A course of almost pure East and pushing through the '1,000 miles to Cape Town' mark. “Telefónica” has crossed the Greenwich Meridian, meaning also that the boat has moved into Eastern latitudes, being the first of the race entries to do so.
Iker Martínez's crew is now breathing more calmly having got through what was set to be a very tricky night, “probably the toughest night on the leg” Iker warned yesterday. The “Telefónica” guys had prepared by filling up on food and liquids and trying to get as much rest as possible to be as 'fresh' as they could for what was ahead.
From yesterday at 16:00 GMT to today, Thursday at the same time, Iker Martínez and co. had covered a total of 536.2 nautical miles, reaching average speeds of 25 knots (46.3 km/h).
“Telefónica” continues to be the boat positioned furthest South in the fleet and has “Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand” sailing parallel to her, although the New Zealanders are some 85 miles further North and are almost 99 miles away from the Spaniards.
Minds on the finish…
Keeping up the pace will be crucial over the coming hours to be able to start thinking about crossing that finishing line and getting to the cool waters of Cape Town. There are now less than 1,000 miles to go to the end of the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. It may sound like a big number, but “Telefónica” has sailed over 5,500 nautical miles so far (10,186 km).
Of course, following 20 days at sea, the “Telefónica” crew have started to think about when they'll step off onto dry land. The Media Crew Member, Diego Fructuoso interviewed the guys one by one yesterday to ask them what they are most looking forward to once they get to Cape Town.
They may have all had different ways of expressing it, but the overall answer was unanimous: family. Some were looking forward to being with them, others wouldn't be able to be with them and were looking forward to a telephone call.
Another common theme was a cold beer and a good steak, as well as a shower. “After 20 days at sea there's quite a smell on here”, joked Iker. Pepe Ribes replied that after seeing his wife Sandra and his son Pepe, the thing that he was most looking forward to was holding the leg winner's flag. Interestingly, Xabi mentioned the next leg: “A change of clothes because I've had the same waterproofs on for 20 days, seeing my wife and children, trying to rest so that I can get ready for the next leg”.
PROVISIONAL RANKINGS LEG 1
ALICANTE (SPAIN) – CAPE TOWN (SOUTH AFRICA): 6,500 miles
Day 20 – 16:00 GMT – 24th November 2011
1. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 952.6 miles from leg finish
2. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), + 98.8 miles from leader
3. Groupama Sailing Team (Franck Cammas), + 344.4 miles
Puma Ocean Racing (Ken Read), Retired from Leg 1
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), Retired from Leg 1
Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), Retired from Leg 1
It looks like the pace is picking up on board "Telefónica". Into the fourth day of racing for the Spanish team and good news accompanies every position report. Over the ...
With Sri Lanka now behind them and 750 miles ahead to the Strait of Malacca, last night “Telefónica” played out a new move and chose to place their bets on ...
The first 24 hours of racing haven't been straightforward for “Telefónica”. The Spanish boat experienced problems with the Code Zero just hours into racing, with Iker Martínez and crew ...
17:00 UTC
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"We had a difficult start with not very much breeze. We had all of our big sails up, including the Code Zero. Right now there are three yachts ...
At 11:30 local time, which was 06:30 UTC, the 'Happy Diamond' cargo ship finally docked at the port of Malé, the Maldive capital, her arrival signalling a farewell any piracy ...
As they wait for the heavy ship transferring the Volvo Ocean Race fleet from the Emirate of Sharjah to the safe haven port, the “Telefónica” crew have made their way ...
With the first stage of the third leg complete: a 100 mile dash between the Emirates of Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, with “Telefónica” finishing in fourth place, there has been ...
"Telefónica" took just over six hours to complete the first stage of the third leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, almost 100 nautical miles between the Emirates of Abu Dhabi ...
The third leg of the Volvo Ocean Race is underway. At 10:00 sharp (UTC), Spanish boat “Telefónica” took to the front of the fleet on a dash of just ...
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