It is unlikely the fleet will make the big turn south for another 1,000 nm, but for now they are enjoying some sunny sailing and reaching in smooth seas. Sunglasses have made their first appearance and waterproof jackets have been consigned below decks, at least for the time being.
On leader CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Chris Nicholson is facing challenges from both north and south after overall race leader Team Telefónica’s fortunes improved when they dipped south and moved in second place at 1300 UTC today.
Meanwhile, Franck Cammas’ Groupama sailing team is in third place 62 nautical miles (nm) to the north of CAMPER, a position which Chris Nicholson says he is confident his crew can defend against.
“We’re probably in the lightest breeze we will be in right now, for the next couple of days, but once we get into the trades, that will minimise the damage they (Groupama) can do,” he said.
“I think we’re going bleed a few miles, but hopefully we’ve got enough in the bank to still wriggle out further to the east,” he said. “We knew we’d have to pay up some time.
Mike Sanderson's Team Sanya are still in the mix and have Ian Walker's Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in their rear view mirror after two incidents overnight cost the Emirati team precious miles.
First they had to make a quick swerve round a long line of drift nets and deal with the unwelcome advances of an angry and aggressive fishing boat crew.
Shortly afterwards a large plank hit one of their rudders hard. Luckily the boat was only doing 11 knots and seems to have come off unscathed.
Accoring to Ken Read the verdict on PUMA’s northern diversion could remain hanging for as long as a week as the team slowly cash in lateral distance for hot angles and speed.
The three time Volvo Ocean Race competitor said he wouldn’t call his team’s solo route a gamble. Rather, it was the hand they were forced to play by a northerly shift that slapped them near Taiwan.
“It looks horrible, but to be honest I wouldn’t call it a gamble, I’d say that historically it’s the more correct way of doing it,’’ he said.
Going it alone in what the American skipper describes as “flukey” conditions has not been easy. Especially with the fateful decision to split from the fleet during the final stage of Leg 3 fresh in his mind.
“I’d be lying if I said that beat up north wasn’t one of the most miserable day and a half of my life,’’ he said.
“Knowing we’d left the fleet with a reef in our main, number four jib, literally just airborne off of square waves, current with you and 25 knots of breeze against you and horrible seas was tough.
“It was pretty much all we could do on board to keep the mood up there.”
As PUMA tore across the Pacific on Saturday Read said things were looking positive and he was confident that his team would always have the upper hand with “better speeds and better angles”.
“We won’t know the result for about one week,’’ he said. “We’re never going to get close to the fleet. If we get close to the fleet that means we’ve failed, we need to have a north and east advantage gauged on them all the time for this to work.
“We have to have a better angle the entire time going south. Pretty much, we’ll do an arc, a big old boomerang around the outside of the fleet.
“The whole thing is heating up for the best angle heading south. You know, you crack off a couple of degrees on these boats you can go a couple of miles faster, that’s what our routing shows us.
Sat, 25 Feb 2012, 16:04:04 UTC
1 Camper 0.00
2 Telefonica 46.60
3 Abu Dhabi 53.60
4 Groupama 63.00
5 Sanya 65.10
6 Puma 168.30
From : Volvo Ocean Race
Credit : A.Ross/Puma/VOR
On leader CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Chris Nicholson is facing challenges from both north and south after overall race leader Team Telefónica’s fortunes improved when they dipped south and moved in second place at 1300 UTC today.
Meanwhile, Franck Cammas’ Groupama sailing team is in third place 62 nautical miles (nm) to the north of CAMPER, a position which Chris Nicholson says he is confident his crew can defend against.
“We’re probably in the lightest breeze we will be in right now, for the next couple of days, but once we get into the trades, that will minimise the damage they (Groupama) can do,” he said.
“I think we’re going bleed a few miles, but hopefully we’ve got enough in the bank to still wriggle out further to the east,” he said. “We knew we’d have to pay up some time.
Mike Sanderson's Team Sanya are still in the mix and have Ian Walker's Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in their rear view mirror after two incidents overnight cost the Emirati team precious miles.
First they had to make a quick swerve round a long line of drift nets and deal with the unwelcome advances of an angry and aggressive fishing boat crew.
Shortly afterwards a large plank hit one of their rudders hard. Luckily the boat was only doing 11 knots and seems to have come off unscathed.
Accoring to Ken Read the verdict on PUMA’s northern diversion could remain hanging for as long as a week as the team slowly cash in lateral distance for hot angles and speed.
The three time Volvo Ocean Race competitor said he wouldn’t call his team’s solo route a gamble. Rather, it was the hand they were forced to play by a northerly shift that slapped them near Taiwan.
“It looks horrible, but to be honest I wouldn’t call it a gamble, I’d say that historically it’s the more correct way of doing it,’’ he said.
Going it alone in what the American skipper describes as “flukey” conditions has not been easy. Especially with the fateful decision to split from the fleet during the final stage of Leg 3 fresh in his mind.
“I’d be lying if I said that beat up north wasn’t one of the most miserable day and a half of my life,’’ he said.
“Knowing we’d left the fleet with a reef in our main, number four jib, literally just airborne off of square waves, current with you and 25 knots of breeze against you and horrible seas was tough.
“It was pretty much all we could do on board to keep the mood up there.”
As PUMA tore across the Pacific on Saturday Read said things were looking positive and he was confident that his team would always have the upper hand with “better speeds and better angles”.
“We won’t know the result for about one week,’’ he said. “We’re never going to get close to the fleet. If we get close to the fleet that means we’ve failed, we need to have a north and east advantage gauged on them all the time for this to work.
“We have to have a better angle the entire time going south. Pretty much, we’ll do an arc, a big old boomerang around the outside of the fleet.
“The whole thing is heating up for the best angle heading south. You know, you crack off a couple of degrees on these boats you can go a couple of miles faster, that’s what our routing shows us.
Sat, 25 Feb 2012, 16:04:04 UTC
1 Camper 0.00
2 Telefonica 46.60
3 Abu Dhabi 53.60
4 Groupama 63.00
5 Sanya 65.10
6 Puma 168.30
From : Volvo Ocean Race
