Volvo Ocean Race 2011/2012 - Leg 3

- Start 14.01.2012

www.volvooceanrace.com - Übersicht Leg 3

Fotogalerie

January 30, 2012 - 2200 UTC Leg 3 Stage 2 Day 9
TELEFÓNICA FIRST OUT OF THE TRAPS
Leg 3 Report: 30/01/2012 22:03:21 UTC
DTL DTLC BS DTF
1 TELE 0.00 0 13.3 1028.3 2 GPMA 4.70 0 13.3 1033.0 3 PUMA 8.30 0 13.3 1036.5 4 ADOR 20.90 1 12.5 1049.2 5 CMPR 22.40 1 11.8 1050.6 6 SNYA 164.50 2 10.8 1192.8
At 1605 UTC today Iker Martínez’s men on Telefónica led the six-boat Volvo fleet round the Horsburgh Lighthouse and out into the South China Sea for the final 1000 nautical miles (nm) to Sanya in China. &xnbsp;Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas/FRA) was 3.4 nm behind and, in third, 10.8 nm further back, was PUMA’s Mar Mostro (Ken Read/USA).

Tonight at 2200 UTC, the order reindexed unchanged. Telefónica leads Groupama 4 by 4.7 nm and PUMA’s Mar Mostro (Ken Read/USA) is a further 3.6 nm astern. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR) and CAMPER with Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson/AUS) reindex glued together 20 nm further back and just 2.4 nm apart, while sixth-placed Team Sanya brings up the rear, 165 nm adrift and has yet to enter the Singapore Strait.“We seem to be on the downward spiral and that’s in conditions we know we’re quite fast in,” said skipper of Sanya and former race winner Mike Sanderson/NZL.

Groupama begegnet Tanker
Foto: Yann Riou

Flautenduell Camper/Abu Dhabi
Foto: Hamish Hooper/Camper

“From that side of it, it’s been really disappointing. &xnbsp;But you know, you can be as fast you like in these conditions, but if guys have two or three knots more, they’re going to sail away,” he said. &xnbsp;“We’d love an opportunity to catch up, but right now I’d settle for not losing any more miles.”As the fleet spilled out into the South China Sea, speeds immediately began to improve, as the leading trio set off east on a straightforward port tack beat at 13 knots. The teams must first leave an archipelago of islands off the coast of Malaysia to port before they can commence the 450 nm beat to the finish in Sanya.Although Telefónica is well set up for the type of upwind sailing the crews will face in the next week and the team is eagerly anticipating conditions which will suit their boat, watch leader Neal McDonald says there is actually very little difference in performance among the top three upwind.After the tactical stress of the Malacca and Singapore Straits, coupled with high density commercial shipping, which kept the crews awake for 20 hours at a time, now is the time to settle back in to a watch system rhythm and try to catch up on much needed sleep.
&xnbsp;

January 30, 2012 - 1000 UTC Leg 3 Stage 2 Day 9
TELEFÓNICA AND GROUPAMA 4 SCRAPPING ALONG THE STRAIT
Leg 3 Report: 30/01/2012 11:02:20 UTC
&xnbsp; DTL DTLC BS DTF 1 TELE 0.00 0 3.5 1131.6 2 GPMA 1.50 0 3.5 1133.1 3 PUMA 4.50 2 5 1136.2 4 ADOR 11.00 1 6.3 1142.7 5 CMPR 12.50 2 6.5 1144.1 6 SNYA 144.50 0 6.3 1276.1
After a night of close-quarter scrapping for the lead, Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP) and Groupama 4 were by 1000 UTC today just five more hours from passing Horsburgh Lighthouse and exiting the stressful Singapore Strait. Martínez was leading Franck Cammas’ French boat by just 1.4 nm.But before they are set free of the traps that have been causing a three-day headache for the skippers and navigators, the leading duo have to negotiate a 30 nm corridor of just two and half miles imposed by the shipping lanes protecting the entrance to the port of Singapore. The port tack reach parallel to the lane should take approximately five hours.Five of the fleet have been compressed to 10.5 nm, separating Telefónica and Groupama who are neck and neck, from Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in fifth place. Sanya (Mike Sanderson/NZL), however, is now in deficit by 144 nm for sixth place.Onboard the leaders, the mood is tense. Groupama 4 and Telefónica have been as close as 20 metres apart overnight, near enough for conversation, but none was had. The two crews ignored each other but for a brief luffing match when Groupama 4 tried to pass Telefónica to windward as the pair lay almost becalmed. The wind filled in from the windward side and a short luff was all that was needed from Telefónica to ensure that Groupama’s move was unsuccessful.Not quite within shouting distance, but certainly in sight, is third placed PUMA’s Mar Mostro (Ken Read/USA) 2.5 nm behind. On Sunday, Mar Mostro had pulled to within a few hundred metres but a tangle with a fishing net cost them an hour or so while it was unhitched. Meantime the wind had faded and PUMA’s immediate chance was gone.

The inshore gamble for CAMPER (Chris Nicholson/AUS) 10.4 nm back in fourth clearly did not pay off this time. Overnight, the team had two close encounters with shipping, altering course several times. One ship was so curious to see a highly branded racing yacht that they weighed anchor and turned on their massive floodlights. Feeling like prisoners who had escaped from jail, CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand raced on by, when a call from the ship’s crew echoed out, offering them a cool beer. The offer was declined.The Malacca Strait has provided a very interesting tactical game for CAMPER and Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. “We are closer to the leaders than we have been since day four, and we have had great fun trading places with CAMPER in the last 24 hours,” Walker said.
“We finally got past them yesterday evening after a day spent chasing hard, only to lose the place back when we became becalmed before the onset of the land breeze,” he added. Walker is not looking forward to the final upwind part of Leg 3 to China, with some rough conditions certain of the coast of Vietnam. “Now is the time to be checking things over, doing any small indextenance bits and other chores before the sea conditions deteriorate,” he explained.Meanwhile, Team Sanya’s crew were downbeat as they trailed the leaders by 144 nm. “I cannot describe the feeling on board at the moment.
The word frustration doesn’t quite do it justice,” wrote MCM Andres Soriano. “I think it is safe to say that there isn’t a soul on board who wouldn’t rather be sailing upwind in 30+ knots right now,” he said.Once the fleet reaches the small group of islands 150nm off the Malaysian coast, they will head north through the South China Sea towards the finish in Sanya on a 450 nm beat in a building monsoon. Telefónica’s navigator, Andrew Cape, is expecting conditions that suit Telefónica very well. Game continues to be very much on.

- www.segel.de