Volvo Ocean Race , Dia 4

Day four and everywhere on board the conversation for the past 48 hours has focussed on current affairs. And top of the news agenda are the tidal gluepots which have tested the patience of navigators to the full.
The progress has been painful with up to 3.5 knots of adverse current off the southern tip of Sri Lanka.
As detailed in Mark Chisnell’s TEN ZULU REPORT this morning, the fleet has been in the grip of the tidal clutches owing to the two waypoints positioned to keep them a safe distance from the Sri Lankan coast – pirate territory.
There is a north-south divide in the fleet with over 680 miles of the 1,950-mile journey from Cochin to Singapore wiped off the log. The leaders are within 700 miles of the scoring waypoint of Pulau We off the northern coast of Sumatra.
There is bunching at the front, as you will see from the 2D Race Viewer.
By the 16:00 GMT Position Report, Telefonica Blue clung to their overnight advantage to hold a 20-mile Distance To Leader cushion over Green Dragon, who like Bouwe Bekking’s men are lurking south.
Ericsson 4 (+21 DTL) were appearing menacing in third from Telefonica Black (+30), the Spaniards opting for the middle of the course and getting the better of the pack in the north headed by PUMA (+32). Ericsson 3 (+38) have lost further ground while Team Russia (+63), the northern-most boat and Delta Lloyd (+80) continue to flounder.
It’s a slog in the 6-12 knots winds on offer with maximum boat speeds hovering around 10 knots and moods swinging. Ericsson 3 are weighing up whether their current position is down to luck or judgement, according to Media Crew Member Gustav Morin.
In response to a query from Volvo veteran and E3 team-mate Magnus Olsson about the probability of landing two black followed by a red number in roulette, he says: “Roulette”, that is how this leg feels. Easy to say when you are behind I know, but I do think it is a bit about luck. Yet we haven’t been lucky and we haven’t sailed very well.
”Last night we were working hard with stacking and trying to tack with the shifts, but it hasn’t paid off. The last scheds (position reports) have not been very good, probably because the boats in front got out from the current before us. It has been quite extreme ever since we passed the first waypoint, more than 36 hours ago. It peaked at 3.5 knots on our nose.
”But I think that we are in the groove now. We have come out of the current and are sailing in 10 knots of fairly steady breeze, doing 10 knots of boat speed. I hope that it is our turn to use the ‘bungee-effect’, that the others stop in lighter air and we get the chance to catch up and get a restart.”
In this recent video clip put together by Ericsson 4 Media Crew Member Guy Salter, his brother and navigator Jules, describes how they are wrestling with the ’current’ situation.
More currents than in your grandma’s favourite fruit cake recipe it seems. And no amount of conditioning can prepare you for it, the current, that is, according to today's health and fitness bulletin from Telefonica Blue navigator Simon Fisher. “We spent much of the last 24 hours battling a massive amount of current, which was somewhat akin to spending all day running frantically on a treadmill,” he said.
This is no time for rash judgements. Or is it?
"In many days spent in the gym last year I can tell you that I am not that fond of running on a treadmill and now, after 24 hours of battling 3-4 knots of current, I have decided that it's not that much more fun doing the nautical version either. The lack of progress has been a little frustrating but that said, we have being going quite well and the battle with the other boats has kept us on our toes and pushing hard.
"Sleep has been somewhat scarce too as there have been lots of sail changes so far. It would be hard to imagine much closer racing right now. The few miles of separation we have established between the boats now has given us a little breathing space, but will not let the pressure off at all.”
Speaking of cake, there is already talk of rationing on Ericsson 4 given the go-slowing of the past couple of days and the very real threat of a Christmas spent at sea.
Bowman Phil Jameson has been crunching the numbers in an attempt to arrive at an accurate ETA with half an eye on food stocks and the general health and well-being of his fellow crew members. This is no time for rash judgements. Or is it?
"When you are only doing four knots of boat speed, it makes for painfully slow progress,” he said. “We have been trying to work out ETAs and it can be quite scary. Food has already been rationed as we are expecting to take a few days longer.
"Spirits are good onboard. We are still having a bit of a laugh when it's appropriate. Ryan (Godfrey) has been copping a serious bagging over his little rash situation. There have been many Ericsson 4 laws broken while he struggles with the rash. Nudity down below has featured more than once! Poor little b****r probably just wants us to leave him alone so he can deal with the problem quietly on his own.
”Since writing this message, the breeze has built and we are on course again at 10 knots. Thank God for that. It will be interesting to see how long the puff hangs in for this time.”
Thoughts of yuletide are also occupying the mind of PUMA skipper Ken Read as hopes of seeing Santa in Singapore fade. ”Doesn’t Mother Nature know that we have Christmas dinner waiting at the other end and we have to make it on time?”, he asks.
Meanwhile, Matt Gregory, Delta Lloyd’s navigator, reported that they were also a victim of the current when the breeze dropped to below four knots near the Bay of Bengal.
With a counter flow of 2.5 knots, they struggled to make any progress south over an eight-hour stretch while the rest of the fleet had made the turn to the east and was sailing away in moderate winds perpendicular to the current.
”It was like to walking up a down-escalator and finding out that iPhones are being given away for free on the third floor of the mall,” he said. “You can see the stampede of people running towards the Apple store, yet you are trapped running as fast as you can, arms pumping wildly, and going nowhere, unable to keep up with an endless Stairmaster that keeps throwing stair after stair at you.
”Finally the wind Gods stopped their torturous joke we got around the mark. The fleet gained 35 miles on us in their shopping bonanza.”
We can guess what is top of Gregory’s Christmas wish list.