Cold, hard cash

Monday, 18 May 2009, 16:30 GMT

By Cameron Kelleher

With a haul of loot to be had, the front runners are as thick as thieves as they charge towards the scoring gate on Leg 7. The booty is set southwards from St Johns, Newfoundland about 140 miles away.

The gap between the leading five boats has stood at single figures for 48 hours. Were it not for the dense fog in that part of the world, they would be eyeballing each other. Instead, with visibility at a minimum, they are huddled behind radar screens down below and braced against the chill.

Once through the gate, tomorrow morning, the fleet will have to swing south to avoid the ice exclusion zone on the western side of Newfoundland. In the 2005-06 event, the no-go area was a mark set on Terra Nova as there was no ice in the course area, but this time round the hazards extend approximately 250nm south.

Air and sea temperatures are in brass monkey territory. The combat is close, so close you could throw an electric blanket over the front five. That would certainly be welcomed by Ericsson 3’s watch captain Richard Mason.

It has been cold, wet and wild as this clip on .tv amply illustrates. “Normally on a leg like this, you would hold out, try to keep some layers in your bag,” Mason says. “But I think I might have to go full metal jacket on this one. No point being cold. Next stop is the Labrador Current, this is going to be two degrees. It will be freezing in here, like a fridge ... a good place to keep beer.”

On Ericsson 4,bowman Ryan Godfrey, summed up the battle at the head of the fleet - between the rivals, and against the elements. “The first five Volvo 70s are all within a few miles of each other and with virtually no difference in boat speed between each team, the race to the gate is sure to be a tight fight.

"The dense fog is also stopping any visibility of the opposition, making any effort to cover the yachts astern near impossible. Hopefully the good ship Ericsson 4 will come good for us at the right time and we will collect some of the ever-increasingly important race points. I expect little sleep tonight as we push hard towards the line.”

Even the veterans like Telefonica Blue’s Bouwe Bekking haven’t the foggiest idea how the dash for cash will play out at the gate. “Still sailing in thick fog and having a very close race, where everybody can win at the scoring gate – it will be another cliff-hanger. You win and you will be happy, you lose and still you might think you sailed ok, but losing is losing,” he said.

"We set our hopes and minds on the maximum score and we are fighting for every metre. Still can't see any of the other boats, our noses are stuck in front of the radar screen.

"Last night we were only a few metres from what we thought was Ericsson 4. You could barely see their lights but could hear the sheets getting eased, great carbon drums are these boats. I think we both thought this was a bit too close as we separated quickly again.”

PUMA, the Ericsson twins and the Spanish armada (Telefonica Blue and Black) have been toe-to-toe since they broke free of the lobster fields on the last exit to Boston and entered the northern Atlantic.

PUMA skipper Ken Read, saw the funny side of the seriously close racing. “I know I have said this before, but the competition out here is ridiculous,” he mused. “The speed differences are so close in certain conditions you would swear that this is one design racing. I don't know what numbers you folks get, but we just got a sched (Position Report) and when we calculate it to the corner where the ice gate meets the scoring gate it goes like this:

First: Il mostro

Second: Ericson 3 – a whopping 3 tenths of a mile back.

Third: Ericsson 4 – we are killing them as they are almost 5 tenths of a mile astern!

Fourth: Telefonica Blue – 1.2 miles back. Don't know why they even continue they are so far off the pace.

Fifth: Telefonica Black – only 3.5 miles back as well.

"Not only is the distance between the boats ridiculously close, it is impossible to cover anyone. The fog is so thick that you can barely see the bow of the boat never mind the competition.”

By the 16:00 GMT Position Report, PUMA held a "whopping" one-mile lead over the Ericssons, with Telefonica Blue (+2) and Telefonica Black (+6) holding tight. Delta Lloyd seemed an eternity away at +21 while Green Dragon, struggling with damaged daggerboards, was +30.

PUMA’s Media Crew Member Rick Deppe described the weather conditions thus ... "It's freezing. I mean really freezing – it's bone-chillingly cold even down below where I'm hiding right now. Add to the cold a thick, dense fog that has descended all around us. This fog of course makes life extremely damp and did I mention yet that it's very, very cold?”. Yes, Rick, we get the picture.

There was drama on Ericsson 3... well a drama queen to be precise, according to a dispatch from Gustav Moran. “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 colour 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.”

Olsson may yet have the last laugh before the curtain falls on this costume drama.

Read Cameron Kelleher’s blog at Funny Peculiar English.

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