11:02 AM Sat 23 May 2009 GMT
Latest news from Delta Lloyd, Green Dragon, Telefonica Blue and Telefonica Black as they rapidly approach the end of leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race.
DELTA LLOYD LEG SEVEN DAY 8 QFB: received 23.05.09 0916 GMT
Everybody is out of stealth. We are in fifth but fighting for the podium. It is so close anything can happen.
After almost seven days across the Atlantic it is going to come down to the last 24 hours. Ahead of us lies first a high speed drag race to the Aran Islands. Good sail choices and focused driving and trimming are crucial. It is all on.
The sailing continues to be fast and wet. Fortunately the waves are finally getting better, so we are not nose diving all the time. Most dominant now are the squalls. One minute we are on course ripping it, the next we are 20 degrees low and too overpowered, then 15 minutes later we are light and lifted above course. The big question: what sail to have up? Sail changes are expensive, so patience seems to be key at the moment?
Being up here, fighting for the podium, means spirits are high, the mood focused, eager and determined. The last two days have been intense, and we are all feeling the grunt of that. We have to keep pushing hard all the way to the end. This is what ocean racing is all about; the end of another marathon is drawing to a close, with it the grand slam finale right in front of Galway. Perfect!
Wouter Verbraak - navigator
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GREEN DRAGON - Ian Walker (Skipper)
Galway should prepare itself for a grandstand finish in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The Dragon has had a good night and we have popped up out of stealth mode only 1 mile behind PUMA in 2nd position. Some boats gybed later than us and some gybed earlier, but it seems we have come good in the middle somewhere.
We have also pushed the boat hard all night with the fractional spinnaker with no mishaps. Despite big waves and 25 - 30 knot winds it was a clearer night with fewer squalls making life easier for all onboard.
We now have a 330 mile drag race to the Aran Isles. The race now is all about speed - there are no tactical options. We are running extra people on deck and putting every last drop of energy into the last 360 miles to the finish. I am sure no crew are willing their boat forward more than ours right now.
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TELEF?NICA BLUE LEG SEVEN DA 7 QFB: received 22.05.09 2237 GMT
Take what you most love doing in your life and keep it doing it for hours and hours day after day... That's how I would describe the sailing conditions at the moment. No matter what, this remains the best sailing in the world.
Yes, there is the other side to the coin, it's impossible to sleep, to eat; you're always damp and cold even when you go into your bunk. It's really hard work, don't get me wrong, but if this is the price that I have to pay, I pay and please, keep the change.
Of course we would like to go a little faster, we're not quite fast enough compared with our competitors, but we made massive progress since the first leg and we're quite happy about it. Even if we work harder than the others, the adrenaline you get when you surf the boat down a wave, makes you forget about it and pays off all the efforts.
We will fight until the end, in 36 hours time we will know the results but what we will never forget is the beautiful sailing that we have the honour to experience right now.
Gabriele Olivo - MCM
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TELEF?NICA BLACK LEG SEVEN DAY 8 QFB: received 23.05.09 0511 GMT
The night is ice cold as 28 knots of SSW'ly wind is blowing over rugged water which has the modest temperature of 9 Celsius.
Exactly at midnight GMT the predicted left shift came and we turned the boat from north to east, allowed the wind to put the pressure in the sails from starboard side instead of port. What a sailor calls a gybe...
The position report at 2200 looked, at the first glance, great with us at the top of the scoring board! The simple reason was that all the other boats were in 'Stealth Play' and the Black boat was the only boat with a position...
The truth is that we are most likely last in the fleet after 900 nm of intense running downwind were we have been demolished. Big, painful losses at each position report has made that information hard to hand out from the nav station, but we are quite philosophical about it. We push our Black boat as hard as we can without taking too big risks. That is all what we can do....
With 500 nm to go into Galway it feels great to finally coming back to 'the old continent', Europe. It looks like Green Dragon is doing well on this leg and we are happy for them, coming back to their home country in good shape.
A common topic of discussion onboard is what kind of whiskey is the very best. I am personally more interested in a proper English breakfast which surely also is served in Ireland...
Roger Nilson - navigator
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by Various Volvo Ocean Race Competitors
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