[Source: Team Telefonica] A tough leg and a new victory for Team Telefónica in the round the world regatta. The Spanish crew headed up by Olympic champion Iker Martínez has made it a veritable hat-trick by winning the third leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012. At 03:58 UTC (11:58 local time) today, “Telefónica” crossed the finishing line at Sanya (China), following 12 days, 19 hours, 58 minutes and 21 seconds of racing between the island of Malé (Maldives) and the Chinese city.
“Telefónica” takes a third leg win in this edition of the regatta and notches up a fifth bullet on the scoreboard in the racing so far: three leg victories, a win in the Cape Town (South Africa) in-shore race and a win in the first stage of Leg 2 which finished on the 26th of December in Malé.
The Spanish team is making more regatta history by becoming the only boat to take the first three legs in a row since 1989-1990, 22 years ago when the regatta was still called the Whitbread Round the World Race.
Good decisions, good work on deck and a crew that never gives up
The second stage of the third leg began on the 22nd of January at the islands of the Maldives. “Telefónica”’s start was anything but straightforward with a boom issue and a Code Zero to repair that both relegated the crew to the back of the fleet.
However, for the Spanish crew there was no losing sight of getting back into the lead in the Indian Ocean and the team came back from the handicap of the two breakages and their repairs. They went from being at the back of the fleet with a 20 mile disadvantage to Iker Martínez and co managing to repair the boat, recover the lost mileage, catch up with the other boats and to overtake them before entering the revered and feared Strait of Malacca on January the 29th.
“The key to this leg has been sticking with the fleet the whole time and fighting for every mile, not taking any risky decisions and as always I think, we’ve been sailing the boat to one hundred per cent” said Skipper Iker Martínez on reaching Sanya.
He’s well aware of how tough it is to keep one hundred per cent up for almost 13 days and nights, and the Basque skipper made a public recognition of the excellent job done by his crew: “It’s very hard to stay at one hundred per cent for two whole weeks and the guys have done a splendid job, keeping the boat at a very high level of performance for many many days on end and I think that when it comes down to it, that was the key. When the boats are together you have to race fast and to do that everything must be in the right place, Doing that hour after hour is very hard and the entire crew are doing a great job”, he said.
Alicante’s Pepe Ribes could barely take two steps forward without being stopped for a photograph request this morning and he also highlighted the excellent job done on board the Spanish boat and talked about the strategic decisions that took the boat yet again along the right routing: “Cape has been masterly at positioning the boat according to the met and Iker has been perfect at the head to head confrontations we had with “Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand” in the Malacca Strait and also against “Groupama”. Once again the teamwork has been fantastic, fighting right down to the last second and pushing for a bigger lead the whole time”.
Mallorca’s Jordi Calafat considers that the key to “Telefónica”s win wasn’t a matter of one factor, but a combination of factors: “We have a fast boat that holds up in all conditions and the work on manoeuvres by the whole crew has been very good. Apart from sailing the boat fast, the most important thing is the decisions taken in terms of where to go, when to tack and when to gybe and I think that once again, they did a great job at the chart table”.
Tired but happy faces, the result is a reward for all of the hard work. Joca Signorini, “Telefónica”’s Watch Captain summarised it well: “Over the past three to four days we’ve hardly slept, but now we’ve got a 3-0 result for ‘Telefónica’”, in a sensible move, he also added: “although there’s still a long way to go”.
Another leg, another lead
Just like back in the 2008-2009 edition of the regatta, the Spanish team takes another win in China. Last time it was in Qingdao on the 29th of January 2009 and it was also where five months earlier Iker Martínez and Xabi Fernández had taken their second ever Olympic medal in the 49er class.
This new victory for “Telefónica” means the team now has 95 points on the general scoreboard. Second-placed entry, New Zealand team “Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand” finished third in China so the Spaniards have managed to again push further away from their most immediate competition on the main scoreboard, with the gap now standing at 15 points between the two.
“Groupama” who came second in Sanya really put the pressure on “Telefónica”, especially in the climb up the Vietnam coast and the boat has really shown everyone that she’s a serious candidate for the top spots throughout the regatta. The French team has moved in on the second-placed entry, although not on the leaders, now 24 points away from “Telefónica”, which means 4 more than when leaving Malé.
QUOTES FROM THE CREW ON ARRIVAL AT SANYA (CHINA)
Iker Martínez. Skipper.
We are very happy, very. In fact it’s a rather strange sensation and my heart’s still racing. It was a very tough regatta, the most dangerous I’ve sailed yet, there’s no doubt about that, and there have been many very tricky moments, not just for the crew but from the point of view of the boat being damaged or a serious problem cropping up that would have had an impact on the rest of the regatta. We’ve managed to deal with it all and to compete at the same time, and look, here we are, and to top it off we’re winning, so I’m really happy, still a bit shaky, hopefully I’ll relax a bit soon so that I can enjoy this a bit more. Even here, just having finished we’ve had problems: nets, fisherman, sand banks… things that can get very complicated very fast, so it’s been stressful.
The key to this leg has been sticking with the fleet the whole time and fighting for every mile, not taking any risky decisions and as always I think, we’ve been sailing the boat to one hundred per cent. It’s very hard to stay at one hundred per cent for two whole weeks and the guys have done a splendid job, keeping the boat at a very high level of performance for many many days on end and I think that when it comes down to it, that was the key. When the boats are together you have to race fast and to do that everything must be in the right place, Doing that hour after hour is very hard and the entire crew are doing a great job.
Andrew Cape. Navigator.
That was a toughie! I certainly won’t get used to it to winning, it won’t last forever. We’re taking it one leg at a time. It’s a good win, we’re very happy. Right from the top of Sumatra it’s been really difficult. There were so many hazards and you can’t take your eye off the ball for one second because that’s when bad things happen. It was a very taxing leg, a lot harder than I expected. Everyone is ecstatic – we’re all happy to be here and very relieved.
Xabi Fernández. Trimmer.
This leg has been tough because we started off with some problems that thankfully we overcame and we managed to get to Malacca at the front. Getting to Malacca in first place and getting out in first place was really tough, but it was also incredibly positive for the upwind stretch over the past four or five days, which was tricky.
The most crucial point was exiting Malacca in first place because that’s where we started close-hauling and whoever’s in front always sets off with an advantage. After that it was a more tricky upwind stretch than we had expected, because there were lots of shifts and the forecast were off target, but anyway, I really think that the key to the leg was getting out of Malacca in the lead.
Pepe Ribes. Boat Captain on “Telefónica”.
We are over the moon. It was a win that we worked very hard for as we started off at the very back. It’s a very difficult thing to win three legs in this regatta. Everything’s going smoothly and we haven’t got any complaints.
In this race there were lots of key points on the course, not just one. I think that the first 24 hours were really tough for us, because breaking the bobstay, which keeps the boom up meant that we thought we were out of the race as we knew that the Code Zero would be in heavy use on the way to the Strait of Malacca. We knew how to fix it and we came back, we fought and we got to the Strait of Malacca in first place.
Cape has been masterly at positioning the boat according to the met and Iker has been perfect at the head to head confrontations we had with “Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand” in the Malacca Strait and also against “Groupama”. Once again the teamwork has been fantastic, fighting right down to the last second and pushing for a bigger lead the whole time.
Jordi Calafat. Helmsman and Sail Inventory Coordinator.
The key to this was a combination of things. We have a fast boat that holds up in all conditions and the work on manoeuvres by the whole crew has been very good. Apart from sailing the boat fast, the most important thing is the decisions taken in terms of where to go, when to tack and when to gybe and I think that once again, they did a great job at the chart table and that’s more or less the basis of it all.
Joca Signorini. Watch Captain.
It’s amazing to have taken a win in the three first legs. It’s been very tough and there’s a lot of competition in the regatta and this leg has been very, very tough. The Malacca stretch, crossing the Vietnam coast, so many fishing boats, so many nets and lots of boats in Singapore… It’s been very dangerous some of the time, but we’re really happy. Over the past three to four days we’ve hardly slept, but now we’ve got a 3-0 result for “Telefónica”, although there’s still a long way to go.
Antonio “Ñeti” Cuervas-Mons. Bowman.
This has been a real boost morally and to speak in footballing jargon: this is a ‘hat-trick’ for us. This was a leg that went well for us. We began with a breakage but we came back from it and we got into Malacca in the lead and since then both Iker and Cape have come up with some almost perfect sailing. We are very happy because everything has turned out well for us and it’s another win in the bag.
Zane Gills. Bowman .
I couldn’t believe how heavy the traffic was in the Malacca Strait and the heat was very taxing. Then coming up the coast of Vietnam was extremely exhausting on the bow and for everyone on the boat. I was only just saying to the guys how sore my arms are this morning. I’ve lost a lot of weight and have really felt it this leg.
FINAL RANKINGS STAGE 2 – LEG 3
Day 13 – 09:00 UTC – 4th February 2012
1 Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 12 d 19 h 58 m 21 s. 24 points
2 Groupama Sailing Team (Franck Cammas), 12 d 21 h 45 m 24 s. 20 points
3 Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), 12 d 23 h 28 m 23 s. 16 points
4 Puma Ocean Racing (Ken Read), 13 d 0 h 29 m 12 s. 12 points
5 Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), 13 d 3 h 9 m 59 s. 8 points
6 Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), +330.5 miles
OVERALL PROVISIONAL STANDINGS. Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.
1. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 95 points
2. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), 80 points
3. Groupama Sailing Team (Franck Cammas), 71 points
4. Puma powered by Berg (Ken Read), 48 points
5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), 39 points
6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), 11 points STILL TO FINISH 3RD LEG
