Pressemitteilung der illbruck Challenge am 9. Tag der 5. Etappe des Volvo
Ocean Race
17. März 2002
„illbruck“ als Erste über den Äquator
Knappe Führung vor „Tyco“ und „Assa Abloy“ / Doldrums schadlos überstanden
27.000 Seemeilen liegen hinter Ihnen, einmal rund um die Welt. Jede Menge
Eisberge haben sie auf der Südhalbkugel gesehen und schwere Stürme erlebt
auch. In der Nacht zu Sonntag kreuzte die Leverkusener Hochseeyacht
„illbruck“ wieder den Äquator, diesmal nach Norden. Als erstes der acht
Teams segelte die Crew um Skipper John Kostecki in die nördliche
Hemisphäre und setzte damit die herausragende Erfolgsserie beim Volvo
Ocean Race vorläufig auch auf der fünften Etappe fort. Die dichtesten
Verfolger „Tyco“ (Bermudas) und „Assa Abloy“ (Schweden) blieben ausgangs
des Kalmengürtels drei und vier Seemeilen achteraus. Auf dem Weg von Rio
de Janeiro/Brasilien nach Miami/USA haben die Teilnehmer noch rund 2.800
der 4.450 Seemeilen nach und dürften mit dem einsetzenden Nordost-Passat
um den 26. März herum im Zielhafen eintreffen. Die „illbruck“ liegt auch
in der Gesamtwertung der härtesten Segelregatta der Welt vorn.
Der knappen Führung der „illbruck“ waren spannende Positionskämpfe des
Spitzen-Trios vorausgegangen, das tagelang in Sichtweite lag. „Ein
Bungee-Seil schien uns zusammenzuhalten“, glaubte Wachführer Mark „Crusty“
Christensen. Doch einmal mehr managte es das grünweiße Boot aus
Deutschland, den günstigsten Weg zwischen Regenwolken mit Flautenlöchern
hindurch zu finden. Mit 10,8 Knoten verzeichnete es am Sonntag Morgen die
schnellste aktuelle Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit aller. Der Rest der
Flotte, der eifrig die Plätze tauschte, fiel mit „SEB“ (Schweden/41),
„Amer Sports One“ (Finnland/Italien/63), „News Corp“ (Australien/73) sowie
der reinen Frauenmannschaft der „Amer Sports Too“ (75) noch vor der
norwegischen „djuice“ (78) schon deutlich zurück.
Für Mark Christensen war der Moment Grund genug, nochmals die
herausragende Leistung des Münchners Tony Kolb als Mechaniker an Bord nach
der frühen Kollision mit der „SEB“ herauszustellen. „Ich muss meinen Hut
vor ihm ziehen“, so der Wachführer, „er hat alles so akkurat repariert,
wie ich es nicht für möglich gehalten hätte.“ Außer dem Griff des
Wasserkessels liefen „alle Systeme wieder normal“. Vorschiffsmann Kolb
(25) hatte bereits auf der zweiten Etappe nach einem dramatischen
Wassereinbruch in der ersten Nacht auf der „illbruck“ die entscheidenden
Reparaturen eingeleitet. Sein Arbeitsplatz ist häufig die Spitze des Masts
oder auch das wellenüberspülte Vordeck.
Unterdessen warten die Fans gespannt auf die ersten Berichte und Bilder
der Äquatortaufen. Nach dieser uralten Sitte der Seefahrer „bestrafen“
König Neptun und seine Assistentin, die Nixe oder Dorschkönigin, die
Erstlinge bei der Äquatorüberquerung für ihre Sünden. Meist werden die
Segler mit allerlei stinkender Mixtur eingeschmiert, von der sie auch noch
kosten müssen. Auf der „illbruck“ traf dies nur den Steuermann und
Segeltrimmer Noel Drennan, da alle anderen bereits auf der ersten Etappe
von Southampton nach Kapstadt dabei waren.
Für weitere Informationen:
Andreas Kling
001/504/810-2122 0172/2578817
akling@illbruck-Challenge.com
http://media.illbruck-Challenge.de
http://www.illbruck.com
Southampton, England, March 17, 2002 Day 9
Girl Power On Amer Sports Too
With the equator crossed by all yachts over the course of the day, some of
the crews have experienced this crossing for the first time. The
ceremonial visit by King Neptune, and the penalties he has inflicted on
them will be over by now. Freddy Loof, helmsman on Amer Sports One was
really worried and he wrote: “For my own concern I will also make sure the
razors and the tools, which can make me suffer, slowly disappear later on
tonight. I am a little bit more concerned when it all will be happening
though, I was just up on deck steering for a few hours, slowly bearing off
from course, which is pretty much straight to the equator.”
On djuice Anthony Nossiter is under real threat as it is common thinking
that he will be punished for rounding Cape Horn naked. Mickey Lundh wrote
that “there are already rumours about a nude crossing by, yes you all
know. Onboard however the violin is playing rather different and one
person said why not let him dress up in a survival suit for a day or two.
That would teach him from running around nude in King Neptune’s paradise
(survival suit in 40 + degrees).”
On the race track, SEB was making the most of being the most westerly
yacht and gained on all around her, achieving the best speeds of the whole
fleet for extended periods. She has moved up to fourth place.
Unfortunately for News Corp, the most easterly yacht, this has meant that
she has been relegated to seventh position for the time being. Not only
has she lost places but also a lot of miles.
Bringing up the rear, djuice was not able holding off the advances made by
Lisa McDonald’s Amer Sports Too who pushed hard to overtake.
Once again the girls on Amer Sports Too have shown very good routing and
sailing. They have chosen a similar strategy to SEB, letting the boat run
on a more westerly course and pulled away from the guys around. The real
asset for them was the speed difference they were achieving, one knot
faster than News Corp and almost three knots faster than Amer Sports One.
Djuice was suffering from very light wind and was left behind. Lisa
McDonald is very confident that they will be able keep up the pace they
are showing now. Her husband Neal, skipper of second positioned ASSA ABLOY
says that he is very proud of the performance the all female team is
showing right now.
After being locked together with Tyco and ASSA ABLOY, illbruck managed to
get away from the two yachts by eight miles. John Kostecki, illbruck’s
skipper, said in a satellite interview: “We have a few miles lead now and
I hope it helps to get away. We sailed the boat really hard and we were
playing the clouds better than the competition. Chris Bedford, our
meteorologist trained everybody on board well, but Juan [Vila] had a big
impact on this.” Noel Drennan will face King Neptune in a few hours, as it
was dark when illbruck crossed the equator. John Kostecki expects the
trade winds to set in tomorrow to get a quick ride to Miami, 2700 nautical
miles away. A little later, illbruck gave up the cover on ASSA ABLOY and
Tyco, who luffed slightly up to a more northerly course, and gained
several miles on illbruck.
SEB has clearly left the trailing group and pushes as hard as they can to
get in contact with the leaders.
Equator Crossing Times (GMT):
illbruck 0132; Tyco 0138; ASSA ABLOY 0153;
News Corp 0554; Amer Sports One 0820; SEB 1137; Amer Sports Too 1325;
djuice 1335;
22.00
Day 9 of the Volvo Ocean Race,
and the girls on Amer Sports Too are
continuing to make inroads on the rest of the Fleet. They are holding on
to 5th place, and what is more they have made further gains. In the last
6 hours they have increased the distance from News Corp, currently in 7th
place, by 6 miles, and have an extra 3 miles on Djuice who is bringing up
the rear. They reindex 13 miles ahead of their team mates in Amer Sports
One, who are still in 6th position. They have also reduced the distance
to the current joint leaders, Illbruck, and ASSA ABLOY by 6 miles, which
puts them 76 miles off the pace. The leading 3 boats reindex locked in
mortal combat, with Illbruck and ASSA ABLOY neck and neck, and Tyco just
2 miles behind in 3rd place.
The boats will shortly be approaching the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone
(ITCZ), otherwise known as the Doldrums. This area, sandwiched between the
weather systems of the northern and southern hemispheres, is an ever
moving phenomenon, which at this time of the year is located around the
latitude of 5 degrees north, and has a north/south span of 3 – 400 miles.
The current forecast suggests that the boats may escape with just very
light winds of around 5 knots, in this area, and will, hopefully, escape
being completely becalmed.
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 AART 03 02.16N 041 48.16W 02625 325 10.9 271 000 -1 27 MAR 02 28
2 ILBK 02 57.92N 041 51.16W 02625 325 10.6 267 000 +00 27 MAR 02 36
3 TYCO 02 58.76N 041 47.28W 02627 323 10.8 266 002 -02 27 MAR 02 24
4 TSEB 01 24.12N 042 18.80W 02664 319 11.8 263 039 -09 28 MAR 02 17
5 ATOO 01 11.36N 041 41.12W 02701 320 11.2 256 076 -05 28 MAR 02 11
6 AONE 01 41.44N 040 58.68W 02714 315 11.2 229 089 -05 28 MAR 02 25
7 NEWS 01 58.00N 040 24.60W 02730 316 10.2 213 105 +01 28 MAR 02 21
8 DJCE 00 54.76N 040 53.36W 02748 302 11.0 202 123 -04 28 MAR 02 18
Southampton, England, March 17, 2002 1600 GMT
Girls On The Move
Lisa McDonald is very confident that they will be able keep up the pace
they are showing now. Her husband Neal, skipper of second positioned ASSA
ABLOY told that he is very proud of the performance the all female team is
showing right now.
News Corp and djuice lost heavily over the last six hours as they were
engulfed by light winds, slowing them down for several hours. SEB has
clearly left the trailing group and will do everything to get in contact
with the leaders. There, illbruck gave up the cover on ASSA ABLOY and Tyco
who luffed slightly up to a more northerly course and gained several miles
on illbruck.
Neal McDonald expects the northeasterly trade wind to set in tomorrow,
speeding them up toward Miami. The most important factor for the next 2500
miles will be pure boat speed.
Equator Crossing Times (GMT):
SEB 1137; Amer Sports Too 1325; djuice 1335;
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 9, 1558 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 02 05.68N 041 14.96W 02686 318 11.3 262 0 +0 27 MAR 02 37
2 AART 02 09.00N 041 10.28W 02687 321 12.2 263 1 -7 27 MAR 02 27
3 TYCO 02 07.24N 041 08.16W 02690 319 12.0 259 4 -5 27 MAR 02 24
4 TSEB 00 31.32N 041 32.28W 02734 315 10.7 263 48 +2 28 MAR 02 17
5 ATOO 00 19.80N 040 58.60W 02767 315 11.2 250 81 -1 28 MAR 02 11
6 AONE 00 54.12N 040 11.32W 02780 324 09.6 225 94 +8 28 MAR 02 25
7 NEWS 01 14.28N 039 42.20W 02790 334 08.6 207 104 +19 28 MAR 02 21
8 DJCE 00 19.92N 039 57.84W 02813 321 09.5 199 127 +10 28 MAR 02 18
Southampton, England, March 17, 2002 1000 GMT
Girl Power
Once again the girls on Amer Sports Too have shown very good routing and
sailing over the last few hours. They have chosen a similar strategy to
SEB, letting the boat run on a more westerly course and pulling away from
the guys nearby. Right now they have only pulled three miles out of News
Corp and four out of Amer Sports One. The real asset for them is the speed
difference they are achieving, as they are one knot faster than News Corp
and almost three knots faster than Amer Sports One. Djuice is suffering
from very light wind and is left behind.
After being locked together with Tyco and ASSA ABLOY, illbruck managed to
get away from the two yachts by eight miles. John Kostecki, illbruck’s
skipper said in a satellite interview: “We have a few miles lead now and I
hope it helps to get away. We sailed the boat really hard and we were
playing the clouds better than the competition. Chris Bedford, our
meteorologist trained everybody on board well, but Juan [Vila] had a big
impact on this.” Noel Drennan will face King Neptune in a few hours, as it
was dark when illbruck crossed the equator. John Kostecki expects the
trade winds to set in soon to get a quick ride to Miami, 2750 nautical
miles away.
Equator Crossing Times (GMT):
illbruck 0132; Tyco 0138; ASSA ABLOY 0153;
News Corp 0554; Amer Sports One 0820;
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 9, 1000 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 01 16.92N 040 31.40W 02750 321 11.7 263 0 +0 27 MAR 02 37
2 AART 01 13.04N 040 24.68W 02758 324 11.4 259 8 +4 27 MAR 02 27
3 TYCO 01 14.36N 040 22.72W 02759 324 11.0 256 9 +6 27 MAR 02 24
4 TSEB 00 12.36S 040 48.44W 02796 316 10.9 264 46 +5 28 MAR 02 17
5 ATOO 00 26.64S 040 12.88W 02832 298 10.7 244 82 +7 28 MAR 02 11
6 NEWS 00 29.52N 039 20.48W 02835 320 09.7 222 85 +12 28 MAR 02 22
7 AONE 00 07.92N 039 37.84W 02836 323 08.1 236 86 +23 28 MAR 02 24
8 DJCE 00 22.80S 039 23.20W 02867 323 05.4 206 117 +39 28 MAR 02 18
Southampton, England, March 17, 2002 0400 GMT
First Out, First Home?
Despite the hard racing that is going on amongst the fleet in the Volvo
Ocean Race the first three boats illbruck, Tyco and ASSA ABLOY, have now
passed back into the Northern Hemisphere and will be preparing their
“First Timers” to face the fines for such a crime, the penalties of which
are about to be imposed by King Neptune. We’ll have to wait until later
to hear details of the exact punishment administered, but, one of the
equatorial first timers onboard Amer Sports One, Freddy Loof is fearing
that his punishment is going to involve a mixture of porridge and a
strawberry protein drink that the guys have aboard!
As the fleet heads back in to the Northern hemisphere and starts to get
closer to completing its circumnavigation, it is noticeable that illbruck
the current leaders, were also the first yacht over the equator heading
south, some five months and 27,000 miles ago on the first leg of the Volvo
Ocean Race to Cape Town. Recent thoughts on third placed ASSA ABLOY echo
this. The crew of ASSA ABLOY who was one of the yachts in the front pack
on the way south, have been contemplating what has been achieved as a team
since that first leg, and also the experiences they have come up against –
from the dolphins and whales spotted on Leg 1 to the iceberg dodging and
near knock downs on Leg four, but most importantly how far they have come
as a group of people, and how the team has grown in strength.
News Corp is still loosing ground having been hit by some fickle winds
over the last few hours. This gave Amer Sports One the advantage they
were waiting for, and they have managed to squeeze ten miles ahead.
Another yacht also making gains, though not on the leading pack, is Amer
Sports Too, she has seized her opportunity and is currently lying three
miles ahead of last placed djuice. The racing is closer than ever as the
whole fleet continues to head north.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 9, 0358 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 00 21.48N 039 46.12W 02821 321 10.8 260 000 +0 27 MAR 02 37
2 TYCO 00 19.88N 039 42.80W 02824 321 10.5 256 003 +02 27 MAR 02 25
3 AART 00 17.76N 039 44.12W 02825 319 10.7 257 004 +01 27 MAR 02 26
4 TSEB 01 00.36S 040 02.28W 02862 318 10.4 263 041 +01 28 MAR 02 17
5 AONE 00 31.56S 039 07.56W 02884 324 09.5 249 063 +08 28 MAR 02 26
6 NEWS 00 16.20S 038 42.60W 02894 329 07.8 225 073 +20 28 MAR 02 22
7 ATOO 00 57.24S 039 14.56W 02896 308 10.0 241 075 +04 28 MAR 02 9
8 DJCE 00 49.28S 039 03.24W 02899 312 08.2 233 078 +14 28 MAR 02 18
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