Fotogalerie Leg 7
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May 29, 2012 - 1900 UTC Leg 7 Day 10
VOLVO FLEET IN ATTACK MODE AS ABU DHABI CLINGS ON
Leg 7 29/05/2012 19:02:34 UTC
&xnbsp; DTL DTLC BS DTF
1 ADOR 0.00 0 21 689.9 2 PUMA 29.10 1 22.1 719.0 3 GPMA 40.10 4 21.6 730.0 4 TELE 50.10 5 22.5 740.0 5 CMPR 55.00 2 21.5 744.8 6 SNYA 66.20 5 21.2 756.1
With 689 nautical miles to go to the finish of Leg 7 in Lisbon, Portugal, the pace has increased today as the chasing pack went into attack mode and continued to whittle away at Ian Walker and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s tenuous lead. Groupama (Franck Cammas/FRA) and Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP) currently lying in second and first place overall, were back in the game, and the fleet was easily covering 500-miles plus in 24-hours, which was reducing the runway at a rapid rate.According to CAMPER’s navigator Will Oxley, the complex weather has arisen due to a series of low pressure systems that are all merging to form one serious low-pressure right in the centre of the Atlantic.
The fleet has been racing across with it for the last 24 to 30 hours and has been able to keep pace with the warm front, however now they are situated between the cold and warm fronts with around 25 to 30 knots of wind. “We are desperately trying to stay in front of it [the system], because the wind will lift dramatically and die behind,” Oxley explained.As the front grew nearer, the wind went ahead of the fleet, which meant sailing closer on the wind, bringing Telefónica and Groupama back into play in conditions that suit them well.
Groupama had been holding third place since 0700 GMT this morning, but at 1600 GMT this afternoon, Telefónica entered the game, knocking CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson/AUS) to fifth place as the fleet lined up across the front. “This is useful because we need a boat in front of us in the ridge, just so we can go around them again,” Oxley commented.In the 24-hour period to 1900 GMT today, both Groupama and Telefónica posted impressive runs of 534 and 533 nm respectively. Abu Dhabi’s account was 497 and lower than any other boat in the fleet as those behind consistently out-performed the Emiratis with a stronger following breeze.&xnbsp;At 1900 GMT tonight, PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG (Ken Read/USA) were within striking distance, 29.10 nm off the lead. Groupama in third was another 10 miles behind with Telefónica and CAMPER at 50 and 55 nm respectively. At 66 nm off the lead, Sanya was bringing up the rear, but still well in contention. The leading boat is expected to cross the finish in Lisbon on Thursday afternoon.
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Dear Online Sailing Media & Media Partners:
A near collision at sea today when Roberto "Chuny" Bermudez of CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand swung the wheel and avoided hitting a whale at speeds over 20 knots. You can read the story here on the official site:
Kollisionsstory
As always, feel free to embed our YouTube link to the incredible video; we think this would really catch the eye of your viewers:
Beinahe-Walkollision-Video
Regards,
Robert Penner
head of Broadcast Relations
Volvo Ocean Race S.L.U.
Muelle nº10 de Levante, Puerto de Alicante
03001 Alicante, SPAIN
www.volvooceanrace.com
May 29, 2012 - 0700 UTC Leg 7 Day 10
ABU DHABI FEND OFF FLEET-WIDE ATTACKS
Leg 7 29/05/2012 7:02:14 UTC
&xnbsp; DTL DTLC BS DTF
1 ADOR 0.00 0 20.4 954.0 2 PUMA 30.90 2 21.6 985.0 3 GPMA 50.20 4 22.5 1004.3 4 CMPR 53.90 0 21.5 1008.0 5 TELE 62.20 4 22.1 1016.2 6 SNYA 66.60 1 20.3 1020.6
Leg leaders Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR) are fast reaching towards the Portuguese coast and clinging on to a diminishing lead over the chasing pack as the six teams ride the cold front on Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Miami to Lisbon.With 1,000 nm left of this 3,590-nm Atlantic leg, and PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG (Ken Read/USA) now within 30 nm of the lead, all Ian Walker and his men can do is to pray that for once the weather gods are on their side and that they enter and exit ridge of light wind ahead in first place. At 0700 GMT today, all six boats in the fleet were within 66 nm of the lead and all but Sanya (Mike Sanderson/NZL) were sailing faster than Abu Dhabi.“As predicted, our lead is rapidly vanishing before our eyes,” said skipper Ian Walker. “The fact that we knew this would happen means we are all calm about it and fully focused on what lies ahead,” the skipper said.The final stage of the leg is throwing up some tactical challenges as the fleet approaches a light air trough.
“It’s a full on drag race to a parking lot,” observed CAMPER co-skipper Stu Bannatyne. For Abu Dhabi, it is a question of keeping focused. Navigator Jules Salter says it is important that the team just sail their own race and keep the boat going as fast as possible towards what they believe to be the most forgiving part of the ridge.
On board CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson/AUS), who dropped to fourth when Groupama (Franck Cammas/FRA) moved up a gear, thoughts of the final push are already keeping skipper Chris Nicholson and navigator Will Oxley fully occupied.“We are already looking at the end and how we can best get across the light air zone and finish first into Lisbon,” said Nicholson who is convinced there will be further compression in the fleet. “It’s about almost picking the point where you want to cross the light air zone as soon as possible and just wriggling your way north or south to line up in that position, but that position right now, we don’t know,” he said.The team had a close encounter with a whale earlier, but thanks to the sharp response of helmsman Chuny Bermúdez, disaster was averted.“With reflexes like a cat, Chuny narrowly missed what could have been the equivalent of a runaway freight train colliding with a truck," wrote MCM Hamish Hooper.
"We were doing just over 20 knots and all of a sudden, the boat lurched to starboard, just staying in control."Chuny looks as he had just seen his life flash before his eyes."Fortunately no harm was done, and no downtime was had even when one of the steering cables broke earlier in the night. It has now been quickly repaired.At 0700 GMT today, the fleet was 215 nm north east of the Azores and still clicking off the miles to the finish at boat speeds of around 20-22 knots, with a lateral north/south separation of 30 nm. The first boat is expected to cross the finish in Lisbon after 1200 GMT on Thursday. &xnbsp; |
