this might
appear easier than it actually is; there is an expectation that hindsight
makes the decision for you and that Amer Sports Too should constantly pull
back distance. Not an easy task.
Guillermo Altadill, Spanish crew member on board ASSA ABLOY has been
honored with an important award, Best Sportsman Year 2001, that will be
handed out at a gala ceremony tonight in Barcelona, during the "Nit de la
Vela" ("Night of Sail").The award is given by the Catalonian Sailing
Federation and one of the former winners of this award was the king of
Spain, Juan Carlos I.
This is a great recognition for Guillermo's long career that includes
successful participation in four Olympic Games, several speed records, 14
Atlantic crossings and more than 200.000 nautical miles sailed in
competition.
"I'm very happy for this award. To know that the struggle in so many
competitions is recognized by your peers really makes a difference,"
commented Guillermo by phone when he received the good news.
Southampton, England, February 15, 2002 2200 GMT
Diminishing Lead - Rising Tension
At the moment, leading yacht illbruck lies 400 miles west of Buenos Aires
and the estuaries of the Rio de la Plata. They get under heavy pressure
from the chasing yachts as their lead has been cut into half in just 24
hours.
Hottest pursuer is Tyco, but djuice, Amer Sports One and ASSA ABLOY are
within 12 miles of each other. Djuice utilized better wind angles and
moved into third position after cutting five miles off Amer Sports One’s
lead.
Another nerve-wracking battle goes on for sixth and seventh place. At the
current speed, Amer Sports Too needs to sail a constant three knots faster
to make it into the finish ahead of News Corp, who sail under emergency
rudder. Jez Fanstone’s crew is pushing their wounded yacht as much as they
dare, a damaged or broken emergency rudder would mean the loss of the
battle into Rio.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 19, 2154 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 34 45.68S 047 35.92W 00748 347 12.9 309 0 +0 18 FEB 02 29
2 TYCO 35 01.08S 049 14.96W 00793 001 14.4 370 45 -12 18 FEB 02 19
3 DJCE 35 30.80S 048 08.40W 00800 356 14.5 391 52 -14 18 FEB 02 16
4 AONE 35 41.60S 047 29.92W 00800 012 12.8 374 52 -9 18 FEB 02 23
5 AART 35 18.72S 049 00.04W 00804 357 15.2 382 56 -15 18 FEB 02 19
6 NEWS 37 26.68S 050 38.84W 00954 029 10.3 233 206 +6 19 FEB 02 19
7 ATOO 41 40.92S 055 12.72W 01279 049 12.0 303 531 -2 20 FEB 02 7
8 TSEB 53 10.16S 070 54.40W 02464 000 00.0 101 01716 +00067 27 FEB 02 12
Southampton, England, February 15, 2002 1600 GMT
SEB Retires - illbruck’s Lead Shrinks
The Swedish boat SEB has today retired from the fourth leg of the Volvo
Ocean Race due to losing her rig last week. The boat and crew have now
arrived in Punta Arenas in Chile. Here SEB will be loaded onboard a cargo
ship for further transport to Rio de Janeiro.
News Corp is sailing amazingly fast with their emergency rudder in place,
averaging almost 11 knots. This will need a major effort from the girls on
Amer Sports Too if they are to overtake the Australian yacht before
arriving in Rio.
ASSA ABLOY’s Guillermo Altadill has been awarded “Best Sportsman Year
2001” in Spain. The award is given by the Catalonian Sailing Federation
and one of the former winners of this award was the King of Spain, Juan
Carlos I.
Tyco has cut illbruck’s lead to just under 60 miles, while Amer Sports One
and djuice have gained up to 30 miles over the previous six hours. This
development is caused by the weather development, where a high-pressure
system develops over Argentina, pushing into the Atlantic Ocean and a low
building further north in the middle of the Atlantic.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 19, 1554 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 36 00.84S 047 14.56W 00815 012 10.7 322 0 +0 18 FEB 02 29
2 TYCO 36 26.84S 049 16.00W 00872 002 14.6 370 57 -21 18 FEB 02 19
3 AONE 36 56.40S 047 50.32W 00876 003 16.0 353 61 -30 18 FEB 02 24
4 DJCE 36 58.96S 048 00.32W 00881 006 16.0 359 66 -28 18 FEB 02 15
5 AART 36 49.16S 048 54.20W 00886 003 15.4 385 71 -25 18 FEB 02 19
6 NEWS 38 20.36S 051 16.44W 01015 002 10.4 251 200 +6 19 FEB 02 19
7 ATOO 42 28.16S 056 25.40W 01348 026 12.9 326 533 -13 20 FEB 02 7
8 TSEB 53 10.16S 070 54.40W 02464 357 02.7 101 1649 +77 02 MAR 0 12
Southampton, England, February 15, 2002 1000 GMT
SEB nearly in Punta Arenas
SEB is set to arrive in Punta Arenas in Chile within the next couple of
hours, when the hard work will start for her shore team to sort out the
damage.
The rest of the V.O60s are making their way downwind towards Rio and with
the wind expected to back from the west into the south and reindex at
around 20 knots for the day, it appears that it will be a fast ride north.
This could give a small advantage to ASSA ABLOY and Tyco still to the
west of the fleet, although Amer Sports One and djuice have held onto more wind than the boats inshore recently.
News Corp is making her way up the coast still fighting hard to stay in
the race, after her rudder sheered off below the hull yesterday.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 20, 0958 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 37 03.44S 047 30.72W 00878 022 14.4 322 0 0 18 FEB 02 29
2 TYCO 37 56.40S 049 19.16W 00956 009 15.4 320 78 -3 18 FEB 02 19
3 AONE 38 31.84S 047 56.04W 00969 012 15.3 302 91 -6 18 FEB 02 24
4 DJCE 38 31.08S 048 12.12W 00972 015 16.9 329 94 -15 18 FEB 02 15
5 AART 38 20.84S 049 00.44W 00974 016 16.4 344 96 -13 18 FEB 02 19
6 NEWS 39 22.08S 051 19.36W 01072 015 09.9 257 194 27 19 FEB 02 19
7 ATOO 43 37.40S 057 11.60W 01424 010 13.7 311 546 10 20 FEB 02 7
8 TSEB 53 26.36S 070 53.12W 02450 004 06.6 122 1572 112 02 MAR 02 12
Southampton, England, February 15, 2002 0400 GMT
News Corp still racing
Following the loss of her rudder at 2030 GMT on February 14, News Corp is
continuing to race. The crew are pushing the boat as hard as they
possibly can and are hoping to be in Rio within eight days, given the
forecast conditions. At this point in time, they are making an
astounding 13.2 knots and keeping up well with the fleet. SEB is expected
in Punta Arenas later today, following her dismasting earlier in this leg
in the Southern Ocean.
Meanwhile, the fleet continue to make their way very quickly towards Rio
de Janeiro with Tyco, djuice and ASSA ABLOY doing 19 knots boatspeed.
Tyco and Amer Sports One have pulled back some distance on illbruck since
the last position report and there is only 16 miles separating them.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 20, 0359 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 38 22.88S 048 10.92W 00963 030 15.5 305 0 0 18 FEB 02 29
2 TYCO 39 24.60S 049 37.44W 01044 023 18.0 287 81 -16 19 FEB 02 19
3 AONE 40 00.72S 048 21.12W 01060 033 19.3 266 97 -20 19 FEB 02 24
4 AART 39 54.84S 049 36.16W 01072 029 18.2 291 109 -17 19 FEB 02 20
5 DJCE 40 08.56S 048 45.16W 01072 015 18.3 284 109 -20 19 FEB 02 14
6 NEWS 40 19.16S 051 38.76W 01130 024 09.0 236 167 +38 19 FEB 02 19
7 ATOO 44 57.76S 057 32.24W 01499 007 14.1 288 536 +15 21 FEB 02 7
8 TSEB 54 05.76S 070 57.52W 02423 041 03.5 145 1460 +93 01 MAR 02 12
|
