14. Tag der 5. Etappe des Volvo Ocean Race
22. März 2002
Die letzten 1000 sm werden trickreich
Vorsprung der „illbruck“ von 17 sm vor „Assa Abloy“ ist alles andere als
beruhigend
Miami – Abnehmender, auf Ost drehender Wind, wechselnde Strömungen und
Flautenlöcher warten auf die Teilnehmer des Volvo Ocean Race, die am
Wochenende auf die letzten 1.000 Seemeilen der fünfte Etappe von Rio de
Janeiro/Brasilien nach Miami/USA gehen. Obwohl die Leverkusener
Hochseeyacht „illbruck“ ihren Vorsprung nochmals leicht auf nunmehr 17
Seemeilen vor der „Assa Abloy“ (Schweden) und 20 vor der „Tyco“ (Bermudas)
ausgebaut hat, verspricht das Finish Spannung. „Das Rennen ist alles
andere als gelaufen“, meint illbruck Challenge-Meteorologe Chris Bedford.
Im Morgengrauen, am Freitag Vormittag in Deutschland, passierte die
„illbruck“ mit dem seit Tagen frischen Nordostpassat als Erste Bebuda
Island in der Karibik. Dies ist der nordöstlichste Wegpunkt auf der
Strecke nach Florida. „Der Wind wird aber in den nächsten 36 Stunden
deutlich nachlassen und örtlich löchrig werden“, so Bedford. Das könnte
den nachfolgenden Booten Gelegenheiten zum Aufschließen bieten. Denn nach
vorübergehender Rückkehr des stetigen Passatwinds ist auf den letzten
Seemeilen vor Miami eine ähnlich schwache Brise möglich, wie zuletzt vorm
Zieleinlauf in Rio, als die „illbruck“ teilweise nur noch im Schritttempo
vorwärts kam. Allerdings dürften die Podiumsplätze aller Voraussicht nach
nur noch unter den drei jetzt führenden Booten vergeben werden, denn der
Rest des Felds liegt angeführt von der „SEB“ (Schweden/116 sm) schon mehr
als 150 Seemeilen zurück.
„Während einer Nachtwache innerhalb von vier Stunden wechselt der Strom
schon jetzt um 270 Grad und zwischen null auf 1,5 Knoten“, berichtete
„illbruck“-Navigator Juan Vila von den trickreichen Bedingungen. Trotz
sternenklaren Himmel, lichtem Mondschein und Temperaturen um 25 Grad dürfe
die Mannschaft zu keiner Zeit zu träumen anfangen. Bis voraussichtlich
Dienstag Abend (26. März) müssen die Weltumsegler noch kämpfen, bis die
4.450-Seemeilen-Etappe durch teils brütende Hitze entschieden sein sollte.
Dann folgt eine Ruhepause bis zum 14. April, wenn es nach Baltimore in
Maryland weitergeht.
Southampton, England, March 22, 2002 1000 GMT
Land Ho, illbruck
Illbruck, ASSA ABLOY and Tyco are about to pass Barbuda in lighter
southwesterly winds than they have been experiencing over the last few
days. After passing the island, they will have to decide where to position
themselves for the downwind course, depending where they expect the next
wind shift to come from.
Meanwhile SEB, making the biggest gains over the last hours and still
sailing in stronger reaching conditions, closed the gap to illbruck to
under 100 miles and was putting another three miles on the distance to
Amer Sports One. Djuice, Amer Sports Too and News Corp are still reaching
in an easterly breeze and will make more gains on the leaders.
At present Volvo Ocean Race official photographer, Rick Tomlinson is
airborne to get the latest images from the yachts passing Barbuda. Please
check for the latest images at http://media.vemuk.com later today.
Southampton, England, March 22nd, 2002, 2200 GMT
Beware the Bermuda Triangle
The positions of the leading 3 yachts competing in the Volvo Ocean Race
reindex unchanged, with no gains or losses being recorded in the past 6
hours. The reindexing 5 boats have also indextained the same order, but all
have made significant gains on the leader. SEB has knocked 18 miles off
her deficit, Amer Sports 1, 22 miles, News Corp 23, Amer Sports Too, 11
and Djuice 9.
The yachts are just entering the Bermuda Triangle, which is a stretch of
the Atlantic Ocean bordered by a line from Florida to the islands of
Bermuda, to Puerto Rico and then back to Florida. The area has what seems
to be an undeserved reputation for swallowing up a disproportionate number
of vessels and aircraft entering its boundaries. It is one of the biggest
mysteries of our time - that isn't really a mystery. Significantly a check
of Lloyd's of London's accident records by the editor of Fate in 1975
showed that the triangle was a no more dangerous part of the ocean than
many others. U.S. Coast Guard records confirmed this and since that time
no good arguments have ever been made to refute those statistics. So the
Bermuda Triangle mystery disappeared, in the same way many of its supposed
victims had vanished. No doubt the crews on the Volvo yachts have more
pressing matters on their minds, rather than pondering this maritime
mystery story.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 14, 2207 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 19 11.16N 063 23.72W 1019 314 10.4 284 0 0 26/03/02 10:45 37
2 AART 18 54.96N 063 11.28W 1037 317 10.5 285 18 0 26/03/02 12:13 27
3 TYCO 18 52.80N 063 11.32W 1038 316 10.3 286 19 0 26/03/02 12:22 24
4 TSEB 18 22.32N 062 15.48W 1099 325 11.7 321 80 -18 26/03/02 17:28 17
5 AONE 17 53.12N 061 50.44W 1135 325 12.2 323 116 -22 26/03/02 20:25 26
6 NEWS 17 48.96N 061 46.32W 1140 322 12.1 332 121 -23 26/03/02 20:53 22
7 ATOO 17 21.04N 060 55.48W 1196 329 10.8 302 177 -11 27/03/02 01:26 9
8 DJCE 16 57.08N 061 01.32W 1218 317 11.6 324 199 -9 27/03/02 03:24 18
Southampton, England, March 22, 1600 GMT
Patience pays off for illbruck
After rounding Barbuda, the leading yacht illbruck continued on starboard
tack taking advantage of the left-hand wind shift, that followed the
initial swing to the southeast. Therefore they could go on course towards
Miami without an additional maneuver. ASSA ABLOY gybed onto port
immediately after passing Barbuda, while Tyco carried on for another 15
miles before following. After three more gybes, Tyco has caught ASSA
ABLOY, but both yachts have lost precious miles to John Kostecki’s
illbruck.
News Corp has closed in on Amer Sports One, the first yacht they have seen
on this leg since the first night out of Rio. Both yachts cut some miles
on SEB, now 40 miles in front. Djuice gained four miles on Amer Sports
Too, who’s all female crew is fighting to beat the boys on djuice into
Miami.
The easterly airflow should continue for some more days, allowing the
yachts to finish as planned.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 14, 1627 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 18 28.04N 062 36.44W 1079 310 11.6 300 0 0 26/03/02 09:50 37
2 AART 18 09.20N 062 26.44W 1097 307 10.4 296 18 +7 26/03/02 11:17 27
3 TYCO 18 09.08N 062 26.04W 1098 307 10.8 299 19 +5 26/03/02 11:21 24
4 TSEB 17 25.08N 061 33.40W 1177 324 13.7 340 98 +1 26/03/02 17:58 17
5 AONE 16 53.40N 061 07.28W 1217 316 14.2 337 138 -3 26/03/02 21:19 26
6 NEWS 16 51.80N 061 00.20W 1223 319 14.7 350 144 -5 26/03/02 21:48 22
7 ATOO 16 27.60N 060 21.48W 1267 321 13.2 321 188 +4 27/03/02 01:30 9
8 DJCE 16 06.88N 060 11.88W 1287 307 13.7 341 208 0 27/03/02 03:11 18
Southampton, England, March 22, 2002 Day 22
Nine Sailors On The Way Home
With the United States and the stopover port of Miami about 1000 miles
away, six guys and three women are heading home. So it is worth taking a
closer look at the Americans in the Volvo Ocean Race who contribute on
four of the eight yachts sailing the nine-leg race.
The most outstanding personality is illbruck’s skipper John Kostecki, who
mounted a potentially winning campaign for German Michael Illbruck. Born
in Pittsburgh, USA in 1964, he has already bought home the Soling World
Champion title in 1986 and 1988, only to top it with the silver medal at
the 1988 Olympic games. Even though enjoying the lead right now, John
recently shared his thoughts in an email from on board: “Hopefully these
trade winds will hold so we get to Miami soon. It has been a while since I
have been to the States so I am really looking forward to the American
qualities of life.” But still, he is the only American aboard illbruck and
relied heavily on Kiwi experience to man his boat.
The second US skipper is the head of the all female crew aboard Amer
Sports Too, Lisa McDonald. McDonald considers herself to be one lucky
sailor. After giving up looking for sponsorship for her own Volvo Ocean
Race campaign with fellow American and EF Education alumni Katie Pettibone
last year, a ready-made project looking for a skipper and crew fell into
her lap. Even though she is married to Englishman Neal, and is entitled to
UK citizenship, she holds on to her American passport. On this leg she’s
managed to push boat and crew to give the guys a real run for their money,
right now the team is defending their position against djuice. Finishing
ahead of a boy’s boat is important to her as she revealed: “We managed to
sneak up behind the boys on Amer Sports One and play cat and mouse in the
clouds for a few hours, we even got over them at one stage - wish I had
taken a picture.” Alongside Pettibone, the third American on board is
Melissa Purdy. Melissa, who owns a Pizzeria, sails on board as trimmer,
while Katie leads one of the two watches due to her professional yachting
background.
Three Americans are sailing on ASSA ABLOY, the second Swedish entry in
this race besides SEB. While skipper Neal McDonald from the south of
England heads the boat, navigator and co-skipper Mark “Rudi” Rudiger from
California is calling the shots. He brings in the wealth of experience he
gained when winning the race four years ago with fellow American Paul
Cayard. As his experience comes indexly from ocean racing, an American
tactician and helmsman was brought on board. Chris Larson, a helmsman from
the 2000 Americas Cup and multiple J24 world champion, joined the crew for
the first time on Leg three, ASSA ABLOY then won that leg into Auckland,
after securing line honours in the Sydney to Hobart race. Along with
Larson came ‘Big Mike’ Howard, an experienced racing sailor and member of
the Oracle Racing Team for the 2003 Americas Cup.
Another US watch leader is Dee Smith aboard Amer Sports One, who is back
after missing leg four due to a shoulder injury. Smith is a
world-renowned tactician and skipper with more than 35 years’ of racing
experience. In addition to his skills as watch captain and tactician he
has much experience in project management, rigging, sail design, sail
making and boat building. As a skipper he has won the Admiral’s Cup on
Jameson in 1997 and Innovision 7 in 1999.
Amer Sports One co-skipper Bouwe Bekking described American crew mate,
Peter Pendleton in an email today: “Pete Pendleton, our USA trimmer, the
man who can fix everything. In the dark he is easy to find, because he is
always with a cigarette on his lips when on deck. There is a not a day
that he is not working on something, even when I think everything is
perfect, he will still find items which he can service. He is not a big
boy, but it is amazing how much food he can stuff into himself, he is
eating like a wolf, never any leftovers. He is a bit bored right know,
because there is not a lot of breeze. He loves it when it starts blowing
a gale, even when it is on the nose, he will jump on deck and scream:
send it.”
This morning illbruck, ASSA ABLOY and Tyco were passing Barbuda in lighter
southwesterly winds than they have been experiencing over the last few
days. Over the next hours, they will have to decide where to position
themselves for the downwind course that is coming up, depending where they
expect the next wind shift to come from.
Meanwhile SEB, who made the biggest gains and is still sailing in stronger
reaching conditions, closed the gap with illbruck to under 100 miles and
was putting some more on the distance to Amer Sports One. Djuice, Amer
Sports Too and News Corp are still reaching in an easterly breeze and will
make more gains on the leaders.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 14, 0956 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 17 43.76N 061 40.72W 01161 322 11.7 310 0 +0 26 MAR 02 37
2 AART 17 31.68N 061 34.48W 01172 320 12.6 316 11 -6 26 MAR 02 27
3 TYCO 17 30.04N 061 31.88W 01175 319 12.5 315 14 -6 26 MAR 02 24
4 TSEB 16 18.84N 060 43.76W 01258 313 14.8 343 97 -19 26 MAR 02 17
5 AONE 15 52.64N 060 05.84W 01302 308 14.3 330 141 -16 26 MAR 02 26
6 NEWS 15 46.40N 060 00.16W 01310 311 14.4 345 149 -17 26 MAR 02 22
7 ATOO 15 26.76N 059 29.64W 01345 316 12.8 321 184 -10 27 MAR 02 9
8 DJCE 15 18.08N 059 03.80W 01369 310 13.9 334 208 -14 27 MAR 02 18
Exotic island rounding in sights
Illbruck is currently seventy nautical miles south of Barbuda sailing in a
20 knot breeze seventeen miles ahead of her nearest rival ASSA ABLOY, who
gained one mile to them in the last six hours.
The Volvo Ocean Fleet is also being affected by the vagaries of the
currents and local weather. In a typical watch it is being reported from
Illbruck that the current direction can swing through 270 degrees and
change in strength from 0 to 1.5 knots.
While the yachts try to clear the Island of Barbuda we will see a few
changes. It is expected that Illbruck will initially see losses to all of
the fleet, and past the island it will turn into a downwind race.
As the sun sets and rises later the fleet are experiencing clear skies,
beautiful moonlight, smooth seas and an air temperature of 25 degrees
centigrade. Are you ‘pea green with envy yet’ ?
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 14, 0400 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 ILBK 16 48.20N 060 55.36W 01229 309 13.8 320 000 +0 26 MAR 02 37
2 AART 16 33.92N 060 44.36W 01246 312 14.1 319 017 -01 26 MAR 02 27
3 TYCO 16 33.92N 060 40.52W 01249 314 14.1 319 020 -03 26 MAR 02 24
4 TSEB 15 19.04N 059 36.84W 01345 308 13.8 330 116 -01 26 MAR 02 17
5 AONE 15 00.48N 058 55.92W 01386 312 13.6 316 157 +00 26 MAR 02 26
6 NEWS 14 50.08N 058 53.08W 01395 308 14.4 331 166 -05 27 MAR 02 22
7 ATOO 14 30.12N 058 33.56W 01423 306 14.1 319 194 +00 27 MAR 02 9
8 DJCE 14 25.44N 057 58.32W 01451 311 14.9 327 222 -08 27 MAR 02 18
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