Fotogalerie Leg 7
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May 22, 2012 - 1900 UTC Leg 7 Day 3
ALL CALM AFTER THE STORM
Leg 7 22/05/2012 19:02:18 UTC
&xnbsp; DTL DTLC BS DTF
1 GPMA 0.00 0 15.4 2900.2 2 PUMA 8.10 4 17.1 2908.3 3 TELE 8.50 10 19.2 2908.7 4 ADOR 16.10 7 18.7 2916.4 5 CMPR 23.80 3 16.7 2924.0 6 SNYA 32.30 4 18.1 2932.5
It’s all gone a little bit quiet out on the Atlantic race track for the Volvo Ocean Race fleet after tropical storm Alberto swept across all but leg leader Franck Cammas/FRA and Groupama yesterday. The six-boat fleet has had a more satisfactory day today, clicking off miles downwind towards the Lisbon finish at speeds of around 19 knots. However, a patch of lighter airs is slowing the fleet, allowing the pack to close on Groupama, as they chase an easterly moving low-pressure system.
At 1900 GMT tonight, PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG had gained four miles and closed to within 8.10 nm of the leader, with Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP) in third, just a fraction of a mile behind PUMA, having made a gain of 10 nm in the past three hours.In contrast to yesterday’s storm, today has been pleasant downwind sailing as the remnants of the storm moved away to the north and the fleet extended to the east. As the wind eased, so did conditions onboard. Hatches that had been tightly closed were thrown open to air out the boats and the crews have been able to rest and eat, and mentally prepare for the next hurdle. However, the calm after the storm is temporary. Ahead, the low will provide exhilarating sailing once more, provided the fleet can reach it in time to reap the benefits.“We are quietly slipping along,” reported Groupama skipper Franck Cammas. “However, the weather is very complicated up ahead. It is hard to know which option we’re going to take as there are a lot of pitfalls in front,” he said, fully aware that the chasing pack will catch Groupama tonight. “We are fortunate that everyone is following the same course at the moment,” Cammas added.
The Frenchman is preparing to use the full range of sails onboard Groupama on this Atlantic leg to Lisbon, Portugal, which could even throw in some upwind sailing mid-Atlantic.The fleet has a lateral separation of approximately 38 nm as the drag race towards the front continues. Telefónica have taken the high road north and are to windward of the fleet, while CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand are to leeward in the south.Franck Cammas has positioned Groupama just under two miles to windward of CAMPER, but 23.8 nm ahead, but tonight will be an anxious time as the fleet continues to make better speed than Groupama, which at 15.4 knots was over a knot slower than CAMPER and four knots slower than the hard-pushing crew on board Telefónica.
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May 22, 2012 - 0700 UTC Leg 7 Day 3
TROPICAL STORM WREAKS HAVOC AMONG VOLVO OCEAN RACE FLEET
Leg 7 22/05/2012 7:02:31 UTC
&xnbsp; DTL DTLC BS DTF
1 GPMA 0.00 0 18.4 3078.5 2 PUMA 26.00 4 19.7 3104.5 3 TELE 32.50 3 19.2 3111.0 4 ADOR 44.80 5 19.7 3123.3 5 CMPR 48.40 6 19.8 3126.9 6 SNYA 52.80 3 19.4 3131.3
After a day of thunderstorms and lightning on Tuesday, which lit up the racetrack like a battlefield, the six-boat Volvo Ocean Race fleet has settled back into some high-speed sailing across the Atlantic led by Franck Cammas/FRA and Groupama. Speeds are around 18-20 knots and PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG (Ken Read/USA) are back up in second place, with Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP) in third.Tropical Storm Alberto wreaked havoc for five of the fleet yesterday when it changed course unexpectedly, leaving all but Groupama trapped in its centre, as a violent windshift headed the fleet straight into the eye of the storm.
“Then followed a chaotic 12-hour period as we ended up on the wrong side of it, beating upwind in 35 knots,” explained Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s skipper Ian Walker, currently in fourth position. “All of a sudden, instead of a fast ride east to the south of the storm, we were right in it and in survival mode with three reefs and a heavy weather jib.”As the fleet crashed off some terrible waves, the most worrying aspect was the lightning striking all around, right down to the water. “It didn’t seem possible that our carbon mast could avoid a direct strike,” Walker added.CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand was one of the worst affected teams. “Unfortunately, yesterday we had probably one of the worst skeds of the whole race so far, dropping close to 25 miles on the other boats,” said skipper Chris Nicholson.Groupama meanwhile had managed to avoid the storm by gybing early and pulled out a lead of 70 miles or so while carnage ensued astern. However, the fleet eventually escaped, sailing back on themselves to the favoured side of the storm to get back on track.
At 0700 GMT, Groupama’s lead had been reduced as the fleet settled back on course, with PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG just 26 nm astern of the green boat. As all teams made gains on the leader in the past three hours, the split from first to Sanya (Mike Sanderson/NZL) in sixth place has been reduced to 52.8 nm as the fleet blast along in 15 – 19 knots of wind. |
