Southampton, England, Week 2, Leg 7

Flu Can’t Stop illbruck From Winning

For SEB, whose break from the fleet put her out on her own, the last days on leg seven became very critical as the weather systems didn’t develop in the way needed. It was hero or zero time for Gunnar Krantz's team." It's a nervous time for us on SEB as we find out if our breakaway move from the pack is going to pay dividends," wrote Gareth Cooke. "All fingers are crossed here."

Illbruck has moved to cover her closest pursuers, Tyco and ASSA ABLOY. "It's been pretty variable but we're hoping the wind will start to build soon," Kostecki said this morning. "We're looking behind us at Tyco and ASSA ABLOY - but we're looking ahead as well."

In the battle for second place ASSA ABLOY and Tyco have been running neck-and-neck for several days, neither able to establish a clear advantage.

ASSA ABLOY's Jason Carrington reflected: "With less than 1,000 miles to run things are tensing up a little. Tyco, our tuning partner is just ahead of us. She has shown great pace over the last couple of days, but still we seem to be glued to each other. Illbruck is in striking distance and the other guys are just behind, so at this stage it's anyone's race.”

Djuice and News Corps reported close encounters with whales. A potentially damaging collision - for both parties - is the last thing any of the crews want now.

The dismasted Amer Sports Too, meanwhile, left Halifax, Nova Scotia, on a ship for Antwerp, where she is due to arrive on 15 May. This gives Lisa McDonald's crew 10 days to step a new mast and prepare for the start of leg eight. "It's going to be tight but we have every expectation we will make it," said Nautor Challenge media manager Warren Douglas.

Just three days from the finish illbruck reported that the flu has struck most of the crew on this last trans-Atlantic leg. So it was not only a fabulous racing yacht that set the pace on this leg, it must haven been a floating hospital as well. How did the guys on board manage to handle the assault of illness and still sail well?

The crews are also vulnerable to a variety of illnesses caused by the heat, cold or humidity, all of which are made worse by the constant contact with salt water and the conditions on board. But, while treatment has to be immediate and effective, the boat will also, except in a case of extreme emergency, keep on racing, the crew working four-hour shifts around the clock for up to 30 days at a time.

All the yachts have passed the high-pressure ridge that blocked the way to the northerly winds on day 9. Illbruck had the best passage and immediately doubled her lead over second placed Tyco and third placed ASSA ABLOY. SEB in the south climbed back to fourth place and didn’t gain as much as they had hoped for.

SEB’s skipper Gurra Krantz wrote: “We have been waiting for a bigger return on our investment in the risk of going more to the south. It seems like we will get a few miles here and there but no real break against the leading pack. Illbruck, Tyco and ASSA ABLOY managed to get through the ridge very comfortably. News Corp, Amer Sports One and especially djuice suffered a lot more. I guess it was a timing thing again.”

Roger Nilson from Amer Sports One has foreseen the developing situation, saying: “The leaders might have gotten this breeze hours before us, and that means game over, no way we can catch them back up, because they keep sailing into more pressure all the time.”

The last stretch into La Rochelle did not offer lots of opportunities to overtake a boat in front therefore the only uncertainty was SEB’s southerly position. Would it pay, have no effect, or cost them?

Early indications looked like the northern side of the race course could be favoured, but at over 100 miles to the south of the leaders, SEB skipper Gurra Krantz thought he will have more wind for the final push. "Approaching La Rochelle, we will have more breeze here in the south but at the same time the boats to the north will have better wind angle. Which one will be the winning factor? I do not know, but I am sure we will find out."

The battle between News Corp and Amer Sports One heated up with the prospect of a match race all the way to the finish tape.

"We are locked into what is shaping up as a 650 mile match race to the finish. The boat in question is Amer Sports One, whom we had a show down with going up the Chesapeake during the last leg. Dalton’s team currently is 3.5 nautical miles to leeward, abeam of us. Onboard we all know what we must do to beat them and are focussed on doing so. Presently we are sailing between code 0s and jibs as the breeze is 14 knots, on the cross over, between the two sails. Every few minutes we record their bearing and distance, making sure we stay on the correct sail,” Matt Humphries wrote. The keen rivalry between the two boats will make this particular tussle a very interesting one to watch over the next 72 hours.

On day 11 all the boats were homing in for La Rochelle, with Amer Sports One setting the pace with that bit of extra boat speed in critical situations, which has given Grant Dalton some good results on previous legs. Will he be able to catch Tyco on these last miles towards the finish line?

Gurra Krantz’s SEB to the south had to sail the closest wind angle towards La Rochelle, but as Gurra mentioned in an email: “No guts, no glory they say, but not this time.”

John Kostecki and the flu-ridden crew of illbruck have crossed the finish line off La Rochelle through a flotilla of spectator craft that gathered at the finish line at 1344 GMT. This sets the end of a remarkable Atlantic crossing in just over 10 days. Winning this leg put illbruck on top of the podium for the fourth time in the nine leg long Volvo Ocean Race. The daily run of 484 miles (to be ratified as a world record) was the icing on the cake of victory and was celebrated by the sailing team and around 100 illbruck guests that were in La Rochelle on a foggy and wet day.

The victory on leg seven was an important step for the illbruck challenge towards securing overall victory in the Volvo Ocean Race. Still there are 16 points to be rewarded for the next two legs and the next competitor ASSA ABLOY is just eight points behind.

ASSA ABLOY won the match race with their unofficial tuning partners, Team Tyco, to finish second into La Rochelle at 16.39.47GMT this afternoon.

It is a respectable enough position for Neal McDonald and his crew, cementing their second place overall, with a five-point buffer on the next boat.

For Kevin Shoebridge and Tyco, a third place on this transatlantic leg goes some way to restoring lost pride after their disastrous sixth place finish in Baltimore. This team has always shown more promise than it has delivered, but at least this latest podium finish puts them within striking distance of Amer Sports One and News Corp for third place overall.

Just 10 minutes separated the Swedish yacht SEB from the Finnish/Italian Amer Sports One after racing 3400 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. Four days ago, Gunnar Krantz’s SEB team split from the fleet to try a southern approach towards the Bay of Biscay. “No Guts, No Glory”, was the order of the day, what looked like a 60-40 chance to climb to third place, according to SEB navigator and weather guru Marcel van Triest. At the end they were lucky not to lose a precious fourth place to the hunting Amer Sports One. Especially Tyco and ASSA ABLOY will be pleased that SEB snatched a valuable point from Amer Sports One and News Corp.

After winning leg six into Baltimore News Corp had to accept sixth place for the second time after losing the rudder on leg four. Overall they are lying now in fourth position, two points behind Amer Sports One, but just one point in front of Tyco.

After djuice finished at 01:09:00 all seven reindexing yachts in leg seven of the Volvo Ocean Race crossed the North Atlantic in under 12 days. Even though still a fast time, djuice’s skipper Knut Frostad will be disappointed about another unsatisfying seventh place, which adds a meagre two points to their overall points. The next yacht in front is SEB, now three points away.

The crew’s last hope will be the two sprint legs where the marginal lack of raw boat speed could proof less of a disadvantage if weather tactics and routing is perfectly right.

Amer Sports Too, who retired to Halifax after the mast broke during the first week at sea is on her way to Antwerp on board a cargo ship and will be ready in time to join leg eight to Gothenburg.

Background Stories:

Flu on illbruck:
 HYPERLINK "http://www.volvooceanrace.org/press/raceoffice/all_legs/20020507_flu.html" 
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/press/raceoffice/all_legs/20020507_flu.html
 HYPERLINK "http://www.volvooceanrace.org/team/ilbk/email/leg_7/20020506_clarke.html" 
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/team/ilbk/email/leg_7/20020506_clarke.html
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/team/ilbk/email/leg_7/20020507_davis.html

SEB southern flyer:
 HYPERLINK "http://www.volvooceanrace.org/press/raceoffice/all_legs/20020505_SEB_flyer.html" 
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/press/raceoffice/all_legs/20020505_SEB_flyer.html
 HYPERLINK "http://www.volvooceanrace.org/team/tseb/email/leg_7/20020506_cooke.html" 
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/team/tseb/email/leg_7/20020506_cooke.html
 HYPERLINK "http://www.volvooceanrace.org/team/tseb/email/leg_7/20020507_krantz.html" 
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/team/tseb/email/leg_7/20020507_krantz.html
 HYPERLINK "http://www.volvooceanrace.org/team/tseb/email/leg_7/20020508_krantz.html" 
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/team/tseb/email/leg_7/20020508_krantz.html

Educational Project at Volvo Ocean Race HQ:
 HYPERLINK "http://www.volvooceanrace.org/press/raceoffice/all_legs/20020506_classroom.html" 
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/press/raceoffice/all_legs/20020506_classroom.html

Welcome to La Rochelle:
 HYPERLINK "http://www.volvooceanrace.org/press/raceoffice/all_legs/20020508_welcome_france.html" 
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/press/raceoffice/all_legs/20020508_welcome_france.html
 HYPERLINK "http://www.volvooceanrace.org/team/aart/email/leg_7/20020508_gavignet.html" 
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/team/aart/email/leg_7/20020508_gavignet.html