Leg Five Day 14: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

1. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) DTF 8,364
2. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +18
3. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +20
4. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +41
5. Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +78

Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS

Bouwe Bekking explains how they made magic in the first two weeks of Leg 5
February 27, 2009

photo credit: Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race
Xabier Fernandez and skipper Bouwe Bekking onboard Telefonica Blue, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro

Leg 5 is the longest in the history of the Volvo Ocean Race: 12,300 nautical miles from Qingdao, China, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, including the third equator crossing of this Volvo Ocean Race, a visit to the Southern Ocean and a turning of Cape Horn. Bouwe Bekking's TELEFONICA BLUE began this leg as one of the favourite teams after two offshore wins in a row -Leg 3 and Leg 4-, but only a couple of minutes prior to the start, a crash against a rock in the exclusion zone of the start in Qingdao switched on all the alarms. After almost 19 hours of repairs and checking the Spanish VO70 skippered by Bouwe Bekking finally started Leg 5, 150 miles behind the leaders.
But this is all in the past. After almost two weeks of racing, TELEFONICA BLUE has managed to star in an impressive comeback. On day 4 of this 5th Leg, the Spanish blue boat was 285 nautical miles behind the leaders, trying not to lose too many miles despite an unfavourable scenario with no room for tactical movements. After one week of fighting, TELEFONICA BLUE passed Green Dragon, and before the end of the second week, on February 26, the position report on the VOR website showed Bouwe's boat in second place: an impressive recovery.
The first question for skipper Bouwe Bekking is simple: how can you explain that? "First of all we are a team that never gives up," the Dutch sailor explains. "After the dramatic departure delay we just had to push on and keep believing in ourselves. How else could you explain the gains on the leaders and on Green Dragon."
photo credit: Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race Storm clouds approach Telefonica Blue, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro

After 4,000 nautical miles, TELEFONICA BLUE is still sailing in the same tack, reaching along all the way down from China. "Booooooring!" Bouwe says. Not that boring when you check the record numbers of the boat: maximum boat speed of 32 knots and several days of covering close to 500 Nm in 24 hours.
But that amazing rhythm was before entering the Doldrums. The head of the fleet contacted the ICZ -Intertropical Convergence Zone- on Sunday the 22nd, and what they found differed with what is expected of the Doldrums and was way different in comparison to the last two Doldrums crossings -Leg 1 in the Atlantic Ocean and Leg 2 in the Indian: "The big difference is that none of us really stopped, I think the worst average over a 3-hour period was just over 6 knots of boat speed. Of course we were hoping for a full stop to create a 'proper' restart for us."

Bouwe is experienced when it comes to sailing around the world and has thus had his fair share of experiences with the Doldrums. "They are definitely not our friends," Bouwe explains, "we have been sailing in more headed breeze all the time like the other boats." This difficulty makes it even harder to understand the impressive performance of TELEFONICA BLUE. Don't forget that the Spanish team changed the rudders of their VO70 in Qingdao in order to improve the performance and steering despite a 3-point penalty according to the rules: "They feel really good, better than I had ever hoped for," Bouwe recognises. "We always knew that when reaching we would be faster, but it seems upwind they do well also, like for example, right now we are sailing with our big code 0 in 13 knots of breeze and have full control and we're going fast. With the old rudders the zero had to come down in 12 knots of breeze. We expect a similar gain for heavy running, so the choice has been right."
Apart from the improvement shown by the rudder change, Bouwe takes the opportunity to give credit to his crew, the whole team and the designers of the Spanish VO70: "Give a bunch of good guys a good boat and the results will come by themselves! Just kidding; of course this has not come together as easily as it sounds. All the hours of homework, preparation and work done by the designers, the builders of boat and rig and the shore crew have created what we have."

photo credit: Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race Telefonica Blue, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro

CONTROLLING THE SQUALLS
This part of the world has been named by some of the fleet as a "squall zone." Squalls are an important factor to keep in mind when sailing, as the behaviour of the wind in these conditions tends to be very extreme.
Controlling the clouds and squalls is no easy matter, but TELEFONICA BLUE has managed to take advantage of the situation. "If anybody could tell me how to control them, he would be onboard in an instant," Bouwe laughs. "The reality is that we can't control the clouds. On this leg they travel at roughly 90 degrees to our course, so you are very limited with your course changes as the clouds are big. But keeping an eye open during the day tells you roughly how quickly the breeze will hit you."
This means experience and good eyesight play key roles, but all this changes during the night when visibility drops to zero. "At night time the only 'eyes' you have is the radar," Bouwe says. "You can predict pretty well when entering or departing a cloud. We are using the radar also during the day to see how big a squall is, and once we are in, to see roughly how long it will take to get out of it."
TEMPERATURE CHANGE
When TELEFONICA BLUE and the rest of the VOR fleet left Qingdao, the water temperature was around 5 degrees Celsius and the air temperature was just above zero. Sailing south means heading towards the equator, and as the boats add miles to their hulls the temperature around them changes. Bouwe tells us about the change and how it affected life on board: "The temperature change came rather quickly; within one day the water temperature went from 6 to 23 degrees. The air temperature was a bit more gradual, as the wind was coming from the north and still kept another two days of chill in it. In particular the rise of the sea temperature was nice as the spray is not freezing anymore. You judge quickly how many layers of clothing you have to take off. Right now we are in very warm weather, which means a lot of rashes appear, and sleeping during the day time is much harder."
photo credit: Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race Telefonica Blue, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro

FIJI AND THE SCORING WAYPOINT
After the 'dramatic' departure from Qingdao and two weeks of magical performance, a new race started for TELEFONICA BLUE once they contacted the fleet, a race that now includes new tactics. "From now on it will be very tricky," Bouwe Bekking says, as his boat sails less than 20 miles behind the leader approaching the Fiji islands. "First of all, we want to stay close to the fleet, as we seem not to be slow, so we'd rather keep slowly chipping away than go for the big fish. It will crucial to see if everyone will make it to the east of Fiji; if that is the case than I can 'relax' and keep doing what we are doing. But if some make it to the east and we have to pass to the west of Fiji that will mean losing valuable miles quickly."
Fiji is an important turning point in this 5th Leg of the Volvo Ocean Race even though it doesn't directly add any points to the leader board. The first of the two scoring waypoints of Leg 5 is still 1,000 nautical miles south of Fiji, in 36ºS, close to New Zealand. "There is still a long way to the scoring waypoint but I expect that everybody will sail a southerly course and just pass east of New Zealand. From there on, the trick is to find the best way around the South Atlantic high pressure system into the southern ocean."
What is clear is that Bouwe Bekking and TELEFONICA BLUE made magic to achieve a fantastic recovery. What is next, God only knows, but Bouwe will certainly keep on telling us how things are going in his exclusive reports.

The Volvo fleet is rumbling down the track towards Fiji, which is not a mark of the course or a scoring gate, but it is a significant milestone mentally for the five crews racing in this 12,300 nm leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, the longest in the 36-year history of the event. After passing Fiji, there is still approximately 1000 nm to run to the first of two gates, where the first points will be scored.

photo credit: Guy Salter/Ericsson 4/Volvo Ocean Race
Rain clouds approaching Ericsson 4, in the Doldrums, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race

The island of Fiji is approximately 400 nm on the bow, and it will have a huge influence on how the fleet sails in the next two days. The western-most boat in the fleet, fourth-placed Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED), is having to sail at the tightest angle since the start of the leg and the yacht feels more constrained than before.
“The guys above us (to the east) have a slightly better angle to the top of Vanua Levu Island than us, especially the Dragons, so we are holding a breath a bit,” said navigator Tom Addis. The team has made a spectacular come-back after starting the leg 19 hours after the rest of the fleet due to contact with a rock just minutes before the start of the leg in Qingdao. Telefónica Blue is now only 36 nm behind leaders Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA).
“We’ve had a great run in the last 24 hours through some very unstable weather, and have pulled the front runners back by a massive amount, to the stage of almost being in the same patch of water now,” says Addis.
Competition is very close. PUMA (Ken Read/USA) and Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) are just 23 and 24 nm from Ericsson 4 and both Telefónica Blue and Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) are making some fast runs. Everything is still open for the first scoring gate at 36 degrees south.photo credit: Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race
Sail changes on Telefonica Blue, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro

The thinking on the ocean is that the teams are out of the worst of the ‘squall zone’, and the sailing is starting to settle down. Simon Fisher (Telefónica Blue) reported a six-hour morning watch of beautiful, fast upwind sailing in a steady breeze with the Code Zero sail flying. There was sunshine, flat water and not too many clouds in the sky. However, the weather threatened to spoil things for the afternoon watch who were just getting in to the rhythm of sailing round the clouds. It seems unlikely now that fleet will reach the hoped-for complete standstill that the Telefónica Blue crew were counting on, which would have allowed a full restart of the leg and a further opportunity for this team to gain.
Meanwhile, Ericsson 4 has been up close and personal with some wildlife. Rather closer than they would have liked.
“Today we also saw some whales, one of them less than a boat length from us. They are beautiful animals and their size is impressive. But my memories of them are not all nice,” wrote Joca Signorini who, when sailing onboard Brasil 1 in a qualification for the 2005-06 race actually hit one. He was thrown against the main bulkhead had broke three ribs. “Let’s hope we don’t get any closer – although beautiful, they are a danger to us as we are to them,” he said.
Leading the fleet by just 23 nm, Ericsson 4 is reporting flat seas and 12 knots of breeze. The crew are wearing shorts and T-shirts and enjoying beautiful nights filled with lots of stars.photo credit: Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race
Sail stacking on Telefonica Blue, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro

Onboard PUMA, MCM Rick Deppe was chatting to New Zealander, Rob Salthouse about the night sky:
“I was talking about my new, super-duper infrared see-in-the-dark camera light and Rob was telling me that he missed his kids and wished that he could bring them out here so that they could see how beautiful the night was. We both lamented that the folks at Sony had a long way to go until they could make a camera that would record a night like tonight, but then Rob commented that maybe that is a good thing, because everyone would be out here if they knew what it was like.”
With 8,402 miles to run to the finish in Rio, at 1300 GMT today, the fleet was spread 70 nm from first to fifth, but 102 nm west/east divide from Telefónica Blue in the west to Green Dragon in the east. The leading trio has remained almost the same distance apart, just a two-mile gain in the 24 hours, but there have been substantial gains for the backmarkers. Telefónica Blue has caught up another 26 nm and Green Dragon 18 miles. Telefónica Blue posts the fast 24-hour run of 266 nm, while PUMA is currently averaging the highest boat speed of 11.8 knots.photo credit: Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race
The scarred hands of Ericsson 3 boatcaptain and pitman Jens Dolmer.

Leg Five Day 13: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions (boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish) 1. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 8,402 nm
2. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +23
3. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +24
4. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +36
5. Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +70
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS

Team Ceeref, with Sebastien Col, Remains the Best RC 44 Match Race Team

Photo by Nico Martinez, www.nicomartinez.comPuerto Calero, Canary Islands:
Winner of last years' match race championship, the Slovenian team Ceeref started the 2009 championship in unknown - yet very reliable - hands with substitute driver Sebastien Col.
The French match race champion proved to be the right person, leading his new team to victory and dominating the tournament by winning all of his matches. The conditions were once again light and irregular today in Puerto Calero, and Race Officer Peter "Luigi" Reggio did his very best to conclude the round robin before the night, changing the course constantly to match the wind direction changes. The first flight of the day - the fourth altogether - finally started at 1:30 PM after numerous postponements. Both Team Aqua and No Way Back had fairly easy rides against BMW ORACLE Racing (penalised by a premature start) and Organika.As for Artemis and Ceeref, they had to contain the attacks of the two Spanish entries, Puerto Calero Islas Canarias 1 and 2, sailing aggressively and keeping in touch with the best. Led by Philippe Presti, team No Way Back was still unbeaten at this stage, which is a great achievement considering the fact that it is their first RC 44 regatta. The rest of the day proved however to be harder for them. Match-race, final results:
(Name of team, helmsman, No of victories / defeats, points)
1. Ceeref, Sebastien Col, 7/0 - 7 points
2. Team Aqua, Cameron Appleton, 5/2 - 5 points
3. BMW ORACLE Racing, Russell Coutts, 5/2 - 5 points
4. Artemis, Torbjorn Tornqvist, 4/3 - 4 points
5. No Way Back, Philippe Presti, 4/3 - 4 points
6. Puerto Calero Islas Canarias 2, Carlos Morales, 1/6 - 1 point
7. Team Organika, Karol Jablonski 1/6 - 1 point
8. Puerto Calero Islas Canarias 1, Jose Maria Ponce, 1/6 -0 point (incl. one penalty)

www.rc44.com

A 15-year-old girl planning to sail solo and non-stop around the world starting in November is this week experiencing the rugged Southern Ocean in advance.
Australia-based Jessica Watson's preparation for the round-the-world attempt includes joining the crew of the Evohe sailing boat on a trip from Bluff to the Auckland Islands.
The trip would allow her to experience the cold Southern Ocean conditions ahead of her solo attempt, she said. All going to plan, she will embark on her world trip from Brisbane in November, sailing a 34-foot yacht with enoughfood and equipment aboard to last eight months and 2200 nautical miles.

Her dad is worried she will get lonely, mum is worried about rough weather and she is worried about equipment failure and not being able to fix it, she said.
Much of her time on the yacht will be spent on maintenance work, schoolwork, watching DVDs and reading adventure novels, she said.

Among the food on board would be a bilge full of chocolate, her favourite food.
Her "nervous but confident" mother, Julie Watson, said Jessica was an accomplished sailor and very focused on the task ahead.

"A lot of people say `how ridiculous, she is 15'. But I would say if they had a daughter like mine they would let her go. She instils confidence in you."
Jessica's Cromwell-based grandfather, Gordon Chisholm, said he had total confidence in her.

"I think if it really turned to custard she would have the wisdom to pull out and that's a very important thing."
She leaves Brisbane on November 7 and plans to sail south of New Zealand and Cape Horn, up to the equator in the Atlantic and back to Brisbane via the Cape of Good Hope and the Indian Ocean.

If successful, she will complete the voyage soon after turning 17, breaking the record for the youngest person by a year.

source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/southlandtimes/4853246a6568.html

Racing Through Paradise Towards The Southern Hemisphere

credit: Rick Deppe/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race

It’s day 10 of the 12,300 nm leg of the Volvo Ocean Race from Qingdao to Rio, and Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) has fought off her opponents and still leads the race south as the team crossed into the southern hemisphere.

However, there has been plenty of excitement on the race track and also some narrow escapes with wildlife in the last 24 hours.

Ian Walker/GBR and his Green Dragons are reaping the reward of their easterly course as they reel in the leaders, gaining 147 nm from 1300 on Saturday to 1300 GMT today. The team is still well over 100 nm to the east of where the leaders passed and this could mean big gains or huge losses if things go against the team.

They have overtaken Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) who is sailing in the wake of the leading trio, but not without a very close incident with a huge whale first thing this morning.

“The whale breached the surface about three boat lengths to windward of us when we were charging along at 17 knots. It does make you wonder what the impact would be like if you hit one of these fantastic creatures flat out. It’s probably better not to think about it too much,” wrote Ian Walker.

Spirits are high and the team is reporting a very easy doldrums passage so far, with only one cloud bringing the team even close to stationary. Controlling the pack, Ericsson 4’s crew are describing the sailing conditions as glorious.

“The sea was very flat today and wind has topped out at about 12 knots, but been in the 8 – 10 knot range for most of the afternoon. We have been cruising along at around 10 knots with the code zero up and have been sailing on the wind. It’s been glorious,” wrote Guy Salter MCM, whose brother Jules is the navigator onboard.

The team passed back into the southern hemisphere today, which invoked some discussion among the Antipodean members of the crew who feel that the boat has returned to the ‘proper’ side of the world. Sightings of wildlife on this boat have been limited to one lone dolphin, a whale and a few birds.

“We were hoping for a better turn out, but then, if you were a sea creature, you would also probably stay well away from a Volvo Open 70,” says Guy.The crew of third placed Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) is fully back in the game.

“During the night, we made huge gains on the front of the fleet and, in the morning, we could see PUMA. And by then, we were still gaining,” explains an excited Gustav Morin MCM.

“They were sailing much lower than us, but pretty much at the same pace, and for a while, it seemed like we were going to come really close to each other. But, suddenly, they got some breeze that we didn’t, and just took off. Fortunately for us, that only lasted for about 30 minutes and we were back in the game,” he said.Although life onboard has been universally improved across the fleet by the opening of hatches in the galley and further aft to create airflow downstairs, onboard Green Dragon the team has a bug, which is working its way through the crew.

The team has taken the precaution of sterilising all the cups, bowls and spoons as best they can, but, according to Ian Walker, the reality of life on these boats is that if one person gets ill, it is a fair assumption that everyone will.

Freddie Shanks is the latest victim and he has commandeered MCM Guo Chuan’s bunk as a sick bay. Over half the crew have suffered with the bug so far. As the fleet races on through the endless atolls and islands, the crew of Telefónica Blue was rather shocked to receive a message on their navigational warning system, which indicated volcanic activity very close to a position the team crossed two days ago.

“Good it didn’t happen when we were there as I am not sure how we would have reacted, and rather don’t want to know the consequences,” exclaimed skipper Bouwe Bekking. This incident led him to consider what other dangers lurk in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. “Radio-activity is one of them. Some of the atolls are still high radio active and the Pacific pilot recommends a wide berth around them,” he said.

That said, Bekking says that the Pilot has provided some nice reading material and says it is a shame that they are racing through this area. “Wouldn’t have been nice to make several stops here and to explore some of the atolls? The pictures say it all, it is paradise.

”At 1300 GMT today, Ericsson 3 was just one mile astern of PUMA, who in turn was only 21 miles behind the leaders, Ericsson 4. Green Dragon was nine miles ahead of Telefónica Blue and both these two boats continue to make small gains on the leaders at every position report. Boat speeds hover around 10 knots, although, for the past three hours, Telefónica Blue has averaged 11.8. Green Dragon gets the prize for the best 24- hour run, sailing 330 since 1300 GMT yesterday.

It is likely to be a week before the fleet rids itself of the light airs and arrives in the Southern Ocean proper.

Leg Five Day 10: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions

(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

1. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 9,303 nm

2. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +21

3. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +24

4. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +126

5. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +135

Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS

Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS

Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS

photo credit: Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race

It is still a hot port-gybe reach for the five boats engaged in the charge south during leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race. The fleet is currently 1200 nm north of New Ireland in the Solomon Islands, the area where the doldrums are lurking and light and shifty breeze await.

Top boat is Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA), with PUMA (Ken Read/USA) positioned neatly on her starboard hip, 45 nm to the northwest, but only 10 nm astern. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) has chosen the middle road, while Ian Walker still has Green Dragon in the east, 156 nm further east than PUMA.

photo credit: Guo Chuan/Green Dragon Racing/Volvo Ocean Race

Bringing up the rear is Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED), who is ploughs a lonely furrow almost exactly the wake of Ericsson 3, but 267 nm behind Ericsson 4. Reaching, although rather monotonous, does have its advantages. There are no sails or gear to stack when the boat tacks, and it looks as if this will be the case for at least another week.

“The stack has stayed pretty much in place for the best part of a week, apart from a bit of carting it forward and aft to help the trim of the boat,” says Telefónica Blue’s Simon Fisher.

photo credit: Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race

The downside of reaching is the spray, which soaks the crew’s eyes with salt. “They get red and very sore,” explains Ericsson 3’s MCM, Gustav Morin. “We have helmets with eye protection and different kinds of goggles to protect them, but it’s tricky to see through the glass.”

Onboard Telefónica Blue, various fashion items have appeared to deal with the spray situation. “Whilst the majority have stuck with the trusty old surf helmet and visor, David Vera has mixed things up a little with a very fetching pair of safety goggles and Michael Pammenter is sporting a pair of scuba goggles. The latter, whilst looking a little ridiculous, seem to be pretty effective, although this was almost not the case, as, whilst getting them out of his bag, Mike managed to stamp on them, popping the lenses out,” said Simon Fisher.

Although the miles are clicking off nicely, around 2,000 nm already safely consigned to history, conditions for the fleet are, in the words of Ericsson 4’s watch captain, Brad Jackson, “wet, hot and manky,” – the ideal breeding ground for all sorts of nasty rashes and sores. “I am not looking forward to what Ryno (Ryan Godfrey), Nipper (Guy Salter) and Blood (Phil Jameson) start coming out with. Over the length of this leg, there could be some new varieties,” he said.
Hold that thought until 1300 GMT tomorrow.

photo credit: Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race

Leg Five Day 6: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions

(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

1. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 10,549 nm

2. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +10

3. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +105

4. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +246

5. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +267

Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS

Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS

Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS

Σε προηγούμενο post σας είχα ενημερώσει για τους αγώνες του φετινού πρωταθλήματος TP52.

Δείτε τώρα και το νέο σκάφος μιας εκ των ομάδων που θα συμμετάσχουν..., ας κάνω μια πρόβλεψη, μιας εκ των ομάδων που θα πρωταγωνιστήσουν.

Η ομάδα έριξε το νέο της TP52 στο νερό στο Viaduct Harbour την Κυριακή. Το σκάφος φτιάχτηκε από την Cookson Boats, με παμιά από την North Sails NZ και αρματωσιά από την Southern Spars.

Fast, warm reaching is on offer today for the five-boat Volvo Ocean Race fleet as it races on through the Pacific Ocean on leg five, the longest leg of the course at 12,300 nm.

Ken Read is delighted that PUMA is able to keep in touch with race leader Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/USA), who is known to excel in fast reaching conditions. PUMA is only four miles behind Ericsson 4, making up four miles in the last 24-hours, and the pair is beginning to open up a substantial lead over the chasing three.

Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) is a safe 142 nm astern of Ericsson 4. Although they have added 63 nm to their deficit since 1300 GMT yesterday, it is still good enough for third place. In spite of the loss of miles to the leader, the atmosphere onboard is one of high spirits, as the team presses the boat as hard as they can.

The wind has been shifty and Gustav Morin MCM reports that it has been difficult to keep good speed and make the right choice of sails. “We have between 10 – 20 knots of wind and the angle has constantly been going back and forth from 30 to 55 degrees,” he said.

The two new crewmembers onboard Ericsson 3, Norwegian Arve Roaas and Sweden’s Magnus Woxen are blending well with the old crew and are enjoying racing the latest generation of Volvo Open 70. They are beginning to feel more comfortable about housekeeping rules such as knowing where to put their boots and socks while sleeping, and how to fit into a sleeping bag and climb up into a bunk, which has only 20cm headroom.

For Ian Walker’s Green Dragon, it has been a tough 24-hours and the team has paid a high price for its northerly position. They are now 207 nm adrift of the leading pair losing a further 82 nm in the past 24-hours. “We didn’t mean to be quite so far north, but we had a long period of light and lifted winds two days ago, that ushered us north,” explained Ian Walker. He said that the crew was very philosophical about the miles lost and that his team’s game plan of sailing, what they believe is the right way irrespective of other boats, will not change.

Late starter, Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) still has plenty of catching up to do. “We are slowly coming into better breeze, so we may be able to stop the bleeding soon, but we still aren’t seeing any major passing lanes,” explained navigator Tom Addis.

Although the last few days of sailing may not have offered an opportunity for tactical decisions, at least the miles are clicking down. The wind will steadily head the fleet, which will slowly curve down to the south to pick up the southeast trade winds.

Onboard PUMA, the goal is to meet up with the trade winds far enough to the east to prevent the boat from being hard on the wind. They will also try to position themselves to the east of some light air near the doldrums.

As the temperatures rise, shoes are being swapped for boots, thermals for shorts; and sun cream and sunglasses are making their first appearance. Life onboard the racing yachts has settled down after the first bumpy 36-hours.

Speeds hover between the 16 – 18 knot mark and the fastest 24-hour run belongs to PUMA at 442 nm, although Ericsson 4 has recorded a maximum boat speed of 26 knots.Leg

Five Day Five: 1300 GMT

Volvo Ocean Race Positions

(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

1. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 10886 nm

2. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +4

3. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +142

4. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +207

5. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +284

6. Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS

7. Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS

8. Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS

Δάκρυα και αγωνία καθώς ξεκινά το μεγαλύτερο σκέλος του αγώνα, από την Κίνα ως το Ριο της Βραζιλίας, μήκους 12,300νμ.

Κουράγιο λοιπόν για τα πληρώματα, αλλά και για αυτούς που μείναν πίσω να αγωνιούν.

Speed Is King As Temperatures Plummet

photo credit: Gustav Morin/Ericsson Racing Team/Volvo Ocean Race

After a slow get away from Qingdao in China on leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race (12,300 nm - the longest leg ever to be set in the history of the race), the wind has arrived on schedule and the first three boats are up, up and away. But, Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) who had barely two hours after crossing the finish of leg four yesterday to re-provision the boat, load sails and extra clothes, before crossing the start line just under seven hours after the official leg start, is hunting the leaders down in grand style.

Bouwe Bekking’s Telefónica Blue had a disaster on the start line yesterday after running aground, requiring Bekking to return to Qingdao and haul his boat out for inspection and immediate repair. The team resumed racing last night, 19 hours behind the fleet. At 1300 today, they were 202 nm in arrears, amounting to approximately nine hours in the current conditions.

photo credit: Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race

The fleet is now being catapulted towards the southern tip of Japan at breakneck speed. Ken Read/USA onboard PUMA reported a steady boat speed of 30 knots earlier this morning in 27 knots of wind. For Telefónica Blue, the start was anything but slow, which was tough on the crew and Xabier Fernandez from Spain was seasick. In the first hour of racing, the crew made four sail changes and saw their first snowflakes.

The light airs in the initial stages of the leg helped Ericsson 3 to catch the leaders and during their first two hours of racing, they drew them in by 30 miles. “We really have to fight the cold at these speeds,” said MCM Gustav Morin. “It is really tough when the freezing water is spraying us all the time,” he explained.

photo credit: Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race

At 1300 GMT today, the leader of the pack, Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) was 155 nautical miles from the southern tip of Japan south island and averaging a boat speed of 22 knots. PUMA was 20 nm behind her and in third place was Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) 44 nm behind Ericsson 4. Walker will be looking anxiously over his shoulder as Ericsson 3 has closed the margin to just six miles.

Ericsson 4 achieved the fastest 24-hour run of 415 nm.

Leg Five Day Two: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions

1. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 12,076 nm
2. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +20
3. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +44
4. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +46
5. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +202
6. Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
7. Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS
8. Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS

Auckland - Emirates Team New Zealand today laid claim to the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, convincingly beating the Swiss team Alinghi with three consecutive wins on a grey, rainy and windy day on the Waitemata Harbour.

The home team’s come-from-behind 3-1 victory marked the end of a 15-day match racing regatta in modified America’s Cup boats that drew praise for its format and its originality from all of the nine international teams that took part.

Ship’s sirens and boat horns drowned out the cheering as the Emirates boat docked alongside the Swiss team for the last time. Emirates skipper Dean Barker accepted the silver and crystal Louis Vuitton Pacific Series trophy for his team in a Moët et Chandon, champagne-soaked ceremony watched by hundreds of spectators at the regatta village in Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour.

Today’s win reversed a losing streak that saw the New Zealand team lose four out of its previous five starts. In all, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron as the organiser and host club succeeded in starting and finish 53 races for the competitors.

Brad Butterworth the Kiwi skipper and tactician for Alinghi had high praise for the event. “Its been three weeks of very good sailing here, although obviously we don’t sail very well in the rain,” Butterworth said.

“But it has been fantastic. I can’t say that enough. Today was a great day. It was a little hairy for both crews. You really saw how good the crews are. We couldn’t quite close it out today but the sailing and the competition was at a really top level and that’s what we love and that’s what we want to see more of.

”Yves Carcelle, president and CEO of Louis Vuitton Malletier refused to be drawn on whether his company would run a similar event in the future. “We don’t know for the moment what the future will be but I would like to concentrate on the last two weeks,” Carcelle said. “I think we’ve seen here a fantastic sports series. The teams respected one another in an amazing way. The level of the competition was extraordinary.

”Racing today, the Kiwi team was on fire after its loss yesterday. Barker and his tactician Ray Davies made the right calls in the first prestart, allowing them to convert an even start into the thin end of a winning wedge. Emirates beat Alinghi by 29 seconds after leading the helmsman Ed Baird and the Swiss team around the course to make the series 1-1. The defining moment came when a small left shift in the early part of the first leg gave Emirates the leverage to make a close, heart-stopping port tack cross, barely in front of the right-of-way Swiss boat.

From there they covered Alinghi and worked the shifts to sail steadily away.The breeze was at 20 knots and gusting higher at the start of the second race when Barker/Davies helm/tactician duo shut Alinghi out before the gun while laying a penalty on the hapless Swiss and then starting clear ahead. With the penalty hanging over his head, Baird worked hard stay in touch and bring the race back to the Kiwis but without success. That made the score in the best-of-five series 2-1 for Emirates.

The New Zealand team was just one win away from the series victory.

Alinghi had early control of the third start but broke off to make a start near the pin, leaving the Kiwi boat to start at speed in the middle as the breeze got up to 25 knots. The Swiss enjoyed a small early advantage, getting out 23 metres in front of the New Zealanders. However when Ed Baird tacked Alinghi back on port, Emirates was there on starboard and pushed them back to the left side. Alinghi made tack after tack in their attempt to break through but were quickly on the port tack layline and had to follow Emirates into the mark, rounding 29 seconds astern. New Zealand had the upper hand and cruised to a 20-second victory.

The event web site http://www.louisvuitton-pacificseries.com has content in English French and Italian that includes race reports, press reports, features and photographs.

photo credit: Helena de la Gandara/Volvo Ocean Race

Telefonica Blue’s bid for a third straight leg win hangs in the balance after a collision before the start gun left them with serious damage to their keel fin.
The team had been jostling for position at the pre-start when they seemingly ran aground, causing the boat’s speed to drop suddenly from seven knots to zero.
They attempted unsuccessfully to diagnose the problems on the water, but after suspending racing and returning to shore the boat was hoisted out and it emerged there was a crack on the port side of the keel fin.
Bekking, who is gunning for his third straight leg win, has now revealed the team will remove the keel bulb for inspection and repairs could take up to 24 hours.
“We can’t take any risk on a 12,000-mile leg so we just have to take a real thorough look at it now to see what the consequences are. We need to give it a good look.”
The incident came as a surprise to the crew, most notably because they were sailing in depths of 11 metres and the nearest chartered shallow area was 110 metres away.
“We were in the middle of the ocean and we knew there was one shallow spot that is charted at three metres, but we were 110 metres away from that,” Bekking added. “We went from 11 metres of water to full stop. There shouldn’t be any reason for that.

photo credit: Helena de la Gandara/Volvo Ocean Race

“Everyone just looked at each other, I was driving at that stage and we knew we were away from the charted shallow spot. We tried to send one of the chase boat guys over to look but the water is so murky it was not possible to see so we came back.
“We suspended racing two and a half minutes before the start.”
The success of the team’s leg now hangs, quite literally, in the balance as the boat heads to a cradle for a full inspection of the keel. Bekking is keeping his fingers crossed.
“We are going to take the bulb off and have a look,” he said. “That crack shouldn’t have been there. We have to do it the proper way. I think it’s closer to 24 hours and most likely we are going to be ultrasounding. We have to be 100 per cent sure.”
“(A structural problem) would be a major and then it’s a drama. I don’t want even to think about that.”
Meanwhile, Ericsson 3 was 12 miles from the finish of their eventful leg four.

Five Volvo Ocean Race teams are girding themselves for the longest leg in the history of the race – a 12,300 nautical mile marathon to from Qingdao, China to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The leg starts at 1300 local time (0500 GMT) from a start line positioned just off the Olympic breakwater in Qingdao and will take the fleet into the depths of the iconic Southern Ocean and around Cape Horn before the teams find the relief of the finish line in the tropical conditions of Rio de Janeiro.

Four of the race teams have been in Qingdao for nearly three weeks and, after making various repairs, they competed in the in-port race on Monday. They’ve since spent their time this week making final adjustments and tune-ups, as well as provisioning for the long stretch ahead.

The fifth team, Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE), is currently racing towards Qingdao, hoping to finish leg four in the early hours of Saturday morning before joining the start for leg five to Rio.

The 12,300 nm course includes two scoring gates (at latitude 37’00.000S and Cape Horn), and two ice gates to keep the fleet to the north and safe from a drifting iceberg that has now broken up, spewing lethal bergy bits and growlers across the ocean. The Islands of New Zealand (East Cape) is also a mark of the course, which the fleet must leave to starboard. The leg is expected to take around 34 days to complete.

Live audio commentary of the leg start is available through www.volvooceanrace.org

Overall Leaderboard

1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA): 49 points

2. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED): 42 points

3. PUMA (Ken Read/USA): 41 points

4. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR): 30 points

5. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE): 24 points

6. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP): 21 points

7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP): 12 points

8. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT): 10.5 points

The Audi MedCup Circuit, known as the world's leading regatta series is pleased to announce that the TP52 Class and GP42 Class will compete on the Circuit. The MedCup goes into its its fifth year and is widely regarded as the most competitive yacht racing circuit of its kind, attracting the top owners, skippers, sailors and boat designers alike.

Five cities in four different countries will host the series of regattas for both the 52’s and 42’s over five months from May through to September this year. Racing for the TP52’s will consist of the traditional five days of racing with four of these on windward-leeward courses and one coastal race whilst the new division of GP42s will have four days of inshore racing. Although each of the events can be considered individually from a sporting point of view, it is winning the overall circuit that is seen as the top achievement.

“We will set up a race course for both classes with 6 minutes interval between the start of the first fleet (TP52) and the start of the second fleet (GP42)” explains Technical Director, Nacho Postigo, “this way we ensure to provide the best possible racing for the teams on what is, from experience, guaranteed to be challenging competition on the race courses.” Racing at each venue will commence with the TP52's who will be joined by the GP42s a day later in order to allow for racing to conclude for all on the final day of the event.

“We are very pleased to introduce a second racing division to the Medcup Circuit. The MedCup Circuit is the ideal platform for box rule classes and we expect both to benefit from this decision. We are looking forward to accommodate the teams at all five venues and are confident we will again supply them with the highest level of competition and facilities. We expect to see a combined fleet of eighteen yachts competing this year on the Circuit.” Concludes Audi MedCup Circuit Director, Ignacio Triay.

Reminder of the 2009 Audi MedCup Circuit dates:

May 12 – 17, Alicante, Spain

June 9 – 14, Marseille, France

July 20 – 25, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

August 18 - 23, Portimão, Portugal

September 14 - 19, Carthagena, Spain

http://2008.medcup.org/home/

Καταρχήν, τα τελικά αποτελέσματα μετά από τη λήξη του leg4 (τερματίσανε 191 σκάφη από τα 231 του γκρουπ).

ΤΕΛΙΚΑ ΑΠΟΤΕΛΕΣΜΑΤΑ 4ου ΣΚΕΛΟΥΣ:
VORGame Leg4 Group"ELLHNES ISTIOPLOOI" in pdf
VORGame Leg3 Group"ELLHNES ISTIOPLOOI" in xls
Καλή συνέχεια σε όλους στο πέμπτο και μακρύτερο, με το συμπάθειο, σκέλος του αγώνα. Καλά Ξενύχτια!!!

Κατά δεύτερον και σημαντικότερο μερικές φωτογραφίες, ντοκουμέντα, από την πρώτη συνάντηση των virtual στον ΙΟΠ.
Η δεξιά πτέρυγα: Από αριστερά, Chalkida, Pink Otter, Tramountana (ο κομιστής της ρακής), o Minos - ACEMX2 & o Don Quixote
Λεπτομέρεια: AZ Racing Team & Lavris
Η αριστερή πτέρυγα : Marilise, AZ Racing Team, Lavris, Solaris, Xylarmeno.
Το σήμα κατατεθέν της ομάδας... Γύρω-γύρω τσίπουρο και στη μέση Laptop. Από αριστερά, ο Lavris, Solaris & Xylarmeno
Γενική: Φαίνεται και ο φωτογράφος με το πούρο.

The Swiss boat Alinghi got out of jail today at the start of its first race for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series trophy, and went on to defeat the host team, Emirates Team New Zealand by 22 seconds.

Trapped outside the start line by the Kiwi boat a minute before the starting gun, the Swiss boat with American Ed Baird at the helm was able to recover and pull off an even start against her opponent. Six minutes later a wind shift put the Swiss ahead. New Zealand’s Dean Barker fought for the lead but any hopes of winning went out the window when a halyard let go and the spinnaker flew loose, costing Emirates valuable time.

Racing in the Rangitoto Channel off Auckland’s North Head started in a 17-knot south-westerly breeze that increased in strength throughout the race, building to 28 knots by the time Alinghi finished.The Race Committee delayed the next start while it waited for conditions to moderate. However, three hours later with the wind gusting over 30 knots, it abandoned racing for the day and said it would shorten the best-of-seven final to a best-of-five. Racing will resume tomorrow.

Dean Barker and his crew dominated the challengers in the pre-start. Barker had the favoured end and used it to advantage, adroitly pinning Alinghi helmsman Ed Baird out above the line during three reaches backwards and forwards, parallel with the line and leaving Baird no escape route.

Barker wanted to start on left side of the line and broke away from Alinghi during a port reach to make a long circling turn below the committee boat and make a high speed start in the middle. The move was an opportunity for Baird to start closer to the committee boat, but with plenty of separation.

The Kiwi boat enjoyed a slight lead for long minutes and was perfectly positioned for an anticipated left shift. It never materialized and the Swiss boat edged ahead on a small right shift to dominate.

“We had them under control,” said Emirates tactician Ray Davies. “And it came to the point when we had to sail away and get a clean start. We went off the line to leeward of them, waiting for a little left shift. It didn’t actually come for us. Any kinda lefty would have let us get rid of them and control the race from there but the breeze stayed in the right.

”Barker kept it close and was on the Swiss heels, only 12 seconds astern at the weather mark. Down the run, Emirates closed and gybed into more wind pressure and a windshift that promised a significant gain. In a rare accident the gennaker halyard let go and the chute flew out to windward, costing valuable time before it the crew reset it.

“We were ready to jump them on the gybe,” Davies said. “We were calling a lot of wind pressure going into the gybe and unfortunately our spinnaker halyard slipped through the jammer and the turns on the cleat. We haven’t had that happen before. They were able to sail away.

”On the last run the breeze was up to 28 knots with the boats on the edge of control. “We recorded 18 knots and we were digging a pretty big hole,” said Davies.

”Baird retorted: “We didn’t like that big hole, so we were only doing 17. It gets pretty hairy on these boats when you’re going that fast!”

The results table and scoring chart for the regatta can be accessed at http://www.louisvuitton-pacificseries.com/staging/DOWNLOADS/LVPSResults.pdf

Interview with the Greek Challenge at Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, February 7, 2009

While Alinghi has made a mockery of themselves with an unsportsmanlike decision to not meet ETNZ on the water yesterday without any prior notice - a decision that wasted the time and resources of race organizers and management, and that greatly disappointed the viewing public who were looking forward to the match up between the current America's Cup defender and current Louis Vuitton Cup holder, other teams have manned up and taken their licks when affected by the (now) controversial ‘no contact’ rule that invokes points penalties in the event that the boats wind up smacking into one another.

Hardest hit in this competition by the no contact rule combined with risks of boat failure are perhaps the Greek Challenge. On day one of Round Robin 1 on Jan 30, the Greek Challenge was penalized a point when they hit the stern of Alinghi, starting their regatta out in the basement with a -1 on the scoreboard. On day 2 of RR1, the Greeks went up against the seasoned Shosholoza, who would emerge as fate would have it, as their constant competitor in the series. After a great pre-start where the Greek Challenge forced a port/starboard penalty on Shosholoza, the Greeks went on to win by 58 seconds in a tight race that saw close covering.

Out of the basement now and with a bye on day 3 of RR1, the Greek Challenge were to face Luna Rossa on day 4 of RR1. Luna Rossa had just posted their first victory in the series against Shosholoza with a convincing win. At this point, the competitors in Pool B were fairly even in points. Although Team Origin was well on top of the pool with 3 points, Shosholoza and the Greeks were tied at 0 and Alinghi had only 1 as did Luna Rossa. The gates were still well open to get seeded for the next Rounds Robin. Day 4 of RR1 saw the weather gods taking a long nap and racing was delayed 4 hours. With dusk approaching, the Greeks knew they had their work cut out for them. Brady won the desired right side out of the starting gate, and after a long drag race to the port side of the course, Luna Rossa was ahead on the first cross and remained out front, although with a much smaller margin than their race the previous day with Shosholoza. This loss would cost the Greeks in seeding, but there still was a chance to move forward into the quarter finals at the end of the next Round robin.

As luck would have it, the Greeks’ next opponent was the Pool B leader of Team Origin. Team Origin would beat the Greek Challenge by the same margin of victory – 58 seconds – by which the Greeks had earlier beaten Shosholoza. With RR1 now over, the Greeks needed to put a couple of wins in the bag in order to advance after RR2. Their first pairing in RR2 on day 6 of the series was with the Pataugas K-Challenge team. K-Challenge had emerged from RR1 with 1 point. Despite text book starting tactics and close racing on all laps, K-Challenge won with a 27 second victory.

The mountain the Greek Challenge had to climb was now very tall if they were to remain in the series. Hoping to redeem themselves, in their first race of RR2 up against China Team, the Greek Challenge copped some very bad luck when they couldn't raise a jib because of a headfoil problem. With the 10 minute pre-start underway, it was too late for a postponement due to gear failure. Limping to the start with just a main while working to sort out their jib problems, Ian Williams of China Team, kept the Greeks bounced out of the start box long enough to be 2 minutes late and thus incur a start penalty only to incur yet another penalty 1 minute later in a port/starboard incident. With that, all opportunity for the Greek Challenge to progress through the Rounds Robin was dashed.

With chin up, the Greek Challenge met up again with Shosholoza on Sunday and again saw victory as Gavin Brady and Paulo Cian went head to head and the Greeks bested Shosholoza by 1 minute 26 seconds demonstrating an edge on boat handling and match racing tactics. Without the points loss on day 1 for contact and on day 8 with gear failure they would have been on top of the silver fleet with China Team. But that’s what happens sometimes racing sailboats. The Greeks’ final race will be next week once again going up against Shosholoza to determine 8th and 9th positions for the LVPS.

Despite the disappointment, for their efforts and attitude the Greek Challenge gets 10 points for sportsmanship, and corinthianism. We sat down with Sotiris Buseas and Gavin Brady on the last day of RR2 of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series fresh off their second victory over Shosholoza and hear from a team that's happy to be here, is making the best of things, enjoying the sailing experience and putting out a wake up call that there's a serious new team on the block. -Krispy Kreme.

2009-02-09

Alinghi Will Race Emirates Team New Zealand AUCKLAND, NZ – Switzerland triumphed in a face-off between America’s Cup winners Ed Baird and Russell Coutts this morning. Steering Switzerland’s Alinghi, Baird slammed the gate on Coutts and BMW Oracle on the start line and went on to win the challenger finals of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series 2-0.

Tomorrow Alinghi meets host Emirates Team New Zealand at the beginning of a two-day, seven-race regatta for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series trophy.
Today’s race marked the end of 13 days of high-energy match racing to select a finalist to race against Emirates Team New Zealand. The home team raced in two round robins with nine international teams from eight countries but sat out the sail-off series that finished today.

Yesterday, the Swiss team, skippered by Kiwi Brad Butterworth with Baird steering, pulled off a shock victory against Coutts and his American team. Coutts had led the entire race but lost by one second.
“You can always reflect on things that might have been and yesterday I think perhaps we got a little complacent at the end of the race,” Coutts said. “The finishing line was heavily biased towards the committee boat end and it is a pretty elementary thing to spot, but we sort of missed that, so that was our fatal error."
Today, with the threat of heavy wind this afternoon, racing started early in a 15-knot northerly and for Coutts and the Americans it was over before the start gun fired as Baird blocked his approach to the start line.
Oracle had enjoyed the advantage of the right hand entry at the five minute gun and engaged Alinghi in a couple of tight circles, the boats only metres apart. With 1:30 remaining, both boats were lining up for the start inside the starboard layline with Oracle astern and to weather.
As they approached the line Baird remained on starboard but pointed his bow straight at the committee boat. Coutts had nowhere to go and went head to wind as Baird bore off at speed right close to the committee boat.
Coutts could only follow slowly dead astern in his opponent's wake. The American boat was trailing by 40 metres just moments after the start and never threatened Alinghi as the margin opened out to 58 seconds at the second weather mark and over a minute at the finish.

“We were in quite a nice position today and had plenty of time to assess the options coming on the final approach to the start,” Coutts said ruefully. “We burned up a little too much time when we didn’t need to.”Asked if problems with his boat’s trim tab affected steering during the start, Coutts acknowledged that there was a problem with its control chain a couple of minutes before the start. “That’s not why we lost though,” he said emphatically. “No excuses. We lost the race.”
Asked if he’d return to New Zealand for a similar e

vent, Coutts said: “I thoroughly enjoyed the racing over the last few weeks. I think it's a fantastic event and I think in these economic times the idea that Louis Vuitton and Emirates Team New Zealand have come up with where all the teams race in borrowed boats, rather than shipping boats all around the world is frankly a commercial reality. There's no question in my mind that this format works, it's something that should be looked at in future."

The results table and scoring chart for the regatta can be accessed at http://www.louisvuitton-pacificseries.com/staging/DOWNLOADS/LVPSResults.pdf