2nd import race

[Guest]

I was awake so I ended up watching the import race and made a few notes(or you could watch the replay at the bottom)

 

great wind for a start and this is what we all wanted to see as the boats were sailing in at least 15kts of wind. What were abudhabi doing at the start? They looked late on the line? And were the only ones that went for the pin. Great start by telefonica and Puma to Windward of the fleet and boy, did they power away because of it. Groupama and Camper were slow to host the genny and were stuck in the middle with Sanya who were trailing everyone. Abu Dhabi were doing a nice job to leeward of the fleet on the first run, but it was all telefonica at the start as no one could catch them. When the boats first gibed Telefonica gained even more heading into the first mark with Puma and Camper trailing. The drops on telefonica and Puma were not as good and Camper who gained, but it was Puma who did enough to round first followed by telefonica, camper abu dhabi, groupama and sanya bringing up the rear.

 

Groupama were the only ones to head onto starboard around the mark for the first beat, leaving everyone else to fight it out amongst themselves as the pressure was better out right early on (it did swing left though). Sanyo were the 2nd boat to go onto starboard tack with Abu Dhabi going 3rd. Abu Dhabi slammed groupama when they tacked over them on port and left them with nothing but the dirty wind. Puma held their lead to the lay line and tacked while camper had to dip telefonica after they tacked on lay line. At mark two the left hand boats hand caught up and Abu Dhabi had to dip the 3rd placed camper, while groupama did nicely in Abu Dhabi’s dirty wind while there was no luck for sanya who fell further behind.

 

It was follow the leader on the reach, but the boats were looking very sexy in this breeze. I wonder what it would have been like on 70ft tris? What was Abu Dhabi like on the reach with their slightly blunter bow? I don’t think they had an advantage on the reaches. On the second reach camper got pumped by Puma and telefonica who extended their lead. It looked like camper were not on the plane as much and Abu Dhabi were steaming at them approaching the mark, but still not in striking range.

 

On the last run Telefonica went for a genaker on the right, while Puma went left left with a reaching sail and were mowed down by telefonica who took the lead and extended it to over 200 meters in no time. Camper was also gaining nicely on the right as they to went for the genny and a softer sail than Puma. The wind was a lot softer on this run compared to the last one and Puma made a bad decision and droped 2 places because of it. Telefonicas drop wasnt the best again and they were close to trawling their genny, but it didn’t matter as they extended their lead over the next 3 marks to win a very comfortable race. Telefonica rounded first, followed by camper who had a better drop with Puma trailing by a huge distance in third.

The top 3 boats went right again on the beat, while groupama and Abu Dhabi went left and it stayed pretty much the same at the top.

 

At the next mark it was same old and there was nothing of note to report and the last reach to the last mark was follow the leader and nothing much changed. except for puma catching camper a bit. camper rounded 2nd and put up the code zero while everyone else played it safe except for groupama.

 

telefonica smashed the fleet, while it was close between camper and puma, but nothing changed for camper and Puma as they took 2nd and third and the others finished as they rounded mark 1. This result was very typical of a fleet race, but there were some notes that need to be taken.

 

1) Telefonica is lightning at all points of the wind. They have created a boat the flies and no one could catch her except for when they dropped their genny first (crew work). They were very fast at the start, but that was also because they had a bit more pressure compered to the rest of the fleet and especially Abu Dhabi.

 

2) Camper is very slow on the reaches. On all of the reaching legs camper lost ground and it was not just a little bit either. They got smashed on every single one and it looked like they were loosing 100+ meters on the reaches at times.

 

3) If there is 20 kts of wind for when these boats race in Auckland, it will be a must see event as these boats fly in this weather.

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanr ... bsDzrXnCAA

[Guest]

Team Telefónica surged to victory in Saturday’s Cape Town V&A Waterfront In-Port Race to strengthen their overall lead after PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG had briefly hinted a fairytale comeback to the Volvo Ocean Race.

 

Telefónica, first into Cape Town at the end of Leg 1, led from the start in warm sunshine and breezes averaging 14 knots in Table Bay, only for PUMA’s Mar Mostro to sneak past them at the first mark.

 

Ken Read’s team, who only arrived in Cape Town midweek after becoming the third team forced to retire from Leg 1, then looked to be in a strong position but a sail handling mistake allowed Telefónica and CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand to streak past them on the way to mark 5, after which there was no way back.

 

Telefónica, last in the first in-port race in Alicante, finished the Cape Town V&A Waterfront In-Port Race in 52 minutes 55 seconds, with CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand in second 43 seconds back and PUMA third a further nine seconds behind them.

 

“We are very happy,” said skipper Iker Martínez. “It was important for us to do well here in Cape Town after struggling in Alicante.”

 

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing were fourth, Groupama sailing team fifth and Team Sanya sixth.

 

The result sees Telefónica consolidate first place overall with 37 points, followed by CAMPER with 34 and Groupama 24. PUMA and Abu Dhabi are tied on nine points, with Sanya on four.

 

"Second is good but unfortunately it puts us further behind the leaders on points,” said CAMPER skipper Chris Nicholson.

 

“The start cost us but after the start we had a nice march on. Hats off to the guys on board. The crew work was very nice. There were some high pressure manoeuvres that came through nicely."

 

For PUMA and the other two teams forced to retire from Leg 1 – Abu Dhabi with a broken mast and Sanya with a massive hole in their hull – it was a real achievement just to make it to the start line.

 

That PUMA hinted at one of the great comebacks in the race’s history was scarcely credible.

 

PUMA, who lost their rig in the south Atlantic in Leg 1 and had to seek refuge at the impossibly remote Tristan da Cunha, only got the boat back to the shore base in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

 

After hours of round-the-clock graft, they had the replacement mast back in and on Saturday it looked like they had never been away.

 

Telefónica led from the beginning, blasting through the start line with their spinnaker flying to take an early gain.

 

PUMA and Telefónica, both latest generation designs from Juan Kouyoumdjian, had raced neck and neck at the front of the fleet for days on end in Leg 1 and Read’s team stuck close once again.

 

By mark one PUMA had reeled them in, rounding 14 seconds ahead of their Spanish rivals. After splitting from the leaders after mark 1, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Groupama took advantage of a shift of wind direction and pulled back vital ground, all six teams rounding mark 2 within two minutes of each other.

 

It was a lead PUMA were to enjoy until a crucial moment after the fourth mark.

 

Telefónica made their move by gybing away from PUMA and were followed by CAMPER.

 

Sail choice – PUMA having to go for reaching sails while Telefónica and CAMPER went for downwind sails – proved critical and by the time the split boats came back together Martínez’s men were in front, PUMA having to settle for third place rounding mark 5.

 

Read explained that they had been forced to gamble on their sails.

 

“We blew our kite at the leeward mark when we were leading and we had to take a chance and it didn’t work,” the American skipper said. “Iker gave us a bit of an opening and I put too much pressure in the kite so I will put my hand up to that mistake.

 

“It was good to be racing again. The boat did its part today and I think we let the boat down. We live to fight another day. We are on the podium and looking forward to tomorrow.”

 

Once out in front Telefónica didn’t look back, crossing the line 400 metres ahead of CAMPER, who took second place ahead of PUMA.

 

The teams are straight back in action on Sunday with Leg 2 to Abu Dhabi, starting at 1300 UTC/GMT.

 

The route has been redrawn for the second leg because of the threat of piracy in the Indian Ocean, with the teams due to make for an undisclosed safe haven port and then be transported by heavy lift ship to a position off the Sharjah coastline in the northern Emirates. From there they will sprint in to Abu Dhabi for the finish.

 

For further quotes, check www.volvooceanrace.com

 

In-Port Race Results:

 

1. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 52:55

 

2. CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson) +0:43

 

3. PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG (Ken Read) +0:52

 

4. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker) +1:19

 

5. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas) +1:49

 

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson) +4:10

[Guest]

From Groupama

 

 

 

 

Cape Town (South Africa)

Assure and preserve

 

 

 

There was fifteen to twenty knots of breeze for this second ‘In-Port' race of the Volvo Ocean Race and from the start the Spanish were in the driving seat, tailed by the Americans and the New Zealanders. Franck Cammas and his men came fifth, with the satisfaction that they're making progress in this specific format of very short, intense racing.

 

 

 

“It's all in the start… The race was very close, but obviously we're not happy with our fifth place. We performed some fine manœuvres and took a few tactical options. However, the standing is a reflection of our start. We opted to remain downwind of the fleet and that wasn't a good option!” indicated Franck Cammas at the end of this second coastal race off the South African port.

 

Basically, the Spanish on Telefonica had perfect timing and managed to hoist their spinnaker on the start line to leeward of the fleet, followed by the Americans on Puma and the New Zealanders on Camper. Franck Cammas and his crew positioned themselves in the middle of the line and struggled to hoist their big downwind sail: the outcome of the match was virtually decided at that point as the course, which comprised seven marks, favoured tacks with eased sheets, which is a point of sail where it is nigh on impossible to overtake a rival and hence always favoured the leaders…

 

Good manœuvres

The only two upsets of this hour-long race related to the top three spots as the chasing trio didn't really have a lot of opportunities for tactical initiatives given the short tacks between the marks. Puma managed to lead round the first mark thanks to a good gybe, tailed by the Spanish and the New Zealanders: the three leaders were able to choose the right side of the race zone offshore until they reached the layline, which is the edge of the playing field when you're putting in a tack. The hierarchy remained the same until the crews were able to hoist their downwind sail and the American Ken Read made a bad call to remain on the right-hand side of the race zone under gennaker… while Telefonica and Camper gybed immediately at the mark to hoist their spinnaker: the punishment was irrevocable since the Spanish snatched back control and held onto it all the way to the finish.

 

With the hierarchy established, each crew sought above all to protect their position by controlling their direct pursuer. As such, on the beats, Abu Dhabi systematically tacked on top of Groupama 4, Camper on top of Puma, Telefonica on top of Camper… With the wind being relatively stable in terms of direction, there weren't any tacks which were more favourable than the others and with half of the course run with eased sheets or wind on the beam, the separation remained virtually the same from the first mark to the finish.

 

The assessment for Franck Cammas and his men therefore is essentially the result of the initial start phase, as Groupama 4's crew performed well on the manœuvres and was efficient in the sail choices. And even though the mixed results have caused the French boat to lose a few points, she has retained a good lead over her three pursuers, without letting the two leaders steal a march. It's during the second leg between Cape Town and Abu Dhabi, whose start will be given tomorrow, Sunday, at 1300 hours UTC, that a true assessment will be able to be drawn as regards the reliability of the boats, the accuracy of the navigators and the performance of the crews.