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Volvo Ocean Race 2011/2012 - Leg 2
Start 11. Dezember 2011
www.volvooceanrace.com - Übersicht Leg2
December 13, 2011 -1900 UTC Leg 2 Day 3
SERIOUS CONDITIONS Ahead AS AGULHAS CURRENT COMES INTO PLAY
Leg 2 Report: 13/12/2011 19:02:35 UTC
DTL DTLC BS
1 GPMA 0.00 0.0 17.7
2 CMPR 6.90 6.0 13.3
3 PUMA 8.10 8.0 12.5
4 ADOR 17.50 11.0 13.3
5 TELE 26.40 9.0 12.8
6 SNYA 28.00 28.0 9.3
As night falls on the Volvo Ocean Race fleet, the notorious Agulhas current will come into play. Thirty-knot winds will whip six-metre waves into a hurling mass, caused by the wind blowing against the direction of the current. And it’s much more difficult when it’s dark.
The crews will not have time to acclimatise to the sea state during daylight hours. The boats will be on a fast reach, leaping off waves that the helmsmen can barely see, helped only by the light of a big moon and clear skies. It will be essential to play the waves, but these could be boat-breaking conditions.
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Foto: Nick Dana
Foto: Amory Ross
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Ken Read will be very aware of what can happen. It was on this leg in the 2008-09 race, which took the fleet from Cape Town to Cochin in India that PUMA’s Il Mostro launched off a wave and landed with a sickening thud, damaging the index longitudinal frame. Ian Walker also ran into trouble on this leg previously when his boat, Green Dragon broke her steering gear and crashed into a horrendous Chinese gybe and, later, when a 50-knot gust ripped through the fleet, her boom snapped.
All this to look forward to tonight, meanwhile the past 12 hours or so have been very complicated. The fleet has continued to be in sight of each other, as they tacked down the coast of South Africa, something very unusual and unexpected in this race.
Coastal navigation requires constant input from the navigators, who have had very little sleep so far, just catnapping between taking bearings and assessing their boat’s performance against those closest to them. However, according to Will Oxley, navigator of CAMPER (Chris Nicholson/AUS), who was in the lead earlier today, it is much less stressful when you know where the opposition is, and a lot more fun as the crew of Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas/FRA) has discovered after their lonely race during leg one.
At 1600 UTC this afternoon, Groupama 4 became the new leader from Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson/NZL) and PUMA’s Mar Mostro and held onto her lead at 1900 UTC tonight. CAMPER moved back up to second place, relegating PUMA’s Mar Mostro to third. Team Sanya is now the back marker, having lost 28 nm by being becalmed in torrential rain.
December 13, 2011 - 1500 UTC Leg 2 Day 3
FLEET BRACES FOR AGULHAS EFFECT
Leg 2 Report: 13/12/2011 13:02:44 UTC
DTL DTLC BS
1 CMPR 0.00 0.0 8.6
2 PUMA 0.50 4.0 8.7
3 GPMA 0.80 4.0 8.6
4 SNYA 0.90 5.0 9.4
5 ADOR 6.10 6.0 10.2
6 TELE 18.70 0.0 9
CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand hold a slender advantage over their rivals today as the fleet continues to edge their way around the tip of Africa.
CAMPER’s advantage has been hard earned however, with the entire crew fully focused on squeezing every ounce of speed out of the boat as the light wind conditions continue.
At the 1300 UTC position report less than one nautical mile separated the top four boats with second placed PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, Groupama sailing team in third and fourth placed Team Sanya all poised to pounce upon any slip up from the leader.
Media crew member Hamish Hooper described the concerted effort overnight that enabled CAMPER to get their nose ahead: “The guys are all working really hard right now, sails being moved forward and aft, Adam [Minoprio] is up the mast spotting where the best pressure is and Stu [Bannatyne] is just trying to keep the boat moving as fast as possible in the direction we want to go.”
Navigator Will Oxley confessed to having had very little sleep while the CAMPER crew picked their way through way through the minefield of wind holes and adverse current close to the shoreline.
“I got a couple of hours of sleep last night and about an hour and a half the night before,’’ he said. “I find I’m doing some of my jobs between micro sleeps – not sure if one minute has passed or five minutes since I started a task. That’s when you know you have to get some proper rest.”
Oxley admits the route the fleet is taking so far on this leg is unknown territory for him but says the benign conditions of the first two days could soon come to an end in the next 24 hours as the fleet face the opposing forces of strong westerly winds and the notorious Agulhas Current.
“It’s pretty unusual to be tacking down this South African coast. I have certainly never done it,’’ he said. “There is a whole series of lows around Africa right now and we are expecting one to come off the land and out on to the water.
“If you are on the back of it you have a south westerly wind which could be 30 to 35 knots. Then you have a current that is opposing it and that could mean six metre waves, which would be pretty unpleasant.
“The Agulhas is notorious for that sort of sea state as soon as the breeze comes up – and we will try to avoid it.”
The fleet is expected to start to feel the first Agulhas effects on Wednesday, before which the skippers and navigators will have hoped to work out the narrowest crossing point to avoid sailing in these potentially boat-breaking conditions any longer than necessary.
Once safely through the Agulhas the fleet could be in for some high speed sailing as two low pressure systems merge south-east of Africa creating a 35 to 40 knot westerly wind high-speed superhighway across the Indian Ocean.
This front is predicted to move easterly in conjunction with the fleet and could create the opportunity for an IWC Schaffhausen 24 hour Speed Record Challenge attempt.
The latest weather synopsis is creating sense of urgency for fifth placed Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and tail enders Team Telefónica who will have to fight hard to close down the leaders as they head towards the powerful low, or run the risk being left behind.
December 13, 2011 -1000 UTC Leg 2 Day 3
TACKING AND STACKING AS CAMPER LEADS THE WAY
Leg 2 Report: 13/12/2011 10:02:25 UTC
&xnbsp; DTL DTLC BS
1 CMPR 0.00 0.0 11.4 2 PUMA 4.10 1.0 11.2 3 GPMA 5.00 0.0 10.8 4 SNYA 6.30 3.0 10.4 5 ADOR 12.30 1.0 10.8 6 TELE 18.60 0.0 10.3
At 1000 UTC this morning it was back to tacking and stacking as all six boats racing in Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race to Abu Dhabi were in sight of each other as they clawed their way up the South African coast towards Port Elizabeth in an eight to 10 knot headwind. CAMPER (Chris Nicholson/AUS) is leading the field from PUMA’s Mar Mostro (Ken Read/USA) and Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas/FRA).On board today’s leg leader, CAMPER, there is a quiet air of concentration as the crew pushes the boat in conditions to which she is well suited. MCM Hamish Hooper reports lots of moving things around for perfect boat trim, lots of tiptoeing and almost no casual talking as the crew focus on making the boat go fast and retaining their slim lead over Mar Mostro.
The fleet is split over 18 nautical miles from CAMPER in first place and overall race leader Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP) in sixth place.The strategy for today will be to stay close to the coast and sail east-northeast as fast as possible to connect with a new low-pressure system building close to Durban, which will create fresh westerly breeze close to the coast. The backmarkers will have to push hard to prevent being left behind, as every mile of separation will be multiplied by a factor of two or three once the leaders get closer to the low.
Currently, the fleet is just off Cape St Francis, 70 nm west of Port Elizabeth where critical decisions will need to be made. It is here where the fleet will have to contest with three to four knots of adverse Agulhas Current, and this combined with the effects of 25-30 knots of breeze generated by the building low, will create a confused and potentially dangerous wind against tide sea state. The crews will need to cross the current, identifying its narrowest point and strength to ensure the least amount of damage to the boats. &xnbsp;
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