Southampton, England, March 19, 2002 Day 11
Hope for djuice
Though the frustrating black clouds and unpredictable winds of the Tropics
are now almost certainly in the past a different kind of torment is
setting in. Clear of the Doldrums the boats slide onto the Trade Wind
conveyor belt to Barbuda.
On the latest position report the gap between illbruck Challenge and her
nearest competitor, Neal McDonald’s ASSA ABLOY, had stretched to double
figures, 11nm. However, the boat speeds appear to have balanced out with
both ASSA ABLOY and Kevin Shoebridge’s third placed Team Tyco both shaving
off a mile over the last six hours. Another reason for the gap was that
ASSA ABLOY and Tyco luffed up to a more northerly course, while illbruck
stayed on the rhumbline. ASSA ABLOY and Tyco know that they have to try to
open a passing lane by slightly heading away from illbruck. Just following
the green and white German yacht will unlikely be enough to get in front.
“It keeps it interesting, we’ve always been in touch with the other boats,
it just makes every change, every sail change, every watch change super
critical,” said Kostecki. “It’s good, it makes you a better sailor.”
“Anything can happen in yacht racing, we’ve still got over 2,000 miles to
the finish, it would be nice to extend enough to start eliminating other
boats in this leg, but there’s a lot of distance to go to do that,”
explained Kostecki. The Californian skipper is being realistic, and going
on the past legs it is known by all gear breakage can happen at any time.
Now over 100 miles behind, still in fourth place, Gunnar Krantz’ Team SEB
has consolidated her lead over the chasing group, coming across the track
to within 20 miles of fifth placed Amer Sports One. The interesting battle
between Grant Dalton’s Amer One and Lisa McDonald’s all-women crew on Amer
Sports Too persists, however in the last 24 hours the boys have passed the
girls.
Of all the boats in the fleet Amer Sports One has certainly been
harbouring a large amount of tension and frustration. In videos from the
boat Dalton can clearly be seen venting some anger having such high
expectations on leaving the dock in Rio de Janeiro destroyed in one six
hour period. Co-skipper Bouwe Bekking explains, “It was just terrible when
the leaders got away. We were right behind them [the three leading boats].
Within half an hour they just disappeared over the horizon.”
To make matters worse on board the Nautor boys boat they have been chasing
the girls boat for the last couple of days. “There were mixed feelings on
board,” said Bekking. “It’s nice they’re doing well. It has been quite
nice sailing for them, it hasn’t been physically hard, and it shows they
can do very well. They have a nice boat and nice sails so it’s nice for
them – but,” emphasised the Dutch co-skipper, “it’s not nice for us.”
A boat that knows nothing but frustration since leading out of the Baia da
Guanabana 10 days ago before rapidly falling behind is Knut Frostad’s
djuice, now some 50 miles off the pace. “None of us are too happy with the
current situation but it’s part of this game and we just have to get on
and hope for an opportunity in the future,” said the Norwegian skipper.
Unfortunately he accepts there is little hope of a recovery in the next
couple of days as the team will be stuck in the lighter Tropical winds for
at least six hours longer than the rest of the fleet. As with Amer Sports
One the team was left in a windless zone, unfortunately they were left
there for several hours longer than any of the other teams. “The worst is
when you get the skeds and realise you are the only one who fell into the
latest parking lot. That’s horrible and it’s devastating for the crew,”
explained Frostad. Still trying to take the beating they get with humour,
they assume that their skipper Knut Frostad has done something wrong while
in Rio. They are trying hard to make him confess to get rid of the bad
spell they believe is slowing them down.
However the weather pattern at the moment is not particularly typical for
this time of year, as a deep depression way to the north has displaced the
Azores high that helps to indextain the trade winds. This has left a ridge
of weak high pressure across the Atlantic interrupted by a trough of low
pressure reaching down from the north.
At first a new low will pass to the north of the fleet before high
pressure dominates again. This is likely to mean that as the leaders
approach Barbuda the wind will lighten and allow the fleet to concertina
somewhat as the trailing boats hang onto the trade winds for longer. With
the Azores high re-establishing itself by the weekend and a series of
fronts coming off the USA, the final part of the leg could present
opportunities for a shake up and a change in positions. If an incentive
were necessary for the boats behind to keep pushing as hard as possible,
then this is it.
In just a week’s time the eight boats are expected in Miami, Florida, the
question is who will be first? Will Kostecki and his German entry hold the
lead, or will Team Tyco or ASSA ABLOY find a passing lane? One thing’s for
sure, Kostecki certainly won’t give up the advantage easily, especially
considering he’s racing into his home country. “We’d love to increase our
lead and extend – it’s quite competitive and everyone is working hard.
We’ll see what happens over the next few days,” said the typically guarded
Kostecki.
Southampton, England, March 19th, 2002 2200 GMT
Illbruck Edges Away
Illbruck is still indextaining the lead in the Volvo Ocean Race, and is
edging away from her close rivals. ASSA ABLOY retains second place, but
has dropped a further mile behind and is now 9 miles adrift. Tyco, in
third place, has lost a further 4 miles, and is now 14 miles off the
lead. In fact all boats have lost miles to the leader in the past 6 hours,
and the leaderboard reindexs unchanged.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 11, 2204 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 09 35.68N 050 59.84W 01951 310 14.9 342 000 +0 26 MAR 02 37
2 AART 09 25.28N 050 55.88W 01960 304 14.7 339 009 +01 27 MAR 02 27
3 TYCO 09 24.28N 050 50.52W 01965 304 14.4 343 014 +04 27 MAR 02 24
4 TSEB 08 11.56N 049 45.64W 02061 307 14.2 314 110 +05 27 MAR 02 17
5 AONE 08 10.72N 049 01.96W 02095 301 14.2 323 144 +08 27 MAR 02 26
6 NEWS 07 54.52N 048 34.04W 02127 306 14.7 314 176 +02 27 MAR 02 22
7 ATOO 07 36.68N 048 43.64W 02130 304 14.2 295 179 +04 27 MAR 02 9
8 DJCE 06 54.88N 048 08.32W 02184 302 14.5 313 233 +04 27 MAR 02 18
Southampton, England, March 19, 2002 1600 GMT
Drag Racing To Miami
After extending the lead previously, the latest sked shows that the big
bungee that seems to hold illbruck, ASSA ABLOY and Tyco together has been
overstretched. Illbruck lost and ASSA ABLOY gained a few miles. The three
yachts have managed to build a 100 plus mile lead over the closest
competitors, giving them a bit of a cushion for the things to come on the
way toward Miami.
Jason Carrington aboard ASSA ABLOY enjoys being back on board after
missing the last leg. He wrote: ”Life on deck simply does not get any
better than this, there is even time for a laugh as a flying fish hits
[Richard] Mason clean on the chin.”
Finally djuice has opened the brakes and is sailing as well in the 20-knot
fast reaching conditions. News Corp has claimed back sixth place from Amer
Sports Too, while Amer Sports One has extended her lead on News Corp.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 11, 1558 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 08 38.24N 049 51.12W 02040 309 14.5 334 0 +0 27 MAR 02 37
2 AART 08 36.36N 049 41.84W 02048 305 14.6 328 8 -3 27 MAR 02 27
3 TYCO 08 36.36N 049 38.56W 02050 303 15.0 335 10 -4 27 MAR 02 24
4 TSEB 07 20.40N 048 37.84W 02145 303 14.2 298 105 +1 27 MAR 02 17
5 AONE 07 28.28N 047 51.36W 02176 305 14.3 311 136 -2 27 MAR 02 26
6 NEWS 07 02.84N 047 22.52W 02214 303 13.7 291 174 +4 27 MAR 02 22
7 ATOO 06 48.80N 047 32.96W 02215 303 13.3 272 175 +7 27 MAR 02 9
8 DJCE 06 09.80N 046 54.64W 02269 308 13.3 276 229 +6 27 MAR 02 18
Southampton, England, March 19, 2002 1000 GMT
Djuice Under A Bad Spell?
In the fast trade wind sailing conditions, the thoughts of illbruck’s
skipper John Kostecki are advancing to the finish in the United States,
his home country. However he reckons that the tight racing will continue
for most of the way. Kostecki is very confident that the sail testing they
did prior to the start last September will give them the edge over their
closest competitors, ASSA ABLOY and Tyco.
Jez Fanstone’s News Corp crew is working the boat hard to overtake Amer
Sports Too, who are just three miles ahead and Amer Sports One another ten
miles in front.
Djuice is trying to take the beating they get with humour, assuming that
their skipper Knut Frostad has done something wrong while in Rio. They are
trying hard to make him confess to get rid of the bad spell they believe
is slowing them down.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 11, 1000 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 07 45.20N 048 45.60W 02123 304 13.7 335 0 +0 27 MAR 02 37
2 AART 07 46.28N 048 30.68W 02134 309 14.0 327 11 -1 27 MAR 02 27
3 TYCO 07 48.84N 048 24.96W 02137 307 13.9 328 14 -1 27 MAR 02 24
4 TSEB 06 35.72N 047 28.48W 02227 314 12.9 289 104 +7 27 MAR 02 17
5 AONE 06 39.08N 046 41.48W 02261 308 12.9 304 138 +6 27 MAR 02 26
6 ATOO 06 07.44N 046 27.72W 02291 310 11.8 261 168 +11 27 MAR 02 10
7 NEWS 06 19.20N 046 15.68W 02293 307 13.2 290 170 +2 27 MAR 02 21
8 DJCE 05 21.96N 045 54.08W 02346 308 11.9 261 223 +10 27 MAR 02 18
Southampton, England, March 19, 2002 0400 GMT
What does she have?
We can only ask ourselves again what does she have? Once more we are
watching illbruck increase her distance on all around her in the Volvo
Ocean Race as she puts even more miles between herself and her nearest
competitors in the last few hours, extending her leading to 12 nautical
miles over second placed ASSA ABLOY. Tyco is one of the few yachts to
have held her own and not lost any distance over the last six hours, she
reindexs 15 nautical miles behind the leader, which is opening up the fight
for second place once more, with only three miles separating ASSA ABLOY
and Tyco.
Whilst the back runners can just sit and hope they will soon be in the
trade winds, illbruck is speeding off with a speed over the last 24 hours
of 14 knots. Compare this to djuice’s run of just 9.1 knots and it is
clear to see why she is increasing her lead once more.
The jostling for places continues too further back in the fleet, with Amer
Sports One hot on the heels of SEB, closing the distance by the minute,
while News Corp is just 11 miles behind Amer Sports Too, the girls who
have sailed better than ever this leg will be pushing hard to avoid
loosing their current sixth position. Whether djuice is out of the
doldrums or not reindexs to be seen, although her 24hour speed is
disappointing, she’ll be pleased (and relieved) now that she is making
consistently 13 and 14 knots.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 11, 0359 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 06 57.80N 047 34.84W 02208 299 14.0 338 000 +0 27 MAR 02 37
2 AART 06 51.64N 047 23.80W 02220 303 13.3 329 012 +05 27 MAR 02 27
3 TYCO 06 57.44N 047 16.12W 02223 301 13.9 328 015 +00 27 MAR 02 24
4 TSEB 05 40.72N 046 31.32W 02305 317 11.5 280 097 +14 27 MAR 02 17
5 AONE 05 50.00N 045 39.28W 02340 308 12.6 303 132 +09 28 MAR 02 26
6 ATOO 05 20.08N 045 30.40W 02365 305 10.1 260 157 +24 28 MAR 02 10
7 NEWS 05 29.36N 045 09.68W 02376 299 10.9 283 168 +20 28 MAR 02 21
8 DJCE 04 35.44N 044 55.24W 02421 301 12.7 253 213 +09 28 MAR 02 18
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