And they're off...

[dazie]

The 2008-2009 Volvo Ocean Race started this morning (afternoon) from Alicante, Spain.

*sigh*  Without me. 

Oh well- I'll go next time. 

Anyway- if anyone is interested, I'm rooting for:

Team Russia - http://www.volvooceanrace.org/teams/russia-team/
Green Dragon - http://www.volvooceanrace.org/teams/green-dragon-team/
Delta Lloyd - http://www.volvooceanrace.org/teams/delta-lloyd/

Cuz I know people on them.  Actually, I know people associated with most of the teams, but I actually LIKE people with those teams I listed.

[dazie]

Don't worry- I won't bore you with every minute detail, but I do love this boat.  Co sponsored by Irish and Chinese businesses, it carries a shamrock AND a dragon. 

Plus- this is just a really cool picture.  20+ knots at the start in a big swell.  Lifting the boats out of the water and slamming them back down right from the get go.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[dazie]

This made me laugh so hard I nearly choked.  An email from one of the guys on "Kosatka" (<-- Killer Whale, the name of the Team Russia boat)

Spoons at Dawn

20 October, 2008 Blog from Mark Covell - Team Russia's 'big man reporting from a small space in a huge sea'
The winds are getting lighter the man smells are getting stronger and will to eat up the sea miles is certainly not fading away. In my blogs I have tried to bring you the feelings from onboard not just the A,B & Cs of daily life on this V70. Here are some ongoing themes from life above and below deck.

Food is obviously an ongoing topic. The preparation is simple, boil water, tip freeze-dried food into eski, add water and re-hydrate. Then serve up with a large ladle, doing your best impression of every prison film you have ever seen. I like to get a good splat in the food bowl before I lean over to the bemused crewman and say in hushed voice "It's tonight, we're breaking out tonight, we're getting out.... You coming?" It gets the same strange look every time.

The flavours range from bland to blander. The all time favorite is the eagerly anticipated Chicken & Mushroom Thai Curry. The big benefit of this dish is for once the mushrooms actually look like mushrooms. The food itself can't provide everything that a growing Volvo Ocean sailor needs to keep fit and healthy, so let me introduce the second biggest topic outside the subject of winning a yacht race, supplements.

Supplements come in all shapes and disguises. The fish oil tablet repeats on you all day until it's time to take another one. The rest of the pills and powered dinks just give you wind. Fluctuant flatulence emitting from the sleeping bears below can often drown the sound of creaking sheets, easing on the winches above deck. If only we could harness the power to ease us through the doldrums?

Needing a breath of fresh air myself from my own cramped space I just put my head up out of the hatch and ask for inspiration about the next biggest topic discussed. Stig impressively suggested that Politics and philosophy got the biggest airtime on his watch.... Deep. But with out doubt it's the constant question of "Who has nicked my spoon?" got the vote. In the effort to keep the weight down someone thought we only needed one spoon per person and three spare spoons to get us to Cape Town in good shape. After only three days at seas we were four spoons down. Now if you think this is a pretty unimportant thing to worry about on the VOLVO OCEAN RACE - LIFE AT THE EXTREME, you must remember that we only have one bowl and one spoon each. Lose your spoon, and life can get pretty extreme.

[Gamplayerx]

It's a shame they can't make spoons out of some sort of light weight material.  Like, say, plastic.  Or, if they want to be more green, wood.

[dazie]

The team I worked for cut the handles off their toothbrushes to save weight.  They also didn't paint the entire boat, which saved about 600lbs.  The thing I found gross was they took half as many sleeping bags as people, so you had to share a sleeping bag.  Ick.

The sails and random crap they do get to take weigh about a ton and a half, and every time they shift sails they have to move it all.  Also ick.

[dazie]

http://www.volvooceanrace.org/images/Assets/VOR10317_600x400.jpg

The guy on the left of the pic is the baddest ass bad ass I've ever met.  When he skippered "my" boat they were going around Cape Horn (southern tip of South America, just north of Antarctica) and the keel got a bunch of kelp wrapped around it, which was slowing the boat down.  They tried to get if off by backing the boat (not an easy trick in a sailboat) but it didn't work.

So Neal stripped down to his birthday suit, put a knife in his mouth and jumped into the Southern Ocean.  He swam down under the boat and cut the kelp off.

BAD.
ASS.

[grace]

The team I worked for cut the handles off their toothbrushes to save weight.  They also didn't paint the entire boat, which saved about 600lbs.  The thing I found gross was they took half as many sleeping bags as people, so you had to share a sleeping bag.  Ick.

The sails and random crap they do get to take weigh about a ton and a half, and every time they shift sails they have to move it all.  Also ick.

never share your spoon or bed bag....you will end up with noops & deb-gab.

[dazie]

This is kind of huge.  600 miles in 24 hours isn't much for an automobile or an airplane, but consider that it was a SAILBOAT that did it- averaging over 25 knots per hour (about 28-30 mph per hour) and half of the time was pitch black...

Wednesday 29 October 2008 20:00 GMT - Updated at 07:00 GMT, 30 October

By Cameron Kelleher

Ericsson 4 broke through the 600-mile barrier as their historic run continued with the log reaching 602.66 nautical miles at 18:54 GMT.

The record must now be ratified by ISAF and the World Sailing Speed Record Council. That is likely to happen a week after the fleet's arrival in Cape Town, which, at the going rate, is predicted as Monday 3rd November.

The new mark established by Torben Grael's men translates into an average speed of 25.11 knots, according to the telemetry received from the boat at Race Headquarters.

It eclipsed the previous best 24-hour run for a racing monohull of 562.96 miles set by Sebastian Josse and the crew of ABN AMRO TWO on the second leg of the 2005-06 race from Cape Town to Melbourne. Ericsson 4 added nearly 40 miles to that figure.

Grael and his crew had been pushing the boat hard for well over 24 hours, first toppling the previous mark at 03:55 GMT with a run of 566.57 miles. They raised the bar repeatedly and by 13:00 GMT, 593 miles were on the board as the magical 600-mark grew nearer. By 14:25, they had clocked 594.23 as they moved onwards and upwards. Then came Grael's holy grail.

The achievement is all the more credible given that Ericsson 4 have been sailing a man down since dropping off Tony Mutter, one of their drivers, at the Cape Verde Islands.

Drained by the experience, Grael is not about to get too carried away with the record when the serious business of being first to Cape Town remains top of the to-do list.

The conditions were not ideal given the sea state overnight. Winds approaching 40 knots are one thing, boisterous seas of eight metres in pitch darkness quite another. Shattered records, shattered bodies it seems.
...

"Conditions were marginal, especially during the night. It was no fun at all. The problem was the waves, especially during the middle of the night as there is no moon and it is very difficult to read them so the boat has been jumping about.

"We have been very much on the edge, if we had an easier sea state we could have gone faster."

...

"All the boys look really drained - sleep is not the easiest on E4, I can only describe the motion as I would imagine re-entry on the Space shuttle is like. Everything is bouncing - including every cell in our bodies and the mundane tasks are near impossible."

[grace]

one driver down....why did they drop "mutter" off ? just curious. waves that fierce would not be fun at night...

[dazie]

He had an infected knee.  They drained it and did a little surgery on it on the boat, but decided it was just too dangerous for him to stay aboard, even with the antibiotics they have.  They dropped him off in the Canary Islands I think, about a week ago.

[grace]

He had an infected knee.  They drained it and did a little surgery on it on the boat, but decided it was just too dangerous for him to stay aboard, even with the antibiotics they have.  They dropped him off in the Canary Islands I think, about a week ago.

i can't imagine what a persons knees would feel like after a trip like that... i've been in 12ft seas once, for 4-5 hrs. that was enough, i was scared shitless.

[dazie]

My friend Richard is on one of the other boats.  This is his third VOR, so his third time 'round. He said in the daily boat email that the night Ericsson 4 made that record was the worst watch he'd ever had.  His boat got caught with the wrong sail up and really had no chance to get it down in the weather and seas they hit.  He said something like they had to keep going, and would either survive or die.  *lol*

[grace]

My friend Richard is on one of the other boats.  This is his third VOR, so his third time 'round. He said in the daily boat email that the night Ericsson 4 made that record was the worst watch he'd ever had.  His boat got caught with the wrong sail up and really had no chance to get it down in the weather and seas they hit.  He said something like they had to keep going, and would either survive or die.  *lol*

yeah ....fuck that-- do or die shit

[BigDun]

The one time my wife and I took a cruise, it was on a small (by today's standards minuscule) ship that encountered some big waves one night (> 15 ft). The waves were big enough to make traversing the halls in the upper decks, where our stateroom was, very difficult. You had to hold onto the hallway's handrails to make it down the hall.

That night we went to the dance room that was located somewhere below water line of the boat where the effects of the high seas where much less pronounced. It was still some of the most surreal and funky dancing I have ever done. We were jamming to a mix of house and trance music, all the time alternating between jumping three feet in the air with no effort to feeling like you are glued to the dance floor. It was awesome. Imagine dancing on an elevator that was accelerating at an insanely intense rate and reversed its movement every 10 seconds.

[grace]

cruz ships feel much like an airline to me, cattle call stuff. the scenery is usually beautiful, but it feels like entrapment.

[dazie]

All 8 boats made it to Cape Town safely.  Yay!  Nobody died or broke to the point where they had to motor in.

One of the teams, though, nosedived into a wave and snapped off the bowsprit.  (see the pics-  the first one is how the front end of the boat is supposed to look, the second is how Telefonica looked coming in to Cape Town)

These boats are made of kevlar.  Takes a hell of a lot to break one like that.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[grace]

All 8 boats made it to Cape Town safely.  Yay!  Nobody died or broke to the point where they had to motor in.

One of the teams, though, nosedived into a wave and snapped off the bowsprit.  (see the pics-  the first one is how the front end of the boat is supposed to look, the second is how Telefonica looked coming in to Cape Town)

These boats are made of kevlar.  Takes a hell of a lot to break one like that.

now that deserves a "we did it"...........

[Bennyhana]

All 8 boats made it to Cape Town safely.  Yay!  Nobody died or broke to the point where they had to motor in.

One of the teams, though, nosedived into a wave and snapped off the bowsprit.  (see the pics-  the first one is how the front end of the boat is supposed to look, the second is how Telefonica looked coming in to Cape Town)

These boats are made of kevlar.  Takes a hell of a lot to break one like that.

now that deserves a "we did it"...........

Unless you are an air molecule that actually traveled around the sail, you can't say "We."

Just because you sat your lazy ass on a boat while being blown around doesn't mean you get to claim victory.

[grace]

All 8 boats made it to Cape Town safely.  Yay!  Nobody died or broke to the point where they had to motor in.

One of the teams, though, nosedived into a wave and snapped off the bowsprit.  (see the pics-  the first one is how the front end of the boat is supposed to look, the second is how Telefonica looked coming in to Cape Town)

These boats are made of kevlar.  Takes a hell of a lot to break one like that.

now that deserves a "we did it"...........

Unless you are an air molecule that actually traveled around the sail, you can't say "We."

Just because you sat your lazy ass on a boat while being blown around doesn't mean you get to claim victory.

your standards suck...f... you benny 

[dazie]

Pirates.  Oh joy.

http://www.volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2008/november/PIRACY-CT/index.aspx

"Can we have the icebergs back?" joked Bouwe Bekking, the skipper of Telefonica Blue. It's not a common request, but then the challenges of the new route are not particularly common either.

Instead of dodging icebergs and braving Southern Ocean storms, the crews lining up for the forthcoming leg to Cochin, India - and indeed the two further trips through Asia after that - are taking measures to ensure the threats of piracy and collisions with small unlit fishing vessels are minimised...

[grace]

Pirates.  Oh joy.

http://www.volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2008/november/PIRACY-CT/index.aspx

"Can we have the icebergs back?" joked Bouwe Bekking, the skipper of Telefonica Blue. It's not a common request, but then the challenges of the new route are not particularly common either.

Instead of dodging icebergs and braving Southern Ocean storms, the crews lining up for the forthcoming leg to Cochin, India - and indeed the two further trips through Asia after that - are taking measures to ensure the threats of piracy and collisions with small unlit fishing vessels are minimised...

i wonder if they will carry firearms...i would.

[Bennyhana]

Pirates.  Oh joy.

http://www.volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2008/november/PIRACY-CT/index.aspx

"Can we have the icebergs back?" joked Bouwe Bekking, the skipper of Telefonica Blue. It's not a common request, but then the challenges of the new route are not particularly common either.

Instead of dodging icebergs and braving Southern Ocean storms, the crews lining up for the forthcoming leg to Cochin, India - and indeed the two further trips through Asia after that - are taking measures to ensure the threats of piracy and collisions with small unlit fishing vessels are minimised...

i wonder if they will carry firearms...i would.

you think people who chop their toothbrushes in half to save weight would have something as heavy as a gun on board?  They're going to fight the pirates with carbon fiber spears.

[dazie]

*snicker*  That's funny- cuz that's what I was thinking too, about the weight of the guns.

I doubt they have anything more than a flare gun on board, but they do have warships available- there's some new system that transmits the yachts' positions to some company who lets the warships in the area know where they are.  If something goes wrong, the navy will be there asap.

Seems like if I were being boarded by pirates, the navy couldn't get there fast enough, but the race people seem to think it's a good idea.  *shrug*

[grace]

Pirates.  Oh joy.

http://www.volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2008/november/PIRACY-CT/index.aspx

"Can we have the icebergs back?" joked Bouwe Bekking, the skipper of Telefonica Blue. It's not a common request, but then the challenges of the new route are not particularly common either.

Instead of dodging icebergs and braving Southern Ocean storms, the crews lining up for the forthcoming leg to Cochin, India - and indeed the two further trips through Asia after that - are taking measures to ensure the threats of piracy and collisions with small unlit fishing vessels are minimised...

i wonder if they will carry firearms...i would.

you think people who chop their toothbrushes in half to save weight would have something as heavy as a gun on board?  They're going to fight the pirates with carbon fiber spears.

hey...diet a little and afford the weight of a pocket piece.

[dazie]

From the Green Dragon team:

Conditions have progressively worsened on board as the Southern Ocean makes its presence felt. Ian Walker's Green Dragon took the brunt of it. "I was just getting my waterproofs on down below when there was a huge bang and the boat went into an involuntary Chinese gybe," Walker reported.

"You might think this is alright for a boat with such strong Chinese connections but a Chinese gybe is what we all fear most as it is when the boat crash gybes and leaves you on your side with everything including the keel on the wrong side.

"As the mainsail hit the weather runners, water started pouring in down below through the ventilation hatches due to the side decks now being underwater but the boat miraculously turned back the right way, gybed back and righted itself.

"The steering blocks had sheared away leaving Neal (McDonald) with no steerage on the weather wheel. As the boat speared out of control Anthony Merrington managed to grab the leeward wheel just in time and straighten us up.

"Everyone was harnessed on and everything secure so no harm was done. Fortunately the only real cost was perhaps 5-10 miles and we are now back up and running with another bar story to tell."

[grace]

From the Green Dragon team:

Conditions have progressively worsened on board as the Southern Ocean makes its presence felt. Ian Walker's Green Dragon took the brunt of it. "I was just getting my waterproofs on down below when there was a huge bang and the boat went into an involuntary Chinese gybe," Walker reported.

"You might think this is alright for a boat with such strong Chinese connections but a Chinese gybe is what we all fear most as it is when the boat crash gybes and leaves you on your side with everything including the keel on the wrong side.

"As the mainsail hit the weather runners, water started pouring in down below through the ventilation hatches due to the side decks now being underwater but the boat miraculously turned back the right way, gybed back and righted itself.

"The steering blocks had sheared away leaving Neal (McDonald) with no steerage on the weather wheel. As the boat speared out of control Anthony Merrington managed to grab the leeward wheel just in time and straighten us up.

"Everyone was harnessed on and everything secure so no harm was done. Fortunately the only real cost was perhaps 5-10 miles and we are now back up and running with another bar story to tell."

jesus ....these guys are having way too much fun!

[dazie]

Here's another- same kind of gybe, but this one is described by the "media crewman" on Team Russia.  The media crewman cannot help sail the boat or anything else that might be helpful- it is his main job to report on what happens, either by writing about it, taking pictures of it or videotaping it.  He's allowed to cook and bail too.

(sorry it's so long, I did whittle some out, but IMO this is just too damn funny to cut any more out of)

Right Here Right Now
A blog by Mark Covell, Media Crew Member on Kosatka

Remember in one of my blogs from leg one, I wrote about telling it like it is? Say what you see? Well I'm about to do the same again and lay it on the line as it is for me, not the crew, not the people back in whatever edit office my work goes to, but right here right now.

Right now it's 22.30 ships time (17 Nov.) and we are heading southeast at 28 knots in about 30 knots of wind. It has just taken me well over an hour to simply boil 5 litres of water and pour it into one container of freeze dried food. It took me 25 minutes to find the lighter because today we had a small issue below decks with which way was up and which down. We had a fresh 38 knots of breeze with two reefs and full A6 kite up. The speedo was showing off with glimpses of 34 knots but mostly strutting about with its shirt off showing a solid 26 pack. I was in the office doing my lippy trying to put the media station back together (reasons later). The boats motion was violent but no more offensive then normal, when suddenly I am thrown to starboard, hitting the bulkhead door and breaking it clean off. "Gosh" I said, "What the devil was that?" My question was answered as the laptop normally Velcroed down, landed in my lap, with a catch any fullback would have been proud of.

The Blue Planet
Gravity has now chosen to work from left to right on Team Russia today I thought. Shoving the Mac quickly down my trousers, I made the rest of my kit safe and solid. Thanks to Sarah from our hard working shore crew for my new pouches, nothing else fell. As you can guess, the old up and down which I had become rather fond of, had now turned into side to side. Luckily, I had the spreader camera view on the media station screen. It was showing one of those clever half underwater, half blue-sky shots you see in BBC nature programs. I could hear David Attenborough's voice softy saying; "What the Volvo Ocean Sailor is experiencing here, is a Chinese Gybe, we don't know enough about this species yet, but we believe they do this to keep cool when they over heat."

Quickly breaking out my very own retake of The Blue Planet, I hit record on my consol. I was torn between grabbing my camera and capture more of the action or capturing the essential electrical navigation kit now hanging from the chart table like strange fruit in a southern wind. Wrongly I chose safety over fame, bundling up as much as I could and wedging it behind a corner. I sorted myself out, stowing the collection of stuff rammed down my trousers and headed for the action with video in hand.

Walking down the disorientated sidewalls, forward to the cockpit I could hear voices, commands one by one clear and direct. The normal rage and rampage of the boats screams to slow down were gone. Just a quiet sloshing sound as the waves broke against the hull. As I clambered forward I noticed the sleeping bags now moving in the water, mixed with things normally stowed high and dry. It's all wrong, so wrong, but not the first time I have been in this predicament, except the last time I was sailing a Laser on holiday and the water was a lot warmer.

So we are laid flat on our starboard side, main in the water, kite still up and keel fully canted down, pinning us to the sea with no runner on the port side. Sails that were staked on the high side now trying to swim back to Cape Town, as the water flows freely washing water bottles and winch handles in and out. The crew on deck are standing on the sides of things, tailing winches from confusing angles, desperately trying to untangle the puzzle. Thank God all on deck had life jackets and harnesses clipped on. I'm now filming but desperately aware that it's not the most helpful thing I could be doing. As if the referee had finished his count of ten, slowly the boat is freed from its half nelson and the she breathes a sigh of relief as the keel bulb cants back to the good side. The lads still working hard to prevent further issues manhandle the kite down; stake the sails back in and secure runners and sheets. Sensing that my presence is not welcome and any commentary or remark would be curt and abrupt I sloped away to put my world back into place for the third time this leg.

[Jessie]

Damn you, Jesus Jones.

[dazie]

Yeah- it's in my head too.  Sorry.

[dazie]

From the Green Dragon team:
blah blah about the gybe

jesus ....these guys are having way too much fun!

More from that same team:

Just before 11:00 GMT Walker sent the following email to the Duty Office at race headquarters in Portsmouth alerting race organisers to the situation on board.

"I am sorry to report that we have just broken our boom in a 50-knot squall," the message read. "We are in the process of recovering the parts. The situation is under control with no harm or risk to anyone. We are carrying on downwind."

Their position at the time was 39:41.17S , 40:28.73E, 1,500 miles from Mauritius.

Walker and the team were weighing up whether to continue under jury rig to Cochin or head for Mauritius where a replacement boom could be fitted.

Yikes.

[dazie]

said broken boom

[Gamplayerx]

big badda boom

[eo000]

big badda boom

multipass.

[grace]

i wonder if they will encounter pirates...a very colorful team!

[dazie]

big badda boom

multipass.

supergreen.

[dazie]

I snorted I was laughing so hard at this one:

A Close Shave in the Wrong Trousers
By Mark Covell

As I write this, the sold 20-knot trade winds are becoming less and less stable. The dreaded doldrums must be just up ahead. We have already had our first onset of heavy tropical rain, warm, refreshing and forcing a sail change. It was pitch black and as the crew worked quickly forward on pealing the new headsail. I put down my heavy blog, stripped butt naked and popped out of the aft deck hatch like Marilyn Munroe appearing out of the presidents birthday cake. (Hold that thought) How refreshing to get a natural doosh in a tropical shower, a great chance to have unlimited fresh water.

I closed the hatch tight and with soap, raiser and shampoo in hand I quickly whipped up a total body lather from tip to toe, worthy of any 50's Barber Shop. I was now fully covered in foaming olive soap, smelling like the foothills of Tuscany in spring. When suddenly the rain came to an abrupt stop. Like a practical joke, someone turned the tap off. I am now stood in my birthday suit on the aft deck in the pitch black looking like Shaun the sheep before he was shorn, with the wind getting up quickly.

The boat starts to heal up, the speed starts to build, voices from the bow raise as the noise of the wind notches up the tension. I am now faced with needing to get water, any water to get free of my soapy fleece. I dash forward and grab a bailer and a harness. I wasn't about to lean over the stern, at night, in the slippery buff, collecting water without being clipped on. I popped back on deck just as the crew shuffle back into the cockpit with their foredeck work done. With out lingering on the visual to much, just imaging the scene as I nonchalantly teetered past a working Volvo Ocean Race Crew in nothing but a offshore safety harness, with crutch strap fitted, covered in foaming soap looking like Mr. Whippy on the way to a bondage party. The only thing that I could come up with as they looked on in disbelief was "Good work lads, keep it up". They certainly didn't say the same phrase back to me. The relationship between crew and media man can be strained at times. I didn't see this one coming and nor did they.

[grace]

...he is hysterical.

think there might be a pic of that ?  bet soo.....

[dazie]

Well shit.  My friend (Acquaintance?  Friendly acquaintance.) Stu's boat broke.

Delta Lloyd, trailing the rest of the fleet for much of this third leg from Cochin to Singapore, were dealt a savage blow today when they broke a hydraulic ram on their canting keel mechanism.

Navigator Matt Gregory notified Volvo Ocean Race headquarters at midday that they had developed a hydraulic oil leak and it was later discovered that there was extensive damage to carbon structure around the port side ram.

They were sailing in 18-20 knots of breeze in the Bay of Bengal at the time. The crew has been in contact with their shore support team. They have implemented a temporary fix to centre the keel using the starboard ram and are continuing to limp along at 9 knots.

Media Crew Member Sander Pluijm explained the incident and the options open to them in an email: "We heard a big bang. Johnny (Gerd-Jan Poortman) and I thought the mast had come down. Everybody was shocked and we started searching below deck. It did not take long before we found the problem – the port side carbon structure that holds the ram was broken.

"It is too early to know the exact cause of the damage, but it is likely to be a failure of the hydraulic system. The seal is still on the engine. We are looking into the possibilities of going the nearest harbor or to continue towards Singapore, which we prefer."

[dazie]

Shit.  Why can't I ever like a team that has money AND wins?

Team Russia today announced it has suspended racing upon arrival in Singapore at the end of Leg 3 due to insufficient funds to continue the campaign.

The team has been seeking sponsorship in recent months to secure enough financial support to continue to Qingdao and beyond.

However no sponsorship has been forthcoming and the team has no alternative but to suspend racing until further financial support can be secured.

"From the outset, it was always a goal to bring commercial partners into the project," said Oleg Zherebtsov, the Team principal. "Until now, I have financed the team with my own money, in advance of anticipated sponsorship funding.

"By this stage in the Volvo campaign we had intended to find sponsorship, but this process has been impacted by the global economic situation."

Cessation of racing also means that Team Russia is unable to continue its partnership with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS).

The team was proud to "Sail For The Whale", during the first three legs of the race and was instrumental in spreading the call for safe habitats for whales and dolphins around the globe.

WDCS is very proud to have been a part of this race and will continue to work for the creation of 12 large marine protection areas by the year 2012 and will find new ways to work with the international sailing community as well as the general public to achieve this goal.

[grace]

because it's fun to support the underdog...

[dazie]

http://www.volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2008/december/SCHOOL-DAYS/index.aspx

)(#%*FQ  AW#$%!@!!!   


I wanted Kate to have this experience.  *sigh*

[grace]

what a cool school, it would be fun to be a teacher in that environment as well.

[Alice]

http://www.volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2008/december/SCHOOL-DAYS/index.aspx

)(#%*FQ  AW#$%!@!!!   


I wanted Kate to have this experience.  *sigh*

Did I miss something?  WHy can't she?

[dazie]

Because I didn't get on with a racing syndicate.

[dazie]

Jeezus...  They're sailing from Singapore to Qindao right now and hit a storm yesterday.  One boat completely out of the leg, motoring to safe harbor, another with a broken boom and hull damage, a third with a broken stay and hull damage.  Yikes. 

Saturday 24 January 2009 14:30 GMT

After spending the past 24 hours bracing themselves for 'hellish' conditions, today the fleet took the brunt of the anticipated storm in the Luzon Strait.

At the height of what some crew members described as "horrendous conditions", wind speeds topped out at 50 knots with maximum wave heights of 14 metres.

The main problem has come from the steep seas caused by the wind blowing against the prevailing current, resulting in a sharp, steep sea state.

Over the past 12 hours, the fleet has been short-tacking up the coast of the Philippine Island Luzon, seeking whatever shelter it could find near the shore.

"We have been sheltering behind Luzon Island for most of the day after trying to go upwind in 45+ knots," wrote Guy Salter, the Media Crew member aboard Ericsson 4.

"All I can say is that it was far from pleasant. We ended up sailing the last few hours under storm jib only, slowly creeping our way closer to the top of the Philippines before waiting for an ease in pressure to attempt the crossing over to Taiwan and through some very tidal seas, which could be boat-wreckers to say the least," he added.

His words proved prophetic, as some of those who ventured out into the Luzon Strait, found it didn't take long for the challenging conditions to exact a toll.
At 02:00 GMT, PUMA turned south while in the lead and headed downwind. They have now anchored in a bay just south of the town of Vigan. Read reported in an audio interview, with Amanda Blackley, that PUMA have a broken boom.

Read said: "We're busted and we are in a harbour. It's pretty disappointing. Quite a devastating day for us. We have broken our boom in half. At the time, there was 50 knots of breeze and 20-foot seas, with waves breaking over the top of the boat. We haven't suspended racing, we just don't happen to be sailing right now."

Meanwhile, Telefonica Black circled near the coast for almost three hours to change to their storm trysail and continuing. This sail change was before it even began to get really ugly.

By 11:30 GMT Telefonica Black had experienced a crack in the hull. They turned back to the coast, nursing a compromised hull to safety. They plan to take the time and assess the damage before planning their next steps.

Delta Lloyd turned back from the Luzon Strait for the calmer waters of the coast to repair a damaged steering wheel, ripped mainsail and a damaged mast track. The team has since suspended racing for at least 12 hours and is currently anchored in harbour.

At 0830 GMT Green Dragon, already nursing a damaged rig, followed Delta Lloyd's lead and headed inshore. The boat has suffered damage to the forward ring frame.

"Our intention is to make some repairs and get underway," Ian Walker said moments in a radio interview. The forward ring frame has disintegrated and parted from the hull, so the crew has to try to reinforce it and re-bond it to the hull. "We have some materials and some know-how and we will use a bit of ingenuity," Walker said.

Green Dragon has not retired from the leg. The team will try to make a good repair and carry on as best they can.

There are now three boats still sailing. In the lead at 13:00 and holding it together in the Luzon Strait was Bouwe Bekking and Telefonica Blue.

It seems that both the Ericsson boats have elected to watch and see how Telefonica Blue's passage developed. They have no competition for second and third place right now, and there is no need to rush out there and take a chance on breaking their boats.

Ericsson 3's navigator, Aksel Magdakl, described their slow trek up the coast with just the storm jib up in this audio interview with Amanda Blackley.

Telefonica Blue is now tackling the Luzon Strait. Bekking says is will be a case of 'survival' now, for the next 36 hours or so. "We are going to take it easy, there is too much at stake," he said.

Race Meteorologist, Jennifer Lilly says that the winds along the west coast of Luzon were just east of northerly and building to between 25 and 30 knots, with stronger gusts. The sea state had also increased with swells already topping 3 metres. She expects the winds will continue to increase over the next 24 hours to 40 knots, with stronger gusts in the Luzon Strait.

Lilly says that the next 24 hours will also see a transition to colder air temperatures and water temperatures as the fleet sails into the strong Kuroshio Current. Because of the strong winds blowing against the strong current, the seas are likely to build to almost twice their current height. Not only will the seas be large, but they will also be steep. In simple terms, they will look more like breakers at the beach than typical ocean swells.

[dazie]

To quote Bill Murray- Muther Puss Bucket!

[grace]

To quote Bill Murray- Muther Puss Bucket!

that is just not healthy !!

[Jessie]

To quote Bill Murray- Muther Puss Bucket!

that is just not healthy !!

I don't know if it's healthy but it makes me a little seasick just looking at it.

[dazie]

Notice how the guy at the wheel is standing at a different angle than the other guys.  There's actually a little wedge they set up so he's upright even if the boat is canted.

They expect to be at that angle for a while.

Did you see the other guy has a crash helmet on?

No THANK you.   

[dazie]

Oh gross.

PUMA - Ken Read (Skipper)

This should be an interesting blog. Mainly because I am starting to feel the effects from some serious pain killers.

We have brought a million people sailing on a Volvo 70 over the past year and a half. First thing we do is tell the folks not to put there hands on any loaded lines like the mainsheet or runners. Well, I did not heed my own warning.

Remember, we don't have a boom and there are three separate purchases on the clew of the main holding it in place. We are all creatures of habit on these boats. You get 100% used to every square inch of the boat and it is wild how much something like the lack of a boom makes you change how you walk around the cockpit in rough sea's. What you lean on and when.

Well, we finally got conditions this morning where we could shake our one of the reefs. Six of us on deck. I was on the bottom purchase and about to ease it when we fell off a wave and I braced myself on the purchase that runs to weather.

Sounds harmless so far right? Well the exact time I went to braced myself was the exact time that it was being eased through a large titanium block. The block quite easily sucked my left index finger in until I gave a little "hold" call then instinctively just pulled it out. Yuck. Not much of the last 30% of my finger left. At least from what I remember.

My daughter Tory has inherited the same aversion to the sight of blood. Tory, you will be proud of me--I didn't faint.

Just what the doctor ordered after the last few days. I am officially a dumb ass.

Dr Falcone sprung into action. Cleaned and bandaged. A serious painkiller is about to take over my world. And my typing has raken a severe efficiency hit.

Besides that, we lived though some brutal sea's last night in 30 knots of wind and have had a few more structural situations but the body shop trio of Casey, Salty and Mixhi have got il mostro nearly back into fighting form again.

Of course there was plenty more happening over the past 24 hours. Like the interesting exit past the Philippines and Cape Bojeador, in about 50 knots of wind right on the nose and horrific seas kicked up by a strong opposing current. That was fun...

So, I think I will listen to Doctor Falcone and get into the rack before I start drooling on myself at the nav station when the pain killers kick in. Ricky Deppe our media boy has sure had plenty to video on this leg. Clearly we are entertaining him, and hopefully most of this footage comes out to the public soon. Some of it is pretty good.

Off to bed now. And by the way, when you see the video he shot of my finger you may want to look away.

Kenny

[grace]

i have never been seasick. a few times, certainly have come close due to diesel fumes mostly, but went to great lenghts not be out there in questionable seas. these guys are just asking for it !!! 

woo hoo, they are nuts.

[dazie]

Jeezus H. Christ.  Who the hell thought THIS leg would be good to do? 

With Team Russia pulling out due to lack of funds, there are 7 boats left. 

Telefonica Black broke badly enough to require them to pull out of the leg and motor to safe harbor
Green Dragon broke a stay (the thing that holds up the mast) plus took a 24 hr penalty for going to harbor to do structural repairs to the hull
Delta Lloyd took a 24 hr penalty for going to harbor to do repairs to their wheel (it smashed along the way) plus something else, haven't figured out what yet
PUMA took a 24 hr penalty for going to harbor to do repairs to their boom (it broke in half) and some structural repairs to their hull
Telefonica Blue smashed their nose when they hit something

Now Ericsson 3 looks to be pulling out of the leg.  That leaves ONE BOAT that isn't limping.  WTF.

Sorry.  I know people on every boat.  Last race they lost a crew member and a boat as they crossed the north Atlantic.  This is all freaky and scary and annoying that anyone would have thought sailing north east into a prevailing south east heading wind, through the notoriously crappy Luzon Straights was a good idea.

Ericsson 3, under the leadership of leg skipper Magnus Olsson, has turned downwind and is heading for Taiwan this morning. More details are expected shortly.

It's a heartbreaking turn of events for the Nordic crew, who were in second place, ahead of sistership Ericsson 4, when they turned off the race track. Conditions on the race course are very difficult again, with wind speeds approaching 30 knots and a confused sea state featuring waves of up to seven metres.

Bouwe Bekking, the skipper of leg leader Telefonica Blue, gives some insight to the current conditions in an email back to race headquarters last night: "It is worse out here than two days ago. it is not the windspeed, that is managable, but it is the crazy sea state," he reported.

"One wave washed our satellite dome off the back of the bus, so we can't call anymore and no weather info. Also the helmsman is getting washed off the wheel frequently. They are all wearing double harnesses..."

This, in addition to a hefty blow to the bow of the boat yesterday that resulted in damage to the 'crash-bow' a sacrificial section at the front of the boat that is designed for just this sort of eventuality.

[dazie]

Tuesday 27 January 2009, 09:52

Ericsson 3 - Gustav Morin (Media Crew Member)

"We are leaking"

Yesterday night I was terrified and today it's been even worse.

During the night the wind went from 10 to 40-knots and the sea state quickly became very bad. We had to take down the mainsail in a hurry.

All hands were called on deck and the guys were fighting blood and tears to get it down. The boat was almost airborne from time to time, and it was slamming hard and rocking uncontrollably.

I was sitting down below recording the action and watching it live. A surrealistic experience. In the biggest waves, the cameras switched themselves off and I was crossing my fingers that all the guys would turn up on the screen when the picture got back.

Luckily they did, even though I think it was really on the limit many times. The main was ripped in pieces and again we slowed down to keep the boat in one piece.

Maybe it was too late already then. The boat is not in one piece anymore.

Early this morning, we found the bow compartment full of water and soon after that, a four-meter crack and an open hole in the hull.

We were sinking!

The water was pouring in from the hole and the bow section was delaminating. You could feel how soft it had become when you stepped on it we could see it was moving in the waves.

Everyone worked like crazy, pumping, bilging and sponging the water out. As soon as we got most of it out, watch captain Richard Mason and boat captain Jens Dolmer started to reinforce the structure.

We took all the bunks down and cut them up to put them across the bow to strengthen it up. After a couple of hours work, it seemed like we were going to make it.

As soon as the boat started leaking we started heading towardsTaiwan.

Now I'm sitting in my survival suit and all the safety equipment is ready up on deck. If the sea state gets worse again, the reinforcement will most probably crack and the boat will go down quick.

It doesn't feel like we are in that much danger anyway. We only have 20-miles left to land and the Taiwanese coastguard will soon come out to guide us in and pick us up if the boat sinks.

The worst feeling for the moment is the huge disappointment from pulling out of the leg and the anxiety of how big the consequences will be from the delamination.

'You should have been quicker with your camera,' Aksel Magdahl said to me earlier, 'it's not every year that tears are dropping down my cheeks. This is so disappointing'.

We have fought extremely hard on this leg and we were in second place when this happened. Ericsson 4 was close, but the others were miles and miles behind.

But I guess we should mostly worry about keeping the boat above the surface right now. The seas are growing bigger and Jens Dolmer is screaming from the bow again.
Received 09:52

[dazie]

Another one down. 

Tuesday 27 January 2009 19:00 GMT

By Cameron Kelleher

The war of attrition on leg four claimed another victim this evening when Delta Lloyd reported that it was retreating to Taiwan with structural wounds.

One of the bow bulkheads on the boat has fractured and is delaminating. The crew has been pumping water out and the watertight area is closed in order to prevent further ingress.

The Dutch-Irish entry had been holding fourth place in a battle against torrid conditions off the Taiwanese coast when discretion got the better of valour.

Skipper Roberto Bermudez and his crew are now heading for the sanctuary of the port of Keelung, off the northern tip of Taiwan, where earlier today Ericsson 3 took refuge after rupturing their hull – and taking on water – in horrendous seas.

A few hours before the Delta Lloyd crew detected the cracked bulkhead, the mainsail had been torn, making a decision to backtrack inevitable.

"We are very disappointed, as we really wanted to do well in this leg. But Chuny (Bermudez) doesn't take any risks in terms of the crew's safety," said Media Crew Member Sander Pluijm.

"At the time we discovered the crack, we were sailing under storm jib and with three reefs in the main. Especially with the cold Chinese weather coming up, it was irresponsible to continue racing. We informed the coast guard and put the safety procedure into operation."

The crew has not officially suspended racing and is awaiting further inspection in Taiwan.

Pluijm added: "Due to the delamination, the hull is absorbing water, which softens the bow that might break by wave slamming. That is the biggest risk now. Therefore the crew closed the watertight bow compartment."

The brutal conditions on leg four with gusts up to 50 knots and seven-metre seas, have exacted a heavy toll on the fleet. Telefonica Black has retired and is undergoing repairs in Subic Bay, Philippines, while Ericsson 3 has now joined them on the inactive list.

The other walking wounded, PUMA (broken boom) and Green Dragon (bow structure damage), continue their progress to Qingdao.

[dazie]

**GRAPHIC**

Check out Ken Read's injured finger...

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31799465&l=03c94&id=132700427

[dazie]

Haha!  Gross.



Puma - Rick Deppe (Media Crew Member)

We're getting a bit of a reprieve today.

This race seems to be a constant cycle of getting the snot beaten out of you for an unspecified number of days followed by a couple of days to clean yourself up, lick your wounds and prepare as best you can for the next ass wuppin, because it's coming!

When it's game on, things start to fall apart pretty quickly and it's the galley that seems to get it the worst. It's up forward on our boat so when the boat jumps off a wave there is a multiplying factor to the amount of movement up there. I think of a see-saw and the amount of movement between the seat at the end, and the seat nearest the pivot point. Add to this the fact that you don't see the waves coming and therefore have no chance to brace for the impact. As well as the potential for a huge mess it's also quite dangerous. Add the final ingredient - food - and bingo, you now have a recipe for disaster.. no pun intended.

It starts slowly with the odd little spill here and there, its impossible not to. Usually the guys are pretty conscientious about clean up but its dark and you are bouncing around, so maybe a 90% job, and the grime slowly starts to build. Then it happens... a big spill, let's say a half bowl of greasy beef and noodles straight in the bilge. You're on hands and knees doing the best you can to collect everything up but the grease is starting to spread. You give a call for some help up on deck and while you are away, someone unknowingly steps in the area of the spill and then before you know the galley has reached a tipping point beyond which there is no coming back from until the weather eases up.

Imagine little incidents like this happening over and over and you start to get the idea. After two or three days of tough weather the galley can start to look like a major environmental disaster area. Noodles stuck in every corner of the bilge, a thin layer of grease on every hand hold, the trash bag overflowing. There are no paper towels until tomorrow and you still can't find the spray-n-wipe.

But not today! The whole galley area has had a major going over and is positively sparkling. Everything is squeaky clean as they say. The ever vigilant Rob Salthouse gave it the whole soap-down this morning and I came in this afternoon and did the disinfectant treatment. Rob also gave our failing stove a full service. We haven't had any problems with it yet, but a little preventative maintenance never hurts. Imagine a stove failure during our next heavy air upwind session coming soon. The whole thing is now held together securely with steel wire and should see us to Rio.

Rick

[dazie]

wooooo hoooooo!



A huge wave washes down the deck of Green Dragon in the Southern Ocean

As for the rookies, Salter reports they are taking it in their stride, in this school of hard knocks. Witness Salter's account of a near conversation with bowman and fresher Ryan Godfrey. "Ryan 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," Salter recalls.

"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.

"Yesterday some of the gusts were over 55 knots. A wipe out at 30+ knots doesn't bear thinking about (although I do all the time)."

[dazie]

Sorry Ursus, but I love Magnus..


No team has looked as thrilled as the Ericsson 3 crew when they were called on stage at the end of the evening to collect their prize for winning Leg 5. "We're really not that good," Magnus Olsson said modestly as his crew linked arms and jumped up and down. "But we have enormous team spirit."


Starting hours late after a 2 hour pit stop after sailing from the port where they had repairs, making a huge tactical jump north when everyone else went south, and winning the leg with a bunch of rookies.

Yeah.  They suck.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[dazie]

From Delta Lloyd navigator Wouter Verbak, after a sail change in the middle of the night:

Through spray drops on the ski-goggles I have a blurry view of the instruments on the mast. The boat is leaping from wave to wave and big three meter high fountains of spray are crashing over the bow and submerging the mast and instruments completely. The boat speed goes to 20, 21, 22, 23 knots and just hovers there. This is where skipper 'Chuny' is in his element. Fantastic driving. What a machines these boats are.

I am loving it. I only have one little problem. The ski goggles are essential to keep the spray out and are doing a great job. However, some waves are bigger than others, and with the big dumpers I recognise an essential shortcoming. Through the air vents at the top of my goggles the water pores straight into my glasses. With no way out at the bottom, the goggles are slowly filling up! Put some fish in and it would be a great personal aquarium. Not ideal for grinding and watching the numbers though! Need to solve this tomorrow with some drain holes in the bottom.

Wouter

[dazie]

http://www.youtube.com/v/olMOhJC8_l4

[dazie]

It would probably have made more sense If I'd mentioned that the sailor who says "I think he's lost" is my friend Stu.

Friendly acquaintance.

Drinking mate.  There.  That's it.  My drinking mate Stu.

[grace]

It would probably have made more sense If I'd mentioned that the sailor who says "I think he's lost" is my friend Stu.

Friendly acquaintance.

Drinking mate.  There.  That's it.  My drinking mate Stu.

what a fun bunch !!!

[dazie]

They're amazing.  Every one of them. 


The next leg starts tomorrow.  Boston to Galway.  Last race this short leg was the worst- they lost a crew member off one boat and another boat sank completely.  Let's hope this time is better. 

*crosses fingers*

[dazie]

Speaking of said lost crew member:

http://www.volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2009/May/HANS-HORREVOETS-TROPHY/index.aspx

They're giving an award to the best rookie in his honor.  I think that's neat.

Here's something from one of the boats.  I know both Magnus and Richard.

********
Sunday, 17 May 2009, 20:23 GMT

Ericsson 3 - Gustav Morin (Media Crew Member)

This morning Magnus Olsson stumbled from the galley up to the bulkhead where he sat down to have breakfast. It almost looked like he was in a coma. The speed of the spoon of porridge going from the bowl to his mouth decreased for every second. Just before he had finished his meal the spoon stopped moving – Magnus had fallen asleep.

His face was Rudolf red from the cold windy night and his eyes almost had the same color from tiredness and saltwater. When I woke him up, he said with a shivering voice, "This is crazy, I've got seven layers of clothing on me and still I'm cold. I think and hope it will not be this cold for more than two days. If it will take longer I don't know how to survive."

The drama queen has spoken...

But there sure is some truth in his words.

Soon before Magnus woke up Richard Mason jumped out of his bunk. He was shaking and made strange noises... "Hrrrrhhrrrhrrrr."

After some quick moves and a few more strange noises he said, "Usually I try to save some clothing a couple of days into this leg, but now I'm going full metal jacket straight away. And soon we will hit the Labrador current which is only two degrees. That will be fun..."

During the morning we have had seven degrees in both water and air and actually it was not that bad on deck, you manage a couple of hours without getting too cold. Night-time is what is bad. Then you can't see how close the racing is. All day we have had PUMA,  both Telefonicas and Ericsson 4 within eyereaching distance and I guess that makes it easier for the blood to flow.

We have constantly been doing around 20 knots and the last hour the wind has opened up a bit and now we are steadily doing well over 20. It is wet and fast but still not too bumpy. Last sched we were first in the fleet and the spirits are high onboard.

Well, almost everyone is in a good mood. It seems like some of us has adopted the American size of a portion of food too well. For both dinner and lunch two guys did not get any food... And the water that keep dripping down my neck and on my computer doesn't make my life more fun.

But it's not like I haven't been through that before, just another day in the office.

Gustav

[dazie]

Huh.  Well THIS is something you don't read every day...

Tuesday, 19 May 2009, 14:28 GMT

Ericsson 3 - Aksel Magdahl (Navigator)

Depressing times

It is extremely frustrating times onboard Ericsson 3. We can't really let go of the thought that we were in the lead and then, suddenly, we hit a whale and after that everything has been going bad. We lost three positions to the scoring-gate and after that we have lost even more.

AFTER they hit the whale things went bad??  I'd have thought that hitting the whale was pretty bad.

[dazie]

Great videos from the PUMA team:

http://www.volvooceanrace.tv/page/NewsDetail/0,,12573~1664887,00.html
Casey Smith goes overboard to fix a broken rudder in 30 knot winds in the North Atlantic

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=531901808678&ref=mf
Dolphins alongside the boat (not sure this one will work, but give it a shot)

[dazie]

BOOM!

http://www.volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2009/June/1-TELEFONICA-CONTAINER-EXPLODES/

[dazie]

http://www.volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2009/June/4-GALWAY-MAGNUS/index.aspx

I love Richard and Magnus.  Seriously.  LOVE.  THEM.

And not in the skeevy "humpity humpity" way either.  (although if Richard was so inclined...)  They're both just great guys.


On a different note, I think I'm going for a record in the "most posts in a single thread that nobody else ever reads" category.  WOO!   

[Jessie]

hahah

I scan them.

[ReBurn]

I read the posts. I'm just not quite sure how to participate.

[dazie]

Comment on how hot Richard is I guess.  *shrug*

Something along the lines of "neat video" or "crazy mfers"

I'm just whining.

[Jessie]

Richard is hot for a crazy mfer in that neat video, dazie!

[dazie]

Richard is hot for a crazy mfer in that neat video, dazie!

Why thanks!  Glad you liked it. 

[dazie]

hah!  oops.

... As for Ericsson 4, Read added: "Last time I saw Ericsson 4, they were laying on their side and blowing out to sea."

Ericsson 4 Media Crew Member Guy Salter, provided further details. "We should have been smarter and sailed a little more conservatively, but it's hard when you are charging along right next to first place," he said.

"We made a very big schoolboy error and were caught in a huge gust. The boat seemed to accelerate in no time and before we knew it, we had ploughed into the back of the next wave and had white water everywhere.

"This sudden stop also sent us into a spin and we ended up on our side with the kite flapping. We had broken our leeward steering wheel and its cage. Luckily the spinnaker was still intact and all of us were still attached to the yacht – just.

"We brushed ourselves down and got ready after the wipe out. We went into the gybe. These boats are hard to manoeuvre at the best of times, but in 30 knots of wind, the inevitable happened and we spun out on the gybe."

The team ploughed on with skipper Torben Grael steering from the leeward side while the broken wheel was removed and the emergency tiller put in place. The boat was also taking on a fair amount of water and it was discovered that there is a large area of delamination between the hull and the deck on the aft starboard quarter of the boat.

Yikes.