Leg 5

[Guest]

WOW. Camper are flying at the moment......I can see why they were looking forward to this leg.

[1paulg 17]

next 48 hours will be a huge test of boats and crew ....hope in their desperation to take this leg they dont push just that bit too hard ...winds of 40+ down there is going to be solid going ..one little oppsie can change the situation drastically...as Sanya is experiencing - sadly

[B00B00 310]

I'd challenge anyone to charge around the world in a Volvo 70 and full noise and not to break something at some point.

 

It's part and parcel of the race.

 

Would the guys who take the position "the boats break so the race sucks" feck off already!

 

We've heard it all before for gawds sake!

 

I totally agree, we have heard it all before and dont want to hear it again. In fact for me that's all pert of the interest. Seeing who pushes the hardest and who know where and when to button off. That's what seperates the real good offshore guys. I would WAY rather see these boats racing around the world than those old dugouts they used to.

Also note campers headsail problem in the last leg was due to the tack strop (adjustable tack as the head is in a halyard lock) broke and sent the tack flying in the air and it blew out behind the hanks. So it wasn't a sail problem as such.

[Guest]

[Guest]

CAMPER UNLEASH THE BEAST TO OVERHAUL GROUPAMA

 

The leading pack were careering through the lower latitudes of the South Pacific in mountainous seas and winds gusting over 40 knots on Friday, as skippers and crews turned their thoughts to reining in the power of their boats rather than squeezing out more speed.

 

At 1400 UTC today just 53 nm separated leg leaders CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand from fourth placed PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG. Groupama sailing team lay second 11 nm behind CAMPER and 19 nm ahead of overall race leaders Team Telefónica in third.

 

CAMPER skipper Chris Nicholson had pushed hard to grab that lead, with his team racking up the best 24h-hour run of over 530 nautical miles, before following a plan to ease off in the darkness.

 

“Right now we have got the hammer down and pushing pretty hard,” Nicholson said in the early hours in UTC terms, as he tried his best to hang on. “We are in about 35 to 40 knots and we think are the only boat to still have the spinnaker up so we are going to try to hang on to it until dark and then go for a jib.

 

“It’s the age old question of just how hard do we push it? It is a very fine line."

 

Nicholson said he put little store by talk of leads given the constant risk of disaster in such high speed conditions.

 

“I don’t feel comfortable talking about being in the lead right now because with one slight problem it will evaporate in no time,” he said.

 

CAMPER MCM Hamish Hooper described life on board during the times they were going flat out. “These conditions -- blowing up to 43 knots, averaging 24 knots but doing over 30 knots of boat speed at times while literally skimming up, down, over and through seven-metre waves in the freezing cold -- it feels and sounds like you are on an out of control freight train, travelling through time with a conductor who gets the accelerator and brakes mixed up,” he said.

 

But with almost a week of ferocious speed sailing ahead of them, uppermost in all the crews’ minds is the goal of reaching Cape Horn intact.

 

Groupama helmsman Charles Caudrelier said he believed there is nothing tougher than Volvo Open 70 sailing in this part of the world with the waves presenting the greatest challenge.

 

“You’re very badly protected,” he said. “The boats are very fast and wet. The only way to keep the boat in one piece is to slow down.

 

“We are far from being as fast as we would if the sea state was good. We could be above 30 knots of speed and we actually are around 20-25 knots. We have reduced the sail area and are nursing the boat.”

 

Caudrelier said he thought some other boats had followed suit to lessen the risk of a costly high-speed wipe out.

 

“I think everyone slowed down, some more than others,” he said. “This surely is the best leg to win but it’s also the one which can lose you the Volvo Ocean Race if you break the boat here."

 

PUMA MCM Amory Ross said the team’s 70 foot boat had been “zigzagging around the ocean, the very big ocean, like a toy boat in a bathtub”.

 

"I’ve never seen waves this big,” Ross said. “One second we’ll be doing 30 knots, the next 15. The transition period between those two speeds is almost instantaneous. Guys are literally flying out of the bottom of their bunks.

 

“If you’re not holding onto something at all times you could find yourself doing the Superman slide across the deck or through the interior. Not fun, or safe."

 

Telefónica skipper Iker Martínez said they had been enjoying a close duel with PUMA overnight and pledged to continue the fight.

 

"Today has been a little complicated," the Spanish skipper said. "We have PUMA very close to us and we'll continue to fight -- with our heads, but hard."

 

Ian Walker's fifth place Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing looked to have found an opportunity to dive south from their northerly position but were yet to reach the storm track which would fast forward them to the east. At 1400 UTC they were still 480 nm off the lead.

 

"The good news is we have enjoyed some nice downwind sailing conditions," said skipper Ian Walker. "Secondly the boat and crew are in good shape and perhaps most importantly we are still getting closer to Cape Horn (albeit slower than we would like)."

 

That was not the case for Mike Sanderson’s Team Sanya, who were making steady progress towards New Zealand after turning back yesterday with a broken rudder. Sanya are expected to reach Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty in the next few days and plan to be back in the race in time for the in-port race in Miami at the latest.

[Guest]

 

 

[PaulR 3]

So overall, now 6 starters of legs in a fleet of 6 yachts have had major failures

 

= 100% FAILURE rate.

 

All have had major failures? what have been the major failure on camper, telefonica and groupama? They have had small damage, but nothing that I would call major.

 

Granted camper, telefonica and groupama have not had major damage yet to the best of my limited knowledge. I also have NOT tabulated the failures in detail.

 

Any damage that requires a boat to withdraw from racing and return to port for repairs is major. e.g. masts broken, rudders broken, hulls delaminating and letting in lots of water.

 

I would exclude damaged sails as that to a certain extent is expected and also exclude a boat returning to port with injured crew for medical treatment.

 

My concern was against a statement of minimal damage which IMHO was totally wrong and tried to show that the numbers can be used to stress entirely the opposite view.

 

Therefore camper, telefonica and groupama have not been forced to return for repairs, but now camper has relaminated their bulkhead at sea, so good for them.

 

So 50% of the fleet (3 of 6) is OK equally means that 50% have seriously failed.

 

Further the 50% that have failed have failed more than once in this race. So I compared the number of failures to the number on starters and came to 100% Failure.

 

"Lies, dammed lies and statistics" are in the media all the time.

Sometimes we should all look at what the media is KNOT saying.

[benny14 6]

Camper also not immune to damage, having to slow the boat down at the moment after damaging a front beam after falling off a wave. Sounds like they're going to fix it and carry on but they can't push the boat hard with "bow flexing like it is" according to Chris Nicholson.

[Guest]

I think our resident Ginger is out watching the BMW so my turn

 

Leg 5

24/03/2012 13:00:31 UTC

 

DTL DTLC BS DTF

1

 

GPMA 0.00

0 18.9 4470.8

2

 

TELE 18.30

4 18 4489.1

3

 

PUMA 43.70

2 20.1 4514.6

4

 

CMPR 74.10

24 14.3 4544.9

5

 

ADOR 646.40

29 8.9 5117.2

6

 

SNYA 1447.70

70 11.2 5918.5

 

Contacts ►

 

Media Zone ►

 

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Groupama sailing team have claimed the Leg 5 lead after CAMPER throttled back to repair damage in the Southern Ocean, with worsening Southern Ocean conditions forcing all the teams to play a percentage game.

The fleet has been menaced by the Roaring Forties with winds gusting in excess of 45 knots and waves of 10 metres, giving a sense of plummeting off a two-storey building when the boats inevitably fall off the back of them.

Few have suffered more than CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand, who were forced to slow down to repair bow damage sustained after falling heavily off a wave and delaminating a forward structural beam.

Skipper Chris Nicholson sent a reassuring message that the crew was safe.

“The boat is in no immediate danger and the crew is fine, but with the bow now flexing and the weight of wind we cannot push on as fast as we would like,’’ Nicholson said. “We are starting on repairs that will allow us to get going as fast as is practical.”

Groupama pounced on the opportunity to steal the lead, taking pole position at around 2200 UTC on Friday. In the last 24 hours they have clocked up 480 nautical miles.

Helmsman Laurent Pagès said it was tough to maintain strength and concentration in the face of the ferocious conditions.

“Because of the water and the helmet we're obliged to wear, we don't really see a thing,’’ he said. “At some point it's a bit as if we were closing our eyes. You have to follow your feeling with the boat, her heeling angle, her acceleration and her longitudinal trim.”

Team Telefónica have slipped into second place, 18 nm behind Groupama. Navigator Andrew Cape said it was now a game of percentages as the teams try to strike a balance between speed and self-preservation.

“We’ve been reaching, but to a larger extent surviving,” he said. “We’re at about 90 per cent of our capabilities. We’ve got a bit in reserve.


“We’re happy with where we are, a lot happier than where we were before. We’re still pushing, but we’re mindful that there’s a long way to go yet.”

In third position, PUMA Ocean Racing Powered by BERG navigator Tom Addis said his team were pushing at about 85 per cent.

“With 30 knots of breeze in flat water these boats sail incredibly fast, but when you’ve got waves crashing over the deck you have to back off a bit,’’ he said.

“We all push as hard as we want to push. We’ve all got different strengths and weaknesses. Once we get around Cape Horn it all changes.”

CAMPER remain in fourth place, way ahead of fifth placed Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, who trail the leaders by more than 600 nm.

Abu Dhabi skipper Ian Walker said he expected his team would languish in two more days of light wind before reaching true Southern Ocean conditions.

“Not exactly the Southern Ocean at its best,” he said. “But, you have to be careful what you wish for down here. I suspect the fleet is complaining of too much wind right now and wishing for a light spot.

“It is increasingly clear that given the forecast we will be at least two or three days behind the leaders at Cape Horn and there is nothing we can do about it. We have to sit this one out, keep the boat moving as best we can and hope something develops later in the leg.”

Team Sanya continue to trek to Tauranga in New Zealand where they will assess their damaged rudder and their best chance to return to the race.

Conditions are expected to worsen over the next 24 hours, according to Volvo meteorologist Gonzalo Infante.

The fleet will fall in the western and most violent portion of the Southern Ocean low, which will pack gale and storm force winds with gusts up to 55 knots and waves in excess of nine metres. The conditions are expected to remain severe until the fleet passes Cape Horn.

[Guest]

I think our resident Ginger is out watching the BMW so my turn

 

 

nope. I decided that my camera has had enough water on it in the last month and I didnt need tom get it wet again. I am still trying to upload 300 photos to facebook but it keeps blocking me

[Guest]

 

[Guest]

PaulR is probably too polite to say "I told you so".

[Guest]

 

from yesterday, but well worth the listen.

 

PaulR is probably too polite to say "I told you so".

 

Its still not a major as in having to turn around immediately, but it could lead to one and then he can say I told you so

[Guest]

Had a look at the tracker, Camper is 6 kn slower than those still racing, but more interesting heading north. Make sme wonder if they are keeping open the option of heading for Valparaiso and trucking it from there? It certainly wouldn't surprise me to find later they are downplaying the extent of the damage.

[Guest]

 

PaulR is probably too polite to say "I told you so".

 

Its still not a major as in having to turn around immediately, but it could lead to one and then he can say I told you so

 

Turning around is probably not an option, Chile would be probably closer but also DOWNWIND.

[Mothership 6]

One of my favourite shots from leg 5 - that tub is hauling:

[Guest]

 

PaulR is probably too polite to say "I told you so".

 

Its still not a major as in having to turn around immediately, but it could lead to one and then he can say I told you so

 

Turning around is probably not an option, Chile would be probably closer but also DOWNWIND.

 

Definitly looks like im wrong on this. I wonder how long untill we see Camper retire from this leg?

[Richard2249 5]

It doesn't look very positve at this stage, they are still shedding big miles on each sched, and working north.

[Battleship 100]

Bugger!

 

The camper media man seems to have gone a bit quiet too, wonder what the facilities are like at Ushuaia.

[Battleship 100]

It's really broken now, PaulR is definitely entitled to an I told you so.

 

from Facebook "As you have probably heard, guessed or noticed all is not ideal onboard CAMPER. Last night we had one hard landing too many and cracked the port side longitudinal in the bow. This has been our fear since damaging the bulkhead a couple of times in the past few days.

 

What this means is we have had to slow the boat down as much as possible- a task that is way easier said than done in the massive 10 metre breaking waves which dwarf us, and regularly pick us up and takes us surfing down the face of them at over 20 knots. The winds are still blowing up to 40 knots and will be for the next 48 hours at least. We have minimized the sail area to 3 reefs in the mainsail and just a storm jib.

 

The question now is just where we head to for those repairs. Will Oxley and Nico are busy looking at maps, weather, routes and all number of elements which will add up to present the best direction and location to head to repair our injured vessel.

 

Whichever way though- it’s a bloody long way. Wouldn’t you know it that we are pretty much in a hundred miles or so of the very point I mentioned the other day- Point Nemo- the furthest place on the entire planet from any land. It has even been said that the closest human being to this point is on the International Space Station when it is overhead. That’s no comforting thought though is it?

 

Whichever direction we head it will be up to 10 days until we reach land. Probably the 10 longest days of my life. Every crash the boat now takes, your heightened awareness causes you to feel it rattle through the bones of the boat and through nerves of your body. Just hoping things remain in tact.

 

Everyone on board remains in relatively good spirits, although a bit quiet I guess as we all process the situation we are going through. Still the favored place on the boat is in the bunks keeping rested and warm."