Leg two updates

[Guest]

This made me laugh

 

Race leaders Team Telefónica returned their boat to the water today and declared it in racing condition after an error by a guide boat leading her into dock in Abu Dhabi left her shore crew with some hasty repair work.

 

The team said some slight damage had been caused to the bulb on the keel after it hit the bed of the marina as Telefónica came in after winning Leg 2 from Cape Town.

 

“We had an incident when we were entering here in the marina of Abu Dhabi, an error of the boat which was taking us through channels which had been especially deepened to take the boats,” said Horacio Carabelli, Team Telefónica’s technical director.

 

“Unfortunately, this boat went the wrong way and we suffered some damage. We have solved it but it is something that will always be there. We will always have to be careful.”

 

The hugely experienced Carabelli, who sailed in the previous two editions of the race and won in 2008-09 on Ericsson 4, said Telefónica was essentially problem-free with no hint of the rigging troubles that have haunted other boats in the fleet.

 

“We will train tomorrow,” he confirmed.

 

Nevertheless, he said he planned to use the three-week stopover in the next port of Sanya in Hainan Province, China, to work through a longer list of improvements to a boat that has already won the first two legs of the Volvo Ocean Race and the Cape Town V&A Waterfront In-Port race.

 

The fleet – minus Team Sanya which is completing the second leg first stage in the Indian Ocean – will contest the Etihad Airways In-Port Race this coming Friday (January 13) before departing for Sanya the following day.

 

The third leg will again be interrupted with the boats being transported by ship from Sharjah to a safe haven port to avoid the risk of attack by pirates.

[Guest]

I hope that the semi kiwi boat can out run the cyclone as it would be a shame for them if they damaged the boat again

 

The boat’s replacement rig, which was only tuned three days ago, is holding up brilliantly, reported Richard Mason, who is acting as skipper in place of Mike Sanderson.

 

Since the team resumed racing the first stage of Leg 2 on Saturday they have covered almost 200 nautical miles, averaging speeds between 11 and 13 knots on a northerly course for the waypoint of Mauritius.

 

“The rig’s settled in nicely, and the guys are settling into the watch systems of life at sea,’’ said Mason. “We’re in a bit of a hurry though, because there’s a bit of weather behind us that we’re quite keen to get past, and get past Mauritius to that safe haven.”

 

The bit of weather Mason is referring to is a tropical cyclone developing in the Mozambique Channel, which is slowly moving east across Madagascar. Mason said the team are “paying plenty of attention” to it.

 

The 37-year-old said the team were hopeful that as they continue to pound north that the cyclone would tend south and they would escape the worst of it.

 

“It will come over the top of Madagascar and start forming a low on the eastern side of Madagascar and we’ll start being affected by that,’’ he said. “But we’ll be a lot closer to Mauritius by then and probably be seeing wind in the high 20s for a while as we go past there.”

 

Sailing shorthanded with a crew of six sailors and their Media Crew Member, Team Sanya are definitely being cautious.

 

“It’s not an ideal scenario,’’ Mason said. “We’re taking it pretty easy out here. Our number one mandate at the moment is to get the boat and the crew to the safe haven in as good a shape as we can, so we can have a few days to regroup and rejoin the race, which we’re very much looking forward to.”

 

Despite being tailed by a tropical cyclone, Mason said the challenges of resuming racing were nothing in comparison to the trying times of the race so far, which include the team being forced out of Leg 1 within 24 hours with a hole in their bow, and sustaining damage to their rig when they led the fleet in Leg 2.

 

Mason said it was enough to make a grown man cry, and force a four-time Volvo Ocean Race veteran such as himself to question their form.

 

“I don’t’ think I’ve ever run into so much bad luck,’’ the New Zealander said. “It’s obviously very frustrating that the damage that we’ve had has not been caused by us; both times it’s been failures of equipment. You have to be careful that you don’t start questioning yourself and all that.

 

“When it all happened in Madagascar and we were heading in various directions to resolve the issues, it felt like a real low point, where you thought you were going to see grown men cry.

 

“But, you know, things like this define a team, and again it was an unbelievable effort by our shore team to get the boat back out here racing and we get to bear the fruits of that by being out here sailing and in enjoyable conditions at the moment.”

 

Mason estimated that his team would reach Mauritius by late Monday, or early Tuesday, aiming to reach the loading/unloading port in the Indian Ocean, which is not being named due to the threat of piracy, in less than two weeks.

 

Sanya should arrive at the port in time to hook up with the rest of the fleet for the second stage of Leg 3.