GOR Updates

[Guest]

So im thinking that im going to do a few updates for this one as well, so here we go

 

After two days at sea on Leg 3, the double-handed, Global Ocean Race (GOR) Class40s are dropping sharply south-east into the Pacific with the first three boats keeping close formation as they run off the wind in 30 knots of breeze in the Roaring Forties, leaving Chatham Island port.

 

 

In the 02:00 GMT position poll on Tuesday, the Franco-British duo of Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron had re-taken the lead with their Pogo 40S² Class40, Campagne de France, after handing over the leadership briefly to Ross and Campbell Field on Buckley Systems late on Monday night and relinquishing pole position to the New Zealand-South African team of Conrad Colman and Adrian Kuttel earlier in the evening as their Akilaria RC2, Cessna Citation, clipped averages of over 13 knots. Hitting the highest fleet averages at 13.3 knots an hour later, Buckley Systems was back in the lead at 03:00 GMT with Mabire and Merron less than three miles astern and Colman and Kuttel a further nine miles back down the race track.

 

 

While the leading trio has been consistently delivering averages of between 11-13 knots, over the past 24 hours, the South African duo of Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire with Phesheya-Racing in fourth have dropped back around 40 miles behind the front pack and furthest south at 45 degrees, Marco Nannini and Hugo Ramon on Financial Crisis were 63 miles behind the lead Class40 at 03:00 GMT on Tuesday.

 

 

On Campagne de France, the transition from a month on land in Wellington, New Zealand, to racing through the high latitudes has been swift for Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron: “Back into life at sea - trimming sails, changing sails, getting chased by, or chasing, the competition and sleeping whenever possible,” assures Merron. However, adapting was far harder on Buckley Systems: “Both of us were feeling pretty under the weather until this morning,” reports Campbell Field. “Much like a pretty powerful hangover - lack of sleep, poor discipline in eating and in my case anything that was eaten pretty quickly reappeared over the back of the boat,” he adds. “Headaches and grumpiness was the status quo for the first 24 hours on board and I put that down to caffeine withdrawals following the almost hourly dose of long blacks and flat whites from the Empire Cafe in Chaffers Marina, Wellington!”

[Guest]

After two days at sea on Leg 3, the double-handed, Global Ocean Race (GOR) Class40s are dropping sharply south-east into the Pacific with the first three boats keeping close formation as they run off the wind in 30 knots of breeze in the Roaring Forties, leaving Chatham Island port.

 

 

In the 02:00 GMT position poll on Tuesday, the Franco-British duo of Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron had re-taken the lead with their Pogo 40S² Class40, Campagne de France, after handing over the leadership briefly to Ross and Campbell Field on Buckley Systems late on Monday night and relinquishing pole position to the New Zealand-South African team of Conrad Colman and Adrian Kuttel earlier in the evening as their Akilaria RC2, Cessna Citation, clipped averages of over 13 knots. Hitting the highest fleet averages at 13.3 knots an hour later, Buckley Systems was back in the lead at 03:00 GMT with Mabire and Merron less than three miles astern and Colman and Kuttel a further nine miles back down the race track.

 

 

While the leading trio has been consistently delivering averages of between 11-13 knots, over the past 24 hours, the South African duo of Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire with Phesheya-Racing in fourth have dropped back around 40 miles behind the front pack and furthest south at 45 degrees, Marco Nannini and Hugo Ramon on Financial Crisis were 63 miles behind the lead Class40 at 03:00 GMT on Tuesday.

 

 

On Campagne de France, the transition from a month on land in Wellington, New Zealand, to racing through the high latitudes has been swift for Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron: “Back into life at sea - trimming sails, changing sails, getting chased by, or chasing, the competition and sleeping whenever possible,” assures Merron. However, adapting was far harder on Buckley Systems: “Both of us were feeling pretty under the weather until this morning,” reports Campbell Field. “Much like a pretty powerful hangover - lack of sleep, poor discipline in eating and in my case anything that was eaten pretty quickly reappeared over the back of the boat,” he adds. “Headaches and grumpiness was the status quo for the first 24 hours on board and I put that down to caffeine withdrawals following the almost hourly dose of long blacks and flat whites from the Empire Cafe in Chaffers Marina, Wellington!”

[Guest]

No articles for the last several days unfortunitly, but heres a tracker update. Cessna Citation have done a great job of working themselves into the lead at the moment and could extend it.

[Guest]

looks like the Fields on BSL are out: (only picked this up because their course was the wrong way on the tracker and went searching for some info)

 

Heading back to NZ after storm damage

3 02 2012

 

After crashing off a monstrous wave in the Southern Ocean, Global Ocean Race leaders Ross and Campbell Field of Team Buckley Systems have suffered damage to their yacht and are heading back to New Zealand.

 

For the past 24 hours, the yacht has been smashing into in storm force winds and huge seas south east of the Chatham Islands.

 

“We were leading the fleet under autopilot in big rolling seas,” said Ross Field. “The wind was up to 45 knots, gusting into the 50s. Campbell was on watch in the cockpit and I was down below in the navigation station, when we just launched off a huge wave.”

 

As the yacht crashed down into the trough behind the wave, all the wind instruments were wiped off the top of the mast. Ross Field was flung across the boat, injuring his back.

 

The loss of the wind instruments is a major blow, because it means their autopilots cannot function.

 

The boat instantly spun out of control and crash gybed. “We ended up with all our ballast on the wrong side and lying with the mast virtually in the water, at the mercy of the waves,” said Ross.

 

After bringing the boat under control and assessing their situation, the father and son pair decided they could not continue racing.

 

To carry on with Leg 3 of the race would mean hand-steering the boat nearly 6,000 miles through some of the most hostile conditions on the planet, round Cape Horn and up to Uruguay.

 

“The loss of our autopilots is like losing a crew member,” said Ross.

 

“We are absolutely gutted to be in this situation. We were leading the fleet at the time and we felt this leg through the Southern Ocean was an opportunity for us to really stretch our legs.”

 

After scoring a 1st and 2nd in the opening two legs of the round the world race, Team Buckley Systems was at the top of the leader board on points. The fleet of five Class 40 yachts started Leg 3 of the race from Wellington last Sunday and Team Buckley Systems surged into an early lead.

 

They tracked south-east to 49°S, before angling back towards the north to clear a mandatory scoring gate at 47°S. From the outset the Field duo was critical of this gate, because it denied skippers the ability to choose the fastest and best course for the conditions.

 

“Having to head north forced us to go upwind in horrendous conditions,” he said. “The irony is that 100 miles further south we would have been sailing downwind in great weather.”

 

The father and son pair notified the race authorities, their principal sponsor, Buckley Systems Ltd, and their fellow competitors that they were making their way back to Auckland. They expected to complete the 1200 miles passage in five to seven days.

 

Bill Buckley, Managing Director of Buckley Systems, said he was bitterly disappointed for the Fields. “Ross and Campbell are extremely determined and competitive yachtsmen,” he said. “They are tough campaigners and certainly would not take this decision lightly, particularly when they were in such a strong position.

 

“Their safety is paramount and we fully support them turning back, rather than continuing to race with Ross injured and the boat severely compromised.”

[Guest]

Another one bites the dust leaving only 3 boats left in this leg. I wonder how the volvos will go if they were to hit this sort of weather?

 

There has been intense drama in Leg 3 of the double-handed Global Ocean Race (GOR) as two of the Class40s, Buckley Systems and Campagne de France, have turned west and are currently heading for Auckland, New Zealand, while the three remaining boats, Cessna Citation, Financial Crisis and Phesheya-Racing continue into strong, Pacific Ocean headwinds in the Roaring Forties.

 

 

On Thursday evening at 48S, Ross and Campbell Field – leading the fleet on Buckley Systems – and Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron on the Franco-British entry, Campagne de France in second place, trailing the Fields by 20 miles, abruptly turned north. Initially this was thought to be a move to avoid 40-50-knot headwinds, but injury and gear damage on Buckley Systems had forced the Fields to head for port with Mabire and Merron making the same call.

 

 

Meanwhile, Conrad Colman and Adrian Kuttel have taken over pole position with Cessna Citation; Marco Nannini and Hugo Ramon are up to second place with Financial Crisis and the South African duo of Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire are now in third with Phesheya-Racing.

 

 

For the Fields who are currently leading the GOR overall on points, the decision to turn Buckley Systems towards New Zealand was indescribably hard: “A tough way to have a year of blood, sweat and tears collapse in front of you,” reports Campbell Field. Equipment failure, including part of the mainsheet system, has contributed to the father-and-son team turning west, but injury to Ross Field is a major factor. “On Leg 2, Ross took a couple of tumbles that would have stretchered-off any mere mortal with a bruise on one hip that looked like someone had taken to him with a baseball bat,” Campbell Field explains. “Coupled with a severe blow to the abdomen a few days later which was only acknowledged with a mere ‘that hurts a bit’ and ‘hope we have some more of those anti-inflammatories’,” Campbell Field recalls. “He’s a tough old bugger my old man,” he adds. “So, to see him now in so much pain meant we had an issue with facing the next 6,000 miles with one of us in agony and the loss of all wind instruments and, consequently, an effective pilot, seriously compromising our performance and safety.”

 

 

Currently, Buckley Systems is running downwind with triple reefed main and jib. “To all our friends, fans, family and supporters, thank you for your support and messages we have received,” says Campbell. “We’ll keep you posted on progress and the future as it unfolds.” On Campagne de France, Mabire and Merron had successfully preserved their Class40 and each other through the worst of the strong conditions, but a tough call was necessary: “Given the weather and sea conditions we have encountered and given the forecast weather along the northerly route which we have to take because of ice to the south, we felt that there was a strong possibility of boat breakage on this leg if we were to continue,” explained Halvard Mabire on Friday afternoon. “Apart from the fact that sailing into the wind and seas is rather uncomfortable – and we certainly aren't competing in the GOR for comfort - it is much tougher on the boat than sailing downwind,” he adds. “Based on the weather information available to us, with upwind conditions for much of the course to the scoring gate, we felt that the risk of breakage was too high in this remote part of the world.”

 

 

For Miranda Merron the decision is a matter of personal judgement: “It is the responsibility of each skipper to assess the risks involved and to decide to race or continue racing based on conditions experienced or expected,” she explains. “Our decision to head back is the result of this assessment.” Nonetheless, it has been a painful choice to make: “It has been an incredibly difficult decision to take, and one not taken lightly,” Merron confirms. “We have spent almost two years focussed on this project and there are a considerable number of people who are supporting this campaign.”

 

 

In the 15:00 GMT position poll on Friday, Colman and Kuttel on the new race leader, Cessna Citation, are making just under ten knots with a lead of 104 miles over Nannini and Ramon on Financial Crisis with Leggatt and Hutton-Squire a further 100 miles west. On Phesheya-Racing, Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire are weathering the storm that has pummelled the fleet: “The rough weather of yesterday has continued into today and in fact has deteriorated even further” reported Phillippa Hutton-Squire on Friday morning. “We’re making slow progress under triple reefed main and staysail and the exceptionally steep head seas are making things very difficult for the autopilot,” she adds. “Aboard Phesheya-Racing life has been reduced to the bare minimum of holding on, eating and sleeping,” explains Hutton-Squire. “Brief forays onto the deck to trim sails or check on things result in one being instantly soaked and frozen to the bone and life down below decks is a constant exercise in bracing oneself to avoid being thrown through the air to the other side of the boat,” she says. “Other than that, life is great!”

 

 

The GOR’s Race Director, Josh Hall, was airborne returning to the UK from New Zealand as the drama on Buckley Systems and Campagne de France unfolded with 24-hour cover for the fleet provided by Alan Green of the GOR Race Committee while Hall was temporarily out of contact: “This is a sad day for these two projects and for the race itself,” confirmed Hall shortly after hearing the news as he landed at Heathrow Airport, London. “Both teams have dedicated well over a year of energy, emotion and resources to competing at the highest level possible in the GOR and to be forced out of Leg 3 is devastating for them and everyone involved,” he adds. “We are waiting to hear whether they will rejoin the race later on or not, but the first priority is for them to reach safe haven. In the meantime the three other teams in Leg 3 are plugging into some very tough conditions,” he points out. “It is disappointing that the weather pattern is not currently providing the downwind sleigh-ride normally expected, but this is one of many reasons that racing around the world is a formidable challenge to boats and sailors.”

[Guest]

Bummer and a big one and times 2 now.

 

The poor buggers must be gutted.

[smithy09 50]

Agreed. You have gotta feel for them. I take my hat off to Ross Feild. Tough Bastard..

I really like this race. Far more interesting than the Volvo. I hope it grows into something bigger!

[Guest]

Well sell ya boat and buy one, I'll come with you.

Agreed. You have gotta feel for them. I take my hat off to Ross Feild. Tough Bastard..

I really like this race. Far more interesting than the Volvo. I hope it grows into something bigger!

Concur 100%

[smithy09 50]

Well sell ya boat and buy one, I'll come with you.

Agreed. You have gotta feel for them. I take my hat off to Ross Feild. Tough Bastard..

I really like this race. Far more interesting than the Volvo. I hope it grows into something bigger!

Concur 100%

Ya reckon a Ross 40 would fit into the class rule? New keel and a bit of water ballast and we're away!! . Dunno if I could hack it anyway. The SIMRAD 100 almost lilled me!

[Guest]

Things have calmed down after the boats took a beating

 

Conditions have been improving significantly at the front of the fleet in the Southern Ocean since two of the Global Ocean Race (GOR) Class40s turned back to New Zealand on Thursday. Leg 3 from Wellington to Punta del Este, Uruguay has already packed a significant punch with headwinds reaching up to Force 9 pounding the double-handed fleet and forcing the two lead boats, Buckley Systems and Campagne de France, to head west. However, within 48 hours the environment in the Roaring Forties has begun to moderate.

 

Indeed, leading the fleet and furthest east, Conrad Colman and his South African co-skipper, Adrian Kuttel, ran into light airs during Friday evening GMT with their Akilaria RC2 Cessna Citation and while Colman reports clear skies and sunshine at 47S, allowing the duo to dry clothes and gear in the cockpit of their Class40, Marco Nannini and Hugo Ramon on Financial Crisis in second and Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire on Phesheya-Racing in third have closed down the gap to the leaders as they remain in Force 6 headwinds.

 

For all the GOR teams the news of Ross and Campbell Fields’ decision to turn west followed by the same call made by Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron has been a severe blow after racing together around half the planet. On Financial Crisis, the scenario still seems unreal: “If this was a movie, the last two days would have made for some nice drama on the high seas,” believes Marco Nannini. “Imagine the context: a fleet of racing boats headed for Cape Horn; a South Pacific gale battering the fleet; huge waves crashing against the boat through the night; the constant noise of halyards hitting the mast; leech lines flapping; autopilot ram overloaded; water sloshing in the bilges; the smell of your own boots turning your stomach inside out; wet, cold, miserable,” says Nannini, graphically constructing the storyboard for his forthcoming, big screen, offshore epic. “Then the satellite phone rings…no one has ever called us on the satellite phone!”

 

At the time, Financial Crisis was in 35-45 knots with gusts up to 50 knots carrying triple-reefed main and staysail, so a social call seemed unlikely. “There was another GOR competitor on the end of the blurred satellite line, sounding emotional and quickly summed up the reality of the situation by telling me they were considering retiring,” says Nannini. “This is always tricky,” adds the Italian skipper. “The decision to sail or retire lies with the skipper of the boat and you are divided between the desire to convince them to carry on racing and the thought that if they carry on and something happens, you may have added unnecessary pressure on them to carry on.” Caught in a dilemma, the Italian supplied some family wisdom: “I suggested what my grandmother always told me as a child - go to sleep and decide tomorrow.”

 

Within hours of the satellite phone conversation, the GOR Race Director, Josh Hall, sent an email confirming the decision made by Buckley Systems and Campagne de France. “I only then realise it’s for real,” admits Nannini. “I stop watching the latest Jennifer Aniston film on the computer - a masterpiece of great acting and intense storyline that surely deserves my undivided attention - and wake up Hugo.” The two skippers discussed this new development. “It is sad to see two boats doing a U-turn and the fear of damage is always strong, so I hope that we’ll carry on sailing in safety with no surprises all the way to the finish line,” he adds. “This storm is over and we are again under full mainsail and headsail, heading in the right direction,” reported Nannini on Saturday morning. “Who knows what the future of the race will bring, but I hope to find a movie to watch that does not require external drama to thicken the plot!”

 

In the 15:00 GMT position poll on Saturday, Nannini and Ramon were 72 miles behind Cessna Citation – a gain for Financial Crisis of 32 miles in 24 hours as Colman and Kuttel remain trapped in light airs averaging under three knots.

 

While Nannini and Ramon digested the bad news, Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire were in action on the foredeck of Phesheya-Racing as the tack shackle on their staysail broke in the relentless upwind pounding. They bore away, clipped on and went to investigate: “We got out the hack-saw and cut most of it off,” says Hutton-Squire. “It was very cold out there, but running down wind was so peaceful and relaxing compared to being beaten up all the time.” The South Africans replaced the shackle swiftly. “It was blowing well over 30 knots by this time so we took the opportunity to reef the stay sail.”

 

Although life on the foredeck upwind is hellish and risky, conditions are far from ideal down below on Phesheya-Racing: “It has been difficult getting any sleep as part of the time you are airborne,” continues Hutton-Squire. “Yesterday I was standing to get my gear on and fell over as we went bashing over another wave,” she adds. “So you have to be very careful where you position yourself and I have been cooking and eating as close to the floor as possible, while going to the loo is another hard chore as you have to balance to get you gear off and on again!”

 

The South Africans reported 25-30 knots on Saturday morning with huge seas and as the three boats approach the most remote area of the Pacific with the nearest inhabited land 1,000 miles to the north in French Polynesia, the teams have been in regular contact. “I spoke to Conrad last night and he said that the weather is looking up for them,” says Hutton-Squire as Phesheya-Racing trails Cessna Citation by just over 200 miles and Financial Crisis by 146 miles. “Marco has been sending us emails on a regular basis to let us know about his weather and motivate us forward,” she continues. “The guys in front of us have been very kind and we have all agreed to stick together.”

 

As the three teams come to terms with the changes in the fleet for the remainder of Leg 3, the Dutch skipper of GOR entry, Sec. Hayai, Nico Budel, has replaced the mast he lost shortly after the start of Leg 2 in Cape Town and will soon leave South Africa to re-join the GOR fleet in Uruguay.

[SloopJohnB 322]

Tough about BSL and Champage.

[Guest]

Throughout Sunday, thoughts of competitive racing were temporarily suspended for one of the Class40s in the Southern Ocean as the South African team on Phesheya-Racing was forced to heave-to in strong headwinds and confused seas. Furthest south at 48 degrees leading the trio, Conrad Colman and Adrian Kuttel missed the worst of the gale with Cessna Citation while Marco Nannini and Hugo Ramon were barrelling south-east away from the storm on Financial Crisis as Phesheya-Racing rode out ferocious conditions and successfully preserved their boat.

 

 

By 22:00 GMT on Sunday, Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire were in the teeth of the gale with Phesheya-Racing at 44S: “The wind is not too bad but the risk of hull or rig damage is significant if we attempt to keep to any reasonable course in these seas,” reported Leggatt as the team’s track on the GOR Race Viewer became sporadic and tripped alarm bells at GOR HQ. “So we figured it is simply more prudent to stop right here and ride it out.” On Sunday evening, Phesheya-Racing was battered by around 30 knots and short, very step seas churning and boiling due to the rapid wind shift from south-easterly to north-easterly and the future prospects looked increasingly grim. “The wind is currently near gale force, but the forecast from New Zealand is for gale force soon and the GRIB files are showing even more wind,” continued Leggatt.

 

 

Coincidentally, Nick Leggatt had been forced to heave-to in precisely the same area during his second circumnavigation on Tony Bullimore’s 105ft catamaran, Daedalus, in the 2005 Oryx Quest Round-The-World Race and he and Hutton-Squire pulled-off a text book manoeuvre under triple-reefed mainsail and staysail, lying at 35-40 degrees to the wind with the helm lashed to leeward, before dispensing with staysail entirely.

 

 

By mid-morning on Monday the gale had passed: “We’re finally underway again,” reported Phillippa Hutton-Squire in a brief email to the GOR Race Organisation. “Still directly upwind, but the wind suddenly dropped to 15 knots, as forecast, and the sea has moderated very quickly,” she adds. By 15:00 GMT on Monday, Phesheya-Racing was making just over six knots. “We’re well rested and ready to go again,” confirmed Hutton-Squire. “It is pitch dark and drizzling still, so we have started off a bit conservatively but at least we are sailing.”

 

 

For Marco Nannini and Hugo Ramon, conditions were fractionally better, but remained extremely uncomfortable: “After a little break of lighter conditions when the wind switched from south-easterly to north-easterly, we are again beating our brains to mash in 30-35 knots of wind under triple reefed main and staysail,” reported Nannini as Financial Crisis hammered south-east through the Roaring Forties. “We’re doing well on board and have adopted a six-hours-on and six-hours-off watch system,” explains the Italian skipper. “This allows us to eat, trim, email, check the weather and perhaps watch a movie during your watch, followed by a long rest in the bunk.”

 

 

However, the word ‘rest’ at 47S on a 40-foot yacht in Force 7 is relative: “You don’t really get to sleep the entire time as the slamming and banging is so loud and uncomfortable that you just drift in an out a weird state of daydreaming,” Nannini confirms. “Outside it's so wet that I've even given up on going out for a piss, and when nature calls I piss in a bucket then chuck it into the cockpit through the companion way,” he adds. While personal hygiene standards have clearly suffered on Financial Crisis, Nannini and Ramon were making a little under eight-knot averages on Monday afternoon, trailing Cessna Citation by 75 miles.

 

 

Meanwhile, on the leading Class40 Cessna Citation, Conrad Colman’s South African co-skipper, Adrian Kuttel, summed-up the disappointment of two of the fleet heading for New Zealand: “When we heard that the Fields on Buckley Systems and Campagne de France were bailing out and heading for Auckland, it threw us,” admitted Kuttel on Monday morning. “The weather down the track is not great, but we have managed to fix all of our problems on the boat,” he confirms. With two highly competitive Class40s removed from Leg 3, motivation to continue was under threat, but Colman and Kuttel opted to keep racing and fulfil the objective of rounding Cape Horn and finishing Leg 3: “So, after a satellite call to the remaining two boats in the race, we decided to stick with what we set out to do and continue the race to Uruguay,” he adds.

 

 

The recent communication silence from Cessna Citation was forced by constant work on board since the start: “We blew the tack on the staysail halyard; developed a diesel leak down below; discovered serious issues with slack rigging in the mast and our hydro-generator that charges the batteries stopped working,” reports Kuttel. “Conrad had to go up the rig three times while below the diesel turned the boat into an ice rink,” he explains.

 

 

In the 15:00 GMT position poll on Monday, Cessna Citation was averaging 8.2 knots and had just dropped below 49S. “We are back into 25 knots of wind again with lots of bang, bang going into each wave which we suspect will be the case until we reach the first mid-ocean scoring gate,” says the South African skipper. “Sitting anywhere requires three limbs to stabilise ourselves and we move around the boat like monkeys from hand hold to hand hold.” With the southern limit of the bluQube Scoring Gate 800 miles ENE of Cessna Citation, Colman and Kuttel should be able to reach up to the virtual waypoint as the wind clocks round to the south-west in around 24-36 hours. Until then, there are two options facing Cessna Citation and Financial Crisis: a costly tack north-east, or head further south into an area where ice is a known risk.

 

 

Meanwhile, 1,300 miles to the north-west, the Fields on Buckley Systems and Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron on Campagne de France are just 200 miles from New Zealand. Halvard Mabire has immense respect for the three Class40s heading east: “We are, of course, following with admiration our brave fellow sailors who are continuing their route towards the east, come what may,” says the 55 year-old round-the-world veteran. Withdrawing from Leg 3 was a very tough call for Mabire and Merron: “Campagne de France has already carried us to the far side of the world and we intend to get home with the boat in one piece and in good condition,” Mabire confirms. “We will have to get over our huge disappointment to tackle the various problems that have arisen with this unforeseen scenario,” he explains. “But real life is like that - if everything always went perfectly to plan, the world would be a boring place.”

 

 

The GOR’s Race Ambassador, Dee Caffari, has been watching events unfold in the Southern Ocean: “I felt terrible to hear the news of two boats retiring from this leg of the race, but relieved that both crews had made a seamanship decision,” comments Caffari. “Injury or illness is every shorthanded sailor’s nightmare and dealing with that in uncomfortable upwind conditions is not ideal, combined with the fact that there is a huge expanse of ocean to cross before another safe haven is available makes seamanship decisions crucial,” she continues. “At all times when racing you are responsible for both the vessel and the people on board and I am pleased both parties are safe.”

 

 

Caffari has completed three circumnavigation races and one single-handed, round-the-world record attempt, so she is entirely familiar with the environment facing the GOR Class40s: “Each day, weather information is downloaded, routing is planned, a sail plan is decided upon and food and drink provided,” she explains. “The teams have no let up and on top of these things, the teams also look after the boats, repair the broken parts, charge the batteries and look after each other and try and find time to sleep and rest,” says Caffari. “All the time this is going on the teams are also making crucial decisions on seamanship and safety, so we must remember this as we follow the leg across the Pacific Ocean and congratulate the remaining three boats racing and keep our fingers crossed that the fleet can return to six boats in Punta del Este for the final legs.”

[splashprincess 17]

You know it's pretty bad when 2 of the most professionally prepared boats have to pull out.

 

Well at least it means that more of you Aucklanders may get to see these boats up close, any maybe another roadtrip for us to help out Campagne de France!

[Guest Crafty 1]

You know it's pretty bad when 2 of the most professionally prepared boats have to pull out.

 

!

 

No its not!... just read the little note on the bottom of your posts...

Go Hard or Go home!

 

Going to hard can make you go home!

[Guest]

The Farr Class 40 recently completed by Hakes Marine is at Pier 21 getting readied for shipping. Very nicely put together and a happy owner.

[Guest]

Shortly after midnight Monday/Tuesday, Global Ocean Race (GOR) leaders, Conrad Colman and Adrian Kuttel took their Akilaria RC2 Cessna Citation below 50S, collected their Furious Fifties Visitors’ Visa for future use in the descent to Cape Horn and tacked north-east through fog towards the southern limit of the bluQube Scoring Gate at 47S. Marco Nannini and Hugo Ramon followed suit six hours later with Financial Crisis and to the north-west, Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire experienced a series of crash tacks with Phesheya-Racing and hove-to for repairs to their autopilot.

 

 

Since tacking onto starboard, Cessna Citation has been picking up speed despite some early doubts: “We may have tacked too early as the shifting winds still swing like a metronome instead of the steady breeze promised by the forecasts,” reported Colman on Tuesday morning. “Trimmed on hard for sailing upwind, our boat searches the correct course through the gathering fog like a snuffling greyhound, never tiring or complaining of condensing fog droplets the way a real helmsman would.”

 

 

Colman and Kuttel marked their ninth day at sea in Leg 3 with Colman’s fourth mast climb since leaving Wellington. “I went aloft this time to re-tie a humble elastic cord that pulls the lazy backstay against the mast and stops it from swinging perilously around the front side of the spreaders,” explains the 28 year-old Kiwi. With the backstay free to hook itself forward of the mast, the risk of winding the runner on at night, or in a hurried manoeuvre, and dismasting the Class40 was too great. “In the same way that a $100m space shuttle was scuttled by a 50 cent rubber washer, the loss of a humble bungee could cut our ambitions short,” says Colman.

 

 

An earlier mast climb to run a new staysail halyard had not gone so smoothly. With Buckley Systems and Campagne de France nearby, Colman and Kuttel decided not to reduce sail, but bore-away in 30 knots of wind to keep on the pace. “With my arms looped around the top spreaders while waiting for Adrian, the bow slammed into a wave, sending me flying with only my forearm against the spreader to stop me from being lost in space like a moonwalking astronaut,” Colman recalls. “Several similar incidents left me grateful that I regained the deck with all bones intact, but the bruises have now flowered into a multi-coloured array from blue to ochre red.”

 

 

Colman admits that undertaking the mast climb with Cessna Citation at full-pace wasn’t the wisest move: “Such actions smack of foolhardiness rather than the heroics of the moment,” he concedes. “But it’s all part of racing a boat in big conditions when each mile won or lost is breathlessly measured at each position report.” Despite Financial Crisis chasing hard 85 miles off his starboard quarter, Colman is missing the thrill of racing against Buckley Systems and Campagne de France: “It’s for this that I'm disappointed to have lost two of our competitors,” he explains. “I sadly understand that the Fields were hurt and needed to receive medical attention, but conditions were not such that a solid boat with healthy crew could not have carried on.”

 

 

In the 15:00 GMT position poll on Tuesday, Financial Crisis in second place was pacing Cessna Citation at 7.5 knots. On board the first generation Akilaria, Marco Nannini’s co-skipper, Hugo Ramon, the youngest competitor in the GOR, had already had enough of beating: “I really, really hate climate change and global warming,” comments the 26 year-old Spaniard. “It’s because of the hated climate change that we are forced to race upwind and it’s not good for the health,” he believes. “The boat is full of water; our clothes never dry; trying to sleep becomes torture and injuries are multiplying – it should be banned!” says Ramon of his sixth consecutive day on the wind. “I’m no expert, but I know that climate change has altered the world’s well-known and established weather systems and increasing temperatures at the poles have caused glaciers to calve more icebergs,” he explains. “These icebergs then drift around the oceans in the high latitudes fragmenting into smaller bergs called growlers which can’t be spotted by a boat’s radar or infrared satellite imagery.”

 

 

Despite their reduced proportions, the grand piano-sized growlers are still a threat: “They may be smaller pieces of ice measured in a few metres, but they can still break a boat in two,” confirms Ramon. “In order to prevent this catastrophe happening, round-the-world race organisations like the GOR establish safety gates to stop us going too far south into areas where more and more ice has been recorded over recent years.” In the GOR, the southern waypoint of the bluQube Scoring Gate pulls the Class40s away from known ice fields located via satellite over the past few months. “This wise decision has consequences,” continues Ramon. “Firstly, we can’t drop south and make a great circle route that is shorter and, secondly, we’ve less space tactically and as a result we are currently trapped in headwinds that are driving us insane,” he concludes. “However, even if going south and making like Schakleton was an option available to us, we’d need to charter an ice breaker!”

 

 

For Cessna Citation and Financial Crisis, an end to the painful period of beating may be in sight with weather files predicting the wind will clock from SE to South early evening of Tuesday GMT, then further SW until the scoring gate currently 660 miles ahead of Cessna Citation.

 

 

Meanwhile, around 500 miles north-west of the leaders, Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire had opted to hove-to for a second time with Phesheya-Racing. Having survived the gale on Monday, Leggatt and Hutton-Squire were moving again in confused seas with under 20 knots of wind when the pilot failed and threw Phesheya-Racing into a tack. Phillippa Hutton-Squire takes up the story: “At first I thought we had too much sail area up as the wind was increasing, so we put a third reef in the main,” she reported early on Tuesday morning. “Nick and I went down below to shelter from the big seas that were crashing over the boat and not even half an hour later we crash tacked.” Hutton-Squire leapt into the cockpit and tacked the Class40 back again. “Nick pressed auto from down below, but nothing happened!”

 

 

Hutton-Squire remained at the helm in deeply unpleasant conditions: “Grey, low mist that had a constant drizzle in your face with the wind increasing to high 20's and a short and sharp sea…not the easiest conditions!” The choice was made to heave-to while the pilot problem was identified. “We checked cables and double checked them and voltage doesn’t seem to be a problem,” she confirms. “Now Nick has the pilot in pieces as he thinks the clutch is not working!” On Tuesday afternoon, Leggatt and Hutton-Squire were in direct contact with the pilot’s manufacturer to find a solution.

 

 

While the South Africans continue work on their autopilots, Buckley Systems and Campagne de France are closing in on New Zealand having turned west on Friday, splitting from the GOR fleet. At 15:00 on Tuesday, Ross and Campbell Field on Buckley Systems were around 160 miles from their destination. Campbell Field sent an update early on Tuesday: “Ross is well, however he’s drugged to the eyeballs,” he reports. “So it makes for some interesting conversations, mainly when he is asleep!” Initially, Buckley Systems was heading to Auckland, but there has been a change of plan: “We are diverting to Tauranga to get Ross off the boat and to specialists as soon as possible,” Campbell continues. “We had him booked in Auckland for Friday, but the forecast is getting lighter and lighter, so we may not make it there in time,” he explains. “Should surgery be needed, then he will get it done as soon as physically possible to be back up and running in the very near future.”

[Guest]

The Farr Class 40 recently completed by Hakes Marine is at Pier 21 getting readied for shipping. Very nicely put together and a happy owner.

 

 

We sailed past it on Friday and had a good look at it. Man its an awesome boat and I hope they have a lot of fun with it. Heres some pictures......

[Guest]

Following half a day hove-to with autopilot problems at 45S, right in the middle of the South Pacific, the Global Ocean Race’s (GOR) South African team of Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire were back on the move with Class40 Phesheya-Racing at 19:30 GMT on Tuesday, but the duo’s fight is only half-won with a tropical cyclone tearing towards them.

 

Meanwhile, 600 miles to the south-east, race leaders, Conrad Colman and Adrian Kuttel on Cessna Citation and the Italian-Spanish duo of Marco Nannini and Hugo Ramon chasing hard in second place with Financial Crisis have finally hooked into southerly breeze after seven days of beating and are making rapid progress towards the southern limit of the bluQube Scoring Gate.

 

Friends and family of the South African team held their breath throughout Tuesday as Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire hove-to for the second time in two days. Becoming isolated and exposed as Cessna Citation and Financial Crisis disappear into the Pacific to their east and with the nearest land a group of uninhabited, volcanic rocks 900 miles to the north at the southern limit of French Polynesia, Leggatt and Hutton-Squire must sail with boat preservation an immediate priority.

 

On Sunday, exceptionally confused seas forced the duo to heave-to and ride out a storm, but once underway as the maelstrom subsided, the autopilots on Phesheya-Racing continued to drop out, throwing the Class40 into a succession of crash tacks. The South Africans hove-to a second time and Nick Leggatt retired to the lazarette armed with a tool box and grim determination. “We spent much of the night hove-to with both pilots in pieces, emailing and phoning NKE and Raymarine to try and find a solution,” Leggatt reported soon after Phesheya-Racing was underway again on Tuesday night GMT. “With the time difference in Europe it was essential to work non-stop through the night to find a solution while the manufacturers were still at work.”

 

After trying every fault-finding trick in the manual and some thorough diagnostics, the problems were identified: “It seems to be that the brushes on the electric motor for the hydraulic pump are worn, so that’s not working at all at the moment,” reveals Leggatt. The second pilot was more of a challenge: “There’s a problem with the NKE computer not activating the clutch on the ram,” he explains. “We tried to swap computers, but that didn't work either, so Raymarine finally suggested that we bypass the computer and put a direct 12-volt feed to the clutch to engage it permanently.” The experimentation was a success and the South Africans continued racing under triple-reefed main and storm jib as a grey dawn broke over the Southern Ocean.

 

However, the hard times aren’t over for Leggatt and Hutton-Squire as Tropical Cyclone Cyril, 1,000 miles NNW of Phesheya-Racing, looks certain to cause further frustration. Nick Leggatt explains: “Cyril is forecast to move SE at a speed of 30 knots and eventually pass between us and the bluQube Scoring Gate as a deep low pressure gale on Saturday.” The weather system is forecast to sit directly on the track Phesheya-Racing would have chosen to the gate, blasting the South Africans with 30-40-knot headwinds. The southerly route taken by the leading two boats is, consequently, unavailable.

 

The alternative is to lock into the southerly breeze spinning off the top and back of the system, but timing the rendezvous with Cyril is crucial. “On the bright side, it does mean that once the system is south of us we will at last have some downwind sailing!” comments Leggatt cheerfully. “This constant beating has taken a huge toll on both us and the boat and we will need to monitor this weather system closely, but if we play our cards right we could be sailing downwind in three days,” he adds. “We can only dream...” In the 15:00 GMT position poll on Wednesday, Phesheya-Racing was heading NNE at 7.8 knots for the appointment with Cyclone Cyril.

 

For the two front runners, a brief visit to the Furious Fifties on Tuesday has been followed by a rapid ascent to the bluQube Scoring Gate’s southern limit at 47S. Since tacking onto starboard at 50S, speed averages rose as the breeze clocked south with Nannini and Ramon clipping over ten-knot averages on Financial Crisis and hunting hard for every fraction of a knot. “We’re racing round the world with a knife in our teeth and we’re fighting for every mile with Cessna,” reported Hugo Ramon on Wednesday morning. “However, we lost some miles because we had to lower the mainsail and replace the broken leech line,” he explains.

 

In the 15:00 GMT position poll on Wednesday, Conrad Colman and Adrian Kuttel had added 20 miles to their lead over Financial Crisis in 24 hours with Nannini and Ramon trailing by 101 miles and 440 miles remaining to the scoring gate for Cessna Citation. On their four year-old, first generation Akilaria, Nannini and Ramon know that Colman and Kuttel’s Akilaria RC2 is a formidable weapon: “We have to remember that this is a marathon with a lot of miles ahead and not a sprint,” says the Spanish skipper. “In this hand-to-hand combat, we are waiting for Cessna Citation to make an error, and then we pounce,” he explains. “On flat out speed, we haven’t a hope as Cessna goes like a bullet,” adds Ramon, mindful of Colman’s outstanding GOR 24-hour run record of 359 miles. “So, instead of just following them, we’ve established some lateral separation and this might just give us different and better winds.”

[Guest]

fresh of the press

 

 

As the Global Ocean Race (GOR) fleet leaders approach the bluQube Scoring Gate in the middle of the Pacific, Conrad Colman and Adrian Kuttel have been pushing hard on their Akilaria RC2, Cessna Citation, sustaining averages of over 14 knots and pulling away from Marco Nannini and Hugo Ramon in second on Financial Crisis.

 

 

Furthest north, in third place, the South Africans on Phesheya-Racing are timing their route to hook into the favourable breeze as Cyclone Cyril rumbles south-east into the Roaring Forties, while over 2,000 miles to the west, both Buckley Systems and Campagne de France have made landfall in New Zealand.

 

 

Despite their isolation 800 miles north-west of Cessna Citation and Financial Crisis, Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire have company at 42S as the VHF on Phesheya-Racing burst into life. “I dashed out the hatch to see if I could see another vessel, but there was nothing in sight!” reported Hutton-Squire early on Thursday morning. “Nick got chatting to this boat that is fishing for tuna on long lines.” The 80ft boat, F/V Betty H, was from Hawaii spending three months fishing before returning via Tahiti to off load their fish. “Next time you have tuna, think about how far it has travelled to your plate!” she adds.

The South Africans continued chatting with the Betty H – crewed by five fishermen and three dogs: “The skipper told us in the old days he used to listen to the Whitbread boats on the VHF talking about spinnakers and losing masts,” Hutton-Squire continues. “They said they also thought that the weather is very unusual.” On Thursday afternoon GMT, Phesheya-Racing was making 7.6-knot averages keeping to their northern route and the plan of intercepting Cyclone Cyril. “If we stay north we will get into northerly wind faster and be able to sail downwind,” predicts the South African skipper. “The boat is going much better as the sea state has also improved,” she confirms.

 

 

As spirits are raised on Phesheya-Racing following a relentless upwind hammering, heaving-to on two occasions and dealing with serious pilot problems, the sudden, unexpected proximity of humanity so far from land is an added bonus: “It was very reassuring to know that we are not alone down here,” admits Hutton-Squire. “Especially since we have been having so many problems,” she adds. “Betty H wanted to know if we needed anything and the only thing I asked for was a sense of humour…..they laughed, but they were willing to help us out if need be. Wonderful to know seamen like that!”

 

 

Meanwhile, Colman and Kuttel are pushing to break the GOR 24-hour speed record of 359 miles on Cessna Citation, averaging over 14 knots for six hours and dropping back to 13.4 knots at 15:00 GMT on Thursday in westerlies from a deep low pressure system centred 850 miles to the south at 64S. Trailing Colman and Kuttel by 169 miles, Marco Nannini and Hugo Ramon are forcing speed from Financial Crisis and hit 10.3 knots at 15:00 GMT, but have dropped back 68 miles behind Cessna Citation in the past 24 hours.

 

 

Although the strongest winds in the southerly low pressure system will miss the GOR leaders, there are strong headwinds forecast as the two southerly boats approach the mid-Pacific Ocean scoring gate. Consequently, the GOR Race Committee has changed the location of the southern waypoint to avoid further punishment for boats that have already endured a week of beating. “We are very aware that Cessna Citation and Financial Crisis in particular have passed the main area of known icebergs to the west of the bluQube Scoring Gate, but could potentially suffer from further severe headwinds during their final approach the gate,” explains GOR Race Director, Josh Hall. “We would not have contemplated making this change even 24 hours ago and would have sat it out until the teams were clear of ice fields,” he adds.

 

 

In accordance with the GOR’s Sailing Instructions, the GOR Race Committee has decided to move the southern point of the bluQube Scoring Gate from 47S to 50S. “If any boat feels they have been disadvantaged, they can obviously apply for redress, which would be dealt with by the GOR’s International Jury, but our priority right now is the safety of the skippers and the boats,” says Hall. The Class40s may still encounter ice at any time during Leg 3 and Hall has recommended that the teams continue to maintain a good lookout using all appropriate means, including radar. Leading the fleet, Cessna Citation was 150 miles from taking maximum points at the bluQube Scoring Gate at 15:00 GMT.

 

 

Back in New Zealand, Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron have moored Campagne de France in Auckland and Ross and Campbell Field stopped briefly in Tauranga. “A quick nap and the friendly local Customs Officer arrived to clear us back in to NZ,” reported Campbell Field on Thursday morning. At the same time, Ross Field’s wife and two cousins appeared: “Jan, Bruce and Cam walked down the dock armed with a long black and a flat white,” Campbell continues. “Just what we needed.” Ross Field showered and was then driven to a back specialist as his son and nephews sail Buckley Systems on to Auckland.

[Guest]

Ross fields has launched a scathing attack on the GOR event organisers and has called this leg a shambles and is thinking about legal action.

 

http://tvnz.co.nz/sailing-news/kiwi-sai ... eo-4716390