SAILING/VOLVO OCEAN RACE AND IRISH NEWS: WITH LESS than three days remaining before the first boat reaches Cape Town in the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, storms in the South Atlantic have wreaked havoc on the eight-strong fleet. But Torben Grael's Ericsson 4 has withstood the weather and has opened a significant lead with around 1,000 miles remaining.
The Brazilian skipper spent Wednesday celebrating not one but four separate speed sailing records as the 2005 distance of 563-nautical miles in a single 24-hour period fell. The latest record for a monohull yacht, still to be formally ratified, stands at 602-nautical miles.
Meanwhile, Grael's stable-mates on Ericsson 3 reported a maximum speed of 46 knots in a single burst.
However, the gale has taken its toll elsewhere in the standings. While Ken Read's Puma Racing has managed to retain second place, albeit some 75 miles behind the leader, Ireland's Green Dragon has dropped to fourth as Ericsson 3 powered ahead to a 100-mile advantage on Wednesday night.
Skipper Ian Walker admitted third place had been lost to a series of potentially serious incidents that ranged from a collision with an underwater object to crew being tossed around the boat.
In his daily report, Walker wrote: "There was a deafening crunch and the boat went from 25 knots to a virtual standstill. Neal McDonald, who was helming, smashed the wheel and everyone else fell over. The crew inspected the hull, foils and keel for damage and all seems fine, apart from a huge vibration which cleared itself."
According to the British double-Olympic medallist, the luckiest man on the boat is Guo Chuan, the Chinese media crew member. In one nosedive, he flew from the companionway head over heels once or twice and ended up head first in the rubbish bag in the galley, a distance of approximately five metres forward and two down.
"Andrew (Mclean) pulled him out by the legs, he was unscathed apart from a new nickname - the 'cannonball'," reported Walker. "Not content with this, he was on deck for the next one and his face planted into a winch - his nose has seen better days but he is still fine, he insists." Nevertheless, Walker insisted that "the Green Dragon is wounded but far from slain".
Others weren't as lucky. Spain's Telefonica Black also had a collision that ripped away one of their two rudders and a daggerboard.
And Limerick's Ger O'Rourke on Team Delta Lloyd has slipped to eighth as old sails and rigging damage have constrained the boat from competing effectively.
