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Volvo Ocean Race 2011/2012 - Leg 4 - Start 19.02.2012
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February 29, 2012 - 1900 UTC Leg 4 Day 11
GROUPAMA 4 – MEAN GREEN REACHING MACHINE SMOKING TOWARDS AUCKLAND
Leg 4 29/02/2012 19:02:47 UTC
&xnbsp; DTL DTLC BS DTF 1 GPMA 0.00 0 20 2989.8 2 PUMA 80.70 2 19 3070.5 3 TELE 90.20 1 20.1 3080.1 4 CMPR 105.10 0 19 3094.9 5 ADOR 110.50 1 20.3 3100.3 6 SNYA 152.60 1 19.5 3142.4
“The mean green reaching machine Groupama 4 is on fire, we’re flying, sailing really well,” says bowman and boat captain Martin Krite as the team consolidates its lead to 80.7 nautical miles with just under 3,000 nm to go to the finish in Auckland.Sheets eased and high mileage in the open ocean are exactly the conditions the Volvo Open 70s are designed for, and during today Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP) became the fourth boat in the six-boat fleet to break the 500 nm barrier, covering 500.32 in the past 24 hours.But, speed comes with a price. CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand split their number 2 headsail and the crew of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR) had to repair to their daggerboard crane.
Both teams have completed the jobs and the two boats are back up to speed, trying to regain the miles lost.It’s not just the boats that are being battered by the fierce but fun conditions, bodies and minds are suffering too.“With another 30+ hours of similar conditions, there is bound to be more action. People are beginning to wear thin and the non-stop fire hosing is taking its toll on bodies and minds,” reported Nick Dana, media crew member (MCM) with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.Skipper Ian Walker was pinned between the rail and the heaviest sail earlier today. His shin took the brunt of it and he was struggling to bear weight on his foot. Feeling nauseous with pain, he crawled down below to rest. “Most likely it is just a bad bone bruise, but it hurt like you wouldn’t believe,” the skipper said from the confines of his bunk.Another casualty onboard the Emirati boat was watch leader Craig Satterthwaite, who when standing just in front of the steering guard cage was engulfed in a massive wave that broke over the boat just forward of the beam, sending a large wall of water crashing over the boat. In the deluge, Satterthwaite’s upper body was crushed against the titanium guard, causing possible bruising to his rib cage; otherwise, he was wet but unharmed.
“It is becoming difficult to look after yourself out here, let alone trim a sail,” commented their bowman Justin Slattery. “It’s good preparation for the Southern Ocean though, and we needed to do some more of this kind of sailing before getting down in a less forgiving environment,” he said. “This is a walk in the park compared with what we will see down south,” he added.At 1600 UTC today, all five boats chasing Groupama 4 had made small inroads into their lead, which stood at 79.10 nm, however at 1900 UTC tonight, Groupama 4 has pulled out two miles on PUMA who is 80.70 nm behind in second place. Telefónica has gained a mile and is 10 nm behind the big cat in third, while CAMPER has managed to stop the bleeding and has her big headsail set. Only five nm behind is Ian Walker and his men. Losing a mile in the last three hour sis Team Sanya who is 156.6 off the lead. Average speeds over the last three hours are all around 19 – 20 knot mark.
February 29, 2012 - 1000 UTC Leg 4 Day 11
FLEET BREAK THROUGH THE 500-MILE BARRIER IN WET AND WINDY RIDE
Leg 4 29/02/2012 10:02:39 UTC
&xnbsp; DTL DTLC BS DTF 1 GPMA 0.00 0 22 3166.9 2 PUMA 83.50 0 22.9 3250.5 3 TELE 97.80 6 20.8 3264.7 4 CMPR 110.10 9 19.8 3277.0 5 ADOR 123.80 5 20.1 3290.7 6 SNYA 153.70 7 20.7 3320.6
It has been a thrilling night on the racetrack when half the fleet racing in Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race broke through the magical 500-nautical mile (nm) barrier. As the high-speed chase to Auckland continues to test the crews to the full, the leg leader board has a new look today.
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Abu Dhabi in Höchstfahrt
Foto: Nick Dana/Abu Dhabi
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Overnight, Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas/FRA) registered a fraction over 500 nm, the third of a trio of boats to clock over 500 nm in the 24-hour period ending 03.40 UTC. In conditions ideally suited to the boat, Cammas extended his lead again and at 1000 UTC today had a buffer of 83.5 nm over PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG (Ken Read/USA).“It’s very wet on board,” said Groupama watch captain Thomas Coville. “We’re sailing 90 degrees from the wind and 90 degrees from the waves. There’s spray and waves on deck all the time. It’s really aggressive for the crew, especially for the driver. We all have burning eyes at the moment from the salt.
”PUMA recorded 523 nm, the fastest in the fleet at an average speed of 21.7 knots. This was good enough to shoot the team into a healthy second place at 0700 UTC.“Not bad for close reaching in 20 knots of breeze and an awful sea state,” reported media crewmember (MCM) Amory Ross. “It feels good to be going fast - psychologically at least. Sailing this way is fun and it’s what everyone thinks about when they sign up to sail around the world.”CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand were victims last night, losing out to Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP), when they lost the use of a crucial headsail.“The rope that holds the jib down at the front end snapped, the jib skied up, the angle gets worse for it, got too tight and it just tore itself in half,” explained skipper Chris Nicholson.
The damaged sail is the all-important J2, the sail that the team should be using right now and its loss has slowed the team considerably.“On the last three skeds, we have probably dropped six miles on average on each one, we just can’t afford to have many more of them,” Nicholson said.Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP) has now risen to third position, leading CAMPER by 13 nm, while the crew are racing to repair the damaged J2 and have hoisted a smaller headsail temporarily.Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing put up a fine performance last night, achieving a 24-hour run of 506.77 nm, although it so far has not been enough to mount an effective challenge for a podium position and they reindex in fifth place, 123.8 nm off the lead.Finally, at 1000 UTC today, Team Sanya trailed the lead by 153.70 nm, although the crew are upbeat and enjoying the sleigh ride south.“Helmets and safety harnesses are worn and the boat is fully stacked aft,” said MCM Andrés Soriano. “From the hatch, the helmsman is the only one immediately visible as the other three seek shelter behind him from the stack of sails. It’s a sleigh ride all right, it’s wet and bumpy and always on the edge.” &xnbsp; |
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