| At sea. Volvo Ocean Race: Pirates of the Caribbean has pulled away from Brasil 1; positions at 1600 |
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; "Positions 1600 GMT Day 11")
| Wednesday, 12 April 2006 | |
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Event media: As the Volvo Ocean Race teams carry on rising north, now parallel to the Caribbean Islands, the winds have lightened and the temperature has dropped to give the sailors idyllic sailing conditions. Some of the teams are enjoying the easy trade wind sailing whilst others are worried as they see their leads are being eroded. All the yachts have gained on the leader ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) in the last 24 hours, putting the pressure on Sanderson. He admitted that even though it must look like plain sailing from onshore, all the teams could be thrown a curve ball by the weather in the near future. “For now we are still sailing up the side of the Caribbean and so are in the north east trades, which are shifting around fairly systematically from day to do, both in strength and direction. But the forecast has us dealing with the bad side of a couple of lows as well as a high pressure ridge between the Caribbean and the entrance to the Chesapeake.” Bouwe Bekking, like Sanderson, is not having a good day onboard movistar as the teams compress behind them too. “Had two shocking skeds after another, but then we knew that this would always happen, the guys behind us have more breeze. But it makes me very grumpy inside, and I know that's not good to show, as that can influence them all in a bad way. So trying to do little things in my off watch, this makes them feel good: like making an extra cup of coffee for the guys on deck, mopping out the bilges, washing the dishes etc.” Despite his mood, it should be noted that movistar has gained a massive 20 nautical miles on ABN AMRO ONE in the past 24 hours. The fierce sea battle which has been waged over the past few days has finally cooled down for the time being, as Pirates of the Caribbean (Paul Cayard) pulls out a 19 nautical mile lead in front of fourth placed Brasil 1 (Torben Grael). The Pirate Ship has headed up to a more northerly course, sailing over the same track, as the top two yachts, while Brasil 1 and Ericsson Racing Team (John Kostecki) stay slightly further south west but sail a similar course. The most cheery team today though seems to be ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) surprisingly, as they are the back marker of the fleet, 161 nautical miles out of touch but gaining slowly. They have made up nine nautical miles in the past 12 hours and are very happy with their increased pace. Luckily for the boys, the procession in the constant breeze, could be nearing it’s end, Simon Fisher explained last night, “There is now renewed enthusiasm as the window of opportunity for getting into this race is just starting to open up. At last we are able to use some of our boat speed to an advantage as the wind is now more even across the course and with a forecast hinting at light winds up the track the race is now far from over. “Perhaps one of the toughest things we have had to endure in this leg so far, especially for myself and Seb (Sebastien Josse) is the fact that it has been a procession for over 1000 miles now. The lack of any significant tactical decision making has been sorely missed. Apart from making our jobs less than exciting at times, it gives us no opportunity to try and outsmart anyone else. “I have opened my eyes again to the beauty of the ocean, despite it being nothing but water, sky and clouds each day I am been pleasantly amused and amazed by how different one day looks from the next.” Leg 5 day 11 12.04.06, 1600 GMT position report |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 12 April 2006 ) |
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