The serious countdown to the start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race has officially begun, with the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge taking place on Sydney Harbour today.
The SOLAS Big Boat Challenge is traditionally one of the busier days on the Harbour for spectator vessels. This year the 15 or so entrants, ranging in size from 100 foot super maxis to 50 foot grand prix racers can expect less traffic around them, but a ton of on board action.
“It’ll be an exciting race,” said Wild Oats XI skipper Mark Richards yesterday as he and Wild Oats XI’s race crew were preparing to don wet weather gear and complete a practice run around the 14 nautical mile SOLAS Big Boat Challenge track, which today takes them two and a half times around Sydney Harbour to the finish off the Opera House.
For the sailing novices on Anthony Bell’s 100 foot INVESTEC LOYAL, today’s challenge will provide some insight into what might be around the corner come Boxing Day. Olympic wheelchair racer Kurt Fearnley, Roosters five-eighth Anthony Minichiello and Channel 9’s Karl Stefanovic will taste plenty of salt water and better understand the rigours of ocean racing when they join rugby legends and past participants, Phil Waugh and Phil Kearns, and the rest of the professional race crew for today’s SOLAS Big Boat Challenge. Former racing great and record breaking winner Neville Crichton will also join Anthony Bell’s loyal for SOLAS big boat race.
Peter Millard, co-owner of the 98 foot Lahana arrived back on a flight from the US yesterday and when told of today’s forecast, said, “Then we definitely need to go out training today.”
Two of Lahana’s 21-strong crew have flown in from Europe and a handful more have arrived from interstate to take part in the annual Harbour spectacle, with the largest yachts in town preparing for the 12.30pm start off Steele Point, Vaucluse.
“It’ll be good to have testing conditions today, but we won’t be taking any risks that might put a speed bump in our Rolex Sydney Hobart preparations,” said Millard. “We want to see a lot of pressure today and for the great race. We’re hoping for a southerly all the way to Hobart.”
Making her Australian debut in the race will be Victorian Rob Hanna’s recent acquisition, theTP52 Shogun. Hanna purchased the near-new former Audi Azzurra from Europe, where it has been successfully competing on the MedCup circuit. Hanna’s main intention is to beat the other Australian ownedTP52’s at major events, including Marcus Blackmore’s Hooligan, which is also contesting the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge.

 

List of Entries

10000	BRINDABELLA	Jim	Cooney	Jutson 80		1.4100
ESP6100	DUENDE	Damien	Parkes	IMS 52		1.2900
5980	FUTURE SHOCK	Craig	Ellis	Elliott 57		1.3500
601	GINGER	Leslie	Green	Swan 60		1.3769
AUS521	HOOLIGAN	Marcus	Blackmore	TP52	1.382
SYD100	INVESTEC LOYAL	Anthony	Bell	Elliott 100	1.911
10081	LAHANA	Millard/	Honan	Bakewell White 30m	1.683
AUS60000	LOKI	Stephen	Ainsworth	Reichel Pugh 63	1.517
SM11	SCARLET RUNNER	Robert	Date	RP 52	1.363
AUS280	SHOGUN V	Robert	Hanna	TP52	1.383
NOR2	SOUTHERN EXCELLENCE	Andrew	Wenham	Volvo 60		1.3200
AUS21	SPIRIT	Graeme	Wilson	IACC		1.3658
SM24	TERRA FIRMA	Nicholas	Bartels	Cookson 50	1.327
10001	WILD OATS XI	Robert	Oatley	Reichel Pugh 100	1.954
M10	WILD THING	Grant	Wharington	Jones 98 Maxi	1.805

To view the course maps go to http://www.cyca.com.au/editorial.asp?key=760

By Lisa Ratcliff/CYCA media

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The first day of racing at the 2nd edition of Les Voiles de St. Barth dawned with 25 knots of tropical tradewind breeze and showers sweeping over the picturesque French island located midway down the Caribbean chain. The regatta’s fleet of maxis, racing and cruising yachts, multi-hulls and classics – 48 confirmed on race day – set off on a race course around the nearby archipelago, and met with plenty of wind and bumpy seas, especially on the islands’ exposed eastern side.

You certainly couldn’t have asked for a prettier race course, which today sent fleets on jaunts of either 16-, 22-, or 25-nautical mile jaunts.  Most intriguing was the trip around the northern tip of St. Barth and through the nearby archipelago, which in a typically French way makes one ready for a meal with names such as Ile Chevreau (baby goat), Ile Fregate (bird), Ile le Boulanger (the baker), Ile Fourchue (fork), Grouper et Petite Groupers (fish), Le Boeuf (beef), and Le Pain du Sucre (sugarloaf).

Today’s later start at 1300 did nothing to diminish the wind and sea, as the first two classes off – Maxis and Multihulls – with eleven boats, started in 22 knots and encountered two meter seas and were sent on a 25-nautical mile course. George David’s Rambler 100 with Ken Read as skipper, got away at the pin end of the starting line and lead Hugo Stenbeck on Genuine Risk up into the outer harbor to an offset turning mark. Once around, Rambler set a huge asymmetric spinnaker and was on her way for the day.

On the eastern, and windward, side of the island the big boats reveled in the conditions which eventually topped out above 30 knots – Genuine Risk, with their combined crew Swedish/ American crew, recorded 30 knots of boat speed surfing downwind through the islands.

Also racing in the Maxi class was the 86’ CNB sloop Spiip, owned by Robin de Jong, who is making his way westward to Tahiti with the boat. Onboard Spiip is Bruno Trouble, well known for creating and overseeing the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series (for the America’s Cup) that originated in 1983. Trouble is racing at the regatta for the first time, and he said, “Les Voiles de St. Barth reminds me a lot of the early days of the Nioulargue with boats from all over the place taking part.  Things are going to really build and it is just great, it really reminds me of the first Nioulargue!”

In the Racing Class, the crew work aboard Jim Swartz’s Vesper looked well-honed as the team traded tacks with Peter Cunningham’s Farr 60 Venomous (CAY) up the first short beat. Back on the quay, Venomous’ tactician Tony Rey recounted the day, “We had some great sailing   – St. Barth’s is such an awesome place to sail, every time you turn around an island, or a piece of land, the view just gets better and better. It’s just that the race course is a minefield because the wind twists and turns up the corners and the crevices – but it’s a fascinating place to sail! We also had the added challenge that our instruments went down, so we were guessing on our wind speed and direction, and guessing at our boat speed for part of it too, which turned us into good seat-of-the-pants sailors.”

Before scores were tabulated, though Rey suspects, “We think we were probably 2nd or 3rd, we’re pretty sure Vesper beat us handily, because downwind you just can’t stay with a boat like that.  We could have sailed better for sure, we left a few seconds on the race track, but generally we’re thrilled, it was a great day of sailing!”

In the 24-boat Racing Cruising class, the Swan 60 Fenix closely led Jereon Hin’s First 50 Black Hole (NED) after the first upwind beat. This class has a gamut of boats including two all-women entries, Annie O’Sullivan’s Diamonds Are Forever (UK), and Henneke Stegweg’s iLost (NED). As well, there are two Moorings 50.5 charter boats with two crews from Oakville, Ontario, Canada, headed up by Andre Beese and Patrick Festing. Both crews are comprised of friends and fellow Etchells sailors, who were originally headed to Antigua to race when a friend suggested they race at Les Voiles de St. Barth.

The Classics class, while low on numbers with just five boats, were high on style points with the 76’ W-class White Wings, the 80’ Fife yawl, Mariella, the 60’ dark-hulled gaff-rigged yawl Kate from St Kitt’s, and the 26’ Friendship sloop La Sirene, gracing the line.
Carlo Falcone, from Antigua, is a frequent competitor with Mariella in both classic and offshore races around the world, which he, more often than not, wins. He enjoys sailing in St. Barth because it has, he says, “more European style than other parts of the Caribbean.”

The yacht was designed by American naval architect Alfred Mylne, and built by Fife in Scotland in 1938. As Falcone says, “The beauty of this boat is the mix of the two. Mariella is well sailed and immaculately maintained, and Falcone says,  “I believe the more you use the boat the better it is. But it’s never-ending work – not buying the boat, but keeping it. They say, ‘the owners are just taking care of the boat until the next one.’” His regular crew is a mix of family and friends including his daughter Sylvia, his long-time navigator, 89-year old Henry Pepper (Marblehead, Mass), and crew from Italy, Australia and Dominica. Les Voiles de St.Barth is a way to prepare the boat for this summer’s classic yacht series in New England.

With a relatively new event, one may wonder what goes into the thinking for the course on day one. Following this morning’s skipper’s briefing, the, Les Voiles Race Committee Principal Race Officer, Jean Coadou offered some insight, “There were three main elements: the weather forecast, looking at the strength and direction of the wind around all of the islands. Also it was important with such a large fleet to avoid any boats crossing paths. And first and foremost, the enjoyment of sailing was a key factor. We try to ensure that the competitors encounter all the different points of sail, upwind, downwind and reaching. The idea is to come up with three hours of exciting racing each day; that is why the courses are around 30 miles in length for the fastest boats and 16 miles for the smaller craft.”
Key information: Les Voiles de St. Barth is being hosted from April 4 – 9 2011 by the St. Barth Yacht Club

 

Entries

Yacht Name   Sail Design LOA Skipper Status

SOJANA
 GBR 115 FARR 115 Peter HARRISON /Marc FIDZGERALD  

HIGHLAND BREEZE
 888 SWAN 112 RS/GPR 112′ ALBERT KEULARTS
 
SPIIP
 FRA 8686 CNB 86 86′ ROBIN DE JONG 
 
RAMBLER 100  USA 25555   READ Ken
 
GENUINE RISK
 8390 DUBOIS/MC CONAUGHY 97′ HUGO STENBECK

ICARUS
  JONGERT 90′   
 

 
PANIC ATTACK
 750 OPEN 750 24′ JAN VANDEN EYNDE
 
TECHNOMARINE
 FRA 27917 Farr 36,7 DEREDEC Christian 
 
PUFFY
 USA 45454 Farr 45 DEMARCHELLIER Patrick
 
ANTILOPE
 GRB 1513L GRAND SOLEIL 43′ WILLEM WESTER
 
SPEEDY NEMO  SBH 26   MAGRAS Raymond

VESPER
  TP 52 54′ JAMES SWARTZ 
 
VENOMOUS
 GBR 60006 FARR DESIGN 60′ PETER CUNNINGHAM
 
MAE-LIA     MAGRAS Raphael

SOLANO  FRA 34625   

Classic
Yacht Name   Sail Design LOA Skipper Status
 
 
WHITE WINGS
 US2 W CLASS 76′ DONALD TOFIAS
 
KATE
 ES5 MYLNE 60′ Walwyn 
 
LA SIRÈNE
 3 FRIEND SHIP SLOOP R WILSON 26′ DAVID PERTEL  
 
MARIELLA
 464 YAWL/FIFE 80′ CARLO FALCONE Pre-entry
 
Racing Cruising
Yacht Name   Sail Design LOA Skipper Status
 
 
FENIX
 GBR 9660R SWAN  60′ MORITZ BURMESTER  
 
L’ESPERANCE
 123 Beneteau 45 VELASQUEZ Robert 
 
BLACK HOLE
 GER 150L FIRST 50 50′ JEROEN HIN  
 
COSTA MESA
 88 DUFOUR 425 GL 43′ REY PASCAL
 
ORMEAU
  FINOT BENETEAU 47.3 ALAIN CHARLOT 
 
MR. WALKER
 FRA 491 REQUIN 33 MELISSA RIMBAUD
 
LIL’E
 FRA 479 REQUIN 33 FOX MOWGLI
 
SUGAR CANE
  BERRET 50.5 ANDRE BEESE
 
MAE-LIA
  X-YACHT 34 MAGRAS Raphael
 
TRITON
  BERRET 50.5 PATRICK SMITH
 
SPEEDY NEMO
  DUFOUR  34′ RAYMOND MAGRAS
 
THULA
 51952 BALTIC 39 39′ MAX IMRIE  
 
TARA II
  SUN ODYSSEY 54 DS 54′ HENRY ALBERT
 
SPLENDIDO
 FRA37407 GRAND SOLEIL 40′ PHILIPPE HERVOUET
 
NIX
 IVB 612 X-YACHT 60′ NICO CORTLEVER
 
AFFINITY
 US 50007 SWAN  48′ JACK DESMOND 
 
SOLANO
 FRA 34625 LATINI 52 FELCI 52′ FREDERIC RIALLAND  
 
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
 GRB 1007L ELAN 37′ ANNIE O’SULLIVAN 
 
COYOTE 2
 GBR 9949 T FIRST 40.7 41′ KEN ACOTT 
 
iLOST
  HARMONY 42 42′ HANNEKE STEGWEG
 
SHAMROCK VII
 USA 1 J 95 31′ THOMAS MULLEN
 
WILD DEVIL ISLAND WATER WORLD
 NM 1993 KIWI 35 35′ BEN JELIC
 
TANGRA  413 REQUIN 35′ QUERE Pre-entry
 
Racing Multihull
Yacht Name   Sail Design LOA Skipper Status
 
 
PHAEDO
 399BC GUNBOAT 66′ PAUL HAND 
 
DAUPHIN TELECOM
  COULOMBEL 40′ ERICK CLEMENT 
 
BLANCA
  SEACART 30′ HERVE DE MARJOLIE
 
SPIRIT 
 GBR 565  40′ JASON GARD
 
BLUE CAT   VAN PETEGHEM 40′ CHAYER
 
CARIB CAT
CATAMARAN MY CAT 26′ CONSIDERE CLAUDE

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It is day 40 of this 12,300 nautical mile jaunt from Qingdao, China to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and in the closing stages, the leading boat, Ericsson 3, has opted to play her stealth card.  She has gone into hiding and will only reappear 24- hours later, or once she is within 50 nm of the finish in Rio.

This is the first time on this leg that the stealth card, newly introduced for the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race, has been played.  Ericsson 3 began her ‘StealthPlay’ to give it its official title,  immediately after the 1000 GMT position report this morning and her position in the fleet and all her onboard data will now be secret. 

However, at 1000 GMT this morning, the last position report before she ‘disappeared’ from the world’s radar, Ericsson 3 had 194 miles to run to the finish as was parallel with Sao Paulo.  She was averaging a double-figure boat speed of 10.5 knots and had achieved a run of 262 nm in the past 24 hours. 

Her nearest and deadliest rival, Ericsson 4, with the hugely talented Torben Grael at the helm in what are his home waters, was a safe 103 nm behind her. But, spicing things up in the last hours of the leg, Grael too opted for StealthPlay shortly after today’s 1300 GMT positions were released and now the whereabouts of the man who has five Olympic medals to his name and who knows the waters off Rio like the back of his hand, will be unknown for 24-hours. 

At 1300 GMT today, prior to announcing their StealthPlay, Ericsson 4 had 254 nm to run to the finish, with third-placed PUMA a further 86 miles astern.

Yesterday, PUMA’s skipper Ken Read was questioning the motives of the Wind Gods.  “Do they really need to play with us like this?” he asked.  He answered his own question when he said, “We have a choice.  We always have a choice, but now, we really have a choice.  We can feel sorry for ourselves and bitch about the weather and the winds and everything else that is preventing us from the ‘all we can eat in Rio’, or we can suck it up and deal with our situation the best we can.  Continue to race and continue to do our jobs.” 

Read’s crew clearly chose the latter option and Read is very proud of all involved.  “Not a single ‘feeling sorry for ourselves’ comment.  We continue to race,” he said.

The top four boats, including the beleaguered Green Dragon have all been set free of the high pressure and are making good speeds towards the finish, while Telefónica Blue is the latest victim of the light spot and her speed is nearly half that of the Dragon’s, at 7.5 nm average over the last three hours.   

After closing to within 50 nm of Ian Walker and his men yesterday, Bouwe Bekking’s blue boat has now slipped back to 164 nm, as she too now has to fight her way through the high pressure. 

“What could have been a case of just counting down the miles to Rio has become for us an exciting duel to the finish,” declared Telefónica Blue’s helmsman Simon Fisher. 

As well as keeping Telefónica Blue at bay, Green Dragon has her own issues onboard.  Their fuel situation has become critical as the alternator on the generator isn’t working and crew has to use the main engine, which takes more fuel. 

“We have calculated we have six days [of fuel] left,” says skipper Ian Walker, who reckons it will take them the full six days to reach Rio. 

Ericsson 3 is expected to complete this leg in the early hours of tomorrow morning, followed by Ericsson 4 and PUMA later the same day.  Computer routing software is predicting a finish for both Green Dragon and Telefónica Blue on 28 March, but with 450 nm still to run and the possibility of the wind fading, the finishing order for these two is far from a done deal. 

Leg Five Day 40: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) STEALTHPLAY
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 254
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +86
Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +459
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +623
 
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS

Cape Horn Scoring Gate
Ericsson 3: 17.03.09 1222 GMT: 4 points
Ericsson 4: 17.03.09 1448 GMT: 3.5 points
PUMA: 17.03.09 2046 GMT: 3 points
Green Dragon: 18.03.09 0215 GMT 2.5 points
Telefónica Blue: 19.03.09 1339 GMT 2 points

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As leg five draws out even further due to a complete lack of wind, the crews are longing for the finish in Rio and everything that it brings: results, families, cool beers, big steaks, showers, warm beds, and not necessarily in that order.

Ericsson 3 still holds her lead (DTF 424 nm) and although there have been a few blips in the last 24 hours, no one has taken any significant miles out of her deficit, and the chasing pair are due south of her. Ericsson 3 has only covered 172 nm in the past 24 hours and while Ericsson 4 has gained seven miles (DTL 65 nm) PUMA languishes a safe 154 nm astern.

“The light airs are making are lives a mess,” wrote MCM Gustav Morin this morning.  For many of the crew, their families will be arriving in Rio, and they wanted to be there to take care of them when they arrived.  For others, the chance of returning home for a break are becoming slimmer as time runs out with each windless day. 

“Since we are late in, most of the families will arrive before us and all the fathers onboard are talking more often about their kids and wives,” Morin says. 

Jules Salter, the navigator on Ericsson 4, has almost lost track of the number of days he has been at sea, and he is frustrated with the weather maps, which only seem to make part sense.  “When you expect a gain, you make a loss,” he says. 

But, he warns, “inventing weather is ‘bad science’ and expecting to know more than the men and women in beige at the weather centres is pretty dumb, but you have to try and do something.”

“If your hokum theory lines up, you can make a plan for the next few hours.  Usually the plan works for about two hours, then the wind shifts and drops and you are back to square one, trying to conjure up another scenario from your onboard observations.”

The real boat race now seems to be between becalmed Green Dragon (DTF 918nm) and the limping Telefónica Blue (DTF 983 nm), who has made a more sophisticated repair to the checkstays on the mast.  The team is looking for a surprise ‘comeback’, reckoning that Green Dragon is fighting more current than the maps show.

“Right now they [Green Dragon] are still well ahead, but it will be a good laugh if we could actually manage to pass them,” said skipper Bouwe Bekking, who has closed to within 65 miles. 

Unlike the other teams, who are rationing food and diesel, Telefónica Blue has been well provided for by MCM Gabriele Olivo, who even brought onboard a huge bag full of mature, three-year old parmesan cheese to add variety to the daily snacks as well as some grated pieces to make the freeze dried food more enjoyable. 

Not a day has passed when leftover food has been thrown away and there is enough food for the team to have extra breakfasts if they want to, something that would be the envy of the rest of the fleet, if only they knew… 

They do now!

Leg Five Day 39: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) DTF 424 nm
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +65
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +154
Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +494
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +559
 
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS

Cape Horn Scoring Gate
Ericsson 3: 17.03.09 1222 GMT: 4 points
Ericsson 4: 17.03.09 1448 GMT: 3.5 points
PUMA: 17.03.09 2046 GMT: 3 points
Green Dragon: 18.03.09 0215 GMT 2.5 points
Telefónica Blue: 19.03.09 1339 GMT 2 points

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Monday 16 March 2009, A key point in the IMOCA Class’ calendar is announcing its new World Champion.  This time  the annual title goes to 32 year old Armel le Cleac’h.  He shares the IMOCA Championship podium with Marc Guillemot and Michel Desjoyeaux, exactly the same podium as the Vendée Globe, but the reverse way round.  Armel, skipper of Brit Air, has won his place by finishing second in both the Artemis Transat and the Vendée Globe. The Vendée Globe obviously carries the maximum points in the championship, and all 12 sailors that completed it will be rewarded accordingly.  This year the top ten rankings is made up of 5 French skippers, 4 Brits and 1 American.  Amongst them will be Sam Davies in 4th place who was the first Brit and first woman to finish the race. 

So at the age of 32, since winning the ‘Solitaire du Figaro’  in 2003, Armel has gradually but convincingly established himself on the IMOCA circuit. He is hoping to add to this recent accolade by winning the 2009 Transat Jacques Vabre.

Armel Le Cleac’h commented on winning :
« We are really happy! This title goes to the whole team who have worked together since the start of the project. Consistency reaps rewards. The whole way through the project our main aim was always to have a really good Vendée Globe and to finish in the best possible place we could.  We’ve finished second in the two greatest solo races on the circuit. That proves that we got our timing right, and had the right approach, even if we were denied an actual win.  As far as the boat’s concerned, we got it right, as at no point have we had to make any major modifications after any of the races.  I’m also really pleased that my sponsor Brit Air has made it as IMOCA World Champion after only three years in sailing. I’d like to finish by saying that it’s a great podium, I’m just in front of Marc who has vast experience and has one of the best boats and then obviously there is the winner of the Vendée Globe, Michel Desjoyeaux himself. It goes without saying that (sharing the podium with them) gives me a lot of pleasure.  I’m continuing this season with Brit Air and would really like to finish it off by winning the Transat Jacques Vabre for the first time. »

The 2008 IMOCA World Championship Top 10

1 Armel Le Cleac’h FRA  371
2 Marc Guillemot  FRA  368
3 Michel Desjoyeaux FRA  351
4 Samantha Davies  GBR  338
5 Vincent Riou  FRA  316
6 Arnaud Boissieres FRA  290
7 Dee Caffari   GBR  288
8 Brian Thompson  GBR  260
9 Steve White   GBR  256
10 Richard Wilson  USA  226

The 2008 title is made up from the coefficients from the Vendée Globe (coef 10) and The Artemis Transat (coef 4).
- Ends-

 

IMOCA Champions (since the Championship creation in 1991)
2008  Armel Le Cleach (France)
2007 Bernard Stamm (Suisse)
2006 Jean Le Cam (France)
2005 Mike Golding (UK)
2004 Mike Golding (UK)
2003 Bernard Stamm (Suisse)
2002 Roland Jourdain (France)
2001 Roland Jourdain (France)

EXTRACTS FROM ARMEL LE CLEAC’H’s CV :
Born on 11th May 1977, married with 1 child. He lives in Gouesnach (Finistère).

2009 2nd in the Vendée Globe
        IMOCA World Champion
2008 2nd in The Artemis Transat
2007 7th in the Transat Jacques Vabre with Nicolas Troussel
2006 Became skipper of Brit Air
        4th in The Route Du Rhum – La Banque Postale
        4th in the Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro
2005 Skipper onboard trimaran Foncia
2004 Winner of AG2R Transat with Nicolas Troussel / Figaro
2003 Winner of the Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro
2000 2nd in the Solitaire du Figaro
1999 Winner of the Crédit Agricole Challenge Espoir

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For Ericsson 3, the finish of Volvo Ocean Race leg five cannot come soon enough.  It is a question of watching anxiously to see what the opposition is doing – in this case Ericsson 4, and waiting for the wind to fill in to propel them to a first-place finish in Rio de Janeiro.  The team has covered a measly 189 nm in the past 24 hours.

With every three-hour position report there is a small loss or gain to be made and today at 1300 GMT, Ericsson 3 was on the up, having clawed back 15 miles from Ericsson 4 to extend their margin to 72 nautical miles.

Currently 246 nm off the Brazilian coast and parallel to Port Alegre, Ericsson 3 is making 9.3 knots. Ericsson 4 is right on her tail and still has wind, while PUMA is 401 nm offshore, and making 11.5 knots average, the best in the fleet.  In the next three hours, there will be losses for Ericson 3 and gains for the chasing two until they reach the light spot and slow again.  

Meanwhile further back in the field, the westerly course chosen by Green Dragon has led them into all sorts of trouble, allowing Telefónica Blue, who stayed offshore, to close the gap between them to 175 nm.  Bouwe Bekking’s newly invigorated team now has a real chance now of catching Ian Walker and his men.

It has been a chapter of misfortune for Green Dragon that began three days ago when the weather models showed a fast route.

“Next, the wind headed too much to lay the Falklands and we lost precious hours having to tack through the islands,” explains Ian Walker.

“Following this, a high pressure bubbled up right in our path and just behind the leaders.  Negotiating this cost us a day,” he says.

“Still things were OK as we sailed upwind looking for the northwesterlies and a new low coming off the South American shore.  This arrived last night as predicted, but instead of bringing 15 knot winds and a route through the next high pressure, it brought lightning and no wind,” Walker concludes.  The team is now struggling with virtually no wind and none forecast for three days.

To make matters worse, the team is battling adverse current and Walker says they will not be in Rio for another six days.   This has meant the rationing of food and diesel, which is used to run the onboard systems.  The team has closed down non-essential systems, but as for food, the picture is not so good. 

This 12,300 nautical mile leg has turned into something of an epic.  It is the longest leg in the 36-year history of the event and it is beginning to look as if an elapsed time of around 40 days will be recorded.  Food is now being rationed on all boats and the daily food bags are being re-organised, each time making the day’s food bag emptier. 

“I am sure we aren’t the only boat complaining of lack of food at this point, but we are starting to run pretty low and every routing run we do after we get new weather is showing longer and longer elapsed times,” rues PUMA’s skipper Ken Read. 

For Green Dragon, the situation is worse.  They started the leg with 40 days worth of food, which a week ago was split to make another two days of food rations. 

“When guys are tired and hungry there is nothing like food to create friction between them,” says Walker, who has split the remaining food 11 ways leaving each of the crew to manage his own food, to prevent any arguments.  “We are already hungry and it will get worse – simple as that,” says Walker rather matter of factly. 

The team onboard Telefónica Blue is hungry too, and drooling at the prospect of Rio’s famous restaurants. 

“The ‘all you can eat’ meat restaurant seems to be very high on everyone’s priority list, including mine!” writes Simon Fisher.  “Right now, just thinking about it making my stomach rumble.” 

There is just the small matter of over 1100 miles to go before they can tuck in. 

Leg Five Day 38: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions

Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) DTF 590 nm
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +72
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +135
Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +409
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +584
 
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS

Cape Horn Scoring Gate
Ericsson 3: 17.03.09 1222 GMT: 4 points
Ericsson 4: 17.03.09 1448 GMT: 3.5 points
PUMA: 17.03.09 2046 GMT: 3 points
Green Dragon: 18.03.09 0215 GMT 2.5 points
Telefónica Blue: 19.03.09 1339 GMT 2 points

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It is an agonising time for Ericsson 3 as Magnus Olsson watches the rest of the fleet catching him as his team fights yet another high-pressure area, which sits between them and the finish of leg five in Rio de Janeiro. 

Over the past 24 hours, second-placed Ericsson 4 has closed the gap to 57 nm, gaining 29 miles.  PUMA too has knocked a dent in the deficit and is now just 116 nm behind Ericsson 3, a gain of 89 nm in 24 hours.  These three yachts are now 400 nm of the coast of Uruguay, roughly parallel to Cabo Palinio.

Green Dragon is still closer inshore, 210 nm off Mar del Plata in Argentina, which was a stopover in the 1981-82 Whitbread Race.  Their inshore move, while looking disastrous yesterday, has gained the team 78 nm, just as navigator Wouter Verbraak hoped it would. 

With just 771 miles still to run for Ericsson 3 before crossing the finish line in Rio and the safe haven of Marina Da Gloria where hot showers, cool beers and famous Brazilian food await, boat speeds are down to under 10 knots and yet the distance is tantalisingly close. 

Word from Ericsson 4′s Trimmer Horacio Carabelli about Life onboard “We are slowly progressing towards Rio and we still have a lot to go.  We just passed the projection line boarder between Brazil and Uruguay, but still we are below Montevideo in latitude, so in theory we are in Brazilian extended waters, which makes us feel a bit at home for Torben (Torben Grael), Joca (Joca Signorini) and me.

I’ve been sailing along this coast a good part of my life and normally to Rio is a light upwind trip at this time of the year unless you catch a front coming from south. Sailing itself has been pleasant in moderate winds, flat water and quite clear skies, much better than three – four days ago where we were fully dressed with all the underlayers we had available.

Nipper (Guy Salter MCM) has reorganised the food for the second time, every time making the day bag emptier, so it will be a painful 800miles from here.

The distance between the boats has changed quite a bit as we pass through the west of a high pressure area, gaining and losing on each sked.  It’s difficult to say what will happen in the end we have to deal with the approach to Guanabara Bay that can be very tricky. According to the planning we should be in by the 25th at noon, so if we are lucky we have three more nights left in the lady that had carried us by more than 12500nm!! I’m really looking forward to stepping on solid land at Marina da Gloria, have a shower and sleep in a normal bed!!

The only boat achieving a reasonable speed is Telefónica Blue, but she still languishes at the tail end of the fleet, some 586 miles behind the leaders.

Bouwe Bekking had this to say today in his email ” We are ‘lucky’, as we have tonight a breeze very close to being in the right range of our J4 jib. The last 48 hours we have been sailing in the so-called  no-mans-land, as we couldn’t have the right jib up, meaning sailing only at around 85% of our optimum. So even though it is a bumpy ride, we are making ok progress and the performance numbers are better, even though we are still on the wind.  Within a day from now the breeze will start lighten off , but lifting which means less water over the deck and probably better progress, as we can hoist our big code 0.

Two new nicknames have appeared:  SiFi (Simon Fisher) has turned into Sergej, as he starts looking like a Russian with his big dark beard, and Jordi (Jordi Calafat) into Rat, not sure were the last one came from. For sure over the next few days more names will get invented.

Jono (Jonathan Swain) nearly went nuts this evening, when he found out that somebody has eaten his chocolate bar. He has been going on about it the entire night watch, but it brought out some good stories as well. During previous races the snack department  was very small, and the crews way more focused on their part, so some really funny accusations happened  between people, so we highlighted a few and had a good laugh.

We just came of watch and stood with Xabi (Xabier Fernandez) looking at our PLC box and all wiring, and both thinking the same.  It is amazing all our electrical installations have been holding up so well in nearly 100 % humidity, thanks to the guys in Sydney, who have done a remarkable job again and of course to Matt and Eduardo who keep an eye on everything during the stopovers. Where would we be without electronics? It could be fun to sail a leg without anything, and to see how we all can cope with that.”
Current predictions are for a finish for Ericsson 3, provided she can hold off the advances of Ericsson 4, on Wednesday morning, with the other two podium places being decided later in the day.  Green Dragon is forecast to finish a day behind, in the afternoon of 26 March, while Telefónica Blue still has just over 1300 nm still to run.

Leg Five Day 37: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) DTF 771 nm
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +57
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +116
Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +335
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +586
 
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS

Cape Horn Scoring Gate
(boat/date/rounding time/gate points)

Ericsson 3: 17.03.09 1222 GMT: 4 points
Ericsson 4: 17.03.09 1448 GMT: 3.5 points
PUMA: 17.03.09 2046 GMT: 3 points
Green Dragon: 18.03.09 0215 GMT 2.5 points
Telefónica Blue: 19.03.09 1339 GMT 2 points

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