Wednesday 29 April 2009

VOR: ERICSSON 3 LEG SIX DAY 16 QFB: received 26.04.09 1848 GMT

by Gustav Morin

Far from safe

It has been an up and down morning and midday for us on Ericsson 3. We have been stuck in no wind, up and sailing in over 12 knots on flat water, and then stuck again. One nice thing though is that the air temperature has become very nice and warm and the times when we have had wind it has been very nice sailing.

We have seen many whales and been surrounded by small motorboats out Sunday fishing.
Now, right in this morning everything is about frustration, and about trying to deal with it. We can see Boston but we are pretty much stuck. Every once in a while we get some breeze but the next second it disappears and after that it may come back again, but in a totally different direction.

The frustration is not getting better now that we can see Telefónica Blue on the horizon.

Most of the crew are lying on foredeck to get the aft up from the water and get some more speed. That is actually the only thing we can do. We are just lying there and can't do much than make jokes. That makes the time go by. But of course we are still on our toes if the breeze fills in and we constantly have our eyes either on the horizon, looking for breeze, or if Ericsson 4 or Blue have got wind. Of course you can't relax; you never can on these boats.

We have one guy up the rig to look for the breeze and trying to predict from where it will fill in. Maybe Blue or Puma will get a private one and sail past us on another track. It is unlikely, but this race is not over until it is over. We feel far from safe.

Volvo Ocean Race

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