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Volvo Ocean Race 2011/2012 - Leg 5 - Start 18.03.2012
www.volvooceanrace.com - Übersicht
April 4, 2012 - 2130 UTC
VOLVO OCEAN RACE CEO EXPRESSES CONCERN AT BREAKAGES
Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad issued a statement on Wednesday expressing his concern at the continuing instances of boats suffering serious damage in the 2011-12 edition.
Frostad, who competed in the race four times himself, said it was not acceptable to have so many incidents of boats failing in a Volvo Ocean Race. Frostad said race organisers would continue to do everything possible to get the boats not currently sailing back in the race as soon as possible.
Text of statement, which was released after Groupama sailing team announced they had suffered a broken mast, leaving only two boats currently racing in Leg 5 from Auckland in New Zealand to Itajaí in Brazil:
"It's too early to conclude exactly why this has happened but we are obviously concerned about seeing so many incidents of damage to our boats both in this leg and in the race as a whole.
"It is not acceptable that in a race like this we have so many failures. It is not unusual for boats to suffer problems, and sailors and shore teams are used to having to deal with some issues with their boats, but this has been on a bigger scale than in the past.
"It's important that we don't leap to any conclusions about why these breakages have happened. Some of them are clearly not related.
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Reparatur an Camper
Camper hisst chilenische Flagge
Foto: H.Hooper/Camper
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However, we will take the current issues into account as we make decisions on rules and technology we will be using in the future.
"We have already put in a lot of work, discussing with teams, designers and all other stakeholders about the boats and the rules we will use in the future, and we expect to be in a position to announce a decision on that before the end of the current race.
"For the time being, our focus continues to be on the safety of the sailors. We are doing everything we can to help Groupama, and the rest of the teams not currently sailing, get back in the race as soon as possible." &xnbsp;
April 4, 2012 - 1900 UTC Leg 5 Day 18
TOUGH AT THE TOP AS GROUPAMA DISMASTS
Leg 5 04/04/2012 19:01:56 UTC
&xnbsp; DTL DTLC BS DTF
1 PUMA 0.00 0 12.9 574.9 2 TELE 36.70 1 14.3 611.7 - CAMP Suspended Racing - GPMA Suspended Racing - ADOR Did Not Finish - SNYA Did Not Finish
Groupama’s dismasting while in the lead earlier today leaves PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG (Ken Read/USA) with only Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP) able to challenge them for the lead in the final stage of what has been a dramatic Leg 5 from Auckland to Itajaí.
With 677 nautical miles (nm) to go to the finish line, Groupama (Franck Cammas/FRA) dismasted 60 nm south of Punta del Este, the Uruguayan port that has hosted the Whitbread Race [the forerunner of the Volvo Ocean Race] on three occasions.
The team held a narrow lead of about 2.2 nm over PUMA at the time and was sailing close-hauled on port tack when the rig broke, level with the first spreader, about 10 metres above the deck.The team has not requested assistance but temporarily suspended racing at 1542 GMT. They are considering either continuing the 677 nm under jury rig to the finish in Itajaí, Brazil, or making for Punta del Este where they could step a replacement mast.
The team’s spare rig is currently warehoused in the Netherlands.The Telefónica crew, who were about 46 nm astern of Groupama at the time of the dismasting, reported a very complicated swell as the wind increased this afternoon. At the time, PUMA and Groupama were two thirds of the way across the 120-nm Rio de la Plata estuary, which separates Argentina from Uruguay. After the intensity and enjoyment of close-contact racing, PUMA will now go it alone as Telefónica has chosen a course just shy of 200 nm offshore and has developed 137 nm of lateral separation to leeward.
At 1900 GMT tonight, they had closed to within 36.7 nm of PUMA and were sailing two knots faster.Meanwhile, work has begun on CAMPER in Puerto Montt, Chile and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing has entered the quiet waters of the Golfo Corcovado and are making their way to join CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand. Both boats have suffered structural damage, which has caused them to seek a safe haven in Puerto Montt.
CAMPER suspended racing at 0130 GMT on Tuesday, but fully intends to complete Leg 5, while Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, who retired from Leg 5 at 1000 GMT today, will ship their boat to Itajaí.
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April 4, 2012 - 1000 UTC Leg 5 Day 18
DECISION TIME FOR ABU DHABI OCEAN RACING
Leg 5 04/04/2012 9:57:26 UTC
&xnbsp; DTL DTLC BS DTF
1 GPMA 0.00 0 12.8 657.2 2 PUMA 6.90 4 12.2 664.0 3 TELE 55.50 2 12.2 712.7 4 ADOR 2143.80 66 11.3 2800.9 - CAMP Suspended Racing - SNYA Did Not Finish
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR) have ceased racing and will ship their boat from Puerto Montt in Chile to Itajaí to ensure they are ready for the in-port race on April 21.Ian Walker’s crew was forced to carry out a mid-sea repair to Azzam after discovering structural problems with the boat’s hull on March 30. At the time, they were around 1,700 nautical miles from land. Slowing the boat to stop further damage, Abu Dhabi changed course and headed for land, and at 0400 GMT today were just over 80 nm from Puerto Montt.
With gales and 10-metre seas forecast in the vicinity of Cape Horn for the next four days, skipper Ian Walker said their decision was the only logical option.“As skipper, my overriding responsibility is the safety of Azzam and her crew and this is always at the forefront of my mind,” Walker said.
“The Southern Ocean is one part of the world you do not want to head out into with a yacht that is not 100 per cent. We have carefully reviewed all our options, spoken with our build teams and weather experts and this was the only logical choice available to us.”Abu Dhabi first discovered the damage to the mid-section of the port side of Azzam’s hull on March 29 while sailing in typical Southern Ocean conditions. The crew carried out a mid-sea repair in 35 knots and four-metre seas, drilling 30 bolts through the hull to reinforce the damaged section.Despite the team’s efforts, it was decided the repair was not strong enough to take on the reindexing 3,000 nm of the leg.
Walker said the delivery of Azzam to Itajaí would allow them to return to racing at full strength for the in-port racing on April 21.Abu Dhabi were also forced to return to Auckland a few hours into Leg 5 after landing heavily off a huge wave and damaging a bulkhead in the bow of the boat. A monumental round-the-clock effort from their shore team saw them back out on the racetrack around 12 hours later.
CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand arrived in Puerto Montt at 2240 UTC on Tuesday after suspending racing earlier in the day. They plan to repair their boat before resuming racing and finishing Leg 5 in Itajaí.Meanwhile, leg leaders, Groupama (Franck Cammas/FRA) and PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG (Ken Read/USA) have ended their duel as Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP) enters the fight for a leg win in Itajaí, just 657 nm ahead.
The Spanish team suspended racing for 17 hours on April 1 to carry out repairs to structural damage and have since made a spectacular comeback.At 1000 GMT today, Telefónica had closed to within 55.5 nm of Groupama 4, who took a 3.8 nm lead over PUMA at 0400 GMT, and extended it to 6.9 nm at 1000 GMT. indextaining a course 183 nm off the Argentine coast, Telefónica were 135 nm to leeward of the frontrunners and sailing close-hauled. The leading trio were all averaging 11 to 12 knots.
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