 |
5:41 PM Wed 15 Apr 2009 GMT
There has been so much lane hopping and driving under the influence among the fleet that sooner or later there is going to be a tap on the shoulder from the local traffic cops. The main offender has been Delta Lloyd. At least navigator Wouter Verbraak was prepared to offer up a full confession for the boat's crooked miles long before the booze bus arrives.
'Following our wallowing tracks, one might think that we have supplemented our freeze-dried food with some caipirinhas from Brazil,' his statement read this morning. Certainly a little cocktail at sunset would be welcome, but I can guarantee you, there is not a drop of alcohol to be found on our boat. So what is up with our drunken man's track? Some call it myth, some live by it, and onboard it is known as the diurnal variation.'
Verbraak added that some members of the crew have bastardised the term to 'di-urinal variation'. Some unwarranted urine sampling at Wouter's expense?
Put simply, it means that in the southeast trades, the neighbourhood the fleet currently finds itself in, the wind speed and direction goes through a daily cycle of fluctuations. Mornings - more wind and more left wind; afternoons - lighter and more right; early evenings - squalls and more left wind again; nights - lighter and more right wind. Got it? Verbraak's explanations not mine.
Overnight, Roberto Berm?dez and Delta Lloyd have put in a dazzling performance to regain second place, closing to within seven miles of the leader, Bouwe Bekking's Telef?nica Blue.
There are good days and bad days and good clouds and bad, a fact underlined by Telefonica Blue skipper Bouwe Bekking. Yesterday, he says, was a bad day at the office. On the gains and losses ledger, they were penniless. By contrast, Delta Lloyd's pockets were bulging.
'Delta Lloyd had a glamour day, and some way, somehow made big gains,' he lamented. They are only five miles east of us, having missed all the bad clouds. You have good ones and bad ones, so we just keep working hard to get everything out of the boat.'
The fleet is now passing the most eastern tip of Brazil and it is here that the differences between being inshore and offshore will become apparent. It could be a crucial day for the fleet.
The fleet is due at the Fernando de Norohna gate by midnight Thursday night.By the 16:00 GMT Position Report Wednesday; Telefonica Blue's lead over Delta Lloyd stood at 10 miles. Ericsson 4 was third at +12. Telefonica Black (+16), PUMA (+22) and Ericsson 3 (+23) were locked in a three-way midfield battle with Green Dragon (+37) at the foot of the leaderboard.
The racing is close and PUMA's skipper Ken Read, seeking a good result on the team's home run to Boston, knows it. 'Fact is, these boats are all raising their games all the time and this drag race to Fernando has been decided so far on a couple of fairly random wind shifts and a cloud or two. It is simply that close,' he says.
The margin between hero and zero is miniscule.
Boat speeds are stable at 12-13 knots and today Delta Lloyd takes the prize for the highest 24 hour run at 293 nm.
Today is also significant, as the crews have now crossed their outward tracks made during leg one in October last year, meaning a circumnavigation of the globe is now complete.
Volvo Ocean Race - Leg Six Wednesday, Day 5: 16:00 GMT Positions
1. Telef?nica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 3,917 nm
2. Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Berm?dez/ESP) +10
3. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +12
4. Telef?nica Black ESP (Fernando Ech?varri/ESP) +16
5. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +22
6. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +23
7. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +37
8. Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS
by volvo media
|
|
Sailing
