Southampton, England, April 17, 2002 Day 4
SNAKES AND LADDERS IN CHESAPEAKE BAY
Yesterday’s chess game for the Volvo Ocean Race fleet appears now to have
changed into a game of snakes and ladders, dependent on the roll of the
dice with the fickle conditions and complex current scenarios. With the
boats so close together, the index factor for the tacticians will be to
minimise the losses against the rest of the fleet, rather like finding the
shortest snake on the game board!
‘Tricky’, ‘tense’, ‘fickle conditions’, ‘nail biting to the line’, ‘we
don’t care how long it takes as long as we win’ are common views from the
fleet. Dee Smith wrote from Amer Sports One, “The sailing will get even
more demanding the last 125 miles up the bay. Stand by for a close
finish.”
The next few hours are crucial to the outcome of this leg and the crews
are well aware that they cannot let up in concentration or levels of
effort at all until that finish line has been crossed in Baltimore.
Once they have tied up on the dock, a number of cultural and historical
attractions await the sailors, not to mention the infamous Maryland
seafood specialities. They will be able to feast on the famous
mouth-watering crab dishes or alternatively bulk up on pasta in Little
Italy, where they will be able to find authentic Italian cuisine. This
must be especially important for Claudio and Stefano, the two Italians on
board Amer Sports One. Is this maybe the secret to the well performance
they show on this leg?
Many historical interests await them too. Baltimore has evolved through
old traditions. Fells Point is the oldest section of the city, with a
strong feel of an old English town from its cobbled streets, pubs and
restaurants. Mount Vernon was the home of the rich and famous during the
18th and 19th centuries, and the area now boasts the first architectural
monument to George Washington, the Peabody Conservatory of Music and the
Walters Art Gallery.
The city itself has a natural maritime heritage since the 1600s, when the
waterways allowed passage to commercial cargo and new citizens. In
modern times, the city ranks fourth in the United States ports for
container cargo on the East Coast with an astounding 40 millions tons of
cargo passing through the port each year.
Fort McHenry, the guardian of Baltimore’s harbour, which is a late 18th
century star-shaped fort, is world famous as the birthplace of the United
States national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner. The inspiration for
the writing came to Francis Scott Key after a valiant and successful
defence by American forces during a British attack in 1814!
This morning News Corp passed the bridge that marks the entry to the
Chesapeake Bay, leading Amer Sports One and illbruck in sight behind. The
entrance to the Chesapeake Bay is just 10 miles wide and the first three
yachts entered the final 140-mile sprint for the top places of this leg.
They were flying in a 20-knot southwesterly breeze averaging over ten
knots. But soon after the breeze died. Amer Sports One, who was able to
hold on the old breeze for a bit longer closed the distance to News Corp
to just three boat lengths. After a perfect spinnaker peel, News Corp was
able to increase the distance again to a quarter of a mile.
Further back the fleet is lined up with roughly 20 miles between the
boats. ASSA ABLOY in fourth position is followed by SEB and Tyco. Amer
Sports Too has successfully overtaken djuice and has built a two-mile
lead. Will the girls be able to attack Tyco 18 miles in front and will
they hold the advantage over djuice this time?
For now, the teams will just have to battle out the closing stages of this
leg into Baltimore. From the leading yacht News Corp, Jez Fanstone wrote:
“It is like a game of snakes and ladders so lets hope the last roll of the
dice gives us a ladder to finish on. With 100 miles to go anything can
happen in these fickle conditions. illbruck has pulled up a mile in the
last couple of hours having fallen behind at day break and the forecast is
not for straight forward sailing by any means.”
Southampton, England, April 17, 2002 2200 GMT
Chessie Concertina
As the fleet of the Volvo Ocean Race continues racing up Chesapeake Bay, a
shift in the wind direction is helping to blow the yachts towards
Baltimore and assisting the crews in avoiding the shallow waters and fish
nets that are common to the bay. The fickle winds have started to average
out at 10 knots over the last couple of hours allowing the yachts to
achieve some slightly better speeds once again, currently the fleet are
doing between eight and nine knots!
The front pack are split over thirteen nautical miles and currently being
led by News Corp, Amer Sports One is hot on her heels just four miles
behind. Overall race leaders illbruck are currently in fourth place,
seven miles behind News Corp.
The biggest competition however is at the back of the fleet where Tyco,
djuice and Amer Sports Too are fighting for sixth and seventh positions.
With only one mile separating these yachts, nobody wants to be the
“Chessie tailend Charlie”
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 4, 2213 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 NEWS 38 15.40N 076 16.52W 65 345 7.7 210 0 0 18/04/02 05:19 31
2 AONE 38 11.60N 076 14.12W 69 342 6.7 212 4 +3 18/04/02 05:47 32
3 AART 38 10.00N 076 12.44W 71 340 6.5 222 6 +3 18/04/02 05:58 34
4 ILBK 38 09.68N 076 12.40W 72 339 6.3 209 7 +4 18/04/02 06:02 41
5 TSEB 38 02.44N 076 13.00W 78 345 6.7 240 13 +4 18/04/02 06:56 21
6 TYCO 37 21.52N 076 05.32W 120 355 6.8 207 55 +4 18/04/02 12:08 27
7 DJCE 37 21.08N 076 04.88W 120 353 6.8 214 55 +3 18/04/02 12:11 21
8 ATOO 37 20.24N 076 06.48W 121 347 6.5 229 56 +3 18/04/02 12:18 9
Southampton, England, April 17, 2002 1600 GMT
Chase At Chesapeake Bay
The racing has become extremely close in the Chesapeake Bay. After fending
off Amer Sports One’s first attack earlier today, News Corp has to accept
now sharing the lead with Grant Daltons grey and red racing machine. The
question is, will we eventually see a third yacht win a leg in the Volvo
Ocean Race, after illbruck and ASSA ABLOY dominated five legs?
After falling back over the last 24 hours, ASSA ABLOY has managed to stage
a fabulous comeback. While illbruck was creeping with two knots of boat
speed at the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, ASSA ABLOY out sailed
her at the eastern shore with nine knots and gybed in the middle of the
bay to a parallel course.
SEB was the last yacht to enter the Chesapeake Bay and has narrowed the
distance to the leading four yachts to 17 miles. Tyco on the other hand
has fallen slightly back and holds only 10 miles on Amer Sports Too.
Djuice is still in hot pursuit of Amer Sports Too, who is just one mile
ahead of the pink yacht.
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 4, 1603 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 NEWS 37 35.71N 076 12.91W 106 344 4.2 241 0 0 18/04/02 03:41 31
2 AONE 37 35.68N 076 12.92W 106 344 4.3 243 0 0 18/04/02 03:41 32
3 AART 37 33.14N 076 12.40W 108 343 7.7 245 2 -11 18/04/02 03:58 34
4 ILBK 37 33.04N 076 14.36W 109 336 4.2 240 3 +1 18/04/02 04:00 41
5 TSEB 37 18.44N 076 07.48W 123 336 8.4 242 17 -14 18/04/02 05:35 21
6 TYCO 36 54.92N 075 54.24W 150 331 8.9 218 44 -15 18/04/02 08:36 27
7 ATOO 36 48.60N 075 45.24W 160 340 10.7 235 54 -20 18/04/02 09:39 10
8 DJCE 36 47.41N 075 44.76W 161 340 10.8 215 55 -20 18/04/02 09:47 20
Southampton, England, April 17, 2002 1000 GMT
Entering The Bay
This moment News Corp passed the bridge that marks the entry to the
Chesapeake Bay, leading Amer Sports One and illbruck in sight behind. The
entrance to the Chesapeake Bay is just 10 miles wide and the first three
yachts enter the final sprint for the top places of this leg. They are
flying in a 20-knot southwesterly breeze averaging over ten knots. If the
breeze holds, the first yacht is expected to arrive in Baltimore just
after midnight tonight.
Further back the fleet is lined up with roughly 20 miles between the
boats. ASSA ABLOY in fourth position is followed by SEB and Tyco. Amer
Sports Too has successfully overtaken djuice and has built a two-mile
lead. Will the girls be able to attack Tyco 18 miles in front and will
they hold the advantage over djuice this time?
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 4, 1000 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 NEWS 36 58.68N 075 59.28W 144 330 10.4 249 0 0 18/04/02 00:24 31
2 AONE 36 58.68N 075 59.08W 145 331 10.7 250 1 0 18/04/02 00:25 32
3 ILBK 36 57.56N 075 57.08W 146 333 10.3 249 2 +1 18/04/02 00:36 42
4 AART 36 46.80N 075 43.88W 162 336 11.3 242 18 -1 18/04/02 02:07 33
5 TSEB 36 27.04N 075 34.12W 183 344 11.5 236 39 -8 18/04/02 04:15 21
6 TYCO 36 06.68N 075 23.52W 205 355 11.5 222 61 -4 18/04/02 06:27 27
7 ATOO 35 46.96N 075 25.72W 223 355 10.8 225 79 -3 18/04/02 08:16 10
8 DJCE 35 44.88N 075 24.44W 225 357 10.7 205 81 -3 18/04/02 08:30 20
Southampton, England, April 17th, 2002 0415 GMT
No Let Up In Front
There is no let up in the pressure for the leading three boats in the
Volvo Ocean Race. It has been nip and tuck for the past 24 hours, with
less than 5 miles covering the three, and now there is just a one mile gap
between first and third. The index difference is that ASSA ABLOY has
dropped from being in amongst the leaders, to trailing them by 22 miles.
With just over 200 miles to the finish line in Baltimore, and light winds
forecast for the run up the Chesapeake, the nail biting is set to continue
right up to the line
Volvo Ocean Race Position Report, Day 4, 0416 GMT
PS Yacht Latitude Longitude DTF CMG SMG TFHR DTL DTL-C ETA PO
1 NEWS 35 59.80N 075 30.80W 210 348 12.1 254 0 0 18/04/02 00:57 31
2 ILBK 35 58.60N 075 30.80W 211 348 12.1 252 1 -1 18/04/02 01:08 43
3 AONE 35 58.48N 075 30.40W 211 348 12.3 254 1 -1 18/04/02 01:08 31
4 AART 35 42.12N 075 11.00W 232 2 12.4 247 22 +3 18/04/02 03:11 33
5 TSEB 35 18.52N 075 20.40W 256 9 13.1 243 46 +1 18/04/02 05:33 21
6 TYCO 35 00.68N 075 25.32W 275 25 12.7 227 65 +3 18/04/02 07:27 27
7 DJCE 34 44.64N 075 36.52W 293 20 12.6 216 83 +3 18/04/02 09:18 21
8 ATOO 34 39.40N 075 33.52W 297 15 12.8 212 87 +2 18/04/02 09:42 9
|
