PUMA held firm in the face of a relentless attack from Telefónica to clinch an epic Leg 5 victory on Friday, crossing the finish line in Itajaí, Brazil with a winning margin of just 12 minutes after the Spanish team had threatened to complete one of the great sporting comebacks.

After more then 7,500 nautical miles of racing from Auckland, starting with a first-night battering as bad as any in the race’s history and on through brutal conditions in the Southern Ocean and around Cape Horn, PUMA’s Mar Mostro finished in brilliant sunshine at 19:09:51 UTC.

Telefónica, who had been a constant threat to them, followed her in at 19:22:29 UTC for a second place that strengthens their position as overall leaders with five of nine offshore legs now complete.

Both boats were roared home by dozens of spectator boats and thousands of fans lining every possible viewing position on the way in.

It was an extraordinary finish to the battle for first place in a leg that saw five of the six boats forced to stop for repairs.

Telefónica were 400 nm behind the leaders when they resumed racing following a pit stop to work on structural damage to their boat. They quickly began to reduce that gap and when Groupama sailing team were forced out following a dismasting they were suddenly in a two-way battle for first.

PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG score 30 points for their win, taking their total to 113 points. It means they are just 34 points behind overall leaders Team Telefónica, despite having been forced to retire from Leg 1 because of a broken mast.

Groupama will reduce the Telefónica lead to 20 points if they complete the leg in third place under jury rig, as planned.

CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, currently carrying out repairs in Puerto Montt in Chile, can get back to within 28 points if they complete the leg in fourth.

As it became clear that PUMA were doing enough to hold off Telefónica, the team’s Media Crew Member Amory Ross handed out chocolate treats to the crew, before skipper Ken Read took back the helm to take his team over the finish line.

“We’ve never seen such an amazing welcome,” said an overwhelmed looking Read, who took time to sympathise with his five rivals and their problems over the course of the leg.

“I’ve never done such a tough offshore leg in my life. It’s been pretty intense. Our hearts go out to the crews who have suffered damage. We know what that’s like and it’s even worse when it’s in a place like the Southern Ocean.”

Telefónica had been written off after suspending racing for 17 hours for structural repairs inside the Cabo de Hornos National Park on March 31. The team resumed racing at 2133 that same day, more than 400 nm behind the leaders.

Nevertheless, a powerful South Atlantic front that rose from the south propelled Telefónica to within striking range of PUMA within days. Anxiety levels were rising on board PUMA, even after Groupama’s dismasting on April 4, but Read’s men were able to steel their nerves in a long match-race to the finish line for their first leg victory in this edition.

 

PUMA have had a steady rise since the devastating blow of their broken mast on Leg 1. In the past four scoring events PUMA have finished second three times and now first, with real momentum with the American-based team as they head towards Leg 6 to Miami in the United States.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing will ship their boat to Itajaí for Leg 6, while Sanya will rejoin the race in Miami after losing a rudder while leading earlier on Leg 5.

PU
Leg 5
06/04/2012 19:48:37 UTC
DTL    DTLC    BS    DTF
1            PUMA    FIN    019d   18h 09m 50s
2            TELE    FIN      019d   18h 22m 29s
-            CAMP    Suspended Racing
-            GPMA    Suspended Racing
-            ADOR    Did Not Finish
-            SNYA    Did Not Finish

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It was at around 1500 UTC today that Franck Cammas announced to his shore crew that Groupama 4 had dismasted 60 miles offshore of the coast of Uruguay, whilst leading the fifth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Yann Riou

When the incident happened, Groupama 4 was sailing upwind on port tack in a northerly wind of around twenty knots.

The mast broke level with the first spreader (around ten metres above the deck).

When the spar fell, bowman Brad Marsh suffered a slight injury to his forearm.

Franck Cammas indicated that he wasn’t requesting assistance and that he’d temporarily suspended racing.

Two options are being studied:

1/ To continue the race under jury rig towards Itajai, the finish venue, some 650 nautical miles ahead.
2/ To make for Punta del Este, wait for the new mast (stored in Rotterdam), rig it and then head back into the race from the point where they suspended racing (at 1500 UTC) to make for Itajai.

Further information will be communicated as soon as possible.

 

CEO of Volvo Ocean Race Expresses Concern Over 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. 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.”

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After a gruelling 6,000 miles at sea crossing the world’s largest ocean, victorious Gold Coast Australia was the first yacht in the ten-strong fleet to sail across the finish line under the Golden Gate Bridge and into Jack London Square, Oakland, at the end of the toughest leg yet of the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race.
 
As they crossed the finish line at 0216 UTC this morning, the heavy fog lifted and it was an emotional sight for the crew of the Australian entry, securing their seventh win from nine races. Arriving in Jack London Square, Tasmanian skipper, Richard Hewson, said, “What a proud moment. We won the race across the North Pacific Ocean, the roughest sea in the world.
 
“What a relief to get here. It’s been a really tough race and I’m really proud of my guys, they’ve worked so hard. We’ve had a lot of people that got injured and five of the crew especially worked hard to keep the crew motivated and keep the boat performing. To get in here in first place, despite what happened, and have such a good lead over to Singapore is just fantastic. To get here safely after 27 days of storms is just amazing.”
 
Singapore is expected to arrive in Oakland on Saturday morning local time and with less than 50 miles separating them from the finish line, the team reflect on how far they have come on their North Pacific adventure.
 
Skipper, Ben Bowley, says, “This is likely to be my last report for a couple of weeks as at this rate we shall be passing under the Golden Gate Bridge whilst enjoying a hearty scrambled eggs breakfast at around 0700 local time!
 
“We had our race debrief at our 1700 meeting today and reflected on what has been a truly epic race and, for all of us, the hardest challenge we have faced to date. Sighting land in the next few hours will see many people, myself included, realise a dream that formed many years ago when first looking at a chart of the Pacific and wondering what it would be like traverse the world’s largest body of water. The harsh reality of this leg has truly lived up to its reputation and I for one shall not want to be returning to this part of the world (well, not in winter anyway) for quite some time!
 
“I have been continually impressed with my small crew’s relentless, dogged determination to just grunt up and get the job done. I thank them for making my job all that much easier to bear this leg by being consistently willing to pit themselves against Mother Nature in her foulest of moods; this has enabled us to acquire and maintain a fantastic race position which should set us up well for the remaining few races.”
 
With a message for those thinking of taking on the challenge of a lifetime in a future edition of the Clipper Race, Ben adds, “To those who are considering this leg I say you have been warned, it’s a tough one, but the sense of achievement felt at the end is quite unlike any I have experienced before.
 
“Watch out Oakland, there are some thirsty sailors heading your way!”
 
A margin of just 30 miles separates New York and Derry-Londonderry in terms of distance to finish, and New York skipper Gareth Glover reports that the American entry is determined to hold off the opposition.
 
“After a quiet night with winds around 20 knots from the south west  this afternoon we could see the front as it came over us and the wind built from the south, giving us around 25 to 30 knots. We went from a beam reach to close reach/haul and, with around 150 miles to go, the Pacific Ocean is making us work every mile to San Francisco Bay and the end of this leg.
 
“We now have Singapore in our sights and we are hoping that they will have to beat into San Francisco Bay from the north giving us the time to catch them up and hold off Derry-Londonderry. As always there is still all to play for.”
 
In preparation for their impending arrival Gareth adds, “Today the two watches started to get ready for our arrival by doing a stock take of any food we have left and going over our quarantine checks for our arrival.”
 
In contrast to yesterday’s mood, Derry-Londonderry’s crew are resigned to their position within the fleet as Mark Light reports.
 
“We are racing in, currently placed in a very respectable fourth position. There is a decent gap between New York and our nearest rivals behind, Welcome to Yorkshire, so barring any mishaps we are in a comfortable position. We are no longer racing in too close proximity to other Clipper 68s but we have a slightly different race on our hands against Mother Nature.
 
“A fairly deep low is charging up behind us and bringing with it sustained winds of 50 to 60 knots true. At our current speeds of ten to eleven knots we have enough pace to get ourselves safely into San Francisco Bay before the really severe stuff hits, and it will hit very hard indeed! The wind is building steadily out here but, unfortunately, at the moment it is forward of the beam making conditions far from comfortable. We should escape the worst of it but I do feel for the guys behind us, knowing that they will have to endure a few more hours battling the conditions than us.”
 
He concludes, “It has been an epic adventure with very strong winds for the majority of the passage but the north Pacific Ocean has been fairly kind to us overall. I just hope that this trend continues right to the finish line!”
 
As the remaining yachts in the fleet close in on San Francisco Bay, the North Pacific has thrown one last punch at the teams as strong winds from the predicted low pressure system strike.
 
“It’s a full on world on Welcome to Yorkshire at the moment,” reports skipper, Rupert Dean. “After being becalmed at times last night and this morning, tacking and gybing for a pastime, to keep the ‘Pink Lady’ pointing in the right direction, the predicted winds arrived with a bang.
 
“Having seen the GRIBS and being warned by fleet meteorologist, Simon Rowell, about the ferocity of this nasty, fast moving low, we didn’t hang about on reducing sail once angry clouds were seen on the horizon. From full main, Yankee 2 and staysail, we went straight to two reefs, staysail and Yankee 3. Since then we have reduced sail further, exchanging the Yankee 3 for our venerable storm jib. Just as well, too, for the wind has been coming from the south, on our beam, at over 40 knots true, bringing boiling, confused seas to match.
 
“Needless to say the team have been working very hard these past 24 hours, knuckling down to these numerous sail changes and evolutions with renewed determination as the finish to Race 9 draws near. With the distance between many of the boats in this part of the fleet so small at this late stage of the race, it will be a very close battle as we approach the Golden Gate Bridge. Extra spice is added when considering three of our closest rivals, Qingdao, De Lage Landen and Visit Finland, have been in Stealth Mode recently, so we don’t know exactly where they’ll pop up.
 
“Whatever our result and those of our competitors, all the crews should be immensely proud of what they have achieved so far in this cold, hard, wet, rough and epic race. That certainly should be the case on Welcome to Yorkshire where I am justifiably very proud of them all.
 
“Just one more push to the end please!” he asks.
 
Edinburgh Inspiring Capital is also battling against the powerful winds and building sea state.
 
Skipper Gordon Reid explains, “After around 15 hours of light and frustrating winds yesterday, when the wind speed went up and down from four knots to 12 knots, backed and veered 40 degrees at a time and taxed the helm no end, we altered sail plans and trimmed non-stop just to keep the ‘Purple Beastie’ moving.
 
“Now the Pacific Ocean is refusing to let us go without one last gale and what a storm it has become. The Barometer dropped eight millibars in under six hours and we are now fully reefed with the storm jib and staysail in a constant 38 knots of apparent wind. We have seen regular gusts of over 50 knots and the sea is a boiling mass of pure raw fury. There are breaking waves coming from all directions with white foaming spray spinning off the tops. It’s very close to being the strongest gale of the entire relentless, crazy, full on race across the Pacific Ocean.
 
“One minute happily sailing along with a full main sail, Yankee 2 and staysail on a fast beam reach at 12 knots, the next minute I was on the helm as the wind gusted up to 40 knots, we were picked up by a wave the size of a two-storey house and surged east at 20 plus knots, looking almost vertically down the front of the wave towards a mass of foaming sea rushing over the bow and along the deck.”
 
Gordon adds, “Within 40 minutes we were fully reefed and went straight to the storm jib, the speed and sheer ferocity of this latest low is truly awe inspiring, out here Mother Nature rules and we are just passing through on our great adventure.”
 
In the dash towards the finish line four teams have played their Stealth Mode cards in a last bid attempt to climb the leader board. In Race 9 the teams are able to use two periods of Stealth Mode, either combining them to make a period of 48 hours, or using them separately at any time of the race.
 
Using this tactic so late on in the race whilst managing the variable conditions as the Californian coast and the Golden Gate Bridge appear over the horizon, has created a climax of intrigue as to which teams will gain the upper hand over their competitors.
 
Qingdao emerged from their second course of Stealth Mode in this race at 1200 UTC today and hoping their tactic will pay off, skipper Ian Conchie reports, “Our cat and mouse game with Welcome to Yorkshire continues. Yesterday we managed to pull ahead a little bit but then in the night we both lost the wind but Welcome to Yorkshire managed to get out of it ahead of us.
 
“It is now a drag race to the finish, but we still don’t know where De Lage Landen is either so it will be interesting over the next 24 hours.
 
“The weather system we have been expecting arrived very quickly. It was almost the case that as fast as we did a sail change, we had to start the next as the wind built. Now it is the final push to San Francisco Bay to settle the final positions.”
 
Geraldton Western Australia is also flying under the cloak of invisibility. The Australian entry entered Stealth Mode at 0600 UTC today and will emerge in 48 hours’ time, or when they are within 100 miles of the finish line.
 
On board skipper, Juan Coetzer, reports on the testing weather conditions, saying, “The wind has been pretty strange today, swinging around 150 degrees. “We had a poled out Yankee 2 on a starboard tack, heading 090, and landed up close reaching on a port tack. We could see this on the GRIB files and came to the conclusion that when the wind swings again, we’ll drop the Yankee 2 and go for storm staysail. The crew have been sailing the boat well, in these trying conditions.”
 
Commenting on the forecast for the next 24 hours, Juan adds, “It shall be an overcast morning, becoming sunny for a time with scattered showers, and a strong possibility of hail later. The wind shall range from 20 knots to 50 knots. Happy days, Geraldton Western Australia!”
 
Visit Finland will emerge from 48 hours in Stealth Mode at 1150 UTC today and skipper, Olly Osbourne, remains positive as they push on towards the finish line.
 
“It would seem that the mighty Pacific has one last trick up its sleeve as we face the final battle through gale force winds. This seems to be nothing we are not used to however, and the breeze filling back in this morning was a welcome change after a slow night of light airs. We had our heavyweight spinnaker up for some time hunting for a puff of wind to get us going, and then a couple of hours later the storm jib was going up!”
 
Olly adds, “As ever a very mixed bag, although the forecast looks promising for a solid run in from here.”
 
De Lage Landen will also emerging from 48 hours in Stealth Mode today are the crew are anxious to see how they have fared within the fleet after sailing under reduced canvas because of sail damage.
 
Skipper Stuart Jackson, explains, “After having suffered considerable damage to the mainsail 36 hours ago, we have started to make some considerable progress towards the finish line again.
 
“Due to existing damage to the mainsail track, we had lost the top four sliders that attach the sail to the mast. This meant that there was no possibility to increase or reduce any more sail without taking any more risk on serious damage.
 
“Sailing well underpowered for 12 to 18 hours, we had to wait until the conditions were calm enough to drop the whole sail to the deck and repair the damage we had sustained. In the midst of the night the wind had eased off enough in order to undertake the necessary repairs.”
 
Stuart adds, “By the break of day we were finally racing again, destination Oakland, San Francisco Bay.”
 
Singapore is expected to cross the finish line mid-morning local time today (mid-afternoon UTC), with the chasing boats arriving across the weekend and into next week. They will be berthed in Jack London Square, Oakland. Watch out for updated ETAs which will be posted on the official race website and you can follow the teams’ progress on Facebook and Twitter. They will be hosted by the 2012 Strictly Sail Pacific boat show.
 
ENDS
 
Positions at 1200 UTC, Saturday 31 March 2012
 
Boat                                                       DTF*
1 Gold Coast Australia                    Finished 0316 local time 30 March
2 Singapore                                        36nm (+36nm DTL**)
3 New York                                         87nm (+87nm)
4 Derry-Londonderry                     115nm (+115nm)
5 Welcome to Yorkshire                                200nm (+200nm)
6 Qingdao                                            212nm (+212nm)
7 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital       299nm (+299nm)
8 Visit Finland                                    303nm (+303nm)
9 Geraldton Western Australia   480nm (+480nm) Stealth Mode: position at 0600 UTC 31 March
10 De Lage Landen                          633nm (+531nm) Stealth Mode: position at 1800 UTC 29 March
 
*DTF = Distance to Finish, **DTL = Distance to Leader
Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at www.clipperroundtheworld.com.

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Sign, cigars and a bottle of rum are a must when rounding Cape Horn.

As any sailing fan with a pulse probably knows by now, we rounded Cape Horn yesterday. The unofficial end to an epic Southern Ocean leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. It is unreal that only two of the six that started this leg will get to the Horn at close to 100% speed. I guess that when all start an Iron Man race not all expect to finish or even get there at near full capacity, so it shouldn’t be a shock. This has been our ultimate Iron Man.

It would be too easy to glow poetically about what it means to go around Cape Horn – for me the second time. Instead, I will describe the scene on board as it happened. Kind of like a first timers’ equator crossing, there is a ritual and for very good reason. It is a time to be proud and happy and relieved. The feeling of “we have escaped” is prominent. The hardened and the rookies share this feeling. It is a feeling that sticks with you forever. It is a time to take an hour break from the race and just appreciate the accomplishment that few others share. A wonderful time.

First things first. There has to be a team photo and there has to be a sign commemorating the date and place that the photo is taken. This was a huge topic of debate for days leading to the horn. “Do we have a sign yet?” “Where is the sign?” “Who is doing the sign?”

I got the sign. Written on the paper chart of Cape Horn. I kind of like the meaning, and the awesome nature of the area. The Drake Passage between Antarctica and the southern most tip of the world. The sign…done. Stop bugging me. We have a sign already!

Next are the necessities. “Who brought the libations?” “Did anyone bring alcohol for the Horn?” “Oh no, we forgot liquor for the Horn?!?”

Boys, boys, we have libations for the Horn. Do you think I was born yesterday? Now if the bottle didn’t break, we are in business.

Finally the cigars. I still have a photo in my house of Jerry Kirby and me rounding the Horn last race, sitting in the hatch with big dumb smiles on our faces both smoking cigars. It means a lot to me, that photo. Cigars were going to be back, and I told my wife Kathy to search Auckland for some good cigars and she did just that. Don’t want to know what a box of 11 Cubans cost these days but it sure was worth it. Even if it was tough to keep them lit in the freezing rain as we passed.

And finally, the photo. The one that you will have in your office or living room forever. Make sure Rosco (Amory Ross) is in it, and of course our media man came equipped for exactly this situation with a flexible tripod that he could wrap around the grinder pedestal. No photo would be right without all 11 guys.

So, just with the rock about 3 miles abeam, which is very rare – passing so close – the rum was passed, the cigars were lit and the photo was taken. Eleven amazingly close human beings exchanging hand shakes and silent smiles. Amazing what a silent smile can really say. The photo that will last forever. Something to be proud of, something that is part of each of our own little life history.

“Remember the day we rounded Cape Horn?”

That phrase will live in infamy for the 11 guys on board this yacht.

- Kenny

Ken Read

Skipper

PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG

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Franck Cammas and his men rounded Cape Horn this Friday at 1255 UTC and are leading this fifth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. They still have 1,700 miles to go before they reach Brazil and the Americans are putting increasing pressure on them as Puma is just an hour astern of Groupama 4.

“Puma is now our most dangerous rival so we’re sailing according to what she does. For the overall ranking it would be good to keep the Americans astern of us into Itajai, but I think Telefonica will be able to hang onto third place in this leg. Ken Read and his crew aren’t making many mistakes and they’ve negotiated the South Pacific very well. It’s certainly going to be a fine race to Brazil! We’ll have to make sure we don’t fall asleep on the job…” stated Franck Cammas before Cape Horn.

Insignificant separation

Indeed the Americans made up a vast amount of their deficit last night due to the series of gybes Groupama 4 had to link together to adapt to the north-westerly wind shift. Puma was able to benefit from a more gradual shift to gain nearly forty miles in one night and the two boats were close to each other as they rounded Cape Horn, early this Friday afternoon: Franck Cammas and his men caught a brief glimpse of the legendary rock at 1400 hours, followed an hour later by Ken Read and his crew. This island to the extreme South marks a radical change, not just in terms of the sea state and the cold, which has reigned over recent days, but also the degree of intensity of this leg, which has transformed into a Franco-American duel. However, the weather situation after Drake’s Passage isn’t the easiest to understand…

In fact the solid twenty knots or so of north-westerly wind, which was blowing as they rounded the legendary rock, will ease considerably offshore of Isla de Los Estados. Added to that, the warm front which generated the mist at daybreak this Friday, will give way to less cloudy skies. It would seem that two major options are possible for the climb up to Brazil: a route along the Argentinean coast in a moderate westerly air flow with the emergence of a mini depression to the North of the Falklands, or a more easterly trajectory, leaving the Falklands to port so as to distance themselves from the influence of the Andes cordillera and skirt around the outside of this barometric minimum. However, what’s vital in all this is their positioning around Rio de la Plata in three days’ time, as a zone of high pressure is blocking the way to Brazil. For the French, the decision about which way to go will also depend on how the Americans react to the situation…

The Cape of Good Deliverance

“For over ten days, it’s been very full-on physically, with some very big waves pushed along by a big southerly swell, with some strong winds and speeds which reached thirty knots at times in the troughs… The proximity of Puma would seem to suggest that the coming week isn’t going to be exactly restful! We can feel our rival breathing down our necks and clearly they don’t want to get left behind after Cape Horn… We’ll respond to them by showing that we’re capable of taking up a challenge and going faster than them. There’s some psychological game playing here and it’s revived with each new position report every three hours. Up till now, we’ve been dealing with the Southern Ocean at our own pace, but now, as we make Cape Horn, we’re getting back into race mode with all the fatigue that we’ve accumulated. This is the point I call “the Cape of good deliverance”: this is where the race really begins! It’s an imposing rock and it always gives me a special emotion” commented Thomas Coville, before rounding Cape Horn for the ninth time.

 

In this way, the first of the next 36 hours will see them make fairly quick headway towards the North-East and the crew of Groupama 4 will very quickly latch onto some less extreme weather conditions: the seas are likely to be smoother and the cold decreasingly harsh, but the wind may well be more fickle. The ETA in Itajai currently stands between the evening of Wednesday 4 April (local time) and noon on Thursday…

Standing for the 5th leg from Auckland – Itajai 30 March 2012, 1300 UTC

1. Groupama 1,920.3 miles from the finish
2. Puma 16.3 miles astern of the leader
3. Telefonica 303.3 miles astern of the leader
4. Camper 1,347.6 miles astern of the leader
5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing 1,696.8 miles astern of the leader
6. Sanya DNF.

 

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Leg 5 leaders Groupama throttled back to preserve man and boat as the fleet saw a return to the classic Southern Ocean conditions of huge, confused seas and gale-force winds on Tuesday.

Despite a lead of just 37 nautical miles (nm) Franck Cammas’ crew chose safety over speed to avoid breakages to their Volvo Open 70 as winds hit more than 35 knots and waves grew to around six metres following a brief respite from the thrashing yesterday.

Four of the six-strong fleet have suffered damage so far in the 6,700nm leg from Auckland to Itajaí and Groupama skipper Cammas said in the Southern Ocean, survival must come before speed.

“We had to slow down during the night to nurse the boat and the men,” he said. “We are waiting for the day to come to put some more sails up again.

“It’s more about surviving than racing. For sure it’s been the toughest week since the start of the race.”

Groupama helmsman Laurent Pagès added: “We have been sailing this way since we got to this part of the ocean where the sea state is really bad.

“When we returned to boat breaking conditions we took our foot off the pedal. We gave some miles to PUMA but it’s all fine because we don’t have any problems on board.”

Despite slowing the boat down, Groupama were hurtling along at an average of 21 knots in the three hours prior to the 1300 UTC position report.

Hot on their heels were Ken Read’s PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG as both teams passed the eastern ice limit, allowing them to dive south and take the shortest possible route to Cape Horn, around 1,200nm away.

Telefónica slipped to 314 nm off the lead after being forced to hold back to prevent damage to their bow getting worse.

Still in fourth but heading to southern Chile to carry out repairs to their damaged bow, CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand celebrated getting to within 2,000 miles of their destination, Puerto Montt.

“It’s a milestone for us,” said helmsman Tony Rae. “Another step towards getting to land and making the repairs.

“Once we get to Puerto Montt and have a look at the damage we’ll know when we can leave again.”

1415 nm behind the leaders, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing were revelling in much less dangerous conditions than the rest of the fleet and looking forward to opportunities further along the course.

“We haven’t seen too much harsh weather since leaving New Zealand so we’re just chipping away and enjoying the downwind Southern Ocean downwind yachting,” said Abu Dhabi’s newest recruit, Australian Olympic sailor Anthony ‘Nocka’ Nossiter.

“We’re happy to be stuck in lighter airs at the back of the fleet if the front guys are going to break their boats in hard core weather. We’ll see how it all plays out.”

Nocka, who last competed in the Volvo Ocean Race on current CEO Knut Frostad’s Djuice Dragons in 2001-02, added: “We’re quite a long way off the pace with our delayed start time but you never know what could happen.

“The last time I did this race we passed three boats between Cape Horn and the finish.

“It’s like a totally new race after the Horn, it could be a restart.”

Mike Sanderson’s Team Sanya reached Tauranga in New Zealand on Tuesday, five days after a broken rudder forced them to turn back.

Sanya will ship their boat to Savannah in the United States for repairs before sailing it to Miami to rejoin the race for Leg 7.

Leg 5
27/03/2012 13:06:25 UTC
DTL DTLC BS DTF
1 GPMA 0.00 0 21.3 3112.3
2 PUMA 37.00 7 19.8 3149.3
3 TELE 313.90 13 15.8 3426.1
4 CMPR 856.60 45 5.9 3968.9
5 ADOR 1415.40 35 17.8 4527.7
- SNYA Did Not Finish

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Despite their exhaustion and huge volumes of water over the deck, soaking boats and crews, in this morning’s reports from the skippers there is a distinct sense that the teams are very much enjoying the current sailing conditions as they eat up the miles in their race across the Pacific to Oakland in California’s San Francisco Bay.

“Another great day for the De Lage Landen crew!” Stuart Jackson enthuses. “What beautiful conditions we’ve had today. For the last couple of days we have been blessed with fair winds and calm seas. As we are closing in on the back of the fleet we had to make a tactical decision to sail further south than we would need. The reason for racing more miles at lower speeds is a local phenomenon we have been eyeballing for a couple of days. The two highs that are going to merge will create a very confused wind pattern which we are trying to avoid over the next 24 hours. This decision will cost us some miles but, looking at the weather forecast, we do believe it will pay off.

“Apart from that we are very satisfied to have some boats in our proximity to race again!”

As well as the physical aspect of racing a 68-foot yacht, where every task requires teamwork and simply moving about the boat on an angle requires a great deal of energy, the mental challenge should not be underestimated.

Already the teams have spent 19 days at sea, with the prospect of another ten or more to go, and for the last three days they have been on the same tack, running with pretty much the same sail plan, save for a reef being put in or taken out.  In addition the sun has only made two appearances since the ten yachts left China almost three weeks ago and the constant soaking is as much a mental drain as a physical one.

To maintain focus in these conditions is a huge challenge and the crews will be setting themselves targets and records to break for each watch in order to help retain concentration. There are few other sports where such an extended period of total attention is required.

Each measure of progress is greeted with great pleasure, as Ben Bowley, on Singapore explains.

“Another 15 degrees of longitude, another hour forward with the clocks!” he reports. “By the time you are reading this report we shall also have broken the 2,000nm barrier. This will be a very good thing as mentally, I think all of us are starting to be affected by ‘Groundhog Day’ syndrome!  We have been fetching along at speed in exactly the same direction with the same sail plan for three days now.  It seems that the fleet is experiencing the same conditions as our lead/deficit over our competitors has remained frustratingly matched for the last 24 hours.

“The sun did make a brief appearance today and reminded us of how pleasant a few rays of golden warmth can be after days of staring at overcast skies. We are waiting now for conditions to change and see how Gold Coast Australia fares when we inevitably require full mainsails again. With a lead of just 72nm there is every chance on us getting the jump on them if any part of their repairs is not up to the job. For now though they seem to be making excellent progress and once again I commend Richard and his crew for making good in the face of adversity; if they would just slow down a little I could pass over this praise personally to one and all!”

There’s no sign of deceleration from the Australian entry at the moment and, says Richard Hewson, their mast track repair is holding well.

“Gold Coast Australia is now almost at full power and charging towards San Francisco Bay. Not only are we almost back to full race potential having fixed most of the damage that occurred over the week of storms, but our electronics have also dried out and are all working again; I can now type on the keyboard and press all the keys. It’s the little luxuries in a long race such as this that can bring so much happiness.

“As the wind began to veer and weaken in strength Sean Fuller went up the mast today to make some modifications to our hoisting system and we were also able to shake the final reef out of the sail, giving us a bit of extra speed. The boat is now nicely powered up and we are making some great mileage towards the finish.

“The seas at the moment are unusually flat, resulting in some excellent speeds. Being so far out in the ocean with consistent 20 to 30 knots of wind for the last few days you would expect quite a swell and the sea to build up, however sea and swell are under one metre.  I presume this is because of our close proximity to the centre of the high pressure system.  Either way it is fantastic sailing and makes excellent conditions for the less experienced helms to have a drive without the danger of being smashed or rounded up by a big wave.

“As one crew member said, Gold Coast Australia is so balanced at the moment you hardly need to touch the helm, and if you had a light auto helm or wind vane you would quite happily set the helm and the crew could all go to bed!”

While the teams match each other mile for mile today’s reports provide an insight into all the other tasks that are required to keep an ocean racing campaign on track. Top of the list: emptying the bilges.

“The wind we have been having for the last couple of days has been great, helping us maintain a 9 -10 knot boat speed in the direction of San Francisco Bay. Sadly the sea state is not helping, as every once in a while a rogue wave will hit the boat and drench the crew on deck and find ways of getting below into the bilges,” explains Juan Coetzer on Geraldton Western Australia.

“The daily task of keeping the boat dry below is not an easy one. The bilges get checked every hour and emptied, but the volumes of water sometimes coming over the deck are immense. During happy hour all of the crew get stuck in, helping empty out all the water from the bilges. A chain gang has been formed and the crew have become rather good at this operation. Thirty-six buckets later we are all done. This is also a good time for both watches to socialize with one another and catch up on the day’s updates.”

New York’s skipper, Gareth Glover, describes how the quartermasters and victuallers have their work cut out for them.

“On a long crossing like this one you are always managing your resources on board. How much gas are we using? How much water are we making or how much fuel do we have in the tanks? Are the crew eating too much or too little? So as well as racing the yacht we also need to think about these things… there is more to racing a yacht than just sailing fast towards your next port!

“We are hoping that this weather system we are in is going to carry us for a few more days. When you’re making good time it sometimes feels like you’re only days away, not weeks. You lose all track of time on a yacht; you know when you have to get up for watch and when you can rest; you know when you’re on mother duties and what jobs need to be done for the day. Time can move very fast, or very slow when there is no wind. The days feel like they’re moving fast – but for how long?”

In their downtime the New York crew members have been talking about what they are going to do when they reach Oakland. Luckily they have their own tour guide on board in the shape of San Francisco resident, Lisa Perkin, who has been helping them formulate their plans.

The main resource concerning Derry-Londonderry’s crew is water. Fresh water is vital for survival and all of the yachts are fitted with water makers which desalinate sea water to make it drinkable. This is in addition to the tanks that hold 800 litres of fresh water which are filled before each race.

Mark Light, skipper of the Northern Ireland entry, says, “On board our water rationing is going well. When we left Qingdao we couldn’t fix our water maker in time so we took on an extra 1,000 litres of fresh water in five-gallon (18.9-litre) bottles – 50 of them! As you can imagine storage was a bit of a logistical challenge and the extra weight was on all our minds. We quickly set in place some procedures which would carry us through to Oakland.

“Each crew member on board is allowed 1.5 litres of water per day as a personal allowance (for drinking, cleaning teeth and washing) and also two hot drinks per day, all precisely administered by the mothers for the day. We have measured and documented exactly how much water each meal takes to prepare and this is strictly adhered to. Bear in mind that most of our food on board is freeze dried, pasta or rice based, and we have powdered milk, porridge for breakfast and bake bread every day.

“We wash all kitchen utensils in sea water, clean using only sea water and wash hands in sea water followed by hand sanitizer. There are strictly no freshwater showers allowed at all, no spare water for laundry and no room for extra rations – not even for the skipper!”

All this, while not affecting their performance in any way, does have one less than pleasant side effect.

Mark adds, “So far we are all healthy and in good spirits, if a little colourful in odour! So, when the LegenDerry crew get in make sure you give us a wide berth, applaud from a distance and believe us when we say we are looking forward to a nice, warm shower!”

With the approaching weather front the teams are working out how best to negotiate the next 24 hours.

“Another day of fast fine reaching has given us another very respectable daily run and I think we have had our fastest week on record so far,” says Olly Osborne. “The weather picture will be changing over the next couple of days and the forerunners of the fleet may be able to stay in the belt of southerlies for longer, leaving the back markers the option of gybing first.”

The Visit Finland skipper adds, “As always we will get what we get and it is surprising to see the fleet still so closely packed after 20 days at sea. So with the date line firmly behind us and the northern hemisphere officially in spring time, things are looking good for a fast run toward the finish.”

“The sun made a rare appearance today, bathing Welcome to Yorkshire in beautiful sunshine as she continues to speed away on a beam reach,” reports Rupert Dean. “Daily runs have continued to be high, enabling us to whittle down the miles to Oakland and reduce the deficit on boats ahead. Hopefully this will continue for at least the next 24 hours and beyond, for the cold front to the west is due to catch us in a day’s time. Conditions then will become less settled, but hopefully not to the detriment of the magnificent sailing conditions currently enjoyed. Certainly from the GRIBS it looks like the wind will veer a little behind us, which is what one would expect as we approach the apex of this colossal high.

“Providing current speeds are maintained, our ‘pink lady’ should break the 2,000 miles to go barrier tomorrow, marking another milestone in this epic race and a cause for celebration for the crew.”

Qingdao’s skipper, Ian Conchie, is hoping his team’s position to the north of the pack will be beneficial when the front comes through.

“Another fast 24 hours of reaching! The pace of the last few days has been relentless with 30 knots apparent wind giving great conditions, but it has also been frustrating knowing that we are pushing as hard as we can and still sometimes we lose a few miles to the boats around us. Hopefully our northerly route will pay dividends soon,” he says.

Having been able to sort out most of the maintenance jobs thrown up by the storms of several days ago, they still have one niggle they haven’t been able to fix yet.

“The most annoying problem is in our electronics,” explains Ian. “We still haven’t managed to find what sets off navigation alarms regularly and we need some calmer conditions to trace the system through the boat.”

There has been no substantial change in the relative positions of the chasing pack in the last 24 hours as the miles count down and, while Qingdao’s tacticians hope their northerly position will be the beneficial one, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, like De Lage Landen, is hoping theirs to the south will be the one that pays off.

“All day yesterday and last night there was no sign of the winds easing and we continued to make excellent progress towards the race finish, still very much in contention for a place on the podium,” Gordon Reid reports.

“This afternoon the winds eased slightly and the sea moderated, allowing us to increase our sail area for the first time in several days, giving us the opportunity to inspect and service the sail where required.

“The approaching high pressure system will bring a change in wind strength and direction. Ensuring we are positioned to take full advantage and avoid its centre will hopefully be what we need to get us past the yachts just a stone’s throw ahead.

“With just over 2,000 miles still to race, this is the time when we really need to dig a little deeper, maintain the high level of focus, look after all of our equipment and keep the faith for the Purple Beastie on the podium.”

ENDS

Positions at 1200 UTC, Friday 23 March 2012

Boat                                                       DTF*
1 Gold Coast Australia                    1,887nm
2 Singapore                                        1,958nm (+71nm DTL**)
3 Derry-Londonderry                     2,071nm (+184nm)
4 New York                                         2,084nm (+197nm)
5 Qingdao                                            2,095nm (+208nm)
6 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital       2,103nm (+216nm)
7 Welcome to Yorkshire                                2,109nm (+222nm)
8 Visit Finland                                    2,140nm (+253nm)
9 De Lage Landen                             2,160nm (+273nm)
10 Geraldton Western Australia                2,170nm (+283nm)

*DTF = Distance to Finish, **DTL = Distance to Leader
Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found at www.clipperroundtheworld.com.

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Team Sanya led the fleet out of Auckland and into a likely battering from the weather en route to the Southern Ocean, as Leg 5 to Itajaí got underway with the second half of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 completely open.

Auckland skipper Mike Sanderson enjoyed a dream start to the leg as his underdog Sanya outfit led the fleet around the inshore course on his home waters.

Sanya smoked their five rivals off the start line, enjoying better breeze in a commanding position to round the first mark ahead of Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.

PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG followed them around the televised section, followed by Team Telefónica, CAMPER with Emirates Team Zealand and Groupama sailing team.

With 6,700 nautical miles of ocean racing ahead of them, no team will be placing any significance on the leaving positions, especially with such a trial by the elements in prospect.

According to race meteorologist Gonzalo Infante a low pressure system to the north east of Auckland is set to intensify as it moves towards the colder waters of the Southern Ocean.

“It’s a heat machine right now,” Infante said. “As it interacts with the cooler air off New Zealand it could generate some big winds — 30 knots up to maybe even 50 or 60 knots.”

PUMA skipper Ken Read said keeping the boat and the crew in one piece was the top priority, with gales likely in the first few days.

Read added: “It’s going to be boat-breaking and person-breaking weather, and I think the smart will prevail.”

As the leg goes on, the fleet will sail through the notorious Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties where the winds consistently blow above 40 knots and conditions are more than capable of breaking boats.

Three new sailors have been added to the crew lists in Auckland. Anthony Nossiter from Australia is joining Abu Dhabi to replace the outgoing Justin Ferris, while just for this leg Finnish Olympic gold medal winner Thomas Johanson takes over from injured Kelvin Harrap on PUMA and Danish Olympic gold medallist Martin Kirketerp steps in on Sanya for Ryan Houston who has a kidney infection.

 

With the weather forecast to batter the fleet in the opening day of the leg, it will be a baptism of fire for the new crewmembers.

“Right now all our focus is on the weather forecast, which looks absolutely diabolical for the first 36 hours,” said Ian Walker, skipper of fifth-placed Abu Dhabi. “We just have to prepare our boat and our people as best we can.”

Despite having three leg wins and two in-port victories under their belt, Iker Martínez’s Team Telefónica sit just 15 points clear at the top of the overall leaderboard, with less than 40 points separating the top four boats and fifth-placed Abu Dhabi still determined to fight their way back into the reckoning.

And as the 39,000 nautical mile race hits its mid-point with Leg 5 to Itajaí in Brazil, with more than half the points still to be awarded, it is anyone’s to win.

“The door has always been open for any team to win,” Martínez said. “The teams are very close and there will be some more boats winning legs for sure.”

CAMPER, currently ranked third overall behind Telefónica and Groupama, started the leg riding the high of victory on home waters in Saturday’s In-Port Race.

And with just 18 points separating them from the leaders, skipper Chris Nicholson said his team were still very much in the race.

“It’s still well and truly game on,” he said. “I see the future for the overall podium results for this leg as wide open — as wide open now as they were in Alicante.”

“I’ve been watching this race since 1981 and never before got this far and not really known what’s going to happen going forward,” added Sanderson whose sixth-placed Sanya are showing their best form of the race.

After second place finishes in Leg 4 and the Auckland In-Port Race, PUMA are also on a roll – but skipper Ken Read, who skippered PUMA to third place in the Southern Ocean leg of the 2008-09 event, said keeping the boat and the crew in one piece was the top priority.

“Quite frankly this is not a leg to be talking about wins and losses right now,” he said. “It’s pretty easy to talk tough but the reality is this is not the most hospitable part of the world and we have to make sure we’re smart.”

Leg 5 is expected to take around 18 days to complete.

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