CAMPER Drop to Third in Volvo

CAMPER’s split from PUMA and Telefónica on Friday saw Chris Nicholson’s team drop to third after they pushed hard to the west in search of fresh pressure closer to the Caribbean Islands.

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Today however, the status quo amongst the top three boats has been re-established, with CAMPER regaining second after squeezing through the narrowest of gaps between Anguilla and an outlying island.

This bold move saved them around five nautical miles (nm) and when the leading trio re-converged, CAMPER had edged back in second spot.

At 0400 UTC today PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG had a 10 nm lead over CAMPER, with Telefónica a further 10 nm behind in third.

Groupama sailing team in fourth had closed to within 77 nm of the lead, chased hard by fifth placed Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, another eight nm back.

In his latest report from the boat, CAMPER Media Crew Member (MCM) Hamish Hooper described the team’s daring gambit -- which saw the team sneak through the shallow 200 metre wide channel between Anguilla and Scrub Island -- as a ‘signature move’ by navigator Will Oxley.

“Yesterday was one of the most tense, up and down days of the leg,” Hooper said.

“Soon after as we passed the Caribbean islands of St Bart’s and St Martin, a small window of opportunity presented itself when the breeze picked up sufficiently for Will Oxley to give the all clear to shoot a relatively small and shallow gap right between Anguilla and Scrub Island, saving us around 5 miles going around the typically Caribbean named Dead Man’s Cay at the northern end of the island.

“Sailing through a 200 metre gap at 21 knots in six metres of water, was a thrill at least, but the question was soon asked just how many signature moves will it take to win this leg,” Hooper said.

As the top three teams played out their very different strategies, CAMPER skipper Chris Nicholson said yesterday had been like playing a high stakes chess game, with the boats remarkably returning to the same order as before they split.

“It looks like we are going to resume in very similar pieces of water,” he said. “I am honestly not sure which boats will be the most relieved, but we are looking forward to the next rematch.”

By 0700 UTC PUMA had eked out another nautical mile on CAMPER with Telefónica closing the gap on second by a similar amount.

In fourth and fifth, Groupama and Abu Dhabi had made significant gains since 0400 UTC, closing to 60 nm and 72 nm of the lead respectively.

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Volvo Ocean in the Doldrums

The top three teams on Leg 6 from Brazil to the USA are today engaged in a nip and tuck scramble as Ken Read’s PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG continue to lead from Chris Nicholson’s CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand and Iker Martínez´s Team Telefónica in third.

“The Doldrums aren’t looking too bad for us and I think the first one into the trades should be able to extend, but it doesn’t look like we get all the way to the finish in that mode" - - PUMA navigator Tom Addis

With just over 3,000 nautical miles still to go, PUMA managed to pull out a lead of slightly over 13 nm by the 0700 UTC position report this morning, but the margin between second and third remained miniscule, with overall race leaders Telefónica edging past CAMPER to establish an advantage of just one and a half nautical miles.

At 1300 UTC PUMA had a 9.28 nm lead, and CAMPER had returned to second place, half a nautical mile ahead of Telefónica in third.

Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing were in fourth, 46 nm off the lead, but still capable of pouncing on any mistakes by the leading trio. Back in fifth, Franck Cammas’ Groupama sailing team are struggling to make major inroads into their 116 nm deficit.

This morning the leading three boats made a synchronised move towards Brazil, gybing to the west to pick up an advantageous current and hook into a wind bend around the coast.

PUMA navigator Tom Addis said the top three boats had been sailing in pleasant down wind conditions and concentrating on taking full advantage of wind shifts to achieve optimal angles.

Addis said the PUMA crew had welcomed having CAMPER and Telefónica as stalking horses, but were keen to stretch their lead before crossing the Doldrums and picking up the stronger trade winds.

“We have had a bit of company which is always good because you can test your modes and work out the best way to sail your boat,” Addis said. “It’s not quite drag racing yet though.

“We have just gybed back in towards the Brazilian coast and I think CAMPER have done the same. There is still a little bit of VMG gybing left to do over the next 24 hours but after that I think when we get into the north trades it will be a bit more settled and then off we go.”

Addis confirmed that the first boat into the trades would get a jump on the fleet but said he believed that the fleet’s fourth Equator crossing could still be fraught with risk for the leg leaders.

“We would always prefer to be leading into those situations, but it is a fairly fragile one this time I think,” Addis said.

“The Doldrums aren’t looking too bad for us and I think the first one into the trades should be able to extend, but it doesn’t look like we get all the way to the finish in that mode.

“It looks like we are going to go soft again after the Caribbean, so that will mean another compression from behind unfortunately.”

Telefónica watch captain Neal MacDonald confirmed the westerly move was all about the wind direction, strength and current, a direction he expected all three boats to keep heading for today.

“There is current and a few other reasons we want to get west while we can and I imagine everyone will have the same game plan in the big picture,” he said. “It looks like we will all get back towards the coast and into a bit more pressure and then the wind will flick back and we will get back on to starboard again.”

McDonald said he expected the three way tussle for the lead to continue for a while yet.

“For the last 48 hours we have had those guys in our sights,” he said. “Right now we have lost them (CAMPER) and PUMA have got the better of both of us and slipped ahead.

“I think CAMPER and us are going to be head to head though for the next couple of days. This morning they crossed about a mile and half behind us, which was quite pleasing. We will have to see what will happen next but that was a good moment for us.”

Race meteorologist Gonzalo Infante said the presence of two low pressure systems deep in the North Atlantic looked likely to disrupt the normal trade wind system after the equator, making the leg to Miami slower than expected, but giving hope to Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Groupama sailing team who are back in fourth and fifth respectively.

“The boats will track close to the Brazilian coast for now which will give them the best window through the Doldrums in the next couple of days,” Infante said.

“With the trades likely to be disrupted, the drag race element of this leg might only last for 1,000 nautical miles or so, maybe as far as Antigua in the Caribbean.

“Then, the weather models are less certain for the approach to Miami and we may see some unusual strategies for the final miles.”

CAMPER navigator Will Oxley agreed, saying: “First we have the Doldrums to deal with. Then the trade winds are looking quite disrupted for the last part of the leg and some interesting routing options are popping up.

“Normally you reject these out of hand, but based on our experience so far in this Volvo Ocean Race, every option remains on the table.”

Neal McDonald said he believed the race was far from over despite the current spread of over 100 nm from first to fifth.

“It still could be anybody’s race,” McDonald said. “I think Groupama have got a bit of ground to make up, but there are going to be starts and stops. The boats are close enough that although some of the distances look big, the boats eat up those miles pretty quickly.

“So we are very much looking behind us as well as looking in front.”

Latest predictions suggest the leading boats should arrive in Miami on or around May 9.

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Team Telefonica Closes Gap

Team Telefónica navigator Andrew Cape has manoeuvered the overall race leaders into contention overnight and within striking distance of Leg 6 leaders PUMA.

At 0700 UTC the fleet's leaders were within about 15 miles of Recife, on the north east coast of Brazil, after a slow night negotiation fickle wind and the difficult coastal rounding.

PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG were 11.3 nautical miles ahead of CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand and 12.3 nm ahead of Team Telefónica, who took a course on the inside lane nearer the coast and moved into second place at 0100 UTC, before slipping back to third.

CAMPER took a more cautionary approach further from land and were bumped to third place, while Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing remain fourth and Groupama sailing team are fifth, more than 114 nm behind.

Telefónica have notched up the greatest sailing distance in the past 24-hours, covering 280 nautical miles at an average speed of 11.69 knots, compared to PUMA’s 10.67 kts, CAMPER’s 11.04 kts, Abu Dhabi’s 11.5 kts and Groupama’s 9.54 kts.

CAMPER Media Crew Member Hamish Hooper said the approach to Recife was tense as the team balanced getting a good breeze offshore with making sure they didn’t leave too much room to be passed on the inside.

“Curiosity killed the cat once, so we are hoping history might repeat and PUMA might get a wee bit curious and get caught in too close to shore along with Telefónica, leaving us to take off with the fresher trades,’’ Hooper said.

“If only it would happen like this. It is never that easy.”

Skipper Chris Nicholson said his team weren’t taking any risks as they approached the final corner of Brazil where the fleet will turn west towards the Caribbean’s Windward Islands.

“It’s very light, I would have much rather come in here in normal breeze and got around here,’’ he said. “We are moving alright now, but I think we are going to give Recife a wide berth, it just looks light and dangerous in close to the shore.”

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Teams Ready for Volvo Leg 6

Team Telefonica

All three teams in Itajaí will have their boats back in the water by Monday afternoon after intense work by the shore crews to prepare for the DHL In-Port Race on Saturday and the start of Leg 6 the following day.

Team Telefónica launched on Monday, joining PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG after the Leg 5 winners were first back in the water the previous day.

Groupama sailing team were due to join them on Monday afternoon.

Horacio Carabelli, shore team manager for Telefónica, said the overall race leaders had made good inroads into their schedule of work and were on track to be 100 per cent by the weekend.

“We are about 80 per cent of the way to being ready,” he said. “We have plenty of things to do but we are in a position that we can go sailing today.

“Everything was taken off the boat so the crew need to check everything, the keel system, all the halyard locks on the mast, electronics...it is a long list. There is some new structure so we need to also check how the boat is behaving.

“All in all we are pretty happy,” Carabelli confirmed.

Groupama’s shore crew were this morning still preparing their replacement mast which was flown in from the Netherlands. Shore crew boss Ben Wright said the French crew planned to go sailing on Tuesday to check over and tune the new rig.

“We will put the mast in when the boat is in the water today and get ourselves tidied up and set up for to go for a sail tomorrow around midday,” he said.

“This is the first generation rig that we launched the boat with and did all the sea trials for six or eight weeks in France. Like with all these things, the object of the exercise is that the second one was better, so most of the changes we are making are in the detailing, how it functions, how the reefs work and so on, that we are trying to replicate from the other mast.

“There are always a lot of details to sort out. You can never do enough -- it’s a race boat so it is never finished. Tomorrow’s sailing will all be about making sure everything works -- locks, reefs everything, so it will be a longish afternoon out on the water.

“We need to tune the rig and set it up properly so there may be some to-ing and fro-ing. We may need to come in for a short while to do some dock tuning and then go back out again.”

With the PUMA crew arriving back Itajaí today, shore manager Tim Hacket said his team were focused on having the boat ready to sail on Tuesday.

“We are just continuing to get the boat ready,” he said. “The sailors are back today and are heading out sailing tomorrow. We are getting all the gear back on board as we launched yesterday. Nothing too frantic, just normal preparation for a sailing day.

“It’s been a steady pace for us. We have been pretty fortunate with the job list so it has all been good. There have been plenty of little jobs that we hadn’t been able to do at other stopovers because they were so short, that we have been able to take care of now. Repainting the decks with new non-skid was a big one.

“Not everything is 100 per cent complete and there are plenty of jobs we can work on at night but the boat is ready for them to go sailing for sure.”

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Puma Lead Down to Six Miles

Amory Ross

PUMA’s buffer over Telefónica was down to just six miles early on Friday as the pair prepared to enter the final 100 miles of Leg 5.

With the wind now behind the leading duo, boat speeds were up into the twenties as the dash to the finish line in Itajaí intensified.

PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG still occupied the top spot at 0700 UTC but Telefónica had a slight edge over their rivals, sailing slightly quicker in a few knots more breeze directly south of the leaders.

PUMA media crewmember Amory Ross said while the leaders were concerned about Telefónica’s gains, there was little they could do to stop the advance.

“We’re doing our absolute best but there’s something very disconcerting about watching your lead evaporate sched by sched to a boat thriving in conditions we can’t reach,” he said.

“But therein lies the “bright side:” there is nothing we can really do about Telefónica, so we’ve been focusing on sailing our own boat as best we know how.

“We’re finally coming down, they’re finally coming up, and there’s a good chance sunrise tomorrow will bring some new company on the horizon.

“It’s going to make for a very exciting final day of racing!”

The estimated time of arrival for both teams is around 1600 UTC today.

Team Telefonica Apply Pressure

The pressure on front pair Groupama and PUMA to defend their lead was mounting early on Wednesday after Team Telefónica closed in to less than 60 nautical miles.

“Today, our main concern is not our preoccupation of PUMA, but the return of a third competitor, which has begun to be quite worrying” - Yann Riou, Groupama

Iker Martinez’s crew started their fourth day of comeback more than a knot quicker than their rivals as they rode at the head of a weather front around 150 nm south east of the frontrunners.

Telefónica suspended racing at 0405 UTC on April 1 to fix structural problems, rejoining the race just 17 hours later.

Since then they have gone from being resigned to third place with a deficit of more than 400 nm to serious challengers for the Leg 5 win with just over 700 nm of racetrack remaining.

Their rapid advance has caused worry among the two front boats as they are forced to factor Telefónica’s challenge into their tactics.

“Today, our main concern is not our preoccupation of PUMA, but the return of a third competitor, which has begun to be quite worrying,” Groupama media crew member Yann Riou said.

“Indeed, Telefonica are coming back to the front of the race with a weather system tailored to their measure. To catch up over 350 miles including a technical stop, is saying that this is hand-sewn!

“We do not know yet how far they can go, but one thing for sure is that Franck (Cammas, skipper) and Jean-Luc (Nelias, navigator) are now forced to integrate it into their tactical choices.

“This session of match racing is finished!”

PUMA MCM Amory Ross said at some point today the breeze was due to swing behind them, allowing for fast downwind sailing towards the finish line in Itajaí.

But for now, the team has been left bashing north into a 20-knot headwind and big seas.

“It’s stirring some horrible memories of the start of this leg, memories none of us have yet had time to displace,” he said.

“The uncomfortable sound of a bashing boat is only going to make our limited sleeping hours that much tougher.

“The breeze is expected to go aft at some point and we should start reaching north towards Itajai.

“Then, and only then, will the 700-odd miles between us and Brazil start disappearing at a likeable rate!”

Telefonica Repair at Cape Horn

Team Telefónica will carry out repairs at Cape Horn without stopping on land instead of heading into Ushuaia in Argentina after refining their pit stop strategy for Leg 5.

Skipper Iker Martínez said the team's technical chief Horacio Carabelli would meet them by boat at Maxwell Bay, a move that should save them a significant amount of time as they bid to stay within striking distance of Groupama sailing team and PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, who both rounded Cape Horn on Friday.

Once the support team have found an isolated spot, they will begin repairs on Telefónica with a view to getting them back on their way after 12 hours -- the minimum amount of time a team can suspend racing.

At current estimates, Telefónica should round Cape Horn early on Saturday.

"We've decided to make a quick stop at Cape Horn to reinforce the damaged area of the hull and be able to carry on as quickly as possible," Martínez explained.

"The area around Cape Horn is a labyrinth of islands, which on this occasion is going to help us get some shelter and allow us to work on the boat efficiently, without the boat moving and while keeping it dry.

"The rules say that if you suspend racing it has to be for a minimum of 12 hours, so we'll see if we can do the whole thing in that time. First of all, we'll check to see that the outside of the hull is intact. If that's the case, and I hope it is, we'll find a sheltered spot, just behind the island of Cape Horn, to work comfortably.

"If all goes well, we'll try to carry out the repairs without stopping on land to avoid sailing up to Ushuaia, which would mean another 100 miles. Horacio is sailing from Port Williams now in a 50-foot steel sailboat which will bring them to the cape."

Martínez said he still had hopes of catching the front two in the race, though having to stop at all had reduced their chances.

"It's a shame that we have to stop, because even with the problems we've had, the boats in front are only 15-18 hours away," said the Spaniard.

"Once we've finished the repairs we'll be aiming to get back to full speed. PUMA and Groupama may not push forward so much over the next few hours but their lead might be just too much for us to catch them before we get to Itajaí.

"But even though the gap seems insurmountable, the climb up to Brazil has some tricky points and we are likely to come across a complicated high that might shake things up, and that's given us a bit of hope that they may be stopped in their tracks and we could catch up with them.

"You can always dream that something good might happen, right?"

Telefónica are 15 points ahead of Groupama in the overall standings and need to finish at least third to be certain of keeping hold of first place.

Telefonica Face International Jury

The International Jury will schedule a hearing during the next stopover in Itajaí after receiving a report from the head of the Measurement Group over the sails carried by Team Telefónica during Leg 4 from Sanya to Auckland.

No date has yet been set for the hearing into the protest, which concerns an alleged breach of the notice of race 5.2.2.

Under race rules, each boat is required to carry on board one storm trysail, one storm jib and one heavy weather jib, plus a maximum of seven other sails, made up of a maximum of one mainsail, two headsails, three spinnakers and one staysail.

An announcement will be made once the International Jury decides on a date for the hearing.

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Telefonica Draft in Assistance

Team Telefónica and Groupama sailing team have drafted in extra pairs of hands to help with the frantic preparations for Leg 5.

With less than a week to turn round their boats ahead of the 6,700 nautical mile leg to Itajaí in Brazil via the infamous Cape Horn, both teams have bolstered their shore crews in anticipation of a round-the-clock working schedule.

"We have extra people coming in to cover a lot of the checks and double checks, and to make sure we can do a lot of work in a short amount of time," Groupama's shore crew manager Ben Wright said.

"It becomes expensive and quite intense, and you have your fingers crossed you don't find something, but if you do find something then at least you found it. There's always something, you just want to find it. You have to."

The DHL Shore Crew Award for Leg 4 will be presented to the winning shore team at the Leg 4 prize giving on Thursday March 15.

The winners will certainly have earned the prize.

After four legs of gruelling ocean racing, the majority of which has been spent bashing upwind, the Volvo Open 70s are starting to feel the strain.

But a slightly delayed arrival into the City of Sails plus a busy schedule of practice racing, Pro-Am, and In-Port Race leading up to the Leg 5 start on March 18 leaves little time for vital preparations.

"It will be a full court press," Wright added. "The boat will be stripped out, cleaned off, mast out. It will be all hands on deck, the girls in the office, everybody."

Overall leg leaders Telefónica installed new rigging in Sanya ahead of Leg 4 but after the rigours of sailing more than 5,220 nautical miles to Auckland, a thorough check of the boat is still on the cards.

"I think it's going to be tough for all the teams," their shore team manager Horacio Carabelli said.

"We have already received one jobs list from the boat so we know what the challenge we are going to face is.

"We are bringing in some extra people to help us cope with the work.

"Some of the jobs we can't do but we are going to prepare the boat the best we can for this very tough leg we have in front of us."

Solomon Split in Volvo Ocean

Saturday saw a split strategy as an unexpected wind shift and strong currents force the three westerly boats to consider sailing through rather than round the Solomon Islands chain.

“The current is boxing us in increasingly and we need the breeze to get back to its original position or it will be much more difficult for everyone" Iker Martínez - skipper, Team Telefónica

This morning, the western pack -- Iker Martínez’s Team Telefónica, Chris Nicholson’s CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand and Mike Sanderson’s Team Sanya -- all appear to be lining up to pick their way through the archipelago.

Meanwhile farther east, Franck Cammas’ Groupama sailing team, Ken Read’s PUMA Ocean racing powered by BERG and Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing all look set to round the south east tip of the Solomons.

On Telefónica Iker Martínez said he had convened an ‘emergency’ meeting of the crew to weigh up their options in light of the new weather scenario which could mean the potential for big gains for the Spanish team.

“The third leg was tricky in terms of the meteorology, but this leg is proving to be even more unpredictable,” Martínez said.

“A few days ago we were convinced that we didn't have many chances open to us and that it would be a pure horse race down to New Zealand.

“Now things are getting more tricky, the headwinds are shifting much more than predicted and we don't know if we'll enter the top of the Solomon Islands or if we'll have to start tacking.

“The current is boxing us in increasingly and we need the breeze to get back to its original position or it will be much more difficult for everyone, and it would be much to our advantage if we can make the most of it.”

On CAMPER, navigator Will Oxley confirmed Chris Nicholson’s crew had now made their mind up to go for the gap.

“There are no half measures now,“ Oxley said.

“Having made the decision to go through the Solomon Islands and a westerly option through the Coral sea we now have to tough it out and stick to our guns to the end game in about 7 days time as we approach the top of New Zealand and see how it plays out.”