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 © Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006 “I was hoping that ABN AMRO ONE was holding back, because it was the fabled ‘not ABN weather’ or that Moose (Mike Sanderson) had a rotator cuff problem from that bullet of a first pitch he threw at the Orioles game a couple of weeks ago in Baltimore that was somehow slowing them down. Or anything. But here they come. A little breeze is all they need,” wrote Kenny Read from Ericsson rather ruefully. “Clearly they have done their homework and have little to no offshore holds. Don’t know what we can do to stop them at this point, which is a bummer, because the boys onboard have worked really hard in very light, trying conditions to keep our old girl in front,” he added. Even though leg eight is taking much longer than normal and the fleet is covering the ocean at a snail’s pace, the racing continues to be incredibly tight, perhaps the closest racing yet. “Currently we are sailing alongside Pirates of the Caribbean. For much of the morning they have not been more than a few hundred metres away and although we may be down in fourth or fifth place, there is absolutely no need for despair as the leaders are in view just a few miles ahead,” says Simon Fisher from ABN AMRO TWO. Lack of food is becoming a real issue. The leg was expected to last for six days but it is going to be a few more days before the teams can launch themselves into the Dutch fare. “We are going to have to go easy on the food for the next few days, “ says Simon Fisher. “This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go hungry, but on this boat you’ve got to be quick,” he laughs. Leg eight couldn’t be more different from leg seven which brought the fleet across the Atlantic from New York to Portsmouth last month. Kenny Read from Ericsson says the huge stationary high pressure system on leg eight has created trying conditions in such a different way from the Trans-Atlantic leg that it is barely recognisable as the same game. “I don’t ever remember being on deck in leg seven without foul weather gear and being pounded by water while on deck was the norm. I actually wore my foul weather gear a lot of the time below as well – a necessity due to the water coming in the boat from the outside in every imaginable and unimaginable way possible. On this leg I haven’t put my foul weather jacket on yet and I have done half the race with just socks on. Leg seven saw large periods of very little sleep for most during some heinous weather and hull slamming. This leg is breaking snoring sound barriers that have never been approached before,” he describes. This afternoon the fleet continues to make reasonable progress towards Fair Isle, the turning point at the northern tip of Scotland between the Orkney and Shetland Islands, but the wind is going to die again shortly and more park-ups and reshuffles in the fleet are to be expected. Related Items: |
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