Telefónica | Pitstop| Over

03-31-2012
"TELEFÓNICA" TO RESUME LEG AT 22:00 UTC

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Antonio Cuervas-Mons will make the most of the pit stop to kick off the recovery process following a minor injury suffered on board

The “Telefónica” pit stop at Caleta Martial, a cove on Herschel Island (Chile) is going at a good pace and the boat will be fully back in the race at 22:00 UTC. Moored at the cove, the crew are eager to hit the water again, a mood that was made quite clear by the words of skipper Iker Martínez who is anxious to set off: “Let's see if these reinforcements dry quickly and we can shoot out of here”.

The Spanish boat suspended racing today, Saturday the 31st of March at 04:37 UTC and since then the shore crew and racing crew have been working to achieve a clear objective: to get “Telefónica” back to 100% in the shortest possible time. Fortunately, as Iker Martínez says: “When we got here the boat was in the best state we could hope for: the exterior of the hull was intact”.

For now the situation is looking up, and according to the skipper of the Spanish team: “The reinforcements are going well and now we just need to wait for everything to dry and we'll be ready to go. Once we're happy with the job we'll begin sailing again, first making our exit through the islands to get back to the point where we suspended racing yesterday night, some four miles northeast of Cape Horn. From there we'll be sailing up to Itjaí”.

Ñeti Cuervas-Mons, out of action with a minor injury

Things won't quite be the same on board “Telefónica” after this pit stop at Cape Horn. Firstly the boat will be back to 100%. Secondly, Antonio Cuervas-Mons Ruiloba won't be aboard for the final 2,000 miles to Itjaí (Brazil).



“Yesterday I was lucky enough to round legendary Cape Horn for the first time, but unfortunately it was bittersweet as a few days ago when a wave crashed down onto the deck it dragged me along with it causing a lower back injury affecting my sciatic nerve, which has made for some very uncomfortable sailing ever since. I even had to spend a couple of days in a bunk resting. Thankfully, as always, I was wearing my safety harness, so the blow was a lot less serious than it could have been... However, since we're making this stop to repair the bow, together with Iker and our team doctor, Pablo Díaz Munio, we've decided that it would be best for me to disembark here at the cape in order to speed up the recovery process, which would definitely be a lot slower on board and I might even risk not being at 100% for the next leg”, said Ñeti.

The main aim now is for the Spaniard to recover as soon as possible from the injury, which with rest could take just a couple of weeks to get over, and as Iker Martínez pointed out: “As always, it takes much longer to get over these things on the boat, and even though he's fairly ok now, we can't risk him getting injured again because he wasn't back up to 100%. Stopping off for these repairs has meant the possibility of him not finishing the leg with us, which is a real shame for us and for him, but looking at where we are on the leg it's best for him to make a complete recovery and be back in shape for the training ahead of the in-port in Itjaí. The doctors say there's no reason he can't be back to full strength in ten days or two weeks, which is how long it'll take us to sail up to Brazil, so we've taken the safest option”.



Known as the perpetual optimist on board, the Spaniard has taken a glass-half-full approach, which the Basque skipper also referred to when he spoke about the decision: “Ñeti is doing well and is in good spirits and you can all imagine that he, more than anyone, is really disappointed at not being able to complete the leg, but it's definitely the right choice for the future”.



Ñeti Cuervas-Mons will fly directly to Itajaí (Brazil) with the rest of the shore crew to begin treatment as soon as possible, allowing him to get back into the crew routine as swiftly as he can.



PROVISIONAL RANKINGS LEG 5*

*Final position report before “Telefónica” suspended racing



AUCKLAND (NEW ZEALAND) – ITAJAÍ (BRAZIL): 6,705 miles

Day 14 – 03:00 UTC – 31st March 2012



1. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), 1,731.6 miles from finish

2. Puma Ocean Racing (Ken Read), +36.3 miles from leader

3. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), +191.1 miles

4. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), +1,397.6 miles

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), +1,740.4 miles

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), DNF

RC44 | RESULTS | CALM RETURNS

Calm descends on Cascais


In contrast to yesterday’s foam up, the penultimate day of racing at the Cascais RC44 Cup was spent wishing for wind.

The fleet were held ashore until 13:00 BST in the hope the sea breeze would kick before motoring three miles west of Cascais, where the sea-breeze is more prevalent, racing eventually got underway at 15:30 in a light 7 knots breeze.



Event leader Katusha (RUS) showed the fleet the way in the first race, starting at the committee boat tacking immediately towards the shoreline, obviously wanting the right hand side of the track. Peninsula Petroleum (GBR) and Team Aqua (GBR) had the same plan and the trio rounded the windward mark ahead of the fleet. The top three places didn’t change, Katusha taking the win, Peninsula Petroleum second and then Team Aqua. The Russian flagged team was extending their overall lead on the fleet.

Race two started with a general recall, Race Officer Peter Reggio was quick to hoist the black flag with new boys Aegir (GBR) and RUS 7 being called over and disqualified from the race. Katusha and Peninsula Petroleum headed right off the start line again, but this time it was Team Aqua that popped out of the middle of the pack to lead at the windward mark. Peninsula Petroleum was next to round. As much as the team from Gibraltar pushed, but they couldn’t catch Team Aqua who sailed the perfect race, their second race-win of the event.

Steve Howe and Russell Coutts on Katusha followed their race win with a fourth place giving them a 13 point cushion going into the final day of racing. Team Aqua stays in second overall, reducing the margin by one-point and are clearly not giving up on the event win just yet. “Katusha have got a pretty healthy lead over us at the moment but everything is possible and we will defiantly try to catch them tomorrow.” Chris Bake, owner/driver, Team Aqua.



Peninsula Petroleum put in another incredibly consistent set of results after their two wins yesterday this time in very different conditions, they move-up into third overall on equal points with Igor Lah/Michele Ivaldi and the Slovenian CEEREF team. “I’m very proud of the guys, we’ve sailed unbelievably again today. To come out today and back up yesterday’s good day was important. I’m very happy with boat speed and tactics so hopefully we can keep it going for one more day,” Peninsula Petroleum owner John Bassadone (GBR).



The class have the great honour tonight to have their gala dinner at the Presidential Palace in Cascais, the first time a private event has been given permission to use the Palace.

Racing at the Cascais RC44 Cup 2012 concludes on 1st April. The action kicks off at 12.00 (BST) with no warning signal allowed after 1500 on the final day. Follow the racing and see who will win the second event of the RC44 Championship Tour on the live blog at www.rc44.com.

RC44 Cascais Cup Results
(After nine races)

1 Katusha
3 7 1 4 4 3 2 1 4 – 29
2 Team Aqua
8 1 3 9 6 5 6 3 1 – 42
3 Peninsula Petroleum Sailing Team
4 13 11 14 1 1 5 2 2 – 53
4 RC44 Team CEEREF
5 2 6 1 11 8 7 5 8 – 53
5 Ironbound
14 15 2 7 7 2 3 4 7 – 61
6 No Way Back
6 4 4 11 3 13 13 7 3 – 64
7 Artemis Racing
7 3 8 13 12 7 1 11 5 – 67
8 Synergy Russian Sailing Team
1 10 7 5 5 6 10 13 10 – 67
9 AEZ Sailing Team
12 14 5 12 10 4 4 6 6 – 73
10 Puerto Calero
10 9 9 6 8 9 12 8 13 – 84
11 RUS-7 Sail Racing Team
powered by AnyWayAnyDay.com
9 11 13 2 2 11 9 12 16(BFD) – 85
12 Team Cascais
2 5 12 3 13 10 11 15 12 (2)- 85
13 Aegir
11 6 14 8 16(DNS) 16(DNS) 8 14 16(BFD) – 109
14 Team Nika
13 8 10 10 16(DNS) 16(DNS) 16(DNS) 10 11 – 110
15 AFX Capital Racing Team
15 12 15 15 9 12 16(DNF) 9 9 (4)- 115

2012 RC44 Championship Tour Calendar: 8 – 12 February RC44 Puerto Calero Cup, Puerto Calero, Lanzarote 28 March – 1 April RC44 Cascais Cup, Cascais, Portugal 30 May – 3 June RC44 Austria Cup, Lake Traunsee, Austria 18 – 22 July RC44 Sweden Cup, Marstrand, Sweden 3 – 7 October Adris RC4

Cascais | Has | Synergy| Vid

Telefónica | Repair | At | Cape Horn

Iker Martínez: “I must thank the Spanish Navy and Vice Admiral Jaime Rodriguez-Toubes, the delegate for sailing, as well as the Chilean and Argentine authorities for the help and assistance they're giving us”


“Telefónica” has made a shift in strategy and instead of stopping of to carry out the forecasted repairs at Ushuaia (Argentina) the boat will stop at Cape Horn itself, more specifically at Maxwell Cove, a small and very well protected bay within the group of Wollaston islands, right at the heart of the Cape Horn national park (Chile).

Double-Olympic medallist and skipper Iker Martínez made the announcement this afternoon: “We have decided to make a quick stop at Cape Horn to reinforce the damaged section of the hull and to get back in the race as quickly as we can. If all goes well, we'll try to carry out the repairs without stopping off on land to avoid the stretch up to Ushuaia, which would mean another 100 extra miles. Horacio [Team Telefónica's technical director] is sailing from Port Williams now in a 50-foot steel sailboat which will bring them to the cape. We'll meet there to take shelter so that we can make the reinforcements to the area of the bow that's been affected”.

“The area around Cape Horn is a labyrinth of islands and this time they'll be help us to get some shelter so that we can work more effectively on the boat, with no movement and with the boat dry”, added the Basque skipper.

So the Spanish baot will avoid a trip to Ushuaia and will aim to stop only for the minimum period set out by the race rules, which is to say, 12 hours: “The rules state that if you stop it must be for a minimum period of 12 hours, so we'll try to get it all done within that time frame”, explained Iker Marínez. “First we'll check if the outside of the hull is still intact. If it is, which I hope it is, we'll position ourselves so we're shielded, just behind the island of Cape Horn, to be able to work comfortably. The rules also state that if you pay the 12 hour penalty you are entitled to external assistance, so our technical director Horacio and the shore crew will be giving us a hand with repairs”.

Thanks for the Spanish Navy and the Chilean and Argentine authorities

To be precise, the group of shore crewmembers are heading for Maxwell Cove with the equipment needed to carry out repairs and are making their way on the water, just like their fellow team mates. They are on a 50-foot boat having set sail from Port Williams, as the ESP-1 skipper told us.



“We've come sailing from New Zealand, the shore crew has left Argentina and we're meeting in Chilean waters, so if we'd had to take the time to do all of the paperwork we'd have to spend a lot longer than we'd planned at Cape Horn”, said Martínez.



The head of the Spanish crew also wanted to “thank the Chilean and Argentine authorities for their help and assistance, as well as the Spanish Navy and Vice Admiral Jaime Rodriguez-Toubes, the Spanish Navy sailing delegate”.



The two frontrunners 15-18 hours away

This bit of breaking news has added even more excitement to this regatta. As Iker Martínez wrote this email, “Groupama” and “Puma”, first and second on the fleet had just rounded Cape Horn although in the most recent report the boats were some 300 miles from the Spanish boat, so 15 to 18 hours away.



“Once we've finished the repairs we'll be aiming to get back to full speed. “Puma” and “Groupama” may not push forward so much over the next few hours but their lead might be just too much for us to catch them before we get to Itajaí”, said Iker.



However, anything's possible and the Basque skipper has opened up an interesting question mark: “Even though the gap seems insurmountable, the climb up to Brazil has some tricky points and we are likely to come across a complicated high that might shake things up, and that's given us a bit of hope that they may be stopped in their tracks ahead and we could catch up with them. You can always dream that something good might happen, right?”

Groupama | First | Horn

Leading at the Horn

Franck Cammas and his men rounded Cape Horn this Friday at 1255 UTC and are leading this fifth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. They still have 1,700 miles to go before they reach Brazil and the Americans are putting increasing pressure on them as Puma is just an hour astern of Groupama 4. "Puma is now our most dangerous rival so we're sailing according to what she does. For the overall ranking it would be good to keep the Americans astern of us into Itajai, but I think Telefonica will be able to hang onto third place in this leg. Ken Read and his crew aren't making many mistakes and they've negotiated the South Pacific very well. It's certainly going to be a fine race to Brazil! We'll have to make sure we don't fall asleep on the job..." stated Franck Cammas before Cape Horn. Insignificant separation Indeed the Americans made up a vast amount of their deficit last night due to the series of gybes Groupama 4 had to link together to adapt to the north-westerly wind shift. Puma was able to benefit from a more gradual shift to gain nearly forty miles in one night and the two boats were close to each other as they rounded Cape Horn, early this Friday afternoon: Franck Cammas and his men caught a brief glimpse of the legendary rock at 1400 hours, followed an hour later by Ken Read and his crew. This island to the extreme South marks a radical change, not just in terms of the sea state and the cold, which has reigned over recent days, but also the degree of intensity of this leg, which has transformed into a Franco-American duel. However, the weather situation after Drake's Passage isn't the easiest to understand... In fact the solid twenty knots or so of north-westerly wind, which was blowing as they rounded the legendary rock, will ease considerably offshore of Isla de Los Estados. Added to that, the warm front which generated the mist at daybreak this Friday, will give way to less cloudy skies. It would seem that two major options are possible for the climb up to Brazil: a route along the Argentinean coast in a moderate westerly air flow with the emergence of a mini depression to the North of the Falklands, or a more easterly trajectory, leaving the Falklands to port so as to distance themselves from the influence of the Andes cordillera and skirt around the outside of this barometric minimum. However, what's vital in all this is their positioning around Rio de la Plata in three days' time, as a zone of high pressure is blocking the way to Brazil. For the French, the decision about which way to go will also depend on how the Americans react to the situation... The Cape of Good Deliverance "For over ten days, it's been very full-on physically, with some very big waves pushed along by a big southerly swell, with some strong winds and speeds which reached thirty knots at times in the troughs... The proximity of Puma would seem to suggest that the coming week isn't going to be exactly restful! We can feel our rival breathing down our necks and clearly they don't want to get left behind after Cape Horn... We'll respond to them by showing that we're capable of taking up a challenge and going faster than them. There's some psychological game playing here and it's revived with each new position report every three hours. Up till now, we've been dealing with the Southern Ocean at our own pace, but now, as we make Cape Horn, we're getting back into race mode with all the fatigue that we've accumulated. This is the point I call "the Cape of good deliverance": this is where the race really begins! It's an imposing rock and it always gives me a special emotion" commented Thomas Coville, before rounding Cape Horn for the ninth time. In this way, the first of the next 36 hours will see them make fairly quick headway towards the North-East and the crew of Groupama 4 will very quickly latch onto some less extreme weather conditions: the seas are likely to be smoother and the cold decreasingly harsh, but the wind may well be more fickle. The ETA in Itajai currently stands between the evening of Wednesday 4 April (local time) and noon on Thursday... Standing for the 5th leg from Auckland - Itajai 30 March 2012, 1300 UTC 1. Groupama 1,920.3 miles from the finish 2. Puma 16.3 miles astern of the leader 3. Telefonica 303.3 miles astern of the leader 4. Camper 1,347.6 miles astern of the leader 5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing 1,696.8 miles astern of the leader 6. Sanya DNF.

Paris | Embraces | Borlenghi

Yesterday our great friend and mentor Carlo Borlenghi exibition opened in Paris . Paris home of fashion houses Louis Vuitton , Prada, Dior Paris home of the Louvre the Eiffel tower . And last night the .The House of Borlenghi .

I have been lucky enough to befriend Carlo in La Maddalena Italy, covering the Louis Vuitton Trophy Series . Carlo was one first I meet on the remote Sardinian island . Carlo as well as Bruno Trouble , Gilles Martin - Raget ,were inspirational as well as welcoming in the Usually private world of Americas Cup Class World...

Carlo Borlenghi and master artist of the light shadow and water En gulfs you in this visions his canvas his eye. Not a Photographer of the Photoshop generation Carlo relays on Nature and what she offers .

I have been blessed with the works of the Artist sometimes waiting up all night, to get his work to share on our websites. When we know hes on assignment at a regatta and never to be disappointed Generous to share and inspire all . A lost Art ..

Cascais Americas Cup World Series Opener fate has put me again with Carlo the first day on our Media Boat . Carlo captured the Scoop shot of the day of Emirates Team mate falling over board . Carlo before I could even open my email had sent me the photo set for our blogs.

One of great Vision and talent always willing to listen guide share his talent is truly a lost virtue . One Carlo Borlenghi hasn't lost a Giant among men in my book .

Humility , Kindness ,Talent , Visionary, Truly today's what can be called today's renaissance man

Some say its the Camera Some say it the Paints Some the Clay I say Its a Gift given from above to those who see and embarrassing share with the world ones Heart and soul  threw the lens threw the brush threw the Clay . Carlo Borlenghi Is one of these blessed Souls .

Ciao Carlo Congrats John

Puma | Creating a | Group

PUMA made the most of a small weather window to scramble to within 19 nautical miles of Leg 5 leaders Groupama as the pair close in on Cape Horn.

As seas temporarily eased, Ken Read’s men saw an opportunity to pounce, more than halving the gap to the leading boat, the closest any team has been to Groupama in six days.

Both teams are expected to pass Cape Horn at around 1200 UTC today, marking the start of the 2,000 nautical mile sprint through the South Atlantic to Itajaí in Brazil.

“Here we are, we are getting there,” Groupama’s media crew member Yann Riou said this morning.

“In a little while we will leave the Pacific. Let’s get out of here!

“Soon we will round the Cape Horn, which marks for us the end of 10 days of rare intensity and extreme violence.

“We hope to see this famous rock, to mark the occasion, but if we don’t, no worries. “It won’t stop us from celebrating, today or another day.

“The most important thing is for the Cape to be in our wake.”

nOne Said it would be easy | VOR VID

RC 44 | Cascais | Results| Fleets Close

Compact racing for the RC44 fleet

A full on day of racing in every sense saw four different winners from four races and a very compact fleet competing for every inch around the race course at the Cascais RC44 Cup 2012.

The steady easterly breeze averaged 15 knots throughout the day and produced some very close one-design racing. With 15 boats now competing on the RC44 Tour, all with very even boat speed, mark rounding’s have become very congested. Picking the port lay-line can be a risky manoeuvre with the prospect of a 180 metre duck if you get it wrong. One who fell foul of this today was Patrick de Barros (POR) and Mathieu Richard (FRA) on Team Cascais. The local team found themselves having to duck the entire fleet at the first windward mark of race three after finding no space to squeeze into.

Igor Lah and the team of CEEREF (SLO) had the most consistent day, their worst result was a sixth, their best a win in the fourth and final race of the day. The team managed to stay incident free but it wasn’t all as serene as it looked as owner owner Igor Lah explained. “Today was an excellent day, the conditions were fairly stable and anything could have happened at any moment. In one race we came from almost last up to second or third place. Every moment mattered today so you had to be very careful with how you performed, but Michele (Ivaldi) was calling very good tactics and the crew members were excellent, it really paid off.” Katusha (RUS) helmed this week by Steve Howe (USA) with Russell Coutts (NZL) calling the shots finished the day one point off the lead with a 3,7,1,4 score-line. Steve Howe’s reaction to the racing: “Thank god for comebacks! Today’s racing was so close.”

Chris Bake and Cameron Appleton had an up and down day by their own high standards. They started with an eighth and bounced straight back to win the next. Despite having their wind instruments ripped off the top of their mast by Team Cascais in race three, they slotted in a third followed by a ninth leaving Team Aqua (GBR) third overall, seven points off the lead. Synergy Russian Sailing Team started where they left off yesterday winning the opening race of the day, however a port starboard incident with AFX Capital (ITA) saw the team lose their crash box. Valentin Zavadnikov with Ed Baird calling the shots finished the day in fourth overall – 10 points off the leader. New to the fleet is Brian Benjamin (GBR) and his Aegir team who are more used to Maxi boats, after two days racing in the RC44 he gave his thoughts on the new venture. “Today was fantastic, we had an easier run of it today compared to yesterday, we got beat up a bit in the match racing! We had some really good races, the conditions were great it wasn’t quite as windy as yesterday. Compared to the Maxi’s I’m pretty surprised by how close the boats are. It’s not quite like the Maxi races, it’s a lot more aggressive and there are a lot more boats, probably a lot more fun as well.” The wind is due to ease slightly tomorrow for the second day of fleet racing at the Cascais RC44 Cup 2012 racing concludes on 1st April. Racing kicks off at 12.00 noon daily, following the racing on the live blog at www.rc44.com. 1   RC44 Team CEEREF      5 2 6 1 – 14 2   Katusha      3 7 1 4 – 15 3   Team Aqua      8 1 3 9 – 21 4   Synergy Russian Sailing Team      1 10 7 5 – 23 5   Team Cascais      2 5 12 3 (2) – 24 6   No Way Back      6 4 4 11 – 25 7   Artemis Racing      7 3 8 13 – 31 8   Puerto Calero      10 9 9 6 – 34 9   RUS-7 Sail Racing Team     powered by AnyWayAnyDay.com      9 11 13 2 – 35 10   Ironbound      14 15 2 7 – 38 11   Aegir      11 6 14 8 – 39 12   Team Nika      13 8 10 10 – 41 13   Peninsula Petroleum Sailing Team      4 13 11 14 – 42 14   AEZ Sailing Team      12 14 5 12 – 43 15   AFX Capital Racing Team      15 12 15 15 (3) – 60

GunBoat | Quantum | Sails

Groupama | 400 | Cape Horn

Press release of the 29/03/20122012/03/29 - 17h15


At the gateway to deliverance

With less than 400 miles to go to reach Cape Horn, Groupama 4 is making fast headway towards South America, but the crew will have to link together a series of gybes before they make it through into the Atlantic. The sailing conditions have considerably improved and, if things pan out as they should, Franck Cammas and his men will be Cape Horners from daybreak local time, or early afternoon on Friday (European time).






Making landfall on the Chilean coast is already part of the programme and before sunset this Thursday the Andes cordillera will appear over the horizon! This will be the first land they've seen since setting out from Auckland, after twelve days at sea, nine of which have been particularly lively... Groupama 4 is in tip-top condition and the crew is benefiting from a slight `let-up' to lengthen their stride, without forcing either the machine or the men.

"It will be daybreak in about half an hour's time: right now, for the first time in a long while, we're sailing with 25 knots of WNW'ly wind, on considerably flatter seas. It's a lot less violent down below and on deck. We're beginning to slip along smoothly with a lot more sail up, even though we aren't carrying everything aloft again yet. We're heading towards the southern tip of South America, but not directly towards Cape Horn, since we'll have to gybe several times along the coast, a session which will probably start tonight. The north-westerly wind is set to kick back in with a punch and we should be able to make out land this Thursday afternoon (local time). It's very beautiful down here so we'll be able to do a spot of tourism..." indicated Franck Cammas during the noon radio session today.

The end of the very rough weather

The austral depression has done some damage and just half the fleet are still in a position to get the best out of their VO-70s. Groupama 4 has managed to negotiate this latest storm without mishap, despite it picking up very messy seas. Indeed, it was still making its presence felt this morning when it caused Abu Dhabi to crash tack with the sails backed and the keel on the wrong side... which just goes to show how violent the Pacific has been (and still is). It's the ability to temper this speed-safety ratio, which has been a real plus for the two leaders, who haven't sought to impose their authority at the head of the fleet and are simply focusing on sailing gently, without putting too much pressure on their machines.

Read more »

RC44| Fleets In Action

@Studio Borlenghi 

Day Two will see the fleet racing begin all eyes will be on Team Synergy and there American Skipper Ed Baird .Ed fresh off winning the Audi Med Cup Championship this year for Quantum racing is right at home in a RC44. Update . Synergy has taken the first Fleet race today . Usuing a wind shift to over take leader Cascais In the final minutes.

Sir Russel Coutts has taken time off his busy schedule to enjoy not only the boat he designed but the series. Missing the first leg Russel is Sailing on Katusha (RUS 007) Live racing going on this story develops will update . Update race Two Today .

T

op 10 finishers - unofficial - official results to follow 1. Aqua 2. CEEREF 3. Artemis 4. No Way Bank - good recovery after their penalty on first windward leg 5. Cascais - comeback from 13th at the first windward mark 6. Aegir 7. Katusha 8. Nika 9. Puerto Calero 10. Synergy - the early leaders losing out on the second beat Its Any one race Today no clear leaders as team Aqua Take the second race today .

Check back later for todays highlights and results also picture gallery from Studio Borlenghi