Oceanracing 2001 - Volvo Ocean Race 2001/2002

Volvo Ocean Race - Leg 5 - Tagesberichte
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Pressemitteilung der illbruck Challenge vom 3. Tag der 5. Etappe des Volvo Ocean Race
11. März 2002
„illbruck“ auf der Aufholjagd schon Fünfter
Rote Laterne für Sünder „SEB“ / Vorsprung der führenden „News Corp“ schmilzt
Cabo Frio – Die nach einer Kollision mit der schwedischen „SEB“ vor Cabo Frio/Brasilien auf den letzten Platz zurückgefallene Leverkusener Hochseeyacht „illbruck“ rollt das Feld beim Volvo Ocean Race von hinten auf. Am Montag Nachmittag lag die Crew um Skipper John Kostecki auf der fünften Etappe der härtesten Segelregatta der Welt von Rio de Janeiro nach Miami/USA schon auf dem fünften Platz. Bei der Aufholjagd hatte sie über Tag ihren härtesten Verfolger in der Gesamtwertung, „Amer Sports One“ (Finnland/Italien), hinter sich gelassen. An der Spitze war der frühe Vorsprung der australischen „News Corp“ auf zwölf Seemeilen vor „Assa Abloy“ (Schweden) und „djuice“ (Norwegen) zusammengeschrumpft. „Tyco“ (Bermudas) folgte mit der „illbruck“ eine Seemeile zurück. Die „SEB“ hielt die rote Laterne noch hinter den Frauen von „Amer Sports Too“. Noch waren jedoch mehr als 4.000 der 4.450 Seemeilen zu segeln.
In einer Email von Bord beschrieb „illbruck“-Skipper John Kostecki nochmals das Ramming aus seiner Sicht. Dabei sei ihm äußerst unverständlich, warum jemand auf einer 4.450 Seemeilen langen Etappe so knapp steuert und ein so hohes Risiko eingeht. „Das dürfte nicht mit einem 720-Grad-Strafkringel wieder gutzumachen sein“, so Kostecki, „das unnötige Manöver hat uns zurückgeworfen und wird uns weiter verfolgen.“ Die ersten Reparaturen unter der Münchner Bootsbauers und Vorschiffsmanns Tony Kolb wurden weiter verbessert. Unterdessen äußerte sich „SEB“-Skipper Gunnar Krantz, der in der vorigen Etappe einen Mastbruch erlitten hatte, in seiner Email von Bord nur mit einem lapidaren Halbsatz zu dem Vorfall: „Die 720-Grad-Drehung hilft nicht, aber es ist schön, wieder beim Rennen dabei zu sein.“

Nachfolgend die vollständige Email von Bord von Skipper John Kostecki:
Ist ein 720er-Strafkringel genug?
10. März 2002
Aus irgendeinem Grund ist der erste Tag einer Etappe immer berüchtigt dafür, dass uns etwas seltsames passiert. In der zweiten Etappe sind wir kurz hinter Kapstadt beinahe gesunken. In der dritten Etappe segelten wir durch einen Tornado...und jetzt in der fünften Etappe rammte uns SEB, als sich die Wege kreuzten. Es passierte so:
Es war immer noch hell, und die ganze Flotte kreuzte aus Rio heraus die Küstenlinie hoch. Wir hatten Wind von Steuerbord, und SEB kam von der Küstenseite. An diesem Tag hatte sich unser Weg bereits etwa drei- oder viermal mit SEB ziemlich dicht gekreuzt. Beide Boote hatten schmale, nicht-überlappende Focks gesetzt. Es war also leicht, den anderen klar zu sehen. Wir dachten, sie werden gleich routinemäßig hinter uns vorbeifahren.

Aber als sich ihr Bug uns näherte, tauchte dieser nicht wie üblich hinter uns ein (änderte den Kurs). Ich war besorgt, denn zu dem Zeitpunkt sah ich ihren Bug direkt auf uns zuhalten, und ich dachte, sie werden uns mittschiffs treffen. Erst im letzten Moment starteten sie das Ausweichmanöver, steuerten aber nicht tief genug. Sie trafen uns etwa ein Meter vor dem Heck an backbord, rissen ein Loch in unser Boot und die hinterste Doppelrelingstütze (Heckkorb) sauber ab.
Es war seltsam, weil der Wind nur mit 13 Knoten wehte, kein anderes Boot in der Nähe war und wir keine unerwartete Böe hatten. Wir zeigten ihnen sofort an, dass wir gegen sie protestieren, und sie drehten einen doppelten Strafkringel (720 Grad). Aber ist ein 720er ausreichend als Strafe bei so einem Fehler? Ich denke nicht. Ich denke, wer ein Hochseerennen von 4.500 Seemeilen segelt, muss sein Boot nicht in so eine enge Situation bringen wie SEB es tat. Der ganze Vorfall hat uns Zeit gekostet und wird uns das ganze restliche Rennen verfolgen.
John Kostecki
Skipper der illbruck Challenge
Southampton, England, March 11, 2002 Day Three
Is there a boatbuilder on board?
For illbruck that was the six million dollar question. Luckily Tony Kolb, sailmaker and boatbuilder will have been able to come to the rescue. Unluckily for him, both skills were required as not long after their collision with SEB, the Code Zero was pulled out of the water in bits, also requiring substantial attention.
One metre forward from the transom, illbruck has a deep fist size hole cut into the deck edge by SEB’s bow, exposing the yellow Kevlar fibre which is used in the construction of the V.O.60’s. As illbruck moved forward at around eight knots of boat speed, SEB’s bow became entangled in illbruck’s lifelines and tore off the two stanchions that form the pushpit. The force of the collision has loosened the base of the forward stanchion that doubles as a padeye for the fastening of the spinnaker sheet block. The pushpit was completely destroyed before SEB’s bow cleared illbruck.
So the first job for Tony Kolb was to co-ordinate the urgent repairs to the deck gear still needed to sail the boat and to assess the hull damage and make them watertight in order to prevent further damage. Once a hole has been made, further delamination may have already occurred in the area, following the impact and it is essential for the crew of illbruck that this damage is controlled until the boat reaches Miami at the end of this leg. At this stage it will be very difficult for the crew to assess the full extent of the damage, which may not be apparent until the boat reaches Miami. The materials to work with need to be kept dry at all costs, and the Kevlar in the hull cannot easily be cut and can prove extremely difficult to work with.
Repairs can be carried out to the hole and scratches in the hull while the boat is racing, but they will be remedial, not structural and could be liable to further failure. It is also made more difficult with the crew weight on the wrong side of the boat; three men to leeward, rather than on the windward side will not help keep the boat’s speed to the maximum.
In order to complete the job efficiently, it would require full boatyard back up with electrical power tools and a heat curing facility. All illbruck can do now on the water is to minimise the effect of the damage. The load for the spinnaker sheet block will need to be distributed over a structurally sound area, as the area where the padeye for the block was weakened considerably through the collision. This could be done with webbing around the quarter itself, with further strop support to the transom and then to hang the block off this. The crew will then need to check this temporary system regularly for chafe, given the considerable loadings that the Code Zero and the spinnaker put on this area of the hull.
illbruck can only hope to prevent water ingress and any additional damage from the lamination repair from on board; if the area is already damp or wet then this will prove extremely difficult, as it is essential that the entire section is completely dry for the repair work to reindex effective.
Not long after the collision, illbruck suffered further gear failure, when the strop to her Code Zero halyard parted. The sail fell down into the water and then needed repairing before further use. Unfortunately this meant that once again illbruck was down on boat speed while the onboard sailmaking team took a couple of hours to repair the sail.
Meanwhile, News Corp has extended her lead on the fleet, sailing in less current along the coast and djuice has moved up to second place with ASSA ABLOY hot on her heels. Amer Sports Too is fighting to keep SEB in last position.

Southampton, England, March 11, 2002 2200 GMT
Torture for News Corp
News Corp has lost the lead to ASSA ABLOY, having made early gains on the Volvo Ocean Race fleet with her tack north, just after Cabo Frio. In the last position report News Corp’s margin was almost halved from the previous six hourly sked and now through lack of wind, she has watched as ASSA ABLOY, illbruck, djuice and Amer Sports One have pushed her into fifth position. In total this has amounted to a loss to News Corp of 27 miles over twelve hours.
The fleet further offshore are enjoying good sunshine and 10 -12 knots wind as Steve Hayles put it earlier from Tyco, “Champagne sailing.” Navigators are anticipating that the fleet will start to split over the next few hours, making it harder to stay in sight of each other. This will be down to optimum sailing angles and different sail selections for each boat’s best possible performance on this point of sailing where boatspeed is paramount.

Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day Three, 2156 GMT

PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 AART 18 41.68S 037 50.08W 04083 023 09.6 230 0 -12 27 MAR 02 28
2 ILBK 18 42.20S 037 50.88W 04084 024 09.6 232 1 -12 27 MAR 02 36
3 DJCE 18 44.24S 037 49.92W 04086 024 09.2 227 3 -9 27 MAR 02 23
4 AONE 18 45.04S 037 50.52W 04087 024 09.5 225 4 -10 27 MAR 02 27
5 NEWS 18 28.44S 038 43.72W 04087 027 06.9 202 4 +4 27 MAR 02 23
6 TYCO 18 46.12S 037 47.56W 04087 019 09.0 225 4 -9 27 MAR 02 21
7 ATOO 18 49.60S 037 53.36W 04092 028 09.4 224 9 -9 27 MAR 02 9
8 TSEB 18 53.20S 038 01.20W 04097 033 08.7 220 14 -5 27 MAR 02 13

Southampton, England, March 11, 2002 1600 GMT
Hot and sultry
After the freezing temperatures of the Southern Ocean on the last leg, the crews on the Volvo Ocean Race are now experiencing the other extreme. Life below decks is warm and humid, night-time is bringing thunderstorms and wind squalls and the navigators are trying to pick their way through the black clouds, which make the wind speed and direction extremely changeable. Sleep during the day is almost impossible.
The boats are now settled onto the stretch north towards Recife, just over 750 miles away and concentration is high for the boats, now tightly packed together. News Corp out in the lead was expecting the wind to lift them and increase slightly, and at the same time Jez Fanstone was wary of the night-time conditions, “Last night we had winds between 8.5 and 28.5 knots and shifts of 40 degrees”.
ASSA ABLOY, djuice, illbruck and Amer Sports One reindex very close together in the middle of the track with SEB to the west and Tyco to the east. The fleet offshore has marginally more breeze than News Corp.

Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day Three, 1558 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 NEWS 19 05.40S 039 03.32W 04128 012 07.3 209 0 0 27 MAR 02 27
2 AART 19 34.36S 038 14.08W 04140 021 09.2 215 12 -12 27 MAR 02 27
3 DJCE 19 34.52S 038 13.88W 04140 021 09.1 216 12 -11 27 MAR 02 23
4 TYCO 19 37.08S 038 06.36W 04141 018 09.4 214 13 -13 27 MAR 02 23
5 ILBK 19 34.80S 038 15.12W 04141 020 09.2 216 13 -13 27 MAR 02 33
6 AONE 19 36.44S 038 14.96W 04142 020 09.2 211 14 -12 27 MAR 02 25
7 ATOO 19 38.80S 038 21.24W 04146 018 09.1 208 18 -12 27 MAR 02 9
8 TSEB 19 36.56S 038 30.48W 04147 013 09.0 207 19 -11 27 MAR 02 13

Southampton, England, March 11, 2002 1000 GMT
Big Bang Details
The German Volvo Ocean Race entry, illbruck Challenge, has sent in a video clip that shows details of the damage done to their boat during the collision with SEB. One metre forward of the transom is a deep fist size hole cut into the deck edge by SEB’s bow, exposing the yellow Kevlar fibre of which the V.O.60’s are built. As illbruck moved forward with approximately eight knots of boat speed, SEB’s bow got entangled in illbruck’s lifelines and ripped off the two stanchions that form the pushpit. The force has loosened the base of the forward stanchion that doubles as a padeye for the fastening of the spinnaker sheet block. The pushpit was completely destroyed before SEB’s bow cleared illbruck.
Djuice has moved into second and looks like having a slight speed advantage as all the yachts experience almost identical sailing conditions. News Corp experiences eddies of the Brazilian current that form a counter current and push her northwards. ASSA ABLOY is in hot pursuit of djuice. Amer Sports One has slightly improved on boat speed while the girls on Amer Sports Too are fighting to leave SEB at the rear of the fleet.

Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 3, 0956 GMT

PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 NEWS 19 48.20S 039 13.20W 04171 022 09.3 195 0 +0 27 MAR 02 27
2 DJCE 20 25.32S 038 34.16W 04194 021 09.5 190 23 -2 27 MAR 02 24
3 AART 20 25.64S 038 34.92W 04195 020 09.7 189 24 -1 27 MAR 02 26
4 TYCO 20 30.04S 038 25.20W 04197 026 09.0 190 26 +3 27 MAR 02 23
5 AONE 20 27.96S 038 35.28W 04197 021 09.5 186 26 -1 27 MAR 02 26
6 ILBK 20 27.96S 038 35.88W 04197 021 09.7 190 26 +0 27 MAR 02 32
7 ATOO 20 30.24S 038 39.32W 04201 020 09.4 184 30 +0 27 MAR 02 9
8 TSEB 20 29.08S 038 43.64W 04201 018 09.4 182 30 +0 27 MAR 02 13

Southampton, England, March 11, 2002 0400 GMT
News Corp Extends Lead
While the seven yachts of the index pack are tightly grouped together, News Corp managed to extend her lead further inshore. News Corp could still gain from the early advantage of the weaker Brazilian current closer to the coast of Brazil. Once Jez Fanstone decides to go further offshore, this advantage should be equalized.
Further offshore, djuice is holding pace with Tyco and ASSA ABLOY, both yachts that have been fast in these particular conditions on previous legs. Illbruck is back in contact with the leaders of this pack after finding herself in a very unusual last position after a collision and sail problems. Amer Sports One dropped from second just six hours ago to seventh, but has not reported any technical problems. SEB and Amer Sports Too are racing each other at the back of the fleet, fighting hard to stay with the fleet. In the reaching conditions the yachts gain by quick reaction to little puffs and through adapting properly to small wind shifts. They are sailing in a 15-knot easterly breeze.

Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 3, 0358 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 NEWS 20 39.72S 039 35.44W 04227 015 10.3 180 0 +0 27 MAR 02 27
2 TYCO 21 18.44S 038 50.44W 04250 026 10.1 181 23 +1 27 MAR 02 25
3 DJCE 21 19.12S 038 56.40W 04252 024 10.0 178 25 +3 27 MAR 02 23
4 AART 21 19.40S 038 56.16W 04252 027 09.9 177 25 +2 27 MAR 02 25
5 ILBK 21 20.36S 038 56.96W 04253 026 10.1 177 26 +1 27 MAR 02 33
6 AONE 21 20.60S 038 57.20W 04254 032 09.4 174 27 +7 27 MAR 02 25
7 ATOO 21 22.72S 039 00.16W 04257 028 09.6 173 30 +5 27 MAR 02 9
8 TSEB 21 22.80S 039 01.92W 04257 026 09.7 172 30 +3 27 MAR 02 13