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Volvo Ocean Race 2011/2012 - Leg 8 - Lissabon - Lorient - Start 10.06.2012
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Fotogalerie Leg 8
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Pressemitteilung vom Start der 8. Etappe des Volvo Ocean Race
June 12, 2012 - 1900 UTC Leg 8 Day 3
HARD NIGHT Ahead AS LIGHT headWINDS SLOW PROGRESS
Leg 8 12/06/2012 19:01:22 UTC
&xnbsp; DTL DTLC BS DTF
1 GPMA 0.00 0 9.4 1232.1 2 TELE 0.10 1 9.1 1232.3 3 PUMA 2.90 0 9.5 1235.1 4 CMPR 7.30 1 9.8 1239.5 5 ADOR 8.80 2 9.6 1241.0 6 SNYA 12.90 1 9.1 1245.0
A hard night is in store for the six-boat Volvo fleet as they now battle light headwinds surrounding the Azores island of São Miguel, which they must round before pointing their bows towards France. at 1900 GMT Groupama (Franck Cammas/FRA)were just 0.1 nautical miles (nm) ahead, having indextained their tenuous lead over hard-pushing Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP), while PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, 2.9 nm behind, complete the leading trio of sisterships. No one is giving an inch in what is turning into a battle of epic proportions.“So far the three of us have been glued to each other for the entire race.
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Nick Dana/Abu Dhabi
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It’s no wonder that three nearly identical boats are on top of each other,” said PUMA skipper Ken Read, while keeping an eye on the boats behind.The leaders should be free of the high pressure on Wednesday morning, but tonight the wind had eased considerably and speeds had dropped accordingly. Groupama was the northernmost boat in the fleet, making 9.4 knots, with Telefónica on her starboard hip and PUMA just shy of two miles to leeward. The southerly group of CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson/AUS), who have overtaken Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR), and Sanya (Mike Sanderson/NZL) are just as closely bunched and just 12.9 separate Groupama in first place from Sanya in sixth position, with 1232 nm to go to the leg finish in Lorient.Read believes the leg will be won or lost on the other side of the island, where the fleet will meet an aggressive depression.“It’s a question of who can deal with the big breeze best and who can avoid breaking in the meantime,” he said.
PUMA’s Mar Mostro has performed well on windy downwind stretches and Read suggests he would not bet against his team pulling off another leg win to make a hat trick of first places. However, he also said, “I’m not sure I’d lay every dollar down for us either at the moment. There’s a bunch of good boats out there and it’s hard to pick them on any given day”.
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June 12, 2012 - 0700 UTC Leg 8 Day 3
TELEFÓNICA AND GROUPAMA IN CLOSE COMBAT AS GAME INTENSIFIES
Leg 8 12/06/2012 7:01:18 UTC
&xnbsp; DTL DTLC BS DTF
1 TELE 0.00 0 12.7 1302.3 2 GPMA 0.20 0 12.9 1302.4 3 PUMA 2.60 0 12.8 1304.9 4 ADOR 10.10 1 12.8 1312.4 5 CMPR 13.40 2 13.5 1315.7 6 SNYA 31.70 3 13.8 1334.0
Overnight, Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP) relinquished their lead to Groupama (Franck Cammas/FRA) in a game that will only intensify as the fleet makes the approach to the turning mark of São Miguel in the midst of the light air Azores High. At 0700 GMT, Telefónica had inched ahead of the French by 0.2 nautical miles, while PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG (Ken Read/USA) were well positioned in third, just 2.6 nm off the lead and ready to take advantage of any opportunities heading their way.Current race leaders Groupama are desperate strengthen their grip on overall honours by winning this sprint leg, which is set to conclude in their home port of Lorient on Friday. Meanwhile, Telefónica are determined to pull off another leg win, their first since their hat-trick of victories in the first three legs.
As the fleet rounds the Azores Island of São Miguel, the weather is set to complicate matters, and could well bring the rest of the fleet into play as the breeze fades and the fleet races upwind before turning towards France and the downwind sleigh ride that awaits.Already the fleet has entered the high pressure system. The exit from the light wind area and the entry into the new low pressure system will be critical. Sailing close to the centre of the depression will produce testing conditions with potentially 40 knots of wind and huge seas. “No doubt we will all see high speeds, but keeping it all together might be what wins you the leg,” remarked Nick Dana, Media Crew Member with fourth-placed Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR).Although the depression could easily produce conditions capable of ending a leg in pieces, and managing the speed of the boat is key, the chasing pack are looking forward to the chance to take on the leaders in conditions more suited to the non-Juan Kouyoumdjian-designed boats in the fleet. “We just have to focus on keeping up enough with the leaders so that we can make it back on the run later on,” said Walker.For the past day or so, Abu Dhabi have been protecting the margin between themselves and fifth-placed CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson/AUS).“It sucks,” said a disgruntled CAMPER co-skipper Stu Bannatyne, whose team is fed up with constantly being slower and bleeding miles almost constantly. “We have just got to hang in for another day and then we have light air and the chance to get back at the fleet,” Bannatyne said.For Ken Read and his men on board third-placed PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, it is a question of keeping in touch with the leading duo in reaching conditions which PUMA has always struggled with. They too are looking forward to the wind easing today and the chance to make up ground on the two boats they need to beat to keep them in contention for the overall lead, the closest it has ever been in the 39-year history of the race.Already boat speeds have dropped to a more manageable 12-13 knots, the fire hose has been turned off temporarily and the crews have been able to rest, eat and mentally prepare for the final push to France in conditions which could produce some of the most testing in the race.At 0700 GMT today, with 131 nm to go to the Azores turning point, the first three boats were separated by 2.6 nm. Abu Dhabi were 10.1 nm off the lead, with CAMPER just 3.4 nm astern. Mike Sanderson and Sanya were taking a more southerly approach and were 31.7 behind. &xnbsp;
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