9:23 PM Mon 19 Jan 2009 GMT
Latest Volvo Ocean Race news from the boats on Day 2 of Leg 4, to China.
TELEFONICA BLUE LEG FOUR DAY 2 QFB: received 19.01.09 0450 GMT
Twenty-four hours after starting and we are all well and settled into the big upwind leg that lies ahead. The first day has been very pleasant sailing, upwind or just slightly fast in nice breeze and sunshine. Even the sea is pretty flat, making it nicer still.
I think to be honest everyone is enjoying it while it lasts as we know there will be harder (and colder) times to come. However, so far so good.
After what could only be described as a pretty marginal start, we managed to recover quickly and found our legs and, with a little bit of wriggling through the fleet as we left the Singapore Straits, we had managed to get ourselves back to third. Overnight, despite getting a little tangled in a plastic bag, we have managed to consolidate our position further as the fleet has strung itself in a long line. Hopefully, before too long, we can be nipping on the heels of the guys in front...
This morning brought with it a little bit of island dodging, something that will no doubt become a common occurrence as we head north towards the Philippines, as many reefs and small Islands lie ahead; Murphy's law always dictates that you end up pointing straight at them despite you best efforts to stay clear! That said, it looks like the next 100 miles or so is in clear water, so for now I am going to sit back and enjoy the ride!
Cheers, for now,
Simon Fisher - navigator
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GREEN DRAGON LEG FOUR DAY 2 QFB: received 19.01.09 0636 GMT
Well we're off again and it seems like ages since we have been at sea. Everyone is settling back into the rhythm including new crewmember, Ian Budgen, as well as Tom (Tom Braidwood/AUS) and Ian (Ian Moore/IRL) back from a leg off.
It is already very clear this will be a tough leg for us. To date we have relied on strong downwind sailing and strategic and tactical decisions to keep us in the frame and this leg looks like a bit of a soldiers' course right now, with everyone having to follow each other in their tracks.
Tacking off would be suicidal with the impending right hand shift. Many tactical options have been eliminated by the race officers' decision to put in a new waypoint to keep the boats closer to shore when some expected strong winds come in later this week. This may turn out to be an inspired decision, but right now, it is an irritation. Maybe we do need saving from ourselves in this way!
Despite currently bringing up the rear of the pack, spirit is good onboard. The great thing with sailing is you never know what will happen next so we plan to keep as close as we can, stay alert and wait for any opportunities to open up.
About three hours ago, we passed a wooded, tropical island surrounded by a beautiful sandy beach. It did cross my mind to drop anchor and explore and the locals in canoes seemed pretty friendly. It wouldn't have been too professional, so maybe I will have to come back here cruising one day! It was called Pulau Midai for any geography buffs out there. That's about it from the Green Dragon - I'm off to have seconds of freeze dried chicken teriyaki - its not bad at all and after losing a lot of weight following an illness I picked up in India I need feeding up a bit.
Ian Walker - skipper
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PUMA LEG FOUR DAY 2 QFB: received 19.01.08 1132 GMT
Back in swing of things and it wasn't easy to do. I learned something about stopovers. The longer ones can be worse in terms of trying to get your head back into the game. I can tell you that I got used to hanging out by the pool and resting with the family. Even going with them to shopping malls! Yes malls. Yikes. Going to Singapore museums and forts. Riding a luge. Eating tons of ice cream. All the stuff that was on the list that my daughter Tory sent to the boat prior to us finishing the last leg from India. And now, more than ever, I can say that I relish the stopovers. It just seems like they go by so fast that you have to enjoy every moment before you set of to do battle again.
And we are off. Another upwind slog. Except this time with lots of obstacles that the pundits are preaching about I am sure. I won't get into that now. Let's see how it goes.
Aboard, we have more clothing than I could imagine. All of our bags are stuffed. But it is so strange. Because we are sweating at the moment, still in tropical heat. Yet another oddity to this leg that will go in the record books.
Onboard we are in good spirits as we have jumped out to an early lead and seem to have good pace with the group. As always, Ericsson 4 is a stone's throw away and Telefonica Blue is not much further. Nothing comes easy with this fleet. Maybe some day we will just sail out to a nice lead and have a pleasant sail with no pressure. Right. In my dreams.
We just had one revelation onboard. New crewmember Erle Williams realized that Shannon Falcone was born the same year that he competed in his first Whitbread Race aboard 'Flyer'. Not sure Erle wanted to laugh or cry when that one came out.
As always, huge thanks to the entire Puma team and especially the shore crew for all the efforts over the last few weeks. Boat is in great shape and we have all those troops to thank for it.
Kenny Read - skipper
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ERICSSON 3 LEG FOUR DAY 2 QFB: received 19.01.08 1501 GMT
'Not a one man job'
I have tried to explain it to people hundreds of times. I don't believe in being a bossy skipper like in the old days. You simply don't need that. I think the best way of skippering is to try and create a good spirit onboard and make everyone work for each other', says Magus Olsson who has taken over the role as a skipper on leg four since Anders Lewander is staying ashore for rehabilitating his injured knee.
Mange continues: 'Sailing really sticks out from the crowd if you compare it with other sports like football, handball and hockey. They are all team sports where everybody is dependent on each other, but they don't have a skipper who stands above everyone else in the team. They just have a captain whose task in general is to keep the team together and to be a bit of a role model, an experienced guy with a lot of routine.
I don't understand why sailing should be any different.'
Not much has changed onboard because of the change of skipper. Anders and Magnus have a very similar way of running the team. Magnus is still a watch captain and he is working as he did before. Tomas Johansson has taken over the role of supporting Aksel Magdahl, our navigator, so Magnus can get some sleep once in a while.
'So far we have had both ups and downs. We did not have a great start, but we managed to hang on to the top anyway. But after a few hours into the game, we lost in boatspeed against Puma, Telefonica Azul and Ericsson 4. We are working hard with the trim, but they are still slipping away from us. It's really frustrating! But we will keep battle on!' Mange says.
Gustav Morin - MCM
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TELEFONICA BLACK LEG FOUR DAY 2 QFB: received 19.01.08 1215 GMT
Hi all!
Today has been another day of beating upwind in 16 -18 knots, sometimes a bit less, so you can imagine we have been on the verge of the optimal performance for the J1 and J2. The guys up there have had a very busy day, trying to push hard to catch up with the boats ahead, quite close indeed, and to put miles between us and the rear of the fleet.
There has been a notice from the race committee that they have added a new waypoint somehow 100 miles west of Manila, in the Philippines, so the tack we are expecting due to the shift to the right will take us to a further one ahead to take the new waypoint to port.
The rest is common life on board a Volvo 70 upwind: if you are in a hurry to go aft, either to go to the nav station or to the media desk, or just to check the rudders, you go to leeward, as every single thing onboard is on the windward side, otherwise you go slowly, dodging all the stuff you can imagine through the boat on the windward side. And, not to forget Argui?ano's affair: cook beating upwind. Not an easy task when dealing with chopped garlic, parsley and so on... to prepare a delicious meal of pasta to enjoy one of the very best moments on board: lunchtime when it is proper food!
Cheers
Mikel Pasabant - MCM
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