Back to the Big Code Zero

We're off again after one of the most incredible on-the-water repairs I've ever seen. Martin and Johnnie invented a fantastic system for fixing our top mast jumper. They saved leg one.

Roller coaster emotions?

We were in an intense duel with the rest of the fleet.

We broke our rig and it was all over.

We're back in the race.

The events of last night—breaking our jumper—were all recorded in high def video thanks to a 'crash button' in the companionway. If there is an event on deck, a crew member can hit the button and the previous two minutes and the next 6 minutes of action are stored in our stern-mounted camera. Last night's scene is
something to watch. We are uploading the video to Volvo Race HQ as I type.

We see the spreader falling, then hitting the side deck just inches behind Ryan, the trimmer, to leeward. It bounces back high, passes between Stu and me (we were grinding across from each other on the rear pedestal), then glances off my back and hits the deck again, then lands in the very back of the boat. Incredibly, just as the spreader failed, I rotated 90 degrees and took a halfstep forward. I have no recollection of taking the step or being hit, but it's all on film. It's a miracle that none of us took a direct hit. We were all standing in a five-foot circle and the spreader cracked the deck and the self-tailer of one winch when it came down between us.

We might claim to be pretty tough, but we're softer than the boat.

Now we are happy to be sailing at full capacity again. We can worry about the new problem de jour; We are running out of spoons. We started with ten. We're down to two.

Maybe Martin and Johnnie can make us some.

Matt out

Bounced Off Me

The doldrums have scrambled the Volvo Ocean Race fleet amidst calms, squalls, and black clouds. Green Dragon's stealth move carried her to the front of the fleet, but today that lead is dwindling. And life aboard Delta Lloyd got very complicated, very quickly.

Last night we attempted a sail change to our Mast Head Code O foresail. It was pitch black and we had unknowingly fouled a halyard around the leeward upper jumper spreader.

As we attempted to get the halyard onto its halyard lock we heard a BANG. A second later a bolt hit the deck. A second later, something big crashed down. The jumper. It had broken away from the rig. It fell 90 feet. Fortunately it bounced off the deck a couple times before it bounced off me.

In a state of shock I chased the thing down ("we might need that") as it headed for the back of the boat and I nabbed it about half a meter from the transom. Our collective state of mind was disbelief. We were all thinking, “Our leg is over, we broke the rig.”

We took down the mast-head code zero and put up a fractional code zero to unload the top of the rig. At this point, we were the southern-most boat in the fleet, a position we had worked hard for two days to gain. Now we're slow and the fleet is pulling bearing on us to the west. For sure, they have their big code zero’s on while we are sailing with a fractional. I feel absolutely gutted.

However.

Marti Watts, our rigger/mast expert, must be just about the most positive-minded and resilient problem solver we could ever hope to have on board. While I took a nap and worked on a weather solution to tiptoe through the doldrums, he worked through the night on a problem that is really difficult. Consider: It takes a specialized part to replace the end fittings that broke. They aren’t parts that we have onboard as spares, and . . .

I was just up on deck to see how things are progressing, and it looks like a fabulous solution. Martin has built a ‘bracket’ to sandwich the spreader and to butt up against the mast. He has a plan for using the fittings that are already on the mast, some ratchet straps, and the compression forces from the shroud to hold it all together. Then we can sail on starboard tack with more than a reef in the main and a fractional foresail. If he can pull off this repair I am going to be astounded. He is one talented mast guru.

In an earlier missive that now seems moot, Matt wrote about the living conditions aboard Delta Lloyd in the Doldrums. For example:

The hotseat is HOT today and don’t mean metaphorically. I am sitting in a sauna. It is well over 100 degrees down below. My only option for cooling myself is pointing the small fan at my nav desk directly at my head while drinking water with sports drink powder added. The water is desalinated from the sea, which is hot as well. Neither seems to be of very much help.

Matt out

Shakeup Coming?

My parents and sister sent an email this morning wishing me a Happy Birthday. They asked “What flavor birthday cake will you have on board? Can they make that in freeze dried? If not, will anything else take the place of your favorite Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip ice cream cake log?”

No.

I would do anything for a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake log roll right now.

Someone reading this blog should, immediately, go out to get one and write me a detailed description so that I can live vicariously. Since we left Alicante we’ve been eating freeze-drieds. We have three (three) varieties: Chili con Carne, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Chicken Tikka with Rice. We have three servings of each per day. On Wednesday, spaghetti bolognaise popped up in the daily food bag and there was absolute euphoria on board, having a new flavor. The crew sang Happy Birthday to me early this morning, which was followed up with a special treat: Freeze dried custard with blue berries.Tasty but not quite up to par with a nice thick slice of, you know.

Meanwhile, there's a race going on. We are just about to enter the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, otherwise known as the Doldrums. This is an area between the Northern and Southern hemisphere’s easterly trade winds. It is an area known for light winds, squalls and, generally, difficult sailing.

Right now we are headed right for a very large convection cell. This cloud is about 75 miles in diameter and depicted in the screen shot, 250 miles to our southeast: The cell is moving to the west at just about the same speed that we are traveling south, and for now it is building. By evening, however, the daytime heat convection that is fueling its growth should be reduced and the moist air, suspended at high altitudes, will start to fall. The moisture in the cloud will condense into rain. This will yield winds that are sort of helicopterish; that is, in the middle of the cloud the wind will be falling out of the sky; towards the edges the winds will radiate outwards.



The fleet should be positioned to the North of the cell when it passes. This means that the northeasterly gradient wind will be canceled by the southerly wind that the cloud produces. Or, perhaps, the cloud could build so much pressue that we will be sailing upwind in a southerly as it passes. I’m waiting for the 1800 GMT and 0000 GMT weather forecasts to see how this cell moves and changes.

How does this play into our 24-hour strategy?

It is impossible to get in front of the cell, so our escape back into the easterly gradient winds is to go east when the cell arrives; the new wind will fill from there. Fortunately we have a great eastward position on the fleet and are bow forward of everyone except Puma and Ericsson 4. I think there will be a big shake up in the leader board after this cell passes.

Matt out

Records, Leverage, Mint Chocolate Chip

I don't know about you, but I keep track of my personal 'speed' records. I have all sorts.

My top instantaneous speed on my road bicycle is 53 mph. My endurance solo speed record in a car goes back to a drive from Michigan to California a couple years ago: I did one stretch from Ann Arbor to Wyoming, 1300 miles, in 16 hours including gas fill ups and food stops.

Yesterday was another day for personal records. We sailed a long gybe, heading west away from the African coast, and covered 255 miles in 12 hours. Even more impressive; we were VMG-running (optimizing our angle for downwind gains. not straight-line speed). I'm sure this pace will be repeated over and over again over the next 9 months, but nonetheless, it was another fantastic night of sailing and a new personal best.

The next tactical decision in this race is picking a line through the doldrums, a region of confused winds that hover around 10 degrees north latitude at this time of year. Right now we are tracking west at 17 degrees north, toward the Verde Islands. We have the Green Dragon and the Russians several miles abeam to the north. I've positioned us here to leeward for a reason.

Sander Pluijm/Team Delta Lloyd/Volvo Ocean Race

There is a tropical wave passing to our south. This tropical wave will bring us a big right shift when it comes through, from the 35 degree wind direction we have now to probably 90 degrees. It should happen within the next 10 hours. Even more critical is how the shift will come to us. The shift is moving up from the south, meaning we should get it first.

It took two extra gybes in the middle of last night to set this up, and there is potential for big gains if the scenario plays out.

Once we get going south, we have to pick a line through the doldrums. While it's a difficult call to make now, we should cross through them at around 30 west longitude. It's going to be a restless night in the hot seat.


Editor's note: This is the sort of pressure that could make a man feel a year older overnight. Or perhaps it's as sister Caroline writes:

"The big question for Matthew Gregory on October 18th is: What flavor birthday cake will you have on board? Can they make that in freeze-dried form? If not, can anything else take the place of your favorite Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip ice cream cake?

Inquiring minds want to know...and we wish you a very
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Caroline, Mom and Dad"

SSBs? Sextants? Slide Rules?

I've been asked what I'm using in the way of onboard
computer, software and communication technologies. This post is for the tech-heads out there. You know who you are.

Computers? We have five of'em.

Navigation Station: There are 2 Panasonic Toughbook CF-52 computers in my nav station. I interface both of them through a USB mouse and keyboard. On the left-side machine I run Expedition software (www.iexpedition.org) exclusively. Expedition is my software of choice for performance analysis, navigation, weather routing and competitor tracking. The right-side computer is configured for messaging, writing this blog, reviewing weather charts and satellite imagery, refining sail charts, logging sail hour usage, and interfacing the media desk. I also run Expedition in the background on the right-side computer. Left and right are tied together via our onboard network. In case of a failure, the computers are set up identically, making either capable of running the entire system.

Media desk: 2 Apple computers. This is an incredible system that is provided by Volvo. The desk is a complete IT system that controls our onboard cameras and enables our media man, Sander, to edit video and audio. It controls our satellite broadband connection and allows me to download our weather packages from Volvo. The physical size of the 'box' that contains this hardware is 2 x 1 x .2 meters. One of the Mac books is embedded in the media desk and controls the media system. The other sits on top of the media desk for Sander to edit video and to interface the Media Desk.

The 'data computer': This is a custom piece of Volvo-provided hardware that's about the size of a brick. This computer interfaces an output from our instrument system to send all of our boat's data to Race HQ, for monitoring and for competitor tracking on the event website volvooceanrace.org.

Instruments: We are running a new B&G H3000 processor in the boat's legacy H2000 infrastructure. We have 2 GPS sources that are immediately swappable as inputs into the B&G system. In case of a B&G system failure, a GPS NMEA feed is available to either computer via a simple software switch. Thus if we lose our instruments, my navigation capabilities are not affected. We have redundant boat speed, wind wands and heading sources that can be exchanged by a series of switches on our instrument panel.

Communication: Thrane & Thrane, a partner of the Volvo Ocean Race, supplied each boat with an extensive communication system that includes the following hardware::

2 Sat C's:
One is a messaging terminal. Through Easy Mail software on my right computer I can send or receive messages from other boats or race HQ. The other Sat C specifically sends data from our 'Volvo' data computer to Race HQ for tracing, safety management and use for online spectating on the event web site. Both are interfaced to our GPS system and capable of sending distress signals at the push of a button.

VHF and SSB
A you'd expect we monitor channel 16 on the VHF. If all goes well, I won't need our SSB and will probably never power it on.

I'm new school; I don't know how SSB's, sextants or slide rules work.

Fleet 500:
This is our broadband satellite communication system. We use it to download weather data and to send HD video, photos and audio clips back to Volvo. Daily, we push about 350 MB through its pipe. It also acts as our alternate sat phone option.

Fleet 33:
This is our primary satellite phone communication tool. It also serves as a data backup in case of a Fleet 500 failure.

Handhelds:
We carry hand held VHF, Iridium sat phone and GPS on board for use in emergency. Also every crew member has been issued a personal GPS-enabled EPIRB.

Gosh, I hope that covers it.

Matt out

Editor's note: Puma grabbed the lead today and has been running an indicated 20 miles or so ahead of Ericssons 4 and 3. According to the technology, Matt's hopes of yesterday, to leverage into fourth ahead of Green Dragons, has come up short, but only by 15-16 miles. The gain was big. Team Russia skipper Andreas Hanakamp writes, "No real passing lanes so far, except for Delta Lloyd. They played the Capes of Africa perfectly and gained with every move."

Volvo interviewed Matt about setting up for the doldrums. You can find the link if you CLICK HERE.

Up Another Notch?

Another upbeat day for Team Delta Lloyd. We passed Telefonica Negro in the dawn hours and moved up to fifth.

Next target, the Green Dragon.

Right now, 90 miles of leverage separate these two boats, but their lead over us is only 10 miles. We are in a race to the 1018 isobar line, and I did my best to help with that, during my time at the wheel.



North of the 1018 line we have 15-18 knots of wind; to the south there is 20+. The fleet spent today's daylight hours north of 1018 (a circulation around the high that is centered to our north west), but we are just about to cross into the breeze; Green Dragon is 100 miles above it. That gives us a chance to move up another notch on the leader board. Puma and Ericsson meanwhile are doing well in front of us and continue to set a quick pace for the rest of the fleet.

Expect Delta Lloyd to continue to sail down the coast of the Western Sahara tonight on port tack. In the early morning we'll be banging the beach. Then we'll gybe back to starboard and head west. The big strategic decision that I need to make tonight and tomorrow morning is whether to take one more short hitch south. The alternative is to strike out westward on the trade winds.

I'll let you know when I know. Take a look below.

Matt out.





Editor's note: Delta Lloyd is the former ABN AMRO ONE, winner of the last Volvo Ocean Race. Skipper Ger O'Rourke has this to say today: "I am excited to say that "Betty," the only grandfathered boat in the fleet, is holding the pack, and as well as enjoying the race, I enjoy the challenge of this project—the first generation, low budget campaign—and taking on the big budget campaigns. The next-smallest is four times our budget and the largest is 20 times ours. I hope this brings more first and second generation boats into the race in 2011."

Twenty Somethings

I am so ecstatic about how our day has gone, it's hard to know where to start. I've just come down to the nav station from some incredible sailing.

Wind speed: 20 something
Boat speed: 20 something
Sky: Clear
Temperature: Warm
Moon: Full and bright
Smiles: All around.

When our morning started, we were sitting in 7th place with quite a bit of ground to make up on the boats in front. They were bunched together about 70 miles ahead of us. Because this group was all in sight of each other, and preoccupied with each other, we had a great opportunity to sail our own race.

We started the day on starboard tack in about 12 knots of wind. Since we were anticipating a left shift in the breeze, we took the opportunity to gybe away from the pack and gain some leverage.

We interrupt this dialogue for a small tutorial:

The game of sailing is like climbing a ladder. If you are on the same rung as another guy, you are even. Wind shifts are the equivalent of tilting the ladder, or rotating it. If a wind shift moves you up a rung, you are gaining. If the ladder rotates and rungs pass you by and you drop to a lower rung, you are losing.

Narrow ladder/wide ladder: If you are close to the competition and on the same rung (on a narrow ladder), you have little leverage and wind shifts have little impact. If you are on a wide ladder at opposite ends of a rung, small shifts make for significant gains and losses. Managing leverage is a key to effective strategy.

Back to the game we played today:

Having anticipated a shift of the ladder rungs, we decided to
increase our leverage and gybe. After about an hour, our competition gybed as well. As we hoped, the wind shifted our way, we moved up the ladder rungs, 'rung the register' and gybed back toward the competition. In the process we crossed the Russians and made a big gain on the leaders.

To our surprise the group matched our gybe and positioned themselves just to windward and ahead of us. We were all heading west on starboard tack again.

This was fantastic news for us. We had the opportunity to make another gybe maneuver to 'lever up' yet again. Some wind pressure looked to be building along the African coast later in the day, so once again we broke away.

The rest of the fleet followed suit, thirty minutes later.

We were in a drag race to the coast of Africa, where we hoped to
capitalize on the confluence of stronger gradient/a left shift/a
late afternoon seabreeze.

As we gybed back to starboard we found ourselves in
a building breeze and it was shifting left. Oh, baby. Puma and
Ericsson 4 were the only other boats to carry on port for as long as we did, and once we gybed back to starboard, the fleet was in the position we had hoped for. As we extended on starboard, the breeze built to 18, then 20, then 25.

We had our big gear up: a full main, an A4 (our biggest downwind runner) and a staysail. We have been tearing a hole in the ocean for the past 7 hours. The best part is that the boats to our north are not in as much wind as Puma, Ericsson 4, and us. Furthermore, those boats have to either navigate their way all the way around the Canary Islands (where there is less wind) or go through them. Puma, Ericsson 4 and our boat are all passing between Africa and Lanzarote with the prospect of holding the maximum breeze.

I'm willing to hope for some great news to report from the 'hot seat' tomorrow. Later in the week I'll respond to reader questions that revolve around detailing our on board computing, communication, software and technology set up. Keep sending in your questions to my editors at SAIL Magazine, and I'll try to get to all of them.

Matt Gregory, from the nav station of Delta Lloyd


Editor's note: Volvo Ocean Race rules prevent Matt from having access to the internet, so his dispatches are routed through the VOR Duty Officer, then posted at Sail West. That is, Matt can't get to the internet, so he can't post his own blogs. But, since none of the other navigators in the race can get to the internet, he feels secure in writing whatever he wants. I will cheerfully forward your comments to the boat, and if you prefer you can ask questions at blog@gregorysports.com, and I will forward those.

It's a kick to be part of the adventure—Kimball

P.S. Things indeed went well for Delta Lloyd in this interval. While Green Dragon has chosen the Canaries passage for its 12-hour stealth mode, we see some changes in position, per below:

PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) DTF 5436
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTL 2nm
Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) DTL 37nm
Delta Lloyd IRL (Ger O'Rourke/IRL) DTL 67nm
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DTL 89nm
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DTL 90nm
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTL 107nm
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) StealthPlay