| At Sea. Volvo Ocean Race: ABN AMRO Two feels lonely at the back |
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| Saturday, 08 April 2006 | |
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Simon Fisher: I'll be honest, it's getting a little bit lonely at the back here, we are now waiting rather impatiently for a opportunity to come steaming back into the race. The small gains we made over the last day or so were quickly snatched away from us over the course of the last two scheds. No doubt the boats to the north got the slightly better pressure first and sailed away. Our hope now is that the doldrums give the boats ahead a bito f grief and we manage to deliver the good downwind pace we had at the beginning of the leg. On board, everything is relatively plain sailing, on deck at least. There is some water over the deck as we cruise along at 15 knots but the majority of the crew have opted against waterproofs in favour of getting wet and cooled by the ocean spray. Downstairs is less refreshing however, Yves (our newest member of the ABN 2 team) and Simeon are covered in grease, oil and sweat as they attempt to fix the generator that has seized. Everything is being checked over and has now started to come apart, apart from a lack of oil the guys haven't found anything terminal so hopefully it just has a bit of water in it that can be emptied by removing the glow plugs. Luckily our skipper is also on hand to help as a qualified diesel mechanic - he assures me that although it's been a few years he can still remember most of that stuff! Other than the generator, life on board continues as normal - it is amazing how quickly the days are flying by already, perhaps the fact that we are trying to play catch up accentuates that feeling as the sands of time slowly slip through our hands. The position report has just come in, sadly another loss as we suffer from having less pressure than our rivals. We will keep on fighting though - plenty more miles to go! |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 08 April 2006 ) |
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