Match race oceanico

[singlepic=575,250,170,,left]Volvo Ocean Race – Oceano Atlantico – Dopo sette giorni di mare, i VOR 70 iscritti alla Volvo Ocean Race hanno raggiunto l’arcipelago di Capo Verde. In testa alla flotta c’è sempre Il Mostro. Lo scafo del Puma Racing Team di cui è skipper Ken Read fa da apripista durante questa fase della discesa verso l’Equatore, rintuzzando gli attacchi di Ericsson 4, che durante la giornata di oggi si è fermato a Capo Verde per sbarcare Tony Mutter, infortunatosi a un ginocchio. Nonostante i tentativi di curare la ferita riportata nei giorni scorsi, Phil Jameson e Stu Bannatyne, i medici di bordo, hanno interpellato l’equipe di terra e sono giunti alla conclusione che lasciare Mutter alla cure di un ospedale attrezzato era la scelta più indicata.
Nel corso della sosta, il team di Torben Grael è stato superato dai compagni di squadra di Ericsson 3, lontani meno di trenta miglia dal leader. Sorprendente la performance sin qui sfoderata da Team Delta Lloyd. Capitanato da Ger O’Rourke, l’ex ABN Amro 1 pare non sentire affatto il peso degli anni e il ritardo di preparazione – ricordiamo che il team olandese è stato l’ultimo a iscriversi alla manifestazione – e si mantiene a stretto contatto con i migliori.
Sempre attardati, almeno in questa prima fase, i due VOR dell’Equipo Telefonica, pesantemente staccati anche da Kosatka, l’unità del Team Russia.

Per guardare i video della regata clicca qui.

Per seguire la regata via web clicca qui.

Ericsson 4 evacuate crewmember
[singlepic=574,250,170,,left][Volvo Ocean Race Press Release] Ericsson 4, racing in leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race, has dropped off trimmer/helmsman Tony Mutter in the Cape Verde Islands as the team takes every precaution with his knee that has become infected.
On thursday, the team medics onboard the race yacht, Phil Jameson and Stu Bannatyne, were called to put their pre-race medical training into use as they drained some fluid from the infected area.
But the injury did not respond to treatment as well as they hoped and the team took the opportunity of their proximity to the Cape Verde Islands to evacuate Mutter off the boat. This was the recommended course of action by the Volvo Ocean Race medical team. The next reasonable opportunity to get him off the boat wouldn’t come until the rounding of Fernando de Noronha, an Island off the coast of Brazil, some four days away.This evening, the team made a move off its heading to sail towards Mindelo on the Island of Sao Vicente. Mutter was then transferred to a fishing vessel to be taken ashore for medical supervision.
Skipper Torben Grael said the decision to ensure proper medical treatment for Mutter was easy.
“The race doctor told us that Tony had to be evacuated because the leg had become significantly more swollen over night, and the uncertainty of how quick his condition will improve – said skipper Torben Grael – Both he and I agreed that it would be a prudent and precautionary measure to evacuate him from the boat. He needs to get proper treatment. In addition once we have passed the Cape Verde Islands, we have a period of some 1,300 nautical miles of open ocean ahead of us”.
“Our onboard medics, Phil and Stu, have done a great job. They were told by the race doctor that had we been in the Southern Ocean, they would have to give Tony intravenous fluids with antibiotics” Grael said.
Tony Mutter is understandably very disappointed.
“It’s a tough call, but given the state of the infection an easy call” said Mutter.
“Bearing in mind that the conditions in which we live onboard are not ideal for dealing with infections, and add to this the increasingly hot and humid conditions as we reach the Equator and the Doldrums, this is for sure the best course of action”.
“My priority is to get back to 150 percent fitness and rejoin Ericsson 4 in Cape Town”.
The rest of the team turned back towards the race course as soon as the transfer was made, and are again on course towards Fernando de Noronha.

Trouble ahead?
[Volvo Ocean Race Press Release] Day seven of leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race and there could be trouble ahead for the eight-strong Volvo fleet as they race towards the Cape Verde Islands 73 miles ahead and to leeward of leg leader Il Mostro (Ken Read) and then line up for the Doldrums.
“It’s tricky out here – I have no idea how it can be so shifty so far out to sea” said Ian Walker (Green Dragon), currently in sixth place. His crew is focusing on lining up for the Doldrums and Walker explains that there is a tropical wave ahead, which means that some boats could have a fast transition through the notoriously windless zone, while for others it could spell trouble.
“Right now, it looks like the further ahead you are, the better shape you will be in” says Walker whose team is pushing hard.
Ken Read (Puma Racing Team), who has regained the lead they lost briefly to Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael), agrees: “There are minefields everywhere and there is nothing ‘traditional’ about this leg so far at all. All the historical routing data? Throw it in the bin! ‘You will never sail inside the Canary Islands’. Been there. ‘You will never have to deal with the Cape Verde Islands’. About to be there.”
Wouter Verbraak, the Dutch navigator with Team Russia (5th place) says the Doldrums are shaping up to be quite horrible: “At first look it just makes my heart stop” he explained this morning. There are still about two days before the fleet has to make its entry but the choice as to where to enter has probably got to be made tomorrow evening. Verbraak sums it up: “Try and cross in the east and have a good angle for Fernando de Noronha (the scoring gate), or take a safer route further west?”
Meanwhile, Ericsson 4 (2nd place) has a casualty onboard. Trimmer Tony Mutter has an infected knee, and, acting on advice from onshore medics, the knee had to be drained: “We gave Tony an anaesthetic and preceded to suck some of the fluid off using a syringe, then we stuck the knife in – well carefully cut the infected area with a scalpel” describes onboard medic Phil Jameson who was assisted by Stuart Bannatyne. The patient is now bandaged up and confined to his bunk.
As the end of the first week of racing approaches, but still with over 4,700 nm to the finish, the familiar effects of being offshore are starting to show. Life has settled into a routine of eating, sleeping and sailing, with the usual grouches about the quality and quantity of the food as the menus begin to repeat themselves for week two.
“Many of us will miss out the meals we did not enjoy the first time round – says Ericsson 4’s Dave Endean – This means the snacks will get hit harder as we go on, or we will start to get more and more hungry”.
The heat is another issue and the crews are looking forward to the fresher conditions and cooler temperatures found on the southern side of the Equator. The tropical conditions they are sailing in now mean that the crew are drenched in sweat when working below, and then have to sit in sweaty boots and gear when on deck. “Hardly ideal” said Dave Endean.
Spirits rose on the Green Dragon, when Irishman Damian Foxall was hit in the face by a flying fish during the night. “I’m not sure which was funnier, the direct hit or Damian trying to get it out of the cockpit” says Ian Walker, who added that they have seen very little wildlife. Just a few small pilot whales and lots of varieties of Dolphin.
Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking) is still repairing their big spinnaker, but as the wind has picked up they have not been hampered by flying their smaller chute and have passed their team mates on Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri). According to Bekking, the spinnaker is in a thousand pieces and repairing it has disrupted the watch system. “The last watch we drank plenty of coffee to help keep our eyes open” Bekking said.
At 1300 GMT today, Puma Racing Team had regained her lead from Ericsson 4, Telefónica Blue had the highest 24-hour run of 426 nm and Green Dragon had averaged the highest boat speed of 20.8 in the hour preceding. Puma Racing Team and Ericsson 4 are on a southerly course, while the rest of the fleet continues heading to west. Team Delta Lloyd (Ger O’Rourke) is sailing a storming race, proving that generation 1 Volvo Open 70s are still on the pace. Bouwe Bekking sums it up: “How good is it to see how well Delta Lloyd is going. Not only have they been sailing very smart, but they are not slow either. That will open doors for the next race, and hopefully more teams will use older generation boats, and still be competitive” he said.

Related post

Volvo Ocean Race, Capo Horn e dintorni Volvo Ocean Race, considerazioni e scommesse Volvo Ocean Race, quella volta che… Volvo Ocean Race, a Ericsson 4 la prima tappa