Volvo Ocean Race, leg 2 - Capetown to Cochin - the old fashioned way - under sail.
November 21, 2008
6 days out of Capetown
2,300 nm to Cochin
12 - 14 knots - Fleet Average Boat Speed (8 boats)
78 nm - Distance from front to back of fleet
Data from Team Data Centre
There's email, audio, video, commentary.
There's passing footage to die for, mishaps and astonishing skill and competitive spirit.
Highlights of the week:
Video
Ericsson 3 passes Telefonica Blue - in rough seas in the Indian Ocean, November 16
Team Russia: Chinese Gybe
Delta Lloyd: Hits a whale
Email
Ken Read, skipper of Puma reports on day 17 out of Capetown, Tuesday 18 November 2008 10:57 GMT - 3,000 miles from Cochin:
"We got about as vertical in a sailboat as you would ever want to be when...we found another beauty of a wave, except this one had no face in front of it and ---whoosh. Take off!
"The inevitable silence of a boat that feels like it is literally flying, followed up with a massive SMASH into the not very soft Indian Ocean. But this one was different than the other 10,872 smashes that have occurred over the past 48 hours or so. This one had a horrid CRACK along with it. I was working with Justin on the sail at the time and had on my headlamp and ran to the bow to quickly find several cracks in our longitudinal frames in the bow section. "
See Puma Team email for reports of fabricating carbon fibre splints underway, more damage, despair, and recovery.
