Telefónica reach Cape Horn, pull in for repairs

 

Diego Fructuoso/Team Telefonica/Volvo Ocean Race

Team Telefónica reached Cape Horn at 0405 GMT on Saturday and soon after suspended racing as they arrived at their pit stop destination.

Iker Martínez’s men were the third team to pass the milestone, after Groupama sailing team and PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG celebrated going by the tip of South America on Friday.

Telefónica were less than 200 nautical miles behind the top two at the 0400 GMT position report but that gap will grow significantly over the next 12 hours.

Telefónica suspended racing at 0427 UTC and finally opted to carry out their repairs at Martial Creek, a cove in Herschel Island in the Cabo de Hornos National Park, starting at 0640. Technical chief Horacio Carabelli is overseeing the repairs.
They hope to get everything completed in quick time and resume racing after 12 hours of suspending racing.

"We've just passed Cape Horn," reported MCM Diego Frusctuoso from the boat. You could only see the silhouette but it meant a lot to us, above all the ones who have never been here before -- Zane, Ñeti and me."

Groupama and PUMA were heading up through the South Atlantic towards the Falkland Islands with PUMA in hot pursuit.
Groupama had stretched their lead by one nautical mile in the three hours to 0400 UTC to be 36.3 nm clear of their second placed rivals.
The remainder of the fleet was making gains, as they too continued to race towards South America where they will suspend racing for repairs.
CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand remain 1397 nm behind the leaders and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing trailed more than 340 nm behind CAMPER.
CAMPER Media Crew Member Hamish Hooper this morning reported that the team have about 900 nm remaining until they reach Chile, where their shore crew are eagerly awaiting their arrival.
Hooper said the team marked the milestone of having 1000 miles to go with a social gathering, which helped buoy the team he reported.
“Everyone came up on deck from below like marmots emerging from a warm winter burrow,’’ he wrote from the boat. “It was interrupted with a gybe, which got everyone pretty excited over something to do. There was no shortage of positivity though, I made sure of that."
Hooper said the team were of course envious of PUMA and Groupama’s position, but were accepting of their reality and in good spirits.
“The mood on board is jovial, the acceptance of our situation is well sunk in and there is no shortage of jokes amongst the guys and conversation remains colourful on all things from batman to bread,’’ he said.
“It’s a good place to be. In a way this time on board now before we reach Chile has become our stop over because as soon as we dock it will be action stations, all guns blazing until we get the boat fixed and back sailing until we cross the finish line in Itajaí. Bring that on!”
* Story updated at 0452 GMT on Saturday, March 31; Pacific mistake corrected. Thanks for all those who spotted!

Race from Cochin to Singapore: Volvo Ocean Race Leg 3 Begins

MEANWHILE BACK AT THE RANCH....
Been a mighty fine week for sailing it has!
Conditions in Cochin were near perfect for the start as the 8 yachts headed out for the next leg of the Volvo Ocean Race to Singapore and a stop over in China followed by a 3000 mile race across the Pacific to Rio,Brazil.

The eight boat fleet were greeted by thousands of local people who came to see the fleet depart.

Before the official start at 1530 local time (1000 GMT) the boats formed a Parade of Sail, which took place in the channel alongside the Race Village.

Thousands of spectators lined the river banks and in the Race Village itself to send the fleet off to Singapore. At sea, Ericsson 4 has taken the lead as the front of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet closes in on the scoring gate. Telefonica Blue remains within shouting distance, while Delta Lloyd is wounded at the back of the pack.
Read More

Start of Leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race, Cochin to Singapore, 1200 miles.

Race Village, Fort Cochin

Making an Impact

"It is a unique part of the world and we want to show that through building a race village that can accommodate this race on its first visit to Asia."

The view from the top floor of the Cochin Port Trust building is spectacular, staring out from its vantage point at Willingdon Island over the curves of the Vembanad Lake. It is here where the Trust's chairman, N Ramachandran, has spent the last 10 months co-ordinating the operation to transform a city in south-western India into a host port for a global sporting event.

"It is a nice view," he agrees, but it is not his particular view that he deems important. "What is important is the world's view of the region as a tourist destination."

It is the reason why we are here. Way back on January 18, when the Cochin Port Trust and Kerala Tourist Board capped months of discussions by signing a port agreement with the race's organisers, it was another step in their mission to make Kerala a location of choice for the world's travellers.

"This race will enhance our visibility to the world," Ramachandran added. "It is a unique part of the world and we want to show that through building a race village that can accommodate this race on its first visit to Asia."

To that end, the operation has been enormous.

The Cochin site, stretched across more than two acres, has undergone the kind of facelift that an ageing film star would pay millions for. In this case the surgery has cost 300 million rupees, roughly 4.7 million EUR at today's exchange rate.

It has gone towards renovating a 40,000-square foot building to serve as the race office and media centre; a 60,000-square foot exhibition centre; and a programme of events that includes snake-boat racing, lots of music and a daily three-hour dose of cultural performances. Throw in a separate 200 million rupee development of a jetty, and it was a place transformed by the time the race village was inaugurated last night.

"A lot of hard work from a lot of people has gotten the site to this stage," Ramachandran said. "The challenge has been getting it done in time and finding sponsorship in a difficult economic time. A lot of people have worked hard on this."

Indeed, more than 500 people were given temporary employment in the final weeks to create an infrastructure that will support huge crowds of people over the fortnight of the stopover.

"We believe that at least 50,000 to 100,000 people will be visiting the race village on the important dates," Ramachandran revealed. "On the days in between we are expecting at least 50,000 footfalls."

The majority of visitors will be locals and domestic tourists from elsewhere in India, according to Ramachandran, but his hope is that foreigners and teams will discover what Kerala is shouting about. To underline his point, National Geographic Traveller magazine described it as one of the "10 paradises of the world".

So far that reputation has already propelled a healthy tourism industry. In 2007, 5.2 million foreign travellers visited the region, an increase of 20.37% on 2006. And some 66.4 million domestic travellers also visited, representing a 5.92% rise on the previous year.

The early signs for this year are good as well, with the figures from the first half of the year showing a growth of 19.23% against the corresponding data from 2006. But it is the desire for further growth that has motivated the decision to bring the race here.

Specifically, it is the media attention that the event generates. The event is expected to reach more than 1.8 billion TV viewers in more than 180 countries and the exposure has Dr Venu, secretary for Kerala Tourism, relishing the arrival of eight yachts and a flotilla of journalists.

"Apart from being the most high profile water sporting event that India has ever witnessed, the event would offer unparalleled global visibility to Cochin and Kerala," he said. "For nearly two weeks in December, Cochin will bask in the international media limelight."

The international media and all that consume it will get a nice view.

Volvo Ocean Race contenders face new sea challenges - Pirates off Somalia

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- The eight yachts taking part in the grueling round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race are poised to challenge new seas in a bid to avoid pirates off the coast of Somalia.

For the first time in its 35-year history, the event has included an Asian stop on its itinerary. The traditional second leg from Cape Town to Australia or New Zealand -- a journey of howling storms, fierce seas, biting cold and icebergs -- has been replaced by the unknown dangers awaiting the boats on a 4,450-mile journey to the Indian port of Cochin that begins on Saturday.

Several of the boats suffered storm damage on the first leg, and the crew of Ericsson 3 was busy replacing a keel on Friday, less than 24 hours before the race restarted.

Read More at http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/11/14/sailing.volvopreview.ap/index.html

VOR Overall Standings - Leg 1

Volvo Ocean Race Starts

Leaving behind the fiesta atmosphere of the race village in Alicante, its down to more serious business. The weather was extremly bad at the start with winds up to 25 knots making it near impossible for most of the ribs to escort the race yachts out to sea. Ericsson 4 got off to a good lead, however with 45000 kms to go, that is no gurantee.

Countdown to the Start of the Volvo Ocean Race

It has been a pretty hectic week for the Puma team. Saturday was the in-port race, or rather both of them. It was a nervous time for all the teams.

We had never officially raced against each other, although there had been some practice racing in the previous week. And it wasn't a great day for racing, with the wind under 10 knots for the whole day, and very shifty. But the first points were at stake, so even though this day did not have much to do with what this race is really about, we all took it very seriously.

 

Volvo Ocean Race, Alicante

Follow the inport races in Alicante at www.volvooceanrace.org
The 7Oceans Team is currently in Alicante for the start of the Volvo Ocean Race. The Team can be reached on +34 626 404 815

/ Bhavik