Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, February 21st, 2002
GORDON MCGUIRE/NEWS CORP/ ON THE DOCKSIDE - RIO
It was the most scary thing in my life. I have to say I feared for my
life and I feared for the other 11 guys that you are responsible for when
you’re driving. When you go to sleep, you go into total denial because
otherwise you can’t sleep. You live in this constant world for two weeks.
It is unbelievable.
Scenario: evening watch, last half hour, it’s getting dark, last light,
everything’s getting really dusty, it’s foggy and you’ve got about 400
yards visibility. You’re looking at your watch and you’ve got about 20
minutes to go. You’re thinking, ‘ah, I’m just over this’. It’s blowing
35 knots, you’re doing 25 knots of boat speed, you’re just hanging on the
wheel, you haven’t wiped out, everything is under control, it’s just
another day at the office.
The navigator sticks his head up the hatch and says ‘iceberg on the bow’.
You go ‘how far?’ He says ‘one mile’. One mile at 25 knots, you don’t
even want to think about it. It’s like three minutes and you’re on top it.
The heart starts going and the whole thing is now elevated to a level
that you just don’t need. It’s the end of your watch – you’re over it.
The sweat is running down the back of your neck, your feet are like ice
blocks, your hands are like ice blocks, your face is raw red from the salt
spray and all of a sudden you are being told ‘iceberg on the bow, one
mile’.
OK, when you’re driving in those conditions we have what we call a
ten-degree envelope to steer in. You can either go up five degrees or
down five degrees and either side of that is a wipe out. So you are quite
limited about where you can steer, so you have to react. You have to
react instantaneously. Once you get the call, ‘iceberg’ you react. So we
react. We come up five degrees and the navigator disappears, goes back to
the radar. Comes back up, ‘Second iceberg, on the port bow’. ‘You’re
kidding? Is it the same iceberg?’ ‘Don’t know’. Down he goes. The
clock is ticking. You’re actually within a minute of arriving in this
scenario and you’re actually not sure that these blips on the radar are
one iceberg or two icebergs. Is there a gap between them? How big is the
gap? All you have is 400 yards visibility in front of you. You arrive:
it happens to be two icebergs, but in the middle is a whole pile of melted
ice…. From the size of something you would drop in your drink, literally,
to the size of a bus. Just the sea is covered in ice. It looks like
someone has just frapped an iceberg right in your path.
You have a guy standing on your shoulder and he calls you, ‘up’ ‘down’ and
you basically drive through this pack ice, picking out the big bits to
miss as the small bits just bounce along the side of the boat and out the
back. All the time in your mind, you can remember that somewhere, someone
in school trying to tell you how much ice there is under the water, but
you can’t remember how much, and you don’t want to. Why would you want to
remember that 80 per cent is under the water and you only see the little
bit on the top?
You look at your watch, and there is five minutes before the end of your
watch and you think ‘I’m over this, I just don’t need this in my life.’
And all the time the guy on your shoulder is going ‘up five, up five, down
ten, down ten, oh my God, up five.’ And I say, ‘please leave out the
expletives, just give me the numbers because ‘oh my God’ doesn’t help
anybody. And all the time, you’re doing 25 knots, the hammer is down
fully, you are just rocking down. You are just thinking, ‘if we hit
something bigger than six or eight feet across, then we will compromise
the hull and go down.’
And then you pop out the other end of it and there is no more ice – there
is no more anything. All you can see is this 500-metre circle round you,
it’s misty and by this time, the sun is down. It’s five to, and the other
watch is coming up and you go down below and you take your gloves off and
your feet are frozen and your hands are frozen, and you just curl up in
your bunk and you just pretend you’re not there. And I don’t need to do
that anymore, I’m over it.
After that, we got to Cape Horn, and we all promised we would never go
again, and we were sailing in very pleasant conditions on the way to Rio
when the rudder fell off. We can speculate that may be it was caused by
hitting some of the ice, it might have fractured it, but to be honest we
were still pushing the boat hard for almost a week before we contacted any
more ice. We really don’t know until we get the boat out of the water and
have a look at the rudder to decide how it broke.
That was devastating because we were about to move into second place
overall, we had a really good inside passing lane on the fleet and we were
very excited about it, and then bang, off comes the rudder. We managed to
sail the last 1200 miles with the emergency rudder hanging out the back
with a lot of effort from the crew to balance the boat and try and make it
go in the same direction. They are very difficult to steer without the
designed rudder. You put on a little plate at the back and it’s really
not the same.
But we’ve come in sixth, we’re lying either third or fourth overall – I
haven’t looked at the points now, but I do know that we are three points
from second place which is not that far away. One leg can turn it around
for us.
This race is all about ups and downs and we felt that that was a definite
down for us. But we’ve dealt with it really well, we brought the boat
home, we’ve finished, we’ve got the points, maybe the next leg will be an
up. Who knows?
Gordon McGuire was talking to Guy Swindells
Amer Sports One
February 21st 2002
Wrap Up
Yes, it was disappointing to go from second to fifth in the last 70 miles
of a 7000-mile race. Did it break our back? No. Are we devastated? No.
Does this happen in sailing? Yes. Will it happen again? Yes. Do things
like this even out? Yes. So where do we go from here?
Thirty-five years of experience says that you take it in your stride, you
impress your competitors with your unbreakable spirit and you come back in
three weeks with your game a notch higher. Getting back up after getting
knocked down is fun. It is an opportunity. That is the situation with
Amer Sports One.
For me, the leg reprinted in my memory the incomparable experience that
the southern ocean can serve up. A bit more extreme than four years
ago...more ice, more wind, and more darkness (no moon), made this a top
experience. I think I have this firmly etched in my mind, probably enough
to last my lifetime. Would I ever do it again? There are two reasons I
would; one, I have learned never to say "never", and secondly, if my son
wants to race around the world in seven years time, I would love to make
the experience with him. Other than that, as my wife says, this should be
enough.
The focus of the media questions and most people’s thoughts as we arrived
here in Rio of course were the points and us going from second to fifth.
It is not to be lightly dismissed that we made it here safely. I for one
am conscious of that and respect the fact that we flirted with the
dangerous side of Mother Nature. There are no written guarantees when you
leave the dock in Auckland that you WILL arrive in Rio. So I recognize
and appreciate the efforts and conscientiousness of my teammates, those
ashore who prepared the boat and those aboard who acted as prudently as
possible in a racing environment. For the record, we on Amer Sports One
were very strict on the use of harnesses and life jackets. I make that
point for all the "weekend sailors" or non-professionals who may think
that we behave otherwise out there. Only a fool would not take the
necessary precautions.
As I said in a report 10 days ago, the fact that this challenge and this
team is in second place at this stage of the race is an excellent result.
It is due to the relentless vision and passion of our chairman Leonardo
Ferragamo and the professional execution of Grant Dalton and his team. It
is no accident that Amer Sports One is where it is. The team may have
benefited from a couple of good breaks on legs one and three but now has
paid back into the bank of good luck.
As for my participation with the team, I feel badly for the three points
that we left on the table...I certainly wanted to walk in and make a
positive contribution to the team. Outwardly, our performance is gauged
by the points we achieved, but I can tell you that inwardly, onboard, Amer
Sports One is a much better team than when we left Auckland and we sailed
that way for 21 of the 22 days. We have better technique on how to sail
the boat, when to choose what sails and just the general level of
intensity onboard has been raised. I know that I contributed to the team
in these areas and I take some consolation in knowing that that will
reindex with them for the duration of the regatta... which in fact is not
half over in terms of points.
As a board member of Nautor Swan, I think this challenge is becoming
everything Mr. Ferragamo envisioned. It is a source of pride for the
employees of Nautor, it is a source of ideas and competitive spirit for
the product,Swan Yachts, and on its own, it is a successful sporting team
conducting itself and representing its sponsors in a professional way.
Nautor Challenge will take on many sporting endeavours in the years to
come and this will benefit the owners of Swan's in so many ways.
All in all, the three points we lost in the last 12 hours may be the
smallest part of the this picture. It hurts the crew much more than it
hurts the big picture.
So I leave the team here with two pages of notes, my intensity and my
heart. I know they will carry on in top form.
Onward and upward. Eight points are waiting for AMER in Miami.
Paul Cayard
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, February 21st, 2002
LISA MCDONALD, SKIPPER AMER SPORTS TOO, ON THE DOCKSIDE - RIO
Q:What an agonising finish to such a tough leg, how are you feeling?
A: It was torture. We are happy to be here. It was a bit frustrating,
but to be honest, not unexpected. We had obviously been watching all the
other boats finishing and suspected that the breeze would drop out
somewhere near the shore. We were actually quite lucky to have the breeze
that we did, right up to the entrance to the harbour. The only
unfortunate thing was that once we got inside the harbour, and lost the
wind, we had a nasty current taking us backwards quite fast and we didn’t
have any breeze.
Q:You must be pretty pleased with your seventh place?
A: We had a very good leg. We sailed the best that we could. The boat
performed well, the crew performed well and we saw everything from
icebergs, to Southern Ocean storms to Doldrums, to fire hoses coming up
the South American coast. We had a bit of everything.
We had a full on race on our hands. We actually rounded Cape Horn 460
miles behind the bulk of the fleet and we managed to catch up, at one
stage, to within 70 miles of our nearest competitor, just a day ago.
Q: What was the feeling onboard when you felt that you could make up
another place?
A: It was great. This team never let up, not for an instance. Even when
we were behind we were pushing the boat as hard as we could, all the way
up the South American coast and took heaps out of the fleet. There was
one night when the fleet had more pressure than us and they managed to
take a bit out of us, but we gained that back, and then as soon as we
thought we had an opportunity to gain another place, we kept pressing on.
There was really no throttling back, even once the sixth place boat
finished, we just wanted to get in here as quick as we could.
Q: It is amazing to have come through the Southern Ocean and still find
that energy to keep going.
A: The energy on this crew is unquestionable. It’s a great bunch of girls
who are all up for it and pushing to the last minute.
Q: How was the Southern Ocean, was it worst than last time?
A: It depends on how you look at it really. For five of us, it was a bit
of unfinished business finally tidied up. We went round the Horn four
years ago with five metres of mast and a very badly damaged boat and an
ego-bruised crew. This time we went around in 20 knots, sun out, blue
sky, spinnaker up. Actually getting round the horn was huge for the five
of us. We did make it, but not in very good shape last time. For those
who hadn’t been round the Horn, it was something new and spectacular for
them. In between New Zealand and the Horn, we sailed a very good leg, we
were right down on the ice pack. That had its moments! There were a few
nervous days for Miranda and I on the radar watch. We never let up. We
did see quite a lot of ice down there and still sailed the boat hard and
got out of there as quick as we could.
Q: How do you weigh up the danger element against the pushing and racing
on and trying to gain places?
A: To be perfectly honest, you can’t sit and dwell on it. You know it’s
out there and you know you have to be careful. You learn a bit about it.
You know that near a big iceberg there are likely to be growlers, so if
you see a big iceberg, keep your distance. What is scary are the little
ones, which are the size of the waves, and the radar doesn’t pick them up.
They don’t come out at night anyway, so if we didn’t see any by day, then
we wouldn’t see any at night!!
Q: There must be a lot of pressure on you, knowing that the safety of the
boat is in your hands?
A: It is a big responsibility.
Q: How did Miranda Merron, your new navigator get on?
A: She got on great. Fortunately Emma (Richards) and Miranda knew quite a
lot of the crew so they blended in very quickly and got on with the crew
quite well. They’ve also got quite a lot of experience in 60 foot racing
boats so that helped us out in its own right. The whole crew performed
really well together. The crew work was very strong in the Southern
Ocean, especially when we needed it. A couple of times we had some, not
close calls, but we had to make some quick actions and manoeuvres and
everyone stayed on to it and worked really well together and it just
becomes a sixth sense.
Q: So what is the plan now? Are you going to Emma and Miranda on?
A: I hope so. We have one change, which was a known change from before,
going into the next leg, but at the moment we are going with the crew we
have got.
Q: How is the boat standing up?
A: A few bent stanchions and things and a few bumps and bruises, but
nothing major fortunately.
Q: A lot of the crews came in looking really drained, saying they will
never go down to the Southern Ocean again. Do you have the same
sensations when you look back on what you’ve done over the last month?
A: It was the first time for all thirteen of us that we did that leg
properly. Last time, those of us who were onboard EF Education, we broke
our mast before we go into the deep south and so we didn’t really
experience the deep south. We haven’t got the anything to compare it
with. I think what we saw was awesome in it’s own right and definitely
has a place of its own, down in the depths of the Southern Ocean.
Q: Do you think that is a bit of an advantage?
A: You have to take on what’s thrown your way and make the most of it. We
did a good job.
Q: What scared you the most?
A: I wouldn’t say that I was ever really scared, but I was certainly a bit
stressed. I think I can speak for both Miranda and myself when I say that
three days, 24 hour radar watch was a bit stressful. That’s only natural.
There was a lot of responsibility on each one of us watching the radar to
keep eyes out for the crew and spot things they couldn’t see in the fog,
or in the sleet or snow.
Q: The race now shifts to shorter legs; do you think that gives you an
advantage, relatively speaking?
A: Possibly. I think as this race goes on, our performance is improving
every step of the way. We finished only 70 or 80 (correct me if I’m
wrong) miles behind News Corp on this leg, after 6,700 miles. As the legs
go on, we will keep improving and I think our chances keep improving all
the time.
Q: Do you have one particular memory from the last leg?
A: Rounding Cape Horn with a full spinnaker, a full suit of sails, bright
sunny day, after not seeing blue sky or sun for two weeks, just seeing
icebergs, sleet and snow. We had a great day rounding Cape Horn and it was
a sight for sore eyes, it really was. It was very special.
Q: The other crews are saying that it was terribly cold out there and they
are coming back with frostbite.
A: We had quite a lot of chilblains and minor frost nip and it is just a
long time in the cold. It was very cold; towards the end it was bitter
cold. It was nice to be leaving the icepack after a few days.
Q: Was it hard to motivate the girls?
A: Not really because the faster we went, the further we went quicker!
That’s pretty good motivation.
Southampton, England, February 21, 2002 1200 GMT
Amer Sports Too Brings Leg 4 To A Close
After hours of waiting in sight of the finish line, Amer Sports Too
crossed the finish line at 1106 GMT this morning. They were left behind
right after the start in New Zealand in the close racing conditions along
the coast after ballast problems in the first night. In the heavy air
running and reaching condition experienced in the Southern Ocean they
managed to sail as much as 385.3 miles which gave them their personal best
in the race so far. But it was hard to keep the pace with the other yachts
that were doing 400 mile runs.
When stepping ashore they have been surrounded by journalists and
photographers. Lisa McDonald said about their experience on leg 4: “We saw
everything on this leg icebergs, Southern Oven storms, heat and calm.
…..At Cape Horn we have been 460 miles behind the index pack and we managed
to come back to within 70 miles two days ago. We were pushing the boat as
hard as we could. The energy of this crew is unquestionable.”
Overall position after four legs pending protests
PS Yacht Leg 4 points Arrival Time Elapsed Time Combined Time PO Overall
Pos.
1 ILBK 8 19 FEB 02 05:58:42 023d 05h 58m 42s 085d 16h 33m 38s 29 1
2 DJCE 7 19 FEB 02 11:52:42 023d 11h 52m 42s 092d 06h 23m 59s 17 6
3 TYCO 6 19 FEB 02 13:04:52 023d 13h 04m 52s - 18 5
4 AART 5 19 FEB 02 14:22:21 023d 14h 22m 21s 089d 18h 56m 07s 20 3
5 AONE 4 19 FEB 02 14:50:55 023d 14h 50m 55s 086d 08h 41m 09s 22 2
6 NEWS 3 20 FEB 02 21:55:10 024d 21h 55m 10s 088d 20h 04m 50s 19 4
7 ATOO 2 21 FEB 02 11:05:50 025d 11h 06m 50s 099d 09h 24m 16s 7 8
8 TSEB 1 Retired ---------- ---------- 8 7
Southampton, England, February 21, 2002 1000 GMT
Drifting Towards The Line
For hours Amer Sports Too is left totally becalmed in virtually no wind in
sight of the finish line. The next hope must be that the tide turns and
pushes them over the finish line.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 26, 1000 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR ETA PO
7 ATOO 22 55.72S 043 08.48W 1 339 00.5 181 21 FEB 02 11:13 7
Southampton, England, February 20, 2002 0700 GMT
Waiting For The Sun
After good progress for most of the night, Amer Sports One got stuck right
in front of the harbour entrance to Rio, just four and a half miles from
the finish line. The sun rise in three hour will give hope for some
convection, creating a local breeze to help them over the final miles.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 25, 0700 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR ETA PO
7 ATOO 22 59.24S 043 08.52W 5 066 03.6 181 21 FEB 02 08:10 7
Overall position after four legs pending protests
PS Yacht Leg 4 points Arrival Time Elapsed Time Combined Time PO Overall Pos.
1 ILBK 8 19 FEB 02 05:58:42 023d 05h 58m 42s 085d 16h 33m 38s 29 1
2 DJCE 7 19 FEB 02 11:52:42 023d 11h 52m 42s 092d 06h 23m 59s 17 6
3 TYCO 6 19 FEB 02 13:04:52 023d 13h 04m 52s - 18 5
4 AART 5 19 FEB 02 14:22:21 023d 14h 22m 21s 089d 18h 56m 07s 20 3
5 AONE 4 19 FEB 02 14:50:55 023d 14h 50m 55s 086d 08h 41m 09s 22 2
6 NEWS 3 20 FEB 02 21:55:10 024d 21h 55m 10s 088d 20h 04m 50s 19 4
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