The Green Dragon Volvo Open 70 has completed its qualification passage for the Volvo Ocean Race 2008/09. Having decided to find the most testing weather for the trip, conditions onboard were extreme, as the crew rounded the famous Fastnet Rock and headed north-east straight into the North Atlantic.
During the 2000 mile qualifier, Green Dragon sailed to a waypoint 200 miles south of Iceland, the crew then set a northerly course to 59.32.2N 020.6W, approximately halfway between the Outer Hebrides and the Faroe Islands, before returning south to their training base in Cork.
Ian Walker, skipper of the Green Dragon Racing Team commentated after the qualifier; "It took us exactly five days to sail 2,050 miles in predominantly strong downwind conditions in the North Atlantic. The conditions turned out to be absolutely perfect, Ian Moore did a fantastic job to navigate us around a strong North Atlantic depression in an anti-clockwise (downwind) direction. I have never felt so much excitement from going sailing without racing in my life. These boats are outrageous and awesome in equal measures, from hurtling along at 20 - 25 knots in the pitch black to repeatedly piling into the backs of waves that you couldn't see over 400 miles from the nearest land. Fortunately, the confidence of people like Neal McDonald is infectious and you could feel the crews' confidence and trust in the boat grow daily. The pace has been relentless; our best run came at the end of our trip, when we covered 524 miles in 24 hours, despite a few manoeuvres and a very dark and w! indy night.
It is strange to feel so elated at having just completed a qualifying passage, but the stakes are high in these boats and time is short for the Green Dragon Team. We have to push hard to learn fast, and we continue to take positive steps forward to try and catch up with the big teams. Next week sees us travel to Northern Ireland and Dublin before setting sail to Spain on 23rd August". -- Lucy Harwood, www.greendragonracing.com
* Team Russia started its 2000 nm qualifier from Portland (UK) in gale force south westerly winds gusting up to 40 knots - perfect to test the boat and crew in preparation for the Volvo Ocean Race.
Last night navigator Wouter Verbraak and skipper Andreas Hanakamp decided the conditions were ideal to attempt to beat the Round Britain and Ireland non stop record in a monohull. Starting the course off Ventnor, south of the Isle of Wight at 11.13 this morning, the Team were disappointed to hear that the officials at the World Speed Council were not going to recognise the attempt as they did not inspect Kosatka or observed it as it set off. Inspection and testing by VOR chief measurer on Monday apparently did not count.
Never mind - the guys are fired up to go for the 'unofficial' record anyway. They are aiming to beat the current time of 7 days, 4 hours, 46 minutes and 22 seconds set by Solune, a 60ft French monohull in May 2004.
Conditions look favourable for the 'unofficial' record. They are travelling anti-clockwise around the British Isles in plenty of wind. -- www.teamrussia.org
