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Ian Walker/GBR and the Green Dragon team is breathing fire on the rest of the fleet from their western corner of the Volvo fleet as the eight boats pick their way through the black clouds and squalls of the Doldrums. The next 24 hours will be critical and it will be partly about luck and partly about who gets the new breeze first and can edge out into the south-easterly trade winds.
Although Green Dragon snatched the lead from the claws of PUMA (Ken Read/USA) at 1600 GMT yesterday, her lead is decreasing as Telefonica Black (Fernando Echávarri) creeps closer, gaining nine miles on the Dragon in the past three hours. The fleet is now spread out over 254 nautical miles west to east.
Delta Lloyd (Ger O’ Rourke/IRL) is the most easterly yacht of the fleet, PUMA, in third place is 31 miles off Green Dragon’s port flank, and Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander/SWE) in fourth has found a new friend in Telefónica Blue and the two boats are now happily latched together, both 28 nm to the west of Kosatka, Team’s Russia’s blue boat, currently in seventh place.
The last 24 hours has been good for Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED). “The boat has been going really nicely, we’ve found good wind and we’ve really improved on things,” said navigator Simon Fisher in a radio interview today. “Everyone is working very hard and hoping we will get the speed to get out of here,” he said. “We have really, really been focusing on our strategy but it is good to get on deck and you can see quite a lot as well. It is as much about using your eyes as using your computers.”
Conditions are horrible for the crews. Lots of big clouds and plenty of rain has meant that although the crews have been able to enjoy a fresh-water shower, the novelty soon wore off after the first five minutes when everyone got cold. “The squalls come out of the blue, and everything has to be prepared in advance” says Mikel Pasabant, MCM onboard second placed Telefónica Black.
Today, a massive signal appeared on the radar and onboard the black Spanish boat, the crew got ready to experience the worst: “Trimmers preparing peelings (preparing to change sails), helmsman pointing the boat to where the on-duty watch said, harnesses on, the MCM preparing his arms as if in a pre-war notice… still camera, handheld camcorder and the infra-red stern cam,” described Mikel.
Everything was in position to get the most from the situation, but as the boat approached the cloud, King Neptune intervened. “The cloud started to split in two as if letting us go by without disturbing us and we crossed exactly through a gate that opened for us as if on purpose, with massive storm clouds each side,” Mikel explains. “Thanks Neptune, it seems you are with the Blackies!”
Away out to the east, Delta Lloyd has had a problem with the rig, when, during a sail change from the A4 downwind sail to the masthead code zero, the leeward jumper (part of the mast) came falling out of the rig, bounced down the deck and landed in the back of the boat narrowly missing the crew. It has taken 12 hours to repair it. “Martin Watts has come up with an ingenious solution to re-attach the jumper back to the mast,” explained Matthew Gregory in a radio interview today. It took Martin and Johnny (Gerd Van Poortman) an hour and half up the rig to complete the job. “It was a pretty big project,” said Gregory.
The next stage of the course will be the rounding of the Brazilian Island, Fernando de Noronha, approximately 673 nautical miles away to the south-west where another round of scores can be added. The fleet is expected to be in the region in about two day’s time.
During the past three hours, only Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) has lost out to Green Dragon, while the bulk of the fleet has made small gains. Although PUMA has slipped back through the fleet to third place, she has averaged the highest boat speed over the last three hours, while Telefónica Black has the best 24-hour run of 223 nautical miles.
20-10-08 • ca 16:00 CET
Leg One Day 10: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to leader)
Alicante Grand Prix – 6-10 Oct 2008
The eXtreme 40s brought their unique style of sailing to the Volvo Ocean Race, as the first event of the eXtreme 40 Series • Alicante Grand Prix got underway in the main basin, right next to the Volvo 70s preparing for the start of the round the world epic.
Six eXtreme 40s took to the water in glorious sunshine and a north-easterly breeze which built during the afternoon for plenty of hull-flying eXtreme 40 action! The racecourse was set right in the middle of the main Alicante harbour, surrounded on three sides by the Volvo Ocean Race village, with the turning marks just metres from the shore. Spectators could even get a chance to get onboard during racing as on of the 'fifth men', with spare spaces for this once-in-a-lifetime experience given to those who donated to the 'Save the Whale' campaign at the Volvo Ocean Race entry Team Russia's base - pop by the Team Russia/Green Dragon base in Alicante to find out more!
In conditions which just had the 40ft catamarans flying a hull, it was Randy Smyth and crew on Delta Lloyd/Tommy Hilfiger who took the first winners' gun - to great celebrations on board. The rest of the fleet were determined not to let them have it easy in the second race though, with no fewer than four boats over the startline early. All but one - Volvo Ocean Race - returned to start correctly, but had a big gap to make up on the leaders - Twins and Holmatro. Twins came out on top to take the second win.
After a change to a triangular course for Race 3, new team OrangeB took their first win. The breeze had built to a steady 12 knots, with the extreme 40s screaming down to the spectator dock on one hull, spinnakers ragging as the crews struggled to get them under control for the bottom mark rounding. The Orange team's luck ran out in the next when they were over the line early and had to go back and start again, converting them to last, while Holmatro took the win.
Another new team for this year, Alicante 2008-09, went on to win the next - making 5 different winners out of 5 races, whilst Delta Lloyd/Tommy Hilfiger's run of top-three places had moved them into top slot overall.
There were boats of all sizes on the racecourse for race six, as some of the Volvo 70 teams sailed back to base from training, while two tiny 'flying' International Moths mixed it up among the milling extreme 40s. Twins scored their second win of the day, with just a couple of points between the leading teams.
Another change of course for race seven had the extreme 40 Grand Prix fleet zig-zagging right across the bay - Alicante 2008-09 scored the win. Then in the evening sunlight it was the turn of Volvo Ocean Race to score a first place in the final race of the day, while Delta Lloyd dropped to last - giving the overall lead to the Alicante boat at the end of Day 1.
"We are first by one point," said Alicante 2008-09's Johnny Hutchcroft, who is part of a brand new team who had never sailed together before today's eight races. "We had about an hour to practice before the start of the race - and we had corporate guests on then too! But we gelled together and it's really nice and relaxed on the boat, we just seem to be going okay, and we're absolutely stoked with the result!"
The crew are all talented sailors with plenty of Extreme 40 experience between them. Johnny introduced the team: "Starting at the front we've got John Casey, from Florida, America. Then we've got myself trimming the jib, and then we have Pete Greenhalgh, also from England, who was on TeamOrigin for the iShares Cup, and then we have JC Mourniac from France steering the boat.
"I can't believe the facilities here in Alicante," added Johnny "This is perfect racing in a really enclosed space that's great for spectators, so hopefully we'll get a few more good results later on in the rest of the week!"
Racing takes place every afternoon until Friday from 15:00pm, with up to eight races scheduled each day.
7-10-08
Volvo Ocean Race and BCG agreement
The Volvo Ocean Race has appointed The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to assist in creating a strategy for the most challenging round-the-world race to become the world's undisputed sailing event.
"The Volvo Ocean Race has set itself highly ambitious goals for the future. Together with BCG, we will define the strategy and develop the right capabilities and skills to achieve these goals to make our race the world's premier sailing event—in terms of both commercial and sportive measures," said Knut Frostad, CEO of Volvo Ocean Race.
As the world's leading advisor on business strategy, BCG partners with clients in all sectors and regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their businesses. Among their clients are two-thirds of the Fortune-500, and other growing companies and cutting-edge philanthropic organisations.
"We have chosen BCG as our management consulting partner because they are the world’s leading advisor on business strategy and we believe that their customised approach together with BCG´s global presence, experience and team is the right way to take our event forward into a new era,” Frostad added.
BCG and Volvo Ocean Race will work together to chart a course to deliver the event's spirit of adventure and human endeavour to the global public, to further develop the toughest offshore race, and to generate global opportunities for sponsors and business communities.
"We are delighted to announce our partnership with the Volvo Ocean Race. It takes passion, knowledge, pioneering, and dedication by the teams and the individuals to be the best in the offshore racing world; these values are core to BCG and of great inspiration to all of us. This partnership brings together complementary resources and a shared commitment to excellence," said Rune Jacobsen, Partner and Managing Director in BCG's Oslo office.
The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 will be the 10th running of this ocean marathon. Starting from Alicante in Spain, on 4 October 2008 with in-port racing, it will, for the first time, take in Cochin, India, Singapore and Qingdao, China before finishing in St Petersburg, Russia for the first time in the history of the race. Spanning some 37,000 nautical miles, stopping at 11 ports and taking nine months to complete, the Volvo Ocean Race is the world’s premier yacht race for professional racing crews. • 25-9-08
Sailing is still one of the purest and most nature-friendly sports, with fast and fierce competition depending only on the wind as the source of energy. The sailors in the Volvo Ocean Race are known to be concerned and focused on preserving the marine life as well as the pollution of our oceans. To take this environmental concern a step further, it was announced today that the Volvo Ocean Race is to undergo a thorough environmental audit together with DNV (Det Norske Veritas).
DNV Software has created a custom-built Environmental Performance System (EPS) for the Volvo Ocean Race which will involve and include the race organisers, the sponsors of the race as well as the teams and their boats. The main objective is to clearly identify areas for environmental improvement as well as creating a benchmark against which to measure future races.
"I am in no doubt that we need to grow and develop the Volvo Ocean Race in a sustainable way, and take our corporate social responsibility as well as our environmental management seriously. To be able to do so, we need to now establish a benchmark and then work out how to develop the different areas. I am pleased that one of the most recognised and experienced companies in this field will be working with us to conduct a proper environmental audit," says Knut Frostad, CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race.
"The boats and the sailors can become excellent ambassadors for a positive environmental message. I am confident that we can also develop our boats and energy consumption in a way that can benefit even areas and industries outside our race. Wind as an energy source is on its way back, even in shipping - and this we shall be part of," continues Frostad.
“DNV Software is very excited to be a part of Volvo Ocean Race and its environmental effort through provision of our Environmental Performance System (EPS) for all race participants,” says Elling Rishoff, Managing Director of DNV Software. “EPS is piece of web- based environmental software which will calculate emissions from all areas of the race including fossil fuel usage for chase boats, air transport, container transport and the small amount used to power the electrical and electronic equipment onboard each race boat. By comparing results from EPS against the Volvo Ocean Race’s acceptance criteria it will be possible to quickly establish where improvements are required,” he added.
The onboard media crew members (MCM) are also involved in our environmental programme as part of their duties are centred on a water-sampling programme run in conjunction with race partner Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics. At a pre-determined time each day the MCM will take a sea water sample and test it with a ‘Luminometer’. The results are recorded along with air temperature, cloud cover, water temperature and the GPS position of the boat. The information is then sent back to Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s Goteborg laboratory where it will form part of an international study on the discharge of ballast water from ships. • Septiembre 2008
Cantabria infinita
Cueva de El Soplao • Año Santo Lebaniego • Turismo y gastronomía
Propuestas en Brasil
Cabo Frío: paraíso a 200 km de Río • Niterói: playas, arquitectura y agenda cultural • El camino de Niemeyer: recorrido arquitectónico
Propuestas en Argentina
Ruta Nacional 40: Recorrido de la parte Norte • Recorrido del Centro (Cuyo) • Recorrido de la parte Sur (Patagonia)
Propuestas de turismo
en la Comunidad Valenciana
Ibi, Onil, Foia de Castalla • Belén de Tirisiti - Patrimonio cultural en Alcoi • Los Baños del Almirante (Valencia del s.XIV) • Mundo Naval en el museo Príncipe Felipe • Arte rupestre valenciano (Museo de la Valltorta)
Transporte aéreo
Air Nostrum • Ryanair • Spanair • Vueling
