Leg two updates

[Guest Rocket]

Wow leverage has worked looking like they are sliding back into this game - might be quick in the light? or picked a good line...

[Guest]

According to the latest update Camper have made up 23 miles in 3 hours and are humming a long at 20 knots

 

the doldrums effect. groupama have little wind while Camper is still in it before it runs out. it could be a game changer as a boat could get stuck in a windless patch for hours like what has happened. Heres a PR on it

 

RESHUFFLE AS DOLDRUMS PLAY HAVOC

 

Leg 2

 

Late on Thursday, the fleet racing towards Abu Dhabi on Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race began to feel the effects of the Doldrums. The pace slowed to under 10 knots and has not risen since, at least for Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas/FRA), whose lead has been usurped by Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP).

 

After the deliberations of yesterday, the fleet has split and Telefónica and CAMPER (Chris Nicholson/AUS), are maintaining good speed around 15-16 knots. They have been going so well, in fact, that in the last three hours, Ken Read decided to take Mar Mostro the same way, potentially an expensive late decision. The black cat is barely making five knots in a bid to find breeze and has dropped from second place to fourth.

 

Closing the gap to 95 nautical miles, the team on board Azzam (Ian Walker/GBR) in fifth, has had the luxury of watching the four boats in front.

 

After firstly following the path taken by Groupama 4 and Mar Mostro, Walker too has pointed Azzam’s bows towards the direction of Telefónica and CAMPER in search of opportunities. On board the black boat the sailors are focused.

 

“Generally, the Doldrums are seen as a hindrance in yacht racing, a windless band of space stretching across the equator in an unpredictable manner,” explains Nick Dana, MCM with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. "However, when you are behind, they are often seen as your last chance to make up some distance between yourself and the leaders."

 

The five-boat fleet is now fully in the stealth region and their exact whereabouts will remain secret until they reach the restart point for the second stage of Leg 2 from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi.

[Guest]

As well as battling with incessant heat and severe sleep deprivation, the crew of the five boats racing towards their secret destination, led by Leg 1 winner Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP), are paying particular attention to the clouds.

 

Rogue clouds can be seen on radar and can signal lots of wind or, the real dread to sailors, no wind at all. It is a minefield for the crews as they pick their way carefully towards the more stable westerly breeze on the northern side of the Doldrums.

 

“A lucky cloud can definitely help, but get in the wrong spot and they can park you right up,” says Simon Fisher from Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, currently in fifth place, 120 nautical miles behind Telefónica, but making a comeback and averaging a fast 19 knots.

 

“Most ‘yachties’ would take wind over calms any day,” says Will Oxley, CAMPER’s navigator. The red boat is clinging on to second place despite losing 15 nm to Telefónica in the past three hours. “The calms are our enemy,” Oxley says.

 

Not only can a lack of breeze in hot humid weather drive the crews to despair, it can also play cruel tricks on the navigators. “The weather models tend to be tricky in very light winds, so they can tell you porkies,” renowned Australian meteorologist Clouds Badham explained to Volvo Ocean Race magazine Life at the Extreme.

 

Ken Read, skipper of PUMA's Mar Mostro, which entered the Doldrums in second position and is now struggling back in fourth, is certainly feeling the pain.

 

“It’s been a long day and it is the ultimate frustration,” he radioed today. “You work your butt off to get into a really nice position and then it comes crashing down on you. I feel sorry for Groupama.”

 

Groupama 4’s Phil Harmer echoed Read’s sentiments: “We were leading into the Doldrums and we may be third or fourth out. PUMA is struggling and we are disappointed on board Groupama 4.” Groupama 4 lost another 15 nm this evening and is now just a fraction over 62 nm from the leading boat and in third position.

 

It seems that however big the lead is, it is never enough where the Doldrums are concerned, however the race is not over until the finish gun fires and there are still opportunities over the coming days.

[Guest]

TEAM SANYA PLAN OF ACTION UPDATE

 

 

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF TEAM SANYA:

 

TEAM SANYA ISSUE AN UPDATE ON REPAIR PROCESS THEY ARE FOLLOWING TO GET BACK INTO THE RACE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE

 

Team Sanya issued an update today on the process they are following to ensure they can get back into the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race as quickly as possible and ensure they are 100% race ready ahead of the race into their home port of Sanya at the end of Leg Three.

 

Yesterday in Fort Dauphin, Madagascar, the team took their mast out and started the process of repair. They are working closely with Future Fibres, the manufacturer of the rigging system, to agree on the optimal solution. Frano Tregaskis, Rigger for Team Sanya is travelling today from Madagascar to Valencia in Spain with the spreaders and will remain in Valencia with Future Fibres whilst they preparation the new rigging system.

 

Towards the end of December, the new rigging system will be transported by air freight out to the race boat in Madagascar and the team will work on completing the process as some cooking/curing of the new rigging will need to take place on site. Once the rigging is in the place, the mast will be re-stepped and some ‘on-dock’ tuning will follow.

 

In order to ensure satisfaction by all parties on the repair and fitness for purpose of the new rigging system, a number of days of sea trials will take place in early January off the coast of Madagascar before everyone is fully confident of the repair process that has been taken place.

 

The team and boat will then move to the safe haven port to be there by mid January and will wait there until the rest of the fleet are transported from the first safe haven port after their re-start in Abu Dhabi to the second safe haven port as part of Leg Three.

 

Team Sanya is totally focused on taking the time to ensure the repair is 100% to their satisfaction and they can enter the second part of Leg Three with full confidence to enable them to demonstrate the team’s ability to deliver results as they approach their home port of Sanya.

[Guest Rocket]

Looks like Camper are locking in their gain against the fleet on port gybe. Classic tactics well executed - big ups to them!

[Guest]

Boat speed is one thing, but tactics can trump it in shifty conditions and that is what Camper has done as they have taken the lead. is this a early Christmas present for them?

[Guest]

merry christmas from camper and a pr

 

 

While Chris Nicholson took CAMPER past Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP) and into the lead early this Christmas Eve morning, the hopes of Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas/FRA) and PUMA’s Mar Mostro (Ken Read/USA) were dashed again in the minefield that is the Doldrums.

 

“Last night was a night that started with so much promise,” said Read, whose team are now in fourth place and languish over 133 nautical miles (nm) behind the new leaders.

 

“We worked ourselves back into it yesterday afternoon and up until midnight. In the frustrating way this little adventure has gone so far, we get ourselves within six miles of Groupama 4 and then the next thing we know, we’re parked and they’re 35 miles ahead again,” Read said in a radio call to race headquarters in Alicante. He is trying to be positive, telling himself that ‘what goes around, comes around’, but all it takes is one cloud to dash the hopes of 11 men.

 

The position for Groupama 4 is slightly worse. The crew missed a massive cloud that could have propelled them out of the Doldrums, and although they are still in third place, they are over 95 nautical miles behind CAMPER. “Offshore racing is like that,” says MCM Yann Riou. “One day you feel very strong, the next very miserable. You have to take it as it is, or do another job.”

 

Jules Salter, navigator of fifth-placed Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Azzam (Ian Walker/GBR), says, “You can never see what you have missed in the Doldrums until it is too late".

 

New leader CAMPER and second-placed Telefónica, 21 nm behind, are relishing the new westerly breeze and are making good speeds of 12-14 knots with much better angles to the wind, while 161 nm back, Ian Walker and his men are struggling to keep Azzam moving.

 

Although the crew of CAMPER are happy to be in the lead, they are also philosophical. “Good days don’t matter too much unless it is the last part of the last day of a leg. So, just like the bad days, you take it for what it is, forget about it and keep sailing as you as you were – as fast as you possibly can,” says MCM Hamish Hooper.

[Guest]

the latest vid as well as the pr

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHhNqP2g ... b4lgyDXi5q

 

THREE WISE MEN SHEPHERD CAMPER INTO THE LEAD

 

Leg 2

 

Without the aid of a even a Christmas star to follow, three wise men on board Chris Nicholson’s CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand have guided the team swiftly through the Doldrums and into first place today.

 

Nicholson says co-skipper Stu Bannatyne, navigator Will Oxley and co-navigator Andrew McLean came up with a solid Doldrums strategy which was implemented perfectly by the crew.

 

As one by one the teams ahead of them ground to a halt after falling foul of light and fickle breezes, CAMPER cut a swathe through the Doldrums, rarely dropping below 10 knots, before emerging as the new leg leader today.

 

“We’ve wriggled our way through the lead. Stu, Will and Animal [Andrew McLean] had a good plan from the get-go and we’ve been able to deliver on that plan up on deck,” he said. “It’s been really pleasing to see the work that’s been put in and the way we went about making the decisions. It’s quite a good feeling.”

 

At 1300 UTC CAMPER were almost 24 nautical miles in front of overall race leaders, Iker Martínez’s Team Telefónica who previously had headed the fleet for a while after wrestling the lead from Franck Cammas’ Groupama sailing team, who now sit in third.

 

Groupama skipper Franck Cammas said being first to enter the Doldrums had not been easy for the French team and had given the others a clue to the best route to take.

 

“It’s infuriating. The Doldrums are an area of uncertainty, difficult to predict and to have a suitable strategy when you enter. For the moment we are losing a bit. The leg is not over but the Doldrums have not been an easy time for us.”

 

“For two-thirds of the Doldrums we were the most westerly of the fleet,” he said. “We were the first to enter and so we were the first to stop, which allowed the boats behind to bypass the zone without wind where we were and they overtook us.”

 

“The exit is not completely finished so we will know more once everyone is out but for sure that we were in a better situation when we entered than we are today.”

 

Having entered the Doldrums in second place, Ken Read’s PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG have dropped to fourth, while Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing remains in fifth, having for a while at least closed to within 5 nautical miles of PUMA.

 

Read said PUMA’s second Doldrums experience had been frustrating but hoped the tables could yet turn in their favour.

 

“Nobody ever said this sport was easy but man, I don’t think it needs to be this hard,” he said. “Once we get out of this thing, being on the west will be great but the problem is that the other guys are doing a better job of getting out of the Doldrums than we are.

 

“A west advantage doesn’t mean anything unless you can pop your nose out clean. That’s really the spot we’re in.

 

“There’s tonnes more weirdness ahead and there’s plenty of race track left. I’m hoping what goes around comes around.”

 

On second placed Team Telefónica Media Crew Member (MCM) Diego Fructuoso said the punishing heat on board and the pressure of the race meant the crew were putting aside thoughts of Christmas.

 

“We don’t have anything special for today,” he said. “Best not to think about it, as we would get depressed.

 

“We will continue to work as hard as possible, we will eat a little pasta, which is the best meal we have on the boat and as a special treat we will have some 1880 nougat which we were given as a present for today.

 

“If we can, we will try to call home to give a kiss to our families.”

 

Frustrated Abu Dhabi skipper, Ian Walker said the fifth placed team had thought they were free of the Doldrums at one point before being sucked back in.

 

“This morning we have again been swallowed up as the Doldrums have edged North over the top of us,” he said. “We have had about 3 knots of breeze all day and are barely able to creep towards stronger wind and salvation from the searing heat.

 

“It is particularly galling today as we closed to within 5 miles of Puma this morning only to again sit in a cloud with no wind for hours on end as they moved away.

 

“As always we will not give up hope, but our current predicament will be tough to turn around. Still, we have freeze-dried Christmas Dinner to look forward to tomorrow.”

 

On new leaders CAMPER, skipper Chris Nicholson said their lead was not certain and there will be no let up in the intensity of the racing until the boats cross the finish line at the safe haven port.

 

“We’ve just broken into the westerly breeze system so we have to wait until the next schedule when the other boats have too,” he said.

 

“Groupama will have a bit of leverage over us which is a little uncomfortable. It means they could potentially go quicker, so we’ll have to monitor that. We also have to keep an eye on Telefónica.

 

“There’s an awful lot more to play out in this race.”

[Guest]

how long can camper hold on for?

 

 

 

On this Christmas morning, the first time since the fifth race in 1989-90 that sailors competing in the premier round the world race have been at sea on this special day, CAMPER (Chris Nicholson/AUS) continued to fight off any advances from second-placed Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP) just 12 nautical miles astern.

 

However, there are still plenty of natural hazards and light and variable winds to negotiate before the fleet reaches the conclusion of this first stage of Leg 2.

 

The beleaguered PUMA’s Mar Mostro (Ken Read/USA) and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Azzam (Ian Walker/GBR) have both picked up some good speeds, 13 and 18.5 knots average speed respectively, while Groupama 4 and Franck Cammas is sandwiched in third place making just over 11 knots. With only 12 nm separating the first two at 1000 UTC today, and Cammas an ominous 56 nm behind, this leg is far from over and the chasing pack is putting serious pressure on.

 

Points for this two-stage leg are divided: 80 per cent is allotted for the first stage and the remaining 20 per cent awarded for the sprint to the finish in Abu Dhabi. This means 24 points for a stage one win, 20 for second, 16 for third, 12 for fourth, 8 for fifth and 4 for sixth. In between, there is a pitstop when the fleet will be shipped from their safe haven to a point nearer to Abu Dhabi to avoid the ever-present threat of piracy.

 

The crews will have been awake most of the night, trimming sails and stacking gear in order to make their boats go faster. We’re sure John Byrom, who wrote this Christmas carol for his daughter Dolly in 1745 will not mind us adapting the first line for our headline in the Indian Ocean.

[Guest]

Telefonica have taken the lead and extending slowly. Can Camper come back and take this leg?

[1paulg 17]

Telefonica have taken the lead and extending slowly. Can Camper come back and take this leg?

 

Telefonica just held out Camper to win by 2 mins - was right down to the wire ...am sure the crews will be exhausted after pushing hard espec in the last 48 hours when it became obvious it was going to be close....

Great effort by Camper but am sure they will be disappointed that they werent able to capitalise on Telefonica and take the overall lead..

[1paulg 17]

Telefonica have taken the lead and extending slowly. Can Camper come back and take this leg?

 

Telefonica just held out Camper to win by 2 mins - was right down to the wire ...am sure the crews will be exhausted after pushing hard espec in the last 48 hours when it became obvious it was going to be close....

Great effort by Camper but am sure they will be disappointed that they werent able to capitalise on Telefonica and take the overall lead..

[Guest]

thanks Paul. Volvo havnt sent me anything to report on which seems weird. A shame that Camper couldnt get up snd win, but they did well. Im off possibly untill the 15th so this will be my last update

[Guest]

Team Telefónica will charge into 2012 as leaders of the Volvo Ocean Race after snatching victory over CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand in a thrilling finish to the first stage of Leg 2 from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi.

 

The final 24 hours came down to an intense match race between Iker Martínez’s Telefónica, winners of Leg 1 from Alicante to Cape Town, as well as the Cape Town In-Port Race, and CAMPER.

 

The stakes were high as the two teams headed towards the secret safe haven, with CAMPER needing to finish in front to leapfrog Telefónica to go top of the leaderboard.

 

Chris Nicholson’s team got close, leading for long periods over a thrilling final battle between Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but in the end Telefónica came through, grabbing the definitive lead with just eight nautical miles to go.

 

They held on to finish at 1757.20 UTC on Monday, just one minute and 57 seconds ahead of CAMPER.

 

"It was a really complicated race and we were fighting all the way through," Martínez said. "For sure, it was really, really tough."

 

The result remains provisional after CAMPER informed race management they had raised a protest flag over a manoeuvre made towards the end of the race.

 

Telefónica claimed 24 points for first place in the first of a two-stage, 5,430 nautical mile (nm) leg to from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi, where 80 per cent of the available points have been awarded. CAMPER take 20 for second.

 

The provisional leaderboard sees Telefónica top with 61 points, followed by CAMPER on 54.

 

The finish line was set at an undisclosed destination to protect the six-boat fleet from pirate activity. The boats will now be shipped to a point off the Sharjah coastline in the northern United Arab Emirates in time to start what is sure to be an exciting, day-long sprint to Abu Dhabi in early January for the remaining 20 per cent of the leg points.

 

PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG are currently in third place, followed by Groupama sailing team in fourth and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing fifth. Team Sanya were forced to suspend racing and head for Madagascar, where they are repairing the rig and focusing on getting in shape for Leg 3 to their home port of Sanya in China.

 

After a brief period at the head of the fleet for both CAMPER and Telefónica as they fought light airs out of Cape Town, both found themselves at times near, or even at the back of the fleet.

 

On day four, December 14, Telefónica crossed the notorious Agulhas Current off Port Elizabeth first with CAMPER in fourth place, 44 nm behind the blue boat. As the fleet fought to free themselves from a trough that had formed between two low-pressure systems, it was Telefónica who was still looking sweet, while CAMPER had slipped another 20 nm back. The pot of gold which was the new northerly breeze waiting on the far side of the trough seemed frustratingly out of reach.

 

After a couple of false starts when the weather gods gave the fleet a brief taste of northerly breeze and then whipped it away, it was Telefónica who found it first and swooped into the lead with CAMPER relegated to fifth place 74 nm behind.

 

“It’s almost like a sport now to beat this trough line,” said CAMPER’s Chris Nicholson on day six, December 16. “It’s got a personality of its own, and I must say, I don’t like it. It is extremely stubborn and it is refusing to let us through.”

 

Martínez and Nicholson took the middle road to the east in a move, which ultimately set the pair up for a swift crossing of Doldrums. Telefónica still led, but the comeback kids on board CAMPER were only 2.2 nm behind, and the battle began at 35 degrees south. By day seven, after only 1,700 nm of racing, CAMPER temporarily regained lead and the fleet finally broke free of the trough.

 

The endless days of no wind and icy cold rainsqualls were now a distant memory as Telefónica, back in front, led PUMA Ocean Racing and CAMPER into some typical trade wind sailing under a shining sun and warm water spray.

 

It was all about boat speed and straight line sailing on day 11, December 21, but both Telefónica but CAMPER had slipped down the order and were now 93 and 115 nm behind the new leader, Franck Cammas’ Groupama 4 who came swooping in from their position far south.

 

As the fleet split in opinion on how best to tackle the Doldrums, Telefónica and CAMPER, in third and fourth, set up for the eastern end and began to make steady gains as the fleet compressed on Groupama 4.

 

By Day 13, December 23, Telefónica had jumped to the lead with CAMPER just 6.7 nm behind nipping at their heels. Their tour through the eastern Doldrums belt had paid off handsomely with boat speeds averaging 15 knots, while the rest of the fleet languished under big clouds with sails flapping.

 

The CAMPER crew had an early Christmas present, reclaiming the top of the leg leaderboard on Christmas Eve but any festive thoughts were dismissed as the teams prepared for the final battle to the finish with no prospect of a truce. The final day’s racing saw the lead change on numerous occasions with just 100 metres separating the two teams for long periods. As night fell at the safe haven port it was Team Telefónica who emerged as the final victors in the closest of contests.

[203 0]

I found this on face book today posted by Emirates Team NZ

 

 

I found it a really well built video... your opinions might be different

 

Enjoy

[Guest]

A small crack.....

 

ABU DHABI — Franck Cammas's French boat Groupama will be sailing the final stretch of the Volvo Ocean Race leg 2 on Wednesday with a hastily patched-up hull after a crack was discovered.

Groupama and the rest of the fleet were hoisted into an armed ship for transportation between a secret safe port and Sharjah last week.

Race organisers took the unprecedented step in order to avoid a pirate attack in the Indian Ocean after a spate of incidents last year off the eastern African coast.

From Sharjah, the five boats will sail to Abu Dhabi to complete the second leg, a distance of 98 nautical miles which will take up to seven hours.

The crack in Franck Cammas' boat was spotted at the time of last week's loading and the crew went to work on fixing it on arrival in Sharjah, although a full repair will not be completed until after the fleet's arrival following leg 2 stage 2 into Abu Dhabi.

"It's a minor crack. It's annoying but we will try not to think too much about it," Cammas said. "It will be a minor brake on our performance."

A spokesman for the team added that the cause of the crack was unknown and tests would take place during the stopover in Abu Dhabi.

The fleet completes the race's third in-port race on Jan. 13 with the third leg to Sanya in China starting the following day.

This is the first time that the 38-year-old race has visited the Gulf region.

It should be a spectacular race, with forecasts of winds up to 25 knots. The course takes the fleet initially out from the Sharjah coast before turning for a fast run parallel with the shore.

After rounding the final mark, the fleet will power directly towards the finish line at Abu Dhabi.

"This is pretty unusual," said Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing 's British skipper Ian Walker, who is looking forward to racing into his team's home port.

"We'll be going for a bit of glory in Stage 2. They've done a fantastic job here and I'm sure whatever the result there'll be a fantastic reception not just for us but for everyone."

Both Groupama and Abu Dhabi could do with collecting the maximum six points from Wednesday's race. They lie 25 and 44 points respectively adrift of Spanish leaders Telefonica who have 61.

Camper (Spain/New Zealand) are second on 54 with Puma fourth behind Groupama on 25 points and China's Team Sanya have only four. New Zealander Mike Sanderson's boat abandoned racing for leg 1 after suffering a badly broken hull and then a broken rig in leg 2 after leading the race.

Sanya is being repaired in Madagascar.

[Guest]

Who wants to sail on of these around the Horn?

[Guest]

may not be much sailing going on at the horn, they may all be motoring under dury rig.

[SloopJohnB 322]

 

 

What has happened to the old crusty seaman that sailed round the world with 4 stops fighting off icebergs wearing the good trustly Line Seven PVC wet weather gear, jeans and the odd rugby jersey.

[Kestrahl 6]

It also doesn't help these boats are quick enough to sail around bad weather