THERE’s quite a bit to report from the Volvo Ocean Race this week, despite the fact that all the boats are over 20 feet off the ground and up on large cradles as they endure their repairs ahead of the in-port racing this weekend in Singapore.
On an Irish front, Team Delta Lloyd is busy repairing the damage to their keel ram and the section of the boat surrounding that area. Having damaged it mid way through the leg, Ger O’Rourke’s campaigned boat was forced to limp the remainder of the race to Singapore having left the Indian port of Cochin some four days prior.
Underperforming through a barrage of bad luck in leg three, Delta Lloyd had a busy festive period ahead of them but thankfully fellow Limerickman and shore manager, Jeff Condell reported this week that repairs were going well and the team had adopted a round the clock approach to the jobs list. “We have taken on two more shore crew from Team Russia and as of last night, have started round the clock shifts,” explained Condell. He went on to add that the area of the boat in question was not the easiest to be working in.
“It has been a complete pain because not only is it an incredibly difficult part of the boat to get at, but when the new panels go in, they have to be absolutely perfectly lined up – and that is a tedious process.”
A re-spray and a list of other jobs were tackled so Condell knew that the clock was against them, but he was confident as ever. “It will be hard work but we will definitely be ready,” he said.
Delta Lloyd have also made some changes on the crew as navigator Matt Gregory takes his leave of the team and moves on to pastures new.
As he said; “there was a line drawn in the sand, and I stayed on my side and the team stayed on theirs. Neither of us wanted to go and play on the other side of the line so that’s it for me.”
The American navigator was under close observation following the completion of leg three and the questionable performance of the boat with regards some decisions made.
There will be a quick reshape of the crew for the in-port races and next week a final decision will be made on the crew to tackle leg four of the race to Qingdao in China.
In other news from the race, the other Irish entry in the race, Green Dragon, had to deal with difficulties of their own with regards their boat’s performance. The campaign suffered a poor showing in the upwind stages of the race thus far, but was aiming to have an improved run of fortune for the in-port race and onwards.
Also making some changes of their own, Scottish sailor Ian Budgen has joined the Green Dragon Racing Team as a replacement for Damian Foxall on the fourth leg from Singapore to Qingdao.
“Ian [Walker] was looking for a replacement for Damian and we had been in touch so he rang me before Christmas and asked if I would like to come along,” said Budgen.
“I am really looking forward to being back in the Volvo 70s. I have a lot of friends on board too so that’s good.”
The race committees and in particular the protest office, had to deal with a number of issues over the completion of leg three from India.
Telefonica Blue have protested Ericsson 3 for a close call on the run into Singapore. The two boats came in close quarters with less than a boat length between them and under the racing rules, Bouwe Bekking, Telefonica Blue skipper, deemed that Ericsson 3 were at fault. A committee would here the case at the end of this week.
Ericsson 3 would remain in the spotlight as the race committee themselves have lodged a protest against the boat for they believe that Ericsson 3 did not pass a virtual mark south of Sri Lanka.
Again, the committee would rule towards the end of the week as would they make a decision on Ericsson 4 and a possible breach of the boat’s measurement certificate. Any infringements on any of the three complaints could see the boats drop valuable points in the race already completed.
The in-port races in Singapore will run this Saturday and coverage is available online at www.volvooceanrace.tv and keep an eye out for the weekly TV programmes on TG4 on Saturday mornings and repeated again on Sunday evenings.
