600 miles for Ericsson 4

Torben Grael and his team go supersonic en route to Cape Town

Image above courtesy of Expedition

Positions at 0655

Pos	Boat	Skipper	Lat	Long	24 hr	DTF	DTL
1	Ericsson 4	Torben Grael	32,19.15S	006,48.21W	584	1267.8
2	Puma	Ken Read	31,57.98S	008,08.08W	541	1338.3	70.5
3	Ericsson 3	Anders Lewander	31,10.57S	009,33.93W	537	1420.3	152.5
4	Green Dragon	Ian Walker	32,57.23S	011,16.98W	438	1483	215.2
5	Telefonica Blue	Bouwe Bekking	33,11.68S	013,01.91W	417	1566.9	299.1
6	Telefonica Black	Fernando Echavarri	31,41.30S	014,04.19W	339	1637	369.2
7	Delta Lloyd	Ger O'Rourke	32,19.87S	015,25.50W	418	1695.5	427.7
8	Team Russia	Andreas Hanakamp	32,59.41S	015,37.25W	446	1697.1	429.3

If the Volvo Ocean Race has a 'large cajones award' (that would be an interesting trophy!) then this should definitely go to Torben Grael and the crew of Ericsson 4. Having broken ABN AMRO Two's fastest fully crewed monohull 24 hour record of 562.96 miles this time yesterday so their 24 hour run topped out at 602.66nm at 1854 GMT last night (although this is still subject to ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council.

"The conditions are not easy," confirmed Torben Grael yesterday. "Every time you go at this speed it's pretty hard. "We're going 30 knots very often. The wind is between 28 and 32 knots. The waves are not very good, but neither very bad. The conditions are marginal, especially during the night. It wasn't very fun at all." For a more complete account of life on board - see Guy Salter's update below.

And bear in mind that it is still continuing, boats all still hammering along - Ericsson 4 having covered 584 miles in the last 24 hours at the latest sched.



Is it Magnum PI? No, Brad Jackson in control of the fastest bus in the world...

What is most apparent this morning is that only the front three boats remain on the favourable Cape Town side of the front as it sweeps east. As the front has passed through causing the wind to back from the northwestt o the WSW so the boats have gybed southeast and their pace has dropped. Back markers Delta Lloyd and Team Russia gybed yesterday morning, followed by the Telefonica boats and Green Dragon yesterday evening at around 2000. Interestingly Ericsson 3 was in pretty much the same position as Green Dragon at this time but chose not to gybe and she has since claimed third place.

Meanwhile the lead trio are hanging on but the front is forecast to lessen in its intensity over the course of today, thus boat speed will drop off and it seems likely that all the boats will have fallen behind it over the next 24 hours. If Ericsson 4 can post a 550 mile day over the next 24 hours then she should be just ahead of it, but we suspect she won't.

What is clear from the performance of the boats over the last couple of days since they have got into the big winds is that the Juan K-designed Ericsson boats, and Ericsson 4 in particular, seem to have a fifth gear in these conditions. Throughout this time Grael's boat has been sailing a knot faster than Puma. Is this boat, sails or crew? Probably a mix of all three.

Equally clear is that conversely the Farr-designed Telefonica boats aren't enjoying it. In seas in excess of eight metres, sailing at around 25 knots, the crew of Telefónica Black reported launching off a particularly large wave, momentarily losing control of the boat causing them to crash land only to find that one of the rudders had sheared off and part of a daggerboard and the bowsprit were gone. None of the crew was injured and the damage to the yacht was quickly assessed. The crew has mounted an emergency rudder and are continuing on course to Cape Town, albeit rather more slowly.

Telefónica Syndicate Head, Pedro Campos, said that the safety of the crew was the first priority and reported that all are well and unhurt. He confirmed that the damage to the yacht was not thought to be structural in any way but, understandably, the crew is very disappointed to have to nurse the yacht into Cape Town. He praised the crew for their professionalism and the seamanlike manner in which they dealt with the situation.

To see some cool video of Telefonica Blue in the south Atlantic (complete with rousing soundtrack) click here

Meanwhile a couple of other battles are going on in the fleet. By virtue of continuing east, Ericsson 3 overhauled Green Dragon to take third place mid-evening yesterday and now they are 63 miles ahead of Ian Walker's team, who will be hard pressed to regain this by Cape Town. There is also another tete-a-tete going on between the back markers, Team Russia trailing Delta Lloyd by less than two miles at the latest sched.

See page 2 for a great photo sequence from Team Russia showing just how unpleasant it is in the cockpit

Guy Salter reports from Ericsson 4

What a day!

It’s not every day you get to have a ride as we have had over the past day or so, and to get a new 24 hour record has been superb, but the reality of that feat out here hasn't really sunk in. We know we have a record but what is more on the fella's minds is getting to Cape Town and hopefully at the front of the pack, avoiding damage to ourselves and the yacht.

All the boys look really drained - sleep is not the easiest on E4, I can only describe the motion as I would imagine re-entry on the Space Shuttle is like. Everything is bouncing - including every cell in our bodies and the mundane tasks are near impossible.

On deck the boat is surrounded in a ball of spray. I wonder how we don’t show signs of secondary drowning. The waves arrive very frequently and hard. Everyone is clipped on, but you still need to brace and hold on tight. There is tons of water passing over deck every minute, sometimes knee-deep as it pours over and back from where it came. Your eyes sting and become red from the salt water, or you wear a helmet or visor, these help but don’t cure.

Down below is harder, so your best off in the bunk, for your own safety and some well earned rest. The boat is screaming from the speed - and loud. I’m sure that there would be something in the laws of combat about this sound torture - ear plugs are essential, but your ears still ring.

Cooking is nearly impossible but important, it would make a great test in the 'Generation Game' tv show. You have to traverse around the boat using as many points of contact as possible - the saying 'one hand for you, one hand for the boat' kind of goes out of the window as you need at least two hands for yourself! I find myself walking around in full primate fashion, with my arms swinging above my head in Gibbon style - I guess this is why being from the Isle Of Wight (island situated off the south coast of UK) has its advantages - after all we only came down from the trees in 1976!

The thought of our loved ones, some good food and maybe a beer pushes us closer to the finish line.

Ian Walker reports from Green Dragon

Hats off to Ericsson 4 for a storming 24 hours. By my calculations they can’t be far off 600 miles. We have just about been able to match them when we have had a steady three hours but sail changes, reefing and backing off at night has kept our 24 hour mileage in check. We must be somewhere near the old record but nobody will speak of that anymore. More importantly we have been able thus far to stay ahead of the front, but we have had to head further north than we would like to do so. We are starting to see the effect of ‘stepping off the train’ on Delta Lloyd and Team Russia and we want to delay that as long as we can. Sooner or later it will happen to us, but the faster we go the later it will be.

We are now directly east of our closest competitors for third place, so they should suffer first. Life on deck is very wet and the occasional nosedives have meant a few bangs and bruises. Everyone is bearing up well, but tonight will be a long night. God only knows how the boat puts up with the stresses we put on it, but apart from the usual disintegration of the head we are in good shape.”

Mikel Pasabant reports from Telefonica Black :

As you may know, the news of the day has been the 24-hour new record established by Ericsson 4. Congratulations from Telefónica Black! Good boat good sailors! The truth is that the conditions were prone to that. It has been a hard night, with rough seas and winds which exceeded 40 knots. In a pitch dark night, imagine the conditions steering!

Anyway, here in Telefónica Black we have been dealing with a couple of sails ripped, which has made the night even tougher. Life on board stays with its routine, considering the difficulties of trying to make tea in a roller coaster in the rain!

We have seen our first albatross, traditionally considered a good omen. Let's see what happens, but for the moment... What is true is that he is a magic bird, the way he flies, without moving a single feather, effortless...amazing!

Well, we have at least 24 more hours in these conditions, let's see what happens.

Simon Fisher reports from Telefonica Blue :

It's been a tough 24 hours since the breeze arrived here on Telefónica Blue. To say this thing is a bit of a handful in the breeze would be a major understatement. If Ringo Starr wanted some new inspiration for another Submarine song, it's right here.

We have been way too close to the edge too early and consequently had to throttle back while watching the leaders streaking of into the sunset with a new 24 hour record. Whilse I think we would be a serious contender for the most water over the deck in the last 24 hours, it comes as little consolation. Having to watch the hard-fought miles slowly ebb away really hurts.

Each position report has had the same frustrating story - more lost miles to the leaders. However at the same time it has been hard not to smile a little when you see the pace that Ericsson 4 has laid down. Deeply, deeply impressive to say the least. It is a shame to see our old record from ABN AMRO Two go, but at the same time these things are made to be broken and those boys are certainly doing it with style.

As for us the battle goes on, the guys on deck are doing a good job of trying to tame the beast in seriously difficult conditions and we are still fighting for every mile as we will continue to do so until we get across the finish.

Gustav Morin reports from Ericsson 3

"The worst watch of my life." It takes quite a lot to hear those words from a guy like Richard Mason who has done two Volvo Ocean Races before and a huge amount of other yachting. But this morning, when he stumbled down the hatch at eight, he said it. "We were in a squall for four hours and it was pitch black, absolutely no visibility at all. I couldn't see the waves and no horizon and we had everything from 19 to 46 knots of wind, he says, catches his breath and continues: "Going with the chute up in that much breeze on one of these boats, when you can't see a thing, is as terrifying as it gets. It is usually pretty easy when the breeze is steady but it just doesn't get any harder than it was tonight. The guys did a great job to get the boat and ourselves through it in one piece."

Was there an option to take the gennaker down?

"To be honest we were caught with our pants down. There was never a chance to get the damn thing off! It was pretty much survive or die! And, we survived."