Simon Fisher, Pablo Arrarte and Mike Pammenter on Telefonica Blue(Photo By Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race)

Simon Fisher, Pablo Arrarte and Mike Pammenter on Telefonica Blue (Photo By Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race)

The second high pressure system blocking the route to Rio de Janeiro has come into play for Magnus Olsson’s team today, and slowed them down. Both Ericsson 4 and PUMA have been able to close the gap yet again, with Ericsson 4 now just 86 miles behind. That’s still a healthy margin for the Nordic crew, but certainly less comfortable than what they had just 12 hours ago – Ericsson 4 has gained 40 miles over that span.

From Thomas Johansson – watch captain   “Hopefully the last tough night is behind us on leg five.  Fighting against a front and staying in it has been on the agenda many times on this leg. You may win a lot of miles by doing so, but if you fall short, the wind will back and you start to lose. This is why again on the night the 19th we had a blast in really mixed up sea state.

But we are human beings, not robots, so we too start to feel tired and we are especially fed up with these fights, due to the fact that it has been, most of the time, tight reaching instead of nice downwind sailing.

You have lots of speed, people are flying around in the cockpit and the constant water hosing makes you crazy. The only thing that keeps you fighting is the commitment to the team and the loyalty to others.

As a team you feel stronger and perform better during the tough times. But for now hopefully we can start to change to shorts and t-shirts. It’s been a long ride so far, all the way from Taiwan. Just waiting to get to Rio and get a couple of beers and meet my wife and the kids. But let’s first fight to the finish.”

From Guy Salter – MCM    “From Yesterday started in glorious sunshine but was still rather chilly. As the morning progressed we began to be plagued with thick banks of fog in which the temp really did plummet and in which you just got completely drenched.  Then, after an hour, you would suddenly emerge from
the fog back into a lovely sunny and slightly warmer spot.

On the horizon, the dark band of the next fog bank would be visible and yet again you would be shrouded in the low cloud with visibility diminished to a mere two boat lengths at worst.

We also saw a lot of kelp and weed floating yesterday and inevitably it ended up on our submersed appendages, so the ritual of endoscope, board lift and rudder clean became the norm. We even had one back down which didn’t really happen as smoothly as you would see in an America’s Cup pre-start – but it did rid us of the weed, so an overall success.

The big change yesterday, which has probably had the most impact on day to day life happened at 0200 UTC this morning when the breeze built and went aft and at a similar time the sea temp rose by about 7C to 17C. As we sped through the night the sea acted as a radiator and with plenty of water over the deck several layers of thermals have been returned to
the kit bags only for them to see the light of day at a Brazilian launderette.

At present we are running on port in a very sloppy and mixed up seaway in 14kt of wind and we are anticipating a gybe onto starboard with the weather predicting and relatively fast starboard tack into Rio – although I’m sure this will change and allsorts happens when you get
within striking distance of land!

I seem to remember Knut (Knut Frostad Volvo Ocean Race CEO and skipper of Djuice in 2001-02) and his boys in pink on the 2001-02 edition of the race coming from absolutely nowhere and going the inshore route to grab a podium finish into Rio and knock my team down a place.

Poor old Blood (Phil Jameson) has probably been the cleanest person on a Volvo 70 but has also suffered a fair amount from salt water rashes on this leg. I guess it’s due to the fact that he is constantly under water, I’m surprised he isn’t growing gills. His latest episode has made his top lip swell and unfortunately the rest of us can’t help but find it amusing – luckily Blood is as good as receiving as taking the mickey. He does look like he has had Botox (UK readers think Leslie Ash) and his mouth is similar to Homer Simpson’s.

On the other scale, it has been revealed that two individuals have been at the other end of the cleanliness scale revealing that they can count on one hand the amount of times they have cleaned their teeth! I would just warn their partners to bring some wire wool and a power washer as we have all noticed their dragon’s breath and we all haven’t washed properly since the start. I won’t reveal their identity but they are both from the southern hemisphere! The joys of offshore racing!”

From Simon Fisher – Helmsman “With Cape Horn now behind us the focus is clear – get to Rio as quick as possible!!  Everyone seems newly invigorated by our return to the Atlantic and spirits seem high.

 It is nice that we can finally count down to the finish of this leg now in days, not weeks, or week in singular at least.   Things too seem a little more pleasant now we have returned to the Atlantic. From start to finish we have had a beautiful sunny day with barely a cloud in the sky.  This evening we were treated to an amazing sunset and the temperature has improved a little as well making life just that little bit easier…

Earlier today we passed close by to the Falklands, to have seen land twice in two days is quite a treat!  Nice too to see something British too, even if there was some debate as to whether they should in fact be Argentinean! Needless to say the English speakers sided with the UK and the Spaniards with the Argentina!

Today too saw us make some gains on the guys in front.  We managed to close up the gap between us and the Green Dragons by about 100 miles.  They are still a long way ahead but to see the deficit come down a little as they battle with high pressure ahead gives us a little glimmer of hope of catching them and also provides us with some fresh motivation to keep pushing ourselves hard.  As if wanting to get to Rio after over month at sea wasn’t motivation enough!!”

Michi Mueller Trimming On PUMA (Rick Deppe/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race)

Michi Mueller Trimming On PUMA (Rick Deppe/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race)

  The Nordic crew on Ericsson 3 have taken the old expression ‘make hay while the sun shines’ to heart over the past day. The team is roaring up the South Atlantic, frantically adding miles to their lead in anticipation of a possible park-up before the finish line in Rio.

“There are still many things that can go wrong and the next thing to worry about is a high pressure that we will soon reach. And now it looks like it will be very light when we get closer to Rio, which also gives the others an opportunity to catch up.”

 There are two high pressure systems which are forecast to block the road to Rio over the coming days. If the leading boats get caught in the sticky conditions it could result in a virtual re-start, just over two days from the finish line. Ericsson 3 is pouring on the pressure, making good 449 miles over the past 24 hours in a very difficult environment. So testing, in fact, that the crew was worried about damaging the boat in the punishing waves overnight. Again, from Gustav:

“If someone thought the tough days were over, they were wrong. Yesterday evening and the entire night has been a fight. Boat-breaking conditions for sure. Hard reaching with a really nasty sea state and never-ending slamming and bashing…

“Since the breakdown everyone is a bit worried when we hit bad conditions with a lot of slamming. Bu we all put a lot of trust in Jens, our boat-captain, and if he is happy we are usually happy… Jens looked calm almost all the time during the night and that means everyone else was calm as well.”

Although the night wasn’t entirely without incident. A deck fitting that had been leaking for most of the leg came off, allowing water to cascade into the bow compartment. Fortunately for Ericsson 3, it didn’t take long for the crew to plug the leak and pump the water out. Still, it was a reminder of what can go wrong.

Despite the scare, over the past 24 hours, the Nordic team have doubled their lead to 100 miles over Ericsson 4 and gained even more separation on both PUMA and Green Dragon. Those miles are like money in the bank, and skipper Magnus Olsson will be happy to have a bit of an extra buffer if and when he hits the light conditions ahead.

PUMA skipper Ken Read, for one, isn’t ready to concede anything. In a radio interview today, Read said the changing conditions in the forecast might just leave a little opening for a passing move.

“The goal is to grind them down,” he said. “The weather gets a little lighter as we head towards Rio and there are some big high pressure centres in our way. The leaders are going to slow down a bit and we’re going to have our chance… As long as there’s a chance then we’ll be battling as hard as we can.”

And still chasing from a long way back is Telefonica Blue. Near calm conditions during their passage of Cape Horn yesterday meant Bouwe Bekking’s crew dropped a further 87 miles to the leader over the past day. But their situation is better now.

“It took a long time before the breeze started filling in,” Bekking wrote  this morning. “It is amazing how much influence a landmass has on the wind. Sixty miles further south of us it was blowing a full gale.”

Overnight, the team suffered another problem with its rigging, as the check-stay (a stay that attaches to the middle of the mast to control mast bend) detached from the spar. But Bekking says the team was prepared.

“We were fully aware that this could happen, as we had damaged it when we broke the forestay. It was a good thing that we had set up a temporary stay already from day one, just in case this would happen. David (David Vera) had to go up the rig – remember this was night time and waves of around 2-3 metres high – to take the checkstay down and of course to check if there was any further damage. It all looks good… We are taking these kinds of setbacks with a ‘smile’ on our face. Nothing that we can’t face – we will tackle it and move on.”

That sounds like a good philosophy all round. The final days of this marathon leg promise to be as testing as anything they’ve faced up to now. Smiles might be as tightly rationed as the dwindling food supplies over the next few days.

 

"Talisker Tales" At Royal Victoria Yacht Club (Photo By Colin Merry)

"Talisker Tales" At Royal Victoria Yacht Club (Photo By Colin Merry)

Challenge and Adventure’s Colin Merry attended a talk by Pete last night at the Royal Victoria yacht club.  It was billed as ”Talisker Tales”. It turned out to be four separate talks taking in most if not all of his sailing life leading up to arriving in Spirit of Mystery.   There was a hilarious section when in the Royal Marines he was told that he was doing the double handed race to New York from England.  Both he and his partner didn’t have a clue how to navigate to America so they followed the sunsets and the vapour trails of the jets flying overhead!   The second part was about the Vendee in which he rescued fellow competitor  Rapheal Dinelli’. I don’t remember anyone moving so much as a muscle during this narrative!  Team Philips got her own slot with video to back up the fact that she worked and worked well.  Then came the story of  ’”Spirit of’Mystery”  from her inception through the build period and finally the voyage with all it’s highs and lows!  All in all an evening of pure sailing pleasure listening to a man who can capture and carry an audience!  An evening that this reporter would thoroughly recommend to anyone who has the slightest interest in sailing or adventure!

Telefonica Blue Rounding Cape Horn (Photo By Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/

Telefonica Blue Rounding Cape Horn (Photo By Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race)

Telefónica Blue has crossed safely through the scoring gate at Cape Horn to grab two points.  This puts her on 46.5 points overall, just half a point behind Ken Read’s second placed PUMA, and still in the hunt.

“Obviously we are relieved to get to Cape Horn, we had a bit of a party onboard and now we can think about getting to Rio and giving the guys in the shore crew time to prepare the boat for the in-port race and restart,” said skipper Bouwe Bekking.  “We are really pleased with the way the boat has performed even though we have been jury rigged since we broke the forestay earlier on,” he added.

Continuing to lead the fleet is Magnus Olsson and Ericsson 3.  Olsson has managed to position his boat between the chasing pack and the finish in Rio, a position he would like to keep until the finish gun sounds, but the weather is complex and gains and losses are expected in the next two days as the fleet negotiates the patches of high pressure with varying degrees of success.

Although their advantage is currently 50 nm, a gain of five miles in the past 24 hours, it is not a comfortable lead.  “We are sailing through an area of high pressure bubbles,” says Ericsson 3 navigator Aksel Magdahl.  “My biggest concern is the high we will have to negotiate in two or three days’ time. It can easily be a parking spot,” he said. 

“Already tonight we will have to try and get ahead of another light patch developing between the two highs to our north and south. It looks like we might just manage that,” he added. 

The team has also had to deal with kelp attaching itself to the keel and rudders, which meant sailing the boat backwards to free it. 

In third place, 136 nm behind Ericsson 3, PUMA reports flat seas and light breeze, which has encouraged sound sleeping among the crew. Green Dragon’s Ian Walker, who still has his sights set on a podium finish, also reported enjoying the longest and best sleep he has had in this entire leg. 

The top three boats are spread in a line north/south.  Puma’s Ken Read says that the spacing of the boats is proving to have just enough room to create its own little weather situation, which can be significantly different from the other boats.

“It’s a kind of yo-yo effect.  Sometimes you are going down on the string, but, nearly always you will come back up as well,” Read says.  “The object for PUMA is to have more ups than downs,” he added.

Over the last three hours, PUMA has averaged the highest speed of 14 knots, but Telefónica Blue claims the fastest 24-hour run of 387 nm.

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

Leg Five Day 34: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) DTF 1621 nm
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +50
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +136
Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +236
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +636

Green Dragon Crew Prior To Cape Horn (Guo Chuan/Green Dragon Racing/Volvo Ocean Race)

Green Dragon Crew Prior To Cape Horn (Guo Chuan/Green Dragon Racing/Volvo Ocean Race)

Green Dragon, born in Ireland and built in China, celebrated St Patrick’s Day by rounding Cape Horn with a man from Qingdao among the revellers on board.

Rookie skipper Ian Walker’s men passed the scoring gate at the southern tip of South America at 02:15 GMT, in fourth place.

“It must be fate, said Walker in recognition that the rounding took place on Ireland’s National Day. No doubt Media Crew Member Guo Chuan concurred. 

It must be fate that the Green Dragon, a project born out of Ireland, has reached the most famous sailing landmark of them all on Irelands National Day. The crew of Green Dragon would like to wish everyone a very Happy St Patricks Day from Cape Horn!

It is morning here and we still have 175 miles to go but we will be rounding the Cape at nightfall on St Patricks Day. I say ’rounding’ loosely as we are in for a hard time. The forecast is for 40 knots and we will have to stand off the Cape to avoid the worst wind and waves. This will cost us an hour or 2 in the race which is frustrating but Cape Horn is no place to be cutting corners in rough weather.

Right now we are approaching 57 degrees South, the furthest we have been South all race. Conditions onboard are miserably cold and damp. The air and water temperature is about 7 degrees, it is 25 knots and everything onboard is a struggle. Nothing is more of a struggle than getting out of a warm sleeping bag, putting on cold, wet thermals and standing your watch on deck for 4 hours in the freezing cold.

This is a good time for me to reflect on my fantastic crew and their total commitment to the cause. Not once has anybody shirked a watch, even when ill, nor has anyone not done what has been asked of them by Neal (Neal McDonald), Damian (Damien Foxall) or I. Each would put their body on the line to help another and each wants nothing more than for the Green Dragon to succeed.

Thank you guys, I owe you a lot.

With deteriorating weather the next 24 hours seems like it may be our biggest challenge yet. I have dreamt about rounding Cape Horn since I was a little boy and this is the moment. I wish it was going to be a nice sunny day and we could go in close to the rocks and take lots of footage and photos, but sadly it will be windy, rough and dark. Cape Horn is going to give us something to remember it by. Any celebrations will be put on hold until first light tomorrow when I am pleased to say we will be round the Cape and pointing at the Emerald Isle for the first time since we left Cork in August. Happy St Patricks Day and see you all in Galway in May!!

 

PUMA Crew Rounding Cape Horn (Rick Deppe/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race)

PUMA Crew Rounding Cape Horn (Rick Deppe/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race)

Puma Becomes Third boat in the Volco Fleet to Round Cape Horn.  One of those most affected was PUMA’s Ken Read. A maiden rounding of the Horn is a significant entry on a professional sailor’s CV and Read, who has been there and done almost everything else, is no exception.

It was little surprise then that when he and the crew of il mostro poked the bow of their Volvo Open 70 beyond the iconic Southern Ocean landmark at 20:46 GMT, he excused himself for romancing in the moment.

“I have never been accused of being the sentimental type,” he began. “If this, the southern most point of South America could talk, it would tell some harrowing tales of tragedy and heroics by sportsman and traders and businessman and adventurists alike, probably more so than any other nautical landmark in history.

“For this reason alone, it is a privilege to be let through these gates, the entrance to which must be earned and not simply taken.

“I am in awe of the sheer magnitude of the (Southern Ocean) passage and the final toll booth that lets you through and awaits the next yacht to venture this way. Il mostro and her crew of 11 have now rounded Cape Horn. Easy to stare at and dream about what has been and what will be. Maybe I AM becoming sentimental.” Indeed you are Ken.

The collection of Cape crusaders on il mostro is diverse in experience. Navigator Andrew Cape was making his seventh rounding, Erle Williams and Sidney Gavignet their fourth, with two each to Justin Ferris, Jerry Kirby, Rob Greenhaugh, Rick Deppe and Rob Salthouse. Joining Read in the rookie category were Michi Mueller and Casey Smith.

Like his skipper, Smith also bares his soul – and a lot more besides. Read promised the full home video of the “celebrations” at a later date but by way of a trailer, he added the crew had “broken out the Cuban cigars, the sailmaker’s oil, and the whisky – and Casey found the energy to get naked again. On the bow, waves crashing over him with a Cape Horn sign. Dear Lord. Welcome to my world. Never a dull moment around here.”

Telefonica Blue Washed By A Wave

Telefonica Blue Washed By A Wave (Photo By Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race)

 

The Nordics, skippered by Magnus Olsson, have had control of this marathon Leg 5 since navigator Aksel Magdahl’s gamble to ignore Southern Ocean tradition and head north from the previous waypoint at 36 degrees south.

Olsson took over the reins of Ericsson 3 from Anders Lewander at the start of this leg in Qingdao, having deputised for Lewander on the previous stage while he nursed an injury leg.

Today marked the 60-year-old’s sixth rounding. “Anytime you go round Cape Horn your heart beats a little faster,” he said. “You can feel the historical moments of this place, all of the seamen who’ve fought to get round it. It’s fantastic.”

Member Crew Member Gustav Morin led the festivities on behalf of the first-timers. “We celebrated with a drink of Captain Morgan rum,” he said. “Captain Morgan’s going to lead us to Rio now because Magnus is so tired.”

The sistership, Ericsson 4, picked up 3.5 points for rounding in second place at 14:48 GMT. Skipper Torben Grael, ticking the box for the second time, said: “Cape Horn for sailors is like climbing Mount Everest.”

For the leading duo, the treacherous conditions anticipated at the Horn did not materialize with wind conditions in the 25-30 knot range and moderate seas. That may not be the case for the chasing pack.

On the final approach, Ericsson 4′s Media Crew Member Guy Salter handed out plaudits  to his stable mates. “The Ericsson 3 boys have managed to hold us off – and fair play to them – they played a good move early after the last scoring gate – a move which none of the rest of us were as brave to play and go against all that is traditional with the NZ to the Horn leg,” he wrote.

Further back in the fleet, the deficits to PUMA and the Irish-Chinese entry Green Dragon, seeking something to celebrate on St Patrick’s Day, were 94 and 191 miles respectively from the waypoint. Telefonica Blue was 722 miles adrift. Twenty-four hours on and the furious fifties have got a little more furious!  The wind has been steadily building and the sea state has been building to match.  Added to this there is a big south westerly swell rolling in resulting in some waves that are really very big and very steep.   Luckily with our new, bigger rudders, we have a little more control than in the past to deal with these monsters, but, inevitably, there are some waves that you go down that you just cannot escape.  You take off downhill and see the boat speed rising into the thirties, the bow starts to bury as you are frantically looking for a way out, however sometimes all the exits are closed so you have no choice but to brace yourself and prepare for impact! 

The spray pitches up as the nose goes under and you feel the boat decelerate.  All of a sudden the boat is pointed 45 degrees down.  At this stage, you can see nothing but water and you hang on hoping to maintain control, the spray settles, hopefully you are still going straight and then you are off again until the next one!!

Despite the toughening conditions, it has at times, been a beautiful day with bright sunshine and a bright blue sea, however, when the clouds  roll over, the sea quickly changes back to its cold grey colour as if someone has switched the colour off and turned the surroundings into  black and white once again…

The sun is just setting now though and darkness is encroaching, this means more excitement as we can no longer see the waves that we were hurtling down earlier in the day…”

For PUMA, Cape Horn cannot come soon enough for the crew, according to Media Crew Member  Rick Deppe “The guys are really tired today and it’s clearly visible in their faces,” he said. The guys are really tired today and it’s clearly visible in their faces. Furrowed brows, windburned skin, bloodshot eyes and croaky voices. I just spoke with Jerry (Jerry Kirby) as he came down off watch, I asked him how he was holding up? “I’m just hoping this off watch doesn’t get cut short”, he told me as he peeled off the layers “I’m Knackered” he added (he actually said something else). That’s Jerry and he’s one of the cheerful ones. He’s been filling in on deck for his opposite Casey (Casey Smith) who’s been flat out trying to fix the wheel so that we can make a few gybe’s as we approach the mark: the first of which we did about an hour ago. The glue is barely dry but we need that wheel!

Everybody is handling the cold and fatigue differently, some guys just get grumpy and quiet, and others get a little bit shorter in the fuse department, so sometimes my jokes don’t seem quite so funny. It’s normally quite jovial over here on the Il mostro and I’m hoping we get it back once around. But for sure there’s none of the usual laughing and joking on deck right now, I was just up there – I asked Rob (Rob Salthouse) for a quote, all I got was a look.

We are headed east towards the Chilean coastline where we will gybe again and then we make our approach to Cape Horn from a northerly direction, I understand this is quite an unusual situation even considering that our “high road” passage of the Southern Ocean took us well to the north of traditional tracks. Hopefully we’ll get to see some of the coastline and the mountains of Patagonia. It’s looking like a we’ll have a day time rounding of Cape Horn and probably be reasonably close considering our northern approach. We really get to see very little of the Terra Firma parts of the world in the nine months that it takes us to circumnavigate, so it’s always a treat when we do and an iconic landmark such as Cape Horn will be an extra special experience. Although having said that we certainly do get to see plenty of Ocean.

 

Guillermo Altadil, who has made six roundings, and would have chalked up his seventh had Delta Lloyd not sat out this leg, has fond memories of the “rock”.

“One thing remains the same since that first man crossed the border between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, is that one little island with its lighthouse in one of the most remote areas of the world, and the feeling every sailor has when rounding Cape Horn,” he said.

“I can only imagine It must be similar to a marathon runner on arrival at the stadium, with only 400 metres left after his epic 26 miles, to look up and see the public awaiting him.

Ericsson 3 led the fleet round Cape Horn  today, passing the legendary landmark at 12:22 GMT to add four points to its overall tally  Followed by Ericsson 4.

Ericsson 3 In The Furious Fifties (Photo By Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race)
Ericsson 3 In The Furious Fifties (Photo By Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race)

As the fleet heads down to 54 degrees south, Ericsson 3 has extended her lead in conditions that Green Dragon’s skipper Ian Walker describes as “brutal”.  The fleet is barrelling towards Cape Horn, just under 400 miles away and less than 24 hours ahead.   

Ericsson 4 is now 48 nm behind Ericsson 3, dropping 15 nm in the last 24 hours as the teams battle through the Southern Ocean, pushing boats and people to the limits.  It’s far from just another day in the office; it’s the furious fifties in full force.

“It’s borderline of what boat and crew can take,” says Ericsson 3’s navigator, Aksel Magdahl.   Ericsson 3 has measured a wind speed of a steady 38 knots over the last hour, with frequent gusts of 46 – 50 knots. 

“I think this is a record wind speed for Ericsson 3 so far.  We have had to throttle back completely, furl the headsail and are sailing with a bottom-reefed mainsail only,” explains Magdahl.  The boat is still reaching at 18 – 20 knots and the team will hoist a small staysail once the breeze and sea state settles. Magdahl describes the conditions as ‘terrifying’.

“The boat’s movements are violent, and one can feel how she twists in every gust or when landing after launching off a wave.” He says that the crew becomes very conservative for a long time after sailing in the conditions like this. 

Ericsson 4 has been piling the pressure onto the Nordic boat for some days now, and the crew is showing signs of wear and tear from the constant salt spray and cold.  Navigator Jules Salter says that Ericsson 4 has had a good pasting from the Southern Ocean. 

The guys who are regularly on deck are showing signs of wear and tear from the constant salt spray and cold. People are tired as we have been at sea for four weeks now and the freeze dried diet and Chinese snacks don’t really cut it in the energy stakes, especially as rations have been thinned as this leg will probably run its full 40 day course. This is when the crews dig deep to keep it all together in boat and people-breaking conditions.
 
Ryan Godfrey came below dripping wet in his survival suit goggles and harness and was halfway through telling me how short the sea was and how bad the nosedives were when the boat stood on end. I slid along my nav station seat and he disappeared mid-sentence and flew five metres and hit the mast bulkhead. The flying Adelaide atom was launched in his yellow jumpsuit like a human cannonball, luckily he was not hurt, but the effect is like being stood on a train when the emergency brakes get slammed on. It’s not the flight that, hurts but the deceleration when you meet something solid, like the mast, that hurts.

 conservatively to avoid the peak winds of the low pressure.  Walker says that they have throttled back on several occasions as the slamming of the hull became intolerable.

“In line with the forecast and from observations of the low we have been tracking, we met some of its mighty force today,” he said.  “This is when the crews dig deep to keep it all together in boat and people-breaking conditions,” he said.

Green Dragon is also sailing  conservatively to avoid the peak winds of the low pressure.  Walker says that they have throttled back on several occasions as the slamming of the hull became intolerable.

“This will cost us precious miles, particularly as we are first to fall off the [weather] system, but it is a decision I am happy with.  Deep in the Southern Ocean, a thousand miles from anywhere is not the place for hoisting the ‘hero’ flag,” he said. 

Telefónica Blue however, has not had any major gales in their part of the world, 795 nm from Ericsson 3, even though they too are in the ‘furious fifties’. 

“It looks like the weather isn’t set to give us too much of a beating in the next few days on the way down to the Horn, which comes as a relief to everyone onboard,” said Bouwe Bekking. 

However, Ian Walker sums up the conditions for the rest of the fleet when he says:

 “We will remain cautious and respectful of where we are in the world and boat we are in.”

Leg Five Day 31: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) DTF 2632 nm
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +48
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +174
Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +262
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +795
 
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS