On the down escalator

Thursday 21 May, 2009 16:30 GMT

By Cameron Kelleher

The fleet is making haste while the sun shines and basking in the ride on the down escalator in the Atlantic. Enjoy it while it lasts, there is trouble round the corner in the shape of an approaching cold front.

Speaking of trouble, we have been experiencing technical issues with the software driving our Race Management System which has had a knock-on effect to our Data Centre, leaderboard and Race Viewer stats.

So, we are soldiering on with manual polling for the time being. Bear that in mind when mulling over the latest position reports. We hope normal service will be resumed any time soon.

The tactical decisions of the past 24 hours centred on how far north of the rhumb line to sail. In her latest weather report, Jennifer Lilly suggests that heading north means more wind but also more miles in bigger seas and a heightened risk of damage.

The difference of opinion over that decision has caused a split in the fleet as they brace for the low pressure system mentioned in ZULU LITE this morning.

By 16:30 GMT, Delta Lloyd held the nominal lead over Telefonica Blue (+5 miles Distance To Leader), both occupying the centre lane, and PUMA (+6) to the north. Then came the overnight leaders, Ericsson 4 (+9) and Telefonica Black (+10), also favouring the middle ground. Green Dragon (+41) and Ericsson 3 (+49) were ploughing a furrow in the south.

While the emails off the boats were peppered with reports of brushes with sea creatures, namely turtles, an endangered species of the sailing variety – the spinnaker – has finally broken cover. “Apart from the few hours on the last leg, today is the first time since the start of leg two in Cape Town that we have done some real downwind sailing,” Delta Lloyd’s Sander Pluijm noted.

"There has been a lot of upwind sailing during these past legs, so the boys are happy and smiling. Finally the big kite is dancing in front of the boat and the speedometer is going up.

"The sun is shining, temperature is going up, wind chill is up because the wind is coming in from the back. You've got to love downwind sailing on these boats. They are like surfboards gliding down the waves in a perfect ride.”

Delta Lloyd’s navigator Wouter Verbraak, was also relishing the Gulf Stream conditions – 25-30 knots, flat water, red morning sunshine – even though he was holed up in his office picking his moves and eyeing current trends.

“This is the North Atlantic showing it’s pretty face,” he wrote. “The Gulf Stream deals us different cards all the time ... as we look for the best current. The trick is to find a good patch of current and try to stick with it by following it’s temperature trail. The result: constant monitoring and not much sleep.”

Verbraak cautioned that even though the sailing was a thing of beauty at present, with the onset of a cold front, it wouldn’t be long before it turned ugly.

"The happy smiling face of the Atlantic is about to change, soon we are going to see her other side, the one that sent many a ship to the bottom of the ocean, the one that demands our deep respect. We have seen that face, and it can be pretty ugly.

"’A red morning, a sailor’s warning’”. That warning sign is visible on the western horizon. A thin layer of clouds, steadily approaching and growing thicker. The weather models of modern technology confirm the sailor’s rhyme. They are predicting winds to build to 30 knots tonight and more tomorrow.

"We have already made preparations. Yesterday we spent an hour folding the upwind sails into smaller packs, so that we can stack the boat more aft. We need every kilo of stackable weight as far back as possible.

"So all smiles covering worried faces as we are blasting our way towards Galway. Better enjoy the sailing before it takes a turn for the worse. Keep your helmets ready, it’s going to be wet, we are going in.”

Meanwhile, Dermochelys coriacea (leatherback turtles), are the latest must-have accessory among the fleet.

On Telefonica Black, the warmer weather has brought some joy riding aboard Volvo Open 70s for local marine life. “We had an unexpected little adventure today,” wrote navigator Roger Nilson.

"Suddenly the whole boat started to vibrate and the steering felt very strange. David (Vera) took the endoscope to inspect the keel and daggerboard. He burst out into a roaring laughter. ‘Look, look there is a big turtle stuck on the leading edge of the keel. Ubelievable!’.

"A three foot full-size ocean-going turtle was hanging on the front side of the keel blade and desperately trying to free itself.

"Fernando (Echavarri) at the helm put the boat into a full broach in the modest 15 knots SSW’ly wind. Ericsson 4, only two miles behind us, must have been wondering what we were doing, steering all over the ocean in order to free ourselves from a turtle.”

Finally, the crew managed to drop the kite and backed up enabling the turtle to free itself ... “seemingly unhurt” added Nilson. “What a ride for the poor animal. It looked happy as we waved goodbye.”

Ericsson 4’s Phil Jameson witnessed events on Telefonica Black. “We were absolutely neck and neck, running along with masthead gennakers on. The guys on their boat have just completed a back down right in front of us,” he observed.

“We are all having to avoid turtles. We must have seen seven or eight of them in the last four hours. They are a reasonable size too. I'm sure they are doing everything to get out of our way.”

Jameson’s team-mate Guy Salter has also been keeping a close eye on all creatures great and small. The Ericsson 4 Media Crew Member, has had his problems capturing them on film.

Not entirely his own fault, he says. “There’s been a lot of wildlife in the last few hours,” he said. “I have been trying to film them but as soon as you press the record button and wait for the red light, you have passed them by.

"As I came from below after filming from the spreader cams I was told I had missed a whale –we haven’t seen too many and this one passed between the two yachts just a couple of hundred metres away.

"I asked if anyone had picked up the camera and filmed it – but no one had – even though I had left everything ready. That’s life I guess.

"There used to be an advert in the UK for Kit-Kat that showed a man waiting at a zoo wall to film a panda – as soon as he had his chocolate break the panda came out of hiding and was dancing. As soon as the man looked back the performance was over. That is exactly how I feel some of the time – as soon as you back is turned ...”

During the last few ports of call there has been a series of round-table consultations on the future of the race. The main focus has been on cost containment – and stopover formats.

The sessions have prompted debate among Rick Deppe and others at the sharp end on PUMA. "The boys are in a heated discussion regarding the proposed and actual changes,” he revealed. “As always whenever things change there is a level of reluctance – especially from people on the inside who feel a level of comfort and security within the structure as they know it.

"On the other hand, more boats will mean more jobs, so experienced guys will get the chance to step up. There will be more navigator slots and more skipper positions available to guys who might otherwise not get beyond watch captain in the current climate. The argument seems to be that these changes will dilute or dumb-down the event. I disagree.

"Think about the essential nature of the event it comes down to this ... you're in a fight for points with another boat ... it’s 3am and pitch black, the wind is blowing 30 knots and you have to gybe ... at moments like this and many others in a race of over 37,000 miles, the cream will always rise to the top.”

The cream of the crop come Galway, 1,140 miles away, is still anyone's guess.

Read Cameron Kelleher's blog at Funny Peculiar English

.................................................................................................................................................

If you have questions about life on board, send them via our Comments section and we’ll do our best to provide the answers. On occasions, we will get them straight from the crew members themselves. Or simply have your say by clicking on the Comments link.

The Comments section is fully moderated (so bad language, personal abuse, repetition etc won’t be accepted), and sometimes it might take a while for your words to get cleared or for us to gather the answers to your questions – but we’ll get there eventually ...

In yesterday’s comments section, Don Anderson wondered whether the rudder and daggerboard on a Volvo Open 70 were one and the same. The short answer Don is no. A fuller explanation is provided in our glossary.

As for Don’s query over the state of the whale which was struck by Ericsson 3, navigator Aksel Magdahl reported at the time of the incident that the crew “hope the whale got away only with some bruises. We did what we could to avoid it.” Hope that helps Don.

Related Audio

• Erle Williams says it's nose to tail all the way to Galway.
• Ian Walker: It's down to us now says Green Dragon skipper.

Related Videos

• BABY RUSH