After two weeks and over 2500 nautical miles (nm) of sailing on the second stage of Leg 3 from the Maldives to Sanya in China, today the top five boats are separated by just four hours as they take on a gruelling 500 nm beat to the finish.
Overall race leaders Team Telefónica were the first to reach the coast of Vietnam overnight and this morning began an arduous zigzag along the shore, tacking on average once an hour to avoid the worst of a strong south westerly flowing current.
Nine nautical miles behind Telefónica, second placed Groupama sailing team continued to put pressure on the leader, while keeping a wary eye on third placed CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, who have been making steady gains.
A gutsy attempt to sail around the fleet by PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG came to nothing this morning, after they encountered an unexpected light wind zone and an anticipated right hand wind shift failed to materialise.
This turn of events now leaves PUMA in a battle with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing for fourth place.
Sixth placed Team Sanya continue to make steady progress toward their home port but with over 600 nm to sail they trailed the fleet by some 22 hours.
Overnight all the teams were pummelled by 25-knot head winds and steep waves as they dodged floating debris in the South China Sea on the approach to the Vietnam coast.
On Abu Dhabi, skipper Ian Walker confessed he would be glad when the upwind sailing was over and told of a collision with an unidentified floating object in the night.
“OK I admit it - I have had enough of sailing upwind!” he said. “Sadly we still have another 250 upwind miles or so to go before we can ease sheets and head directly for Sanya.
“Something hit our daggerboard and rudder hard in the night and I was pretty glad when Junior (helmsman Andrew Lewis) reported that both were still intact.
“Given the amount of tree trunks, crates and other debris we see in the day I consider we got off lightly,” he added.
PUMA skipper Ken Read said the wind had been less fearsome than expected but the sea state was proving energy sapping for the already weary crew and stronger breeze was expected for the night time.
“It hasn’t been brutal from a breeze standpoint but the waves have been awful,” he said. “Short, steep, lousy waves. In these boats it’s never the wind that gets you, it’s the waves. That wears you out a little bit.
“We were expecting a little more breeze than we’ve had so far but we’re expecting more to come.”
Telefónica Navigator Andrew Cape said the race and leg leaders were feeling the effects of almost two weeks of non-stop racing but were otherwise positive about their situation.
“We have got plenty of food but not a lot of rest,” he said. “It’s been quite tough with a lot of tacking and it's not over yet. It’s been hard but everyone sees the light at the end of the tunnel and you know there’s plenty of time to recover then.”
CAMPER skipper Chris Nicholson said he expected a busy time ahead when they leave the coast and headed out into higher winds and the strongest current.
“There´s going to be a fair bit going on tonight,” he said. “When we exit the coast we will be exiting the most south east part of Vietnam and it will be like rounding a cape – windy and potential for confused seas. We’ll have our wits about us for that bit.”
Groupama helmsman Erwan Israel said the constant tacking was taking it out of the French crew who were looking forward to some straight line sailing when they head offshore.
“We are tacking along the coast waiting for a left (wind) shift,” he said. “It’s exhausting. We’ve got less current close to the coast, which is why we sailed west of CAMPER. We are hoping to go offshore in a couple of hours.”
At the 1300 UTC position report Telefónica had 438 nm to go to the finish and held a 9.1 nautical mile lead over Groupama. Third placed CAMPER were just under three nautical miles behind with Abu Dhabi 22 nm back in fourth.
Team Sanya remained in sixth, 229 nm off the lead. Latest estimations suggest the leading boats will reach the finish in Sanya on February 4.
Thu, 02 Feb 2012, 16:00:51 UTC
1 Telefonica 0.00
2 Groupama 10.80
3 Camper 18.00
4 Puma 27.10
5 Abu Dhabi 28.90
6 Sanya 212.40
From : VOR
Credit : N.Dana/Abu Dhabi/VOR
Overall race leaders Team Telefónica were the first to reach the coast of Vietnam overnight and this morning began an arduous zigzag along the shore, tacking on average once an hour to avoid the worst of a strong south westerly flowing current.
Nine nautical miles behind Telefónica, second placed Groupama sailing team continued to put pressure on the leader, while keeping a wary eye on third placed CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, who have been making steady gains.
A gutsy attempt to sail around the fleet by PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG came to nothing this morning, after they encountered an unexpected light wind zone and an anticipated right hand wind shift failed to materialise.
This turn of events now leaves PUMA in a battle with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing for fourth place.
Sixth placed Team Sanya continue to make steady progress toward their home port but with over 600 nm to sail they trailed the fleet by some 22 hours.
Overnight all the teams were pummelled by 25-knot head winds and steep waves as they dodged floating debris in the South China Sea on the approach to the Vietnam coast.
On Abu Dhabi, skipper Ian Walker confessed he would be glad when the upwind sailing was over and told of a collision with an unidentified floating object in the night.
“OK I admit it - I have had enough of sailing upwind!” he said. “Sadly we still have another 250 upwind miles or so to go before we can ease sheets and head directly for Sanya.
“Something hit our daggerboard and rudder hard in the night and I was pretty glad when Junior (helmsman Andrew Lewis) reported that both were still intact.
“Given the amount of tree trunks, crates and other debris we see in the day I consider we got off lightly,” he added.
PUMA skipper Ken Read said the wind had been less fearsome than expected but the sea state was proving energy sapping for the already weary crew and stronger breeze was expected for the night time.
“It hasn’t been brutal from a breeze standpoint but the waves have been awful,” he said. “Short, steep, lousy waves. In these boats it’s never the wind that gets you, it’s the waves. That wears you out a little bit.
“We were expecting a little more breeze than we’ve had so far but we’re expecting more to come.”
Telefónica Navigator Andrew Cape said the race and leg leaders were feeling the effects of almost two weeks of non-stop racing but were otherwise positive about their situation.
“We have got plenty of food but not a lot of rest,” he said. “It’s been quite tough with a lot of tacking and it's not over yet. It’s been hard but everyone sees the light at the end of the tunnel and you know there’s plenty of time to recover then.”
CAMPER skipper Chris Nicholson said he expected a busy time ahead when they leave the coast and headed out into higher winds and the strongest current.
“There´s going to be a fair bit going on tonight,” he said. “When we exit the coast we will be exiting the most south east part of Vietnam and it will be like rounding a cape – windy and potential for confused seas. We’ll have our wits about us for that bit.”
Groupama helmsman Erwan Israel said the constant tacking was taking it out of the French crew who were looking forward to some straight line sailing when they head offshore.
“We are tacking along the coast waiting for a left (wind) shift,” he said. “It’s exhausting. We’ve got less current close to the coast, which is why we sailed west of CAMPER. We are hoping to go offshore in a couple of hours.”
At the 1300 UTC position report Telefónica had 438 nm to go to the finish and held a 9.1 nautical mile lead over Groupama. Third placed CAMPER were just under three nautical miles behind with Abu Dhabi 22 nm back in fourth.
Team Sanya remained in sixth, 229 nm off the lead. Latest estimations suggest the leading boats will reach the finish in Sanya on February 4.
Thu, 02 Feb 2012, 16:00:51 UTC
1 Telefonica 0.00
2 Groupama 10.80
3 Camper 18.00
4 Puma 27.10
5 Abu Dhabi 28.90
6 Sanya 212.40
From : VOR
