| Australia. Volvo Ocean Race: Brasil 1 checks keel and mast & reinforces structures before Cape Horn |
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; "Photo courtesy of Brasil 1")
| Monday, 06 February 2006 | |
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ZDL - Bruno Doro: By Sunday, the Brasil 1 will have to have its keel tested, mast checked, structures reinforced and sails fixed for the next legs of the Volvo Ocean Race. That is when the start of the Melbourne (Australia) to Wellington (New Zealand) leg takes place. It may seem like a lot but the members of the ground crew and the sailors are working hard to use every minute available and ensure that there is time to test the boat on Thursday. The goal is to avoid any surprises such as the one that happened during the in-port race on Saturday, when a problem with the keel cost the Brazilians their victory. “We are working hard to ensure that there will be no more surprises. Each person has a specific job onboard, but when we are on land we help anyone who’s in need. We will do everything we can to make the most of our time, which is something we need,” said João Signorini, one of the Brasil 1’s helmsman. The sailors’ assistance is not only to ensure that the boat will be ready faster. After the third leg, which finishes in Wellington, the sailors will be in New Zealand for four days and are not allowed to receive any assistance from the ground crew. “It will be a short leg, very different from the others. And we will have to carry out any repairs ourselves or start two hours behind everyone else. So for that reason it is good to know what is being done to the boat,” added Signorini. The leg between Melbourne and Wellington has only 1,450 nautical miles, approximately 2,700 km. This Monday, after taking the boat out the water and removing the mast, the team got together to discuss the team’s calendar of activities until the start of the race and the preparations required for the next two leg. One of the things that Torben Grael and technical director Horacio Carabelli are evaluating is what spare parts to load. Leisure – After some hard work, a few of the sailors took the opportunity to relax and enjoy a ride on a “blokart”, a kind of go-cart with a sail. The “drivers” were Spaniard Chuny Bermudez and Brazilian Marcelo Ferreira. Even after falling off, Chuny was still much faster than the Brazilian Olympic champion. “It is hard to make the cart go fast with my figure”, laughed Ferreira, referring to his weight of more than 100 kilos. After the third in-port race, competed in Melbourne, the overall race standing is as follows: 1) ABN Amro One/HOL, 32.5 points; 2) ABN Amro Two/HOL, 25; 3) movistar/Spain, 18; 4) Pirates of the Caribbean/USA, 16.5; 5) Brasil 1/BRA, 16; 6) Ericsson/Sweden, 14.5; and 7) Brunel/AUS, 11.5 points. The Brasil 1 is sponsored by VIVO, Motorola, QUALCOMM, HSBC, Embraer, ThyssenKrupp, NIVEA Sun, Ágora Senior Corretora de Valores and the Brazilian Government through Apex (Agency for the Promotion of Brazilian Exports), the Ministry of Industry, Development and Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Sports, with special support from Varig. www.brasil1.com.br |
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 06 February 2006 ) |
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