Broken boats, broken bones

Peter Gustafsson News volvo ocean race 15

Sammanfattning av ett hittills action-packat Volvo Ocean race…

Det har varit sisådär med uppdateringar från mediagubbarna ombord. Vissa dyker upp på den officiella sajten, andra bara på teamsidor eller Facebook. Det verkar också ta lång tid innan de kommer till appen. Vi får se om man får ordning på de här sakerna. Man hade kanske inte väntat sig så mycket dramatik direkt :-)

För er som är nyfikna på vad Groupama och Jean-Luc Nélias håller på med:

The option taken this Monday morning by Franck Cammas and his men is somewhat risky as Groupama 4 is now sailing on her own along the Moroccan coast, in light downwind conditions, whilst her three other rivals still racing are picking their way upwind to the West. However, the situation is likely to become clearer from noon on Wednesday…

Boosted by his wealth of experience in transatlantic races, Franck Cammas, with the support of his navigator Jean-Luc Nélias, didn’t think twice about striking out on his own, on a different course to the more familiar faces in the Volvo Ocean Race. Indeed, as soon as they were through the Strait of Gibraltar, Groupama 4 slipped along to the south-west in a bid to hug the Moroccan coast. There were two reasons for this. The first was to make the most of the thermal breeze often created by the presence of the Sahara desert. The second was due to the tradewinds which, though weak, are positioning themselves off shore of Essaouira. This is around 120 miles ahead of Groupama 4’s current position and hence well in front of the first islands that make up the Canaries archipelago.
“We know that the start of an option is always difficult. Afterwards, it’s an additional pressure because we don’t have any other boat alongside us, which is one less speed reference… It’s a bit like being in `record’ mode, but Groupama’s used to that! It’s a little surprising to find ourselves out on a limb, far from the rest of the fleet. As for the crew, they’re happier when there’s a bit of wind and not so contented when there’s none, as is the case right now…” explained Franck Cammas at the 1200 noon (GMT) radio session.
The Canaries corridor
Of course the current situation isn’t favourable in the sense that Franck Cammas and his crew are making laboured progress in a very light breeze, making less than three knots of boat speed early this Tuesday afternoon. Meantime, Groupama 4’s three rivals, led by Telefonica, are slipping along at over twelve knots, albeit it due West, within sight of the Americans on Puma, with the New Zealanders on Camper over twenty miles astern; the trio in a southerly breeze linked to a depression offshore of Madeira. The problem for these three VOR-70s, is that at some stage they’re going to have to pick their way South towards the Cape Verde archipelago!
However, to the North of the Canaries lies a vast windless magma… As such, they’ll have to pass to the North of Madeira, which considerably extends the distance to go, without necessarily enabling them to push forward in the ineducable transition between this Atlantic disturbance and the zone of high pressure which generates tradewinds below the Canaries… It’s a race against the clock between the two options then: one slowly wriggling down the Moroccan coast throughout the night for Groupama 4, the other relatively speedy for the other three yachts, but at 60° to the direct course!
“Since Monday we haven’t really been putting the boat under any pressure in these light airs: we’re trying to get into some breeze! They’re proving to be good conditions for getting some rest and racking up sleep. Indeed, aside from stacking down below and trimming the sails properly, there’s not a lot to do… There’s a good atmosphere, despite the calm that’s been reigning over the past three hours. We have slipped into our tradewind outfits!” explained the skipper of Groupama 4.
A comparison test
Even though the four boats haven’t followed the same trajectory the whole time in order to extract themselves from the Mediterranean, the opening tacks since Saturday’s 1400 hour departure from Alicante, have enabled the French crew to gauge the potential of the other three prototypes.
“We’ve noted that Groupama 4 was fast when we were sailing with eased sheets in over 20 knots of breeze, between the start and the Palos headland. We were able to pick off our rivals one by one whilst making 23 knots of boat speed. Next, whilst close-hauled in 18-20 knots of breeze, the boat handled pretty well from what we saw. We hooked back up with Puma close-hauled prior to the Strait of Gibraltar and the Americans had a touch better heading, but a bit less boat speed. After that, our courses diverged with them heading out West while we struck out towards the Moroccan coast. As such there doesn’t seem to be much difference in terms of speed, other than the fact that on a reach in over twenty knots, Groupama 4 appeared to be in her stride!”
The tough conditions endured in the Mediterranean also enabled the architectural and construction choices to be validated on Groupama 4. “We haven’t suffered any damage aboard. We just have a few odd jobs to do, nothing serious. It’s an encouraging sign for the next stage because there were very tough, boat-breaking conditions in the Alboran Sea! It was a sound structural test”, concluded Franck Cammas at noon.
Unfortunately the same wasn’t true for Abu Dhabi, which is set to head back into the race on Wednesday or Thursday equipped with a new mast, nor for Sanya, which will have to make Cape Town aboard a cargo ship if she is to be in a position to contest the In-Port race in South Africa.

15 Comments

Anders D
Nov 9, 2011 @ 06:55
Nu är Groupama i ledningen, ser ut som att de börjar nå passadvindarna och kan ligga och köra på dem mellan Kanarieöarna och Afrika, gruppen i väst verkar möta fronten och kan nog slå snart för att börja komma söderut. Utan att ha så mycket information, så tycker jag det ser lovande ut för våra svenskar på Groupama. Men det visar sig nog under närmsta dygnet.
Reply
- Patrick L
  Nov 9, 2011 @ 08:46
  Det ser väldigt spännande och samtidigt väldigt skakigt ut…håller alla tummar som finns.
  Reply
Mr. Jacksson
Nov 9, 2011 @ 08:33
Kan bara instämma i att det “har varit sisådär med uppdateringar”.
Vad har hänt?
Jag tycker utan att kunna mäta det att det är sämre med uppdateringar. Än förra varvet.
Det börjar likna på tiden när man ryckte till sig “DI” på jobbet för det var där som senaste uppdateringen stod och till och med ibland en trudilut…Kan ha förståelse att det inte funkat att skicka bilder eller media under första dygnets benbrytande race. Men det finns väll någon som jobbar i land och har kommunikation med deltagarna? Till och med ett uttalande från Race office var 6-12 timme borde vara bättre än inget.
Om man vill göra sporten mer “synlig”, “tillgänglig” och tillgänglig så måst man också synas höras mer än 1 gång på 24 h är för sällan i dagens höghastighets samhälle.
Nu när jag ändå är kritisk så kan jag tycka att dagens “Race Tracker” känns också sämre än den som fanns de tidigare varven.
Man kan tro att jag vaknat på fel sida ;-) men har jag inte. Det kan som du (Peter) indikerar att de (VOR) har något problem i bakgrunden.
Mr. Jacksson
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Tobbe
Nov 9, 2011 @ 13:18
Vi var ett gäng som var på plats under veckan i Alicante.
Vill väl heller inte gnälla (det var ju i alla fall soligt och båtarna är ju supermaxade, så att bara kika på dem är kul).
Men informationen var obefintlig i eventområdet (hade inget Internet). Det var inget vettigt programblad. T.ex. var den enda informationen om Legends race att det skulle ske mellan 1-5 Nov. Inte vilken dag eller vilken tid. Vi fick reda på dagen från en helt annat ställe, och tiden fick vi gå fram till han som skulle skjuta startskottet. Även banan fick vi fråga honom om. Vi hade även läst från tidning att vissa Legendsbåtar skulle ha “Öppet hus”. Om detta fanns ingen information heller. Inga skyltar, inga dagar, inga tider. Och självklart, inget visste något.
Men Spanien i november var ju inte helt fel och vinet smakar extra bra på kajen.
Men eventet som sådant i hamnen var inte mycket att skriva hem om för oss som publik och strövare i området.
Reply
Håkan
Nov 9, 2011 @ 15:19
Kanske lite tidigt att uttala sig om men det känns som om Camper inte riktigt hänger med Juan K-båtarna
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Peter Gustafsson
Nov 9, 2011 @ 18:53
Echoes of the ridge of high pressure
Groupama in the Volvo Ocean Race
Still alone offshore of Agadir, Groupama 4 is benefiting from a gentle downwind breeze of barely ten knots trickling down from the North. However, the situation is set to improve the further down the coast of Morocco they get, becoming more favourable once they reach the Canaries, at around noon on Thursday if all goes to plan. To the North of Madeira, their three rivals are sailing at quite a lick but they’re at 60° to the direct route towards the equator…
On the one side then, you have a French yacht, heading down the Moroccan coast all alone. On the other, you have three VOR-70s sailing in contact with each other to the North of Madeira. The upshot of this is a lateral separation stretching some 350 miles! A veritable gulf has opened up between them then after just four days at sea and 750 miles on the clock since setting out from Alicante last Saturday… Most significantly of all though, conditions are radically different, as the one boat is sailing in light downwind airs whilst the group are contending with steadier headwinds. So what’s happened?
On exiting the Strait of Gibraltar, a ridge of high pressure has filled in the `void’ left between the depression which shook the VOR-70s up in the Alboran Sea, and a vast disturbed zone which is stagnating off Ireland and is set to be reactivated by a secondary depression to the North of the Azores. As such a long yet narrow band of high pressure is making the transition between these two weather systems, stretching virtually right the way across from Sicily to the area surrounding the West Indies! Franck Cammas and his men decided very early on to slip along the Moroccan coast and crawl down the length of the southern edge of this ridge of high pressure, whilst the other three competitors opted to link onto the fronts associated with the Atlantic low by trucking down the northern edge of this band of high pressure. Between the two, in the area to the North of the Canaries, calm reigns.
Mid-term strategy
Though it’s unusual in an event like the Volvo Ocean Race to break away from the bulk of the fleet (especially from the second day out!), Franck Cammas and his crew are certainly stamping their cultural differences on the racetrack. Indeed, on a round the world, and particularly so on this Atlantic stage which the French are very familiar with (Transat Jacques Vabre, Jules Verne Trophy…), tactics are always secondary to strategy! In this way, though Groupama 4 is set to slip below the Canaries tomorrow, Thursday, she will latch onto a north-easterly tradewind system which will gradually build to over fifteen knots… Meantime, between Madeira and the Canaries, the three VOR-70s will have to make the switch from a depressionary system with W’ly wind, to a tradewind system. Between these two systems, they’ll have to traverse this ridge of high pressure where the breeze will wilt away until Saturday…
However, this certainly doesn’t mean that Groupama 4 will have a clear run. In reality, this Wednesday afternoon and tonight, they will have to deal with a rather messy northerly breeze of around ten knots, forcing them to hug the Moroccan coast so as not to get ensnared in the zones of calm. As such, Franck Cammas has been picking his way southwards making about ten knots of boat speed, on track for the bay of Agadir, whilst his rivals have been flying along at nearly fifteen knots to the North of Madeira. Their trajectory would have us believe that they’re on a mission to pass way offshore of the Canaries archipelago so as to try to catch up with the northerly air flow as early as possible this weekend… As a result the next 24 hours are crucial and will certainly determine which of these two groups will be first to reach the Tropic of Cancer, at 23°26 North, which marks the midway point between the Canaries and Cape Verde islands.
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Reply
JIMMY
Nov 10, 2011 @ 09:15
Skönt vägval av Groupama 4. Just nu ser det ju riktigt nice ut, Viva la France!
Reply
Peter Gustafsson
Nov 10, 2011 @ 18:26
Tradewind snub
Groupama in the Volvo Ocean Race
Though Groupama 4 has taken the lead in the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race after an option taking her down the Moroccan coast, the situation is more complicated this coming weekend, with the tradewinds having been snuffed out around the Cape Verde archipelago. After the return of Abu Dhabi to the racetrack, the fleet is now split into three groups, in three different weather systems…
The next 72 hours are going to be extremely important for deciding which, of the group out West made up of the Spaniards on Telefonica, the Americans on Puma and the New Zealanders on Camper, or the solitary Groupama 4 slipping beneath the Canaries, will come off best from the complicated configuration reigning over the North Atlantic. During this time, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Team restarted the race from Alicante last night having had her spare mast stepped and is 850 miles astern of the French leader, offshore of Almeria, making laboured headway in the light Mediterranean airs… Three separate groups then, all in completely different weather conditions and yet they’re all set to converge on the equator, which is still more than 1,700 miles ahead!
Asthmatic tradewinds
At noon this Thursday, those favouring the West were making headway in a W’ly wind of around fifteen knots, beneath a vast depression which will reach Ireland on Friday, hoping to hook onto a N’ly breeze from Friday evening so they can drop due South at speed. If all goes to plan, they should make up the lost ground this weekend as the weather situation out West will be the first to change. For their part, Franck Cammas and his men were continuing their descent down the African coast in a not very pronounced tradewind system dishing out about a dozen knots. Already beneath the Canaries archipelago, the first mission for the crew of Groupama 4 is to get as far away from the area as possible as quickly as they can, before choosing their trajectory for the weekend.
“We are still sailing downwind in some rather weak tradewinds of 12-13 knots, hugging the Moroccan coast some ten miles or so away. We’re going to have to gybe early this afternoon to remain in a small band of N’ly breeze between Lanzarote and Morocco. This band will widen this evening as the wind builds. Conditions are good and Groupama 4 appears to be handling very well in this configuration. We saw the Canaries archipelago at daybreak with some very good visibility”, explained Franck Cammas at the noon radio session.
A doubt about the weekend
Indeed the tradewinds are likely to gradually die away over the next 72hrs, spanning a massive zone stretching from the Canaries to Brazil! With NE to N’ly winds of less than ten knots, Franck Cammas only has two choices: to continue to make southing by sailing along the coast of Mauritania and then Senegal, leaving the Cape Verde archipelago to starboard, or to attempt to make gains out to the West, so as to reposition himself along the route being taken by his rivals, so he too can hook onto the steadier breeze when it kicks in…
“In relation to our option taken after Gibraltar, we reckon Camper thought twice about following us. However, they fell into a hole with no wind, which forced them offshore, and they’re now set back from Telefonica and Puma. This isn’t doing them any favours, but there doesn’t appear to be a difference in speed with the rest of the fleet. Ours is a classic course in terms of trajectory, because hunting down the tradewinds isn’t usually a risky move, unless they disappear or fade, which seems to be the case at the moment. For the time being, we’ve had a good crack at what we wanted to do because we’re ahead of our routing, though we do have a doubt about tomorrow, Friday, and the arrival of a front which could snuff out the tradewinds. We’re going to have to try to make headway to the West by finding a vein of air to slip along on!”
Minor odd jobs
The next course decisions aren’t necessarily linked solely to mid-term tactical issues though. Indeed the navigators are having to cast their data nets at least five days ahead to anticipate how things will pan out after Cape Verde. As such they’re looking into how the Doldrums are shaping up, whether it will be active or not very pronounced, whether it will extend or retract its claws, whether it should be tackled between 20° and 25° West or, instead, a lot closer to Brazil at around 30° West… All these things will have to be taken into consideration as the crew of Groupama 4 make their decision tonight. In the meantime, the crew is racking up some rest hours in these calm conditions and doing a few little odd jobs left over from their passage through the Mediterranean…
“We didn’t suffer any damage in the Mediterranean, just a few attachments coming loose down below, which we’ve stuck back up today. There’s also been a mechanical issue with the hook to keep the second reef in place on the mainsail, which we’ve partly resolved. With our virtual lead this lunchtime on Thursday, the crew is in good spirits, even though we’re here on our own, but we’re likely to link up with the rest of the fleet at Cape Verde… We are well aware that our lead isn’t a done deal!”
Reply
Nobbe
Nov 10, 2011 @ 21:47
Ser ut som att Abu Dhabi vänder om igen på trackingen ?
Reply
- Peter Gustafsson
  Nov 10, 2011 @ 22:43
  Troligtvis stiltje. Men så klart ingen officiell info. WTF.
  Reply
Stefan P
Nov 11, 2011 @ 08:08
Nu verkar det som ytterbågen börjar ge avkastning förmodligen är gissningen ovan att samlas ihop vid Cap Verde rätt. Kan inte vara kul ombord på Abu Dhabi.
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- Nobbe
  Nov 11, 2011 @ 09:16
  Ja. Om prognosen stämmer så kan det nog vara lite stressigt ombord på Groupama. De närmaste 2 dygnen är det betydligt blekare närmare land.
  Reply
Mikael Johansson
Nov 11, 2011 @ 12:06
ADOR Retired from Leg 1?
Reply
F424
Nov 11, 2011 @ 13:23
I ena meningen skriver ADOR att de inte kompromissat med mast/rigg och att det endast är av tidsskäl de drar sig ur leg 1. Lite längre ner skriver de att de behöver göra modifieringar av mast/riggsystemet i CapeTown. Någon mer än jag som inte får ihop detta? Skulle vara kul att veta analysen bakom det första haveriet och vad de tänker bygga om.
Reply
- Raketen
  Nov 11, 2011 @ 20:57
  Tycker det verkar vara mest ett taktiskt drag. Läste om att de tyckte risken för stress inför starten leg2. Sen vill man säkert pilla lite till än vad de hunnit med. Finliret för att man vill säkerställa att man hänger med ordentligt.
  En stor del av det som är kul med VOR är det taktiska. Men va det inte mycket mer hemlighetsmakeri förr?
  Reply

Broken boats, broken bones

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