Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race
They saw the black thunder cloud coming, but were unsure if it would bring wind, rain or both. It was both, with a violent shift in wind direction and a doubling in speed ...
Thursday, 28 May 2009, 22:00 GMT
In the gathering darkness the quartet paired off: Telefonica Blue found themselves match racing Ericsson 3, while PUMA and Ericsson 4 took a line a little more offshore. It was important not to focus entirely on the opposition, there were shoals to navigate, and unlit fishing boats to dodge.
They saw the black thunder cloud coming, but were unsure if it would bring wind, rain or both. It was both, with a violent shift in wind direction and a doubling in wind speed to 20 knots. Wildly accelerating, but in the wrong direction, Swain called for a quick gybe to get them back on course, firing up the generator to power the keel hydraulics.
As he turned the wheel into the manoeuvre he hit the keel button, completing a 24 volt circuit through the eight metres of cable that ran below to the generator. Instantly, 300 amps of current pulsed into the pump.
Twenty five litres of hydraulic oil started flowing through the 38 millimetre hose, to press onto the piston of a stainless steel ram. Pascal’s principle of equal pressure in a confined fluid kicked in, and the hydraulic ram translated the moving oil into a force of 72 tonnes at the top of the canting keel.
Around the massive, 130 millimetre thick keel-pin, stainless-steel bearings smoothly began to roll. And below the surface of the Malacca Strait, on the end of 3.5 metres of high tensile, forged steel keel-fin, 5.6 tonnes of lead bulb began its ponderous, silent swing through the water.
On deck, all was sound and fury, as the short-handed crew wrestled the sails under control on the new gybe – but that was only the start. Everything had been moved forward to get the yacht to take up her most efficient shape for the light air, lifting the wide, flat stern out of the water.
Now they were pressed by 20 knots of wind and all the gear had to come into the back of the boat, and be stacked on the windward side to lift the bow and keep the boat flat. Stacking nets were set up on the port side to hold everything to windward, and then, in 25 degree centigrade heat and close to 100 percent humidity, the load hauling started.
First came the 15 plastic toggle bags, colour-coded and filled with the gear they needed for the 10 days at sea: spare ropes and hardware, boat building kit, furling mechanism for the headsails, lifejackets, survival suits and sewing machine. Next there were the food bags, one for every two days, each weighing 22 kilograms.
Then the personal bags, 12 in total. Down the boat they went, hand-to-hand, past the mast and keel structure, on through the galley and past the companionway, the navigation station and media desk, finally wrenched through the aft waterproof bulkhead doorway and into the stern.
Meanwhile, up above, back on course with the sails trimmed, the sail stack had to be moved. Almost every sail was stored on deck, its position regularly adjusted so that its weight was in the most efficient place for the conditions. Now, the 1.2 tonne stack also had to come aft and to windward.
Swain made quick fire decisions in an attempt to get the sails they were most likely to need next on the top. Ratchet straps were loosened and the sails hauled aft, everything sodden with the rain and about 20 percent heavier as a result, tired men struggling to be careful of the gear and each other, before the whole lot could finally be strapped down again.
By sunrise, they had clawed a lead of some fifty metres out of Ericsson 3, with PUMA and Ericsson 4 a mile further back. But, rounding a tiny headland into an idyllic bay they came to another grinding halt, as the wind died and a foul tide built. PUMA and Ericsson 4 sailed right up to them and put their anchors down. They waited. Telefonica Blue and Ericsson 3 got a little puff and slid offshore, only to see the others pull up their anchors and start to gain. Bekking took them back towards the beach, and battle resumed.
Telefonica Blue would repeat the gybe 12 times down a narrow channel of wind – closer to the land than Ericsson 3, further offshore than Ericsson 4 and PUMA.
But the effort paid, they eked out a 100-metre lead, and crept into a new, northerly breeze. Their lead doubled, and doubled again. The five knot wind became a 20 knot squall, then a five knot zephyr. Fishing boats criss-crossed their path. They dodged logs and whole trees in the water, tugs towing barges, and more shipping than anyone had ever imagined. But all the time, Singapore was getting closer. And closer.
Telefonica Blue finally crossed the line to take first place, in darkness, late on the 22nd December. PUMA followed just 17 minutes behind them, with Ericsson 3 less than two minutes away, taking the final place on the podium and getting the better of her sistership by a mere 40 seconds.
Spanish Castle to White Night will be published in September by Dakini Books.
At 04:52 29 May 2009, kikogolf Brasil wrote
The massive weight to move in different and expensive sails, could be solve with less sails. and less money. And less is more competitive, in a way to level Ferraris to Brawns. What a rare beauty Brasil 1 (the One) and now The Greens arriving at home and blessing with the podium!!!Tired men, danger boat, also...kikogolf from Torben's Land - Brazil
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Anton Paz/Telefonica Black/Volvo Ocean Race
Volvo Ocean Race website columnist and author, Mark Chisnell