Telefonica Blue At Leg 7 Start (Photo by George Bekris)
Telefónica Blue continues to make her mark on the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 when at 0311 GMT today, she was first past the scoring gate off Newfoundland, claiming four points. This comes on top of her recent wins inshore in Rio de Janeiro and Boston and her rounding the Fernando de Noronha Gate in first place on leg six.
The crew of the blue boat had to work hard for their points and at first, according to skipper Bouwe Bekking, it wasn’t looking good at all.
“For some reason, we had been losing ground and were in fourth place, a couple of miles behind the leaders. We had been checking our foils regularly, but nothing to see. But, during one more check, Pepe Ribes saw something.”
The team immediately sailed the boat backwards to clear the keel and then, the fight was on. “Slowly, but surely, we reeled the boats ahead in,” described Bekking. In the end, the team clawed past PUMA by less than a minute, crossed through the gate and tacked immediately to avoid the western perimeter of the ice exclusion zone.
The fleet has a lateral separation of 14 miles from east to west and all are headed due south, all having crossed through the scoring gate. They are currently 213 nm due south from Cape Race on the southeastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the Canadian Island of Newfoundland, where the cliffs rise nearly vertically to 30.5m above sea level.
The position of the ice exclusion zone is the reason for the fleet having to turn south and Telefónica Black, the easternmost yacht is parallel to, but 106 nm from, the western corner of the zone. The fleet must now sail 175 nm along the bottom of the zone, while still keeping a careful lookout for ice, before they can swing north again. The northeast corner of the box has today been extended to latitude 40 degrees west, due to ice sightings in the region.
Green Dragon skipper Ian Walker had this to say about their run for the gate “Today is a very good day. First and foremost we are out of last place and are less than an hour behind all the other boats after making big gains to the South.
Secondly the sun is out and although it is still a bit foggy, it is a wonderful spring like day. The sea is flat and the boat is dry inside and out.
Thirdly we have just opened the huge block of Award Winning Irish farmhouse cheese given to us by Good Food Ireland (thanks again). Sadly we don’t have any red wine to wash it down with, but we did find some spicey sausage to accompany it. It makes a welcome break from the freeze dried food.
Fourthly my head cold is subsiding so I can think straight at last.
Tactically we benefitted from a few boats reaching hard for the scoring gate and also from a change to the forecast which meant that being south was an advantageous thing. We always knew the first half of this leg would be very hard for us sailing upwind and reaching. Damaging the daggerboard on the lobster pots made it much harder. Our sole aim has been to stay in touch before the downwind sailing starts. The forecast is for all downwind from the second ice gate and for much of that to be in very windy conditions.
We have not sailed in close proximity to the other boats in weather like that, so it will be interesting for everyone. The whole leg is setting up for a grandstand finish in Galway Bay. Mind you if it is blowing over 30 knots Galway Bay will be a pretty tricky place to negotiate.
Meanwhile Ericsson 3 has hit a whale and did some damage to one of their keel fins. Aksel Magdahl explains in his email today “Everything lined up perfectly for full points at the scoring gate until early yesterday morning when a couple of big whales appeared out of the thick fog. We managed to avoid the first one, but we only saw the tail of the next one as it dived just in front of us. We hit with both the keel and the daggerboard, and the boat came to a complete stop with some bad noises from our appendages. We could see that the keel fin fairings were damaged or off in a big area, but the daggerboard looked ok. We hope the whale got away only with some bruises; we did what we could to avoid it.
With the rough fin, we immediately lost our lead and slowly went to the back of the bunch with terrible performance numbers for the next 24 hours. When we tacked this morning, Anders went down to take a look at the daggerboard and it became apparent that also that had been significantly damaged in the impact. Actually, a piece of it was missing.
At the moment we have locked our radar on to Green Dragon and Delta Lloyd who are just in front of us, but they are slowly pulling away. Hopefully the frontrunners will get slowed down a bit rounding the exclusion zone, but the speed loss from the keel damage will follow us for the rest of the leg.
We have been worse off before in the race though, so spirits are OK.”
Scoring Gate Order
1. Telefónica Blue at 03:11.24 GMT
2. PUMA at 03:12.04 GMT
3. Ericsson 4 at 03:33.05 GMT
4. Ericsson 3 at 04:06.02 GMT
5. Telefónica Black at 04:36.54 GMT
6. Delta Lloyd at 06:16.00 GMT
Leg Seven Day 4: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
1. Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DTL 1863 nm
2. Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermúdez/ESP) +3
3. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +4
4. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +10
5. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +12
6. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +15
7. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +16
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS
The Volvo Ocean Race crews are off to Galway after an Exilarating start this afternoon. The boats made a lap around Boston Harbor and slingshoted off into the mist. After a short postponement the last open ocean leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 got underway today, starting right off the race village at Fan Pier, Downtown Boston. The Challenge and Adventure Team was out on the race course for the start.
Leg 7 Start Images by George Bekris
(click on image to enlarge)
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- Telefonica Blue At Leg 7 Start (Photo by Gelrge Bekris)
Volvo Ocean Race Boats At In Port Race Start (Photo by George Bekris)
Volvo Ocean Race Crew List Leg Seven: Boston - Galway
DELTA LLOYD
1. Roberto Bermúdez De Castro/ESP – skipper
2. Wouter Verbraak/NED – navigator
3. Sander Pluijm/NED – media crew member
4. Stuart Wilson/NZL – watch captain
5. Nick Bice/AUS – watch captain
6. Andre Fonseca/BRA – helmsman
7. Ben Costello/NZL – helmsman
8. Ed Van Lierde/NED – trimmer
9. David Pella/ESP – trimmer
10. Gerd-Jan Poortman/NED – bowman
11. Morgan White/AUS – bowman
No crew changes
ERICSSON 4
1. Torben Grael/BRA – skipper
2. Jules Salter/GBR – navigator
3. Guy Salter/GBR – MCM
4. Brad Jackson/NZL – watch captain
5. Stu Bannatyne/NZL – watch captain
6. Dave Endean/NZL – pitman
7. Horacio Carabelli/BRA – trimmer
8. Tony Mutter/NZL – trimmer
9. Joao Signorini/BRA – trimmer
10. Ryan Godfrey/AUS – bowman
11. Phil Jameson/NZL – bowman
No crew changes
ERICSSON 3
1. Magnus Olsson/SWE – skipper
2. Aksel Magdahl/NOR – navigator
3. Gustav Morin/SWE MCM
4. Thomas Johansson/FIN – helmsman/trimmer
5. Richard Mason/NZL – watch captain
6. Eivind Melleby/NOR – helmsman
7. Arve Roaas/NOR – trimmer/helmsman
8. Martin Strömberg/SWE – trimmer
9. Jens Dolmer/DEN – pitman
10. Anders Dahlsjö/SWE – bowman
11. Martin Krite/SWE – bowman
On: Arve Roaas/NOR – trimmer/helmsman
Off: Magnus Woxen/SWE – trimmer
GREEN DRAGON
1. Ian Walker/GBR – skipper
2. Ian Moore/IRL – navigator
3. Guo Chuan/CHN – MCM
4. Neal McDonald/GBR – watch captain
5. Damian Foxall/IRL – watch captain
6. Anthony Merrington/AUS – helmsman/trimmer
7. Phil Harmer/AUS – helmsman/trimmer
8. Andrew Mclean/NZL – pitman/trimmer
9. Ian Budgen/GBR – helmsman/trimmer
10. Justin Slattery/IRL – bowman
11. Freddy Shanks/GBR – bowman
On: Ian Budgen/GBR – helmsman/trimmer
Off: James Carroll/IRL – pitman/trimmer
PUMA OCEAN RACING
1. Ken Read/USA – skipper
2. Andrew Cape/AUS – navigator
3. Rick Deppe/GBR MCM
4. Sidney Gavignet/FRA – watch captain
5. Robert Greenhalgh/GBR – watch captain
6. Robert Salthouse/NZL – helmsman/trimmer
7. Justin Ferris/NZL – helmsman/trimmer
8. Erle Williams/NZL – helmsman/trimmer
9. Shannon Falcone/ANT – bowman/pitman
10. Casey Smith/AUS – bowman/helmsman
11. Michael Müller/GER – helmsman/bowman
No crew changes
TELEFÓNICA BLUE
1. Bouwe Bekking/NED – skipper
2. Tom Addis/AUS – navigator
3. Gabriele Olivo/ITA – MCM
4. Iker Martinez/ESP – helmsman
5. Jonathan Swain/RSA – watch captain
6. Jordi Calafat ESP – helmsman
7. Xabier Fernandez/ESP – trimmer
8. Pablo Arrarte/ESP Spanish – trimmer
9. Laurent Pages/FRA – trimmer
10. Daryl Wislang/NZL – bowman
11. Pepe Ribes/ESP – bowman
On: Iker Martinez/ESP – helmsman
Off: Simon Fisher/GBR- strategist/helmsman
TELEFÓNICA BLACK
1. Fernando Echavarri/ESP – skipper
2. Roger Nilson/SWE – navigator
3. Anton Paz/ESP – MCM
4. Antonio (Ñeti) Cuervas-Mons/ESP – bowman
5. Gonzalo Araujo/ESP – watch captain
6. Jaime Arbones/ESP – watch captain
7. Pablo Iglesias/ESP – helmsman
8. Javier de la Plaza/ESP – helmsman
9. David Vera/ESP – trimmer
10. Maciel Cicchetti/ARG – trimmer
11. Michael Pammenter/RSA – bowman
No crew changes
Alicante Aerial (Photo by Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race)
The Volvo Ocean Race is to move its headquarters from the South Coast of England to Alicante, Spain. The Mediterranean city will become both the starting port and the home of the race for the next three editions.
The agreement has been signed today in Boston between the Volvo Ocean Race and the Spanish regional government of Valencia, following extensive negotiations that began last November.
“This is a great moment for the Volvo Ocean Race,” said Knut Frostad, CEO of the race organisers. “The support and hospitality we received from Alicante as the start port of the current race left a very positive impression with us.
“One of our goals, as we’ve looked ahead to the next race, has been to establish long-term relationships with our stopover ports, and, for economic reasons, to base our headquarters in one of the stopover ports. But this only makes sense when both parties can make a long-term commitment. And that’s the partnership we are announcing today with Alicante.
“Spain has played a significant part in recent editions of the race,” Frostad continued. “Spanish sailors outnumber all other nations in the current competition and Spain has shown consistently that it understands event culture, and how to organise sporting competition. The region has demonstrated many times that it excels as a sailing competition venue.”
Francisco Camps, President of the Region of Valencia said: “The impact of hosting the start of the Volvo Ocean Race in Alicante last October was very positive for the city, the region and all of Spain. Today’s agreement means Spain will build on its status as a centre of excellence for sailing for years to come.”
Volvo Ocean Race headquarters, which has been based in Whiteley, Hampshire since 1998, will begin the process of moving to Alicante following the conclusion of the current competition at the end of June. The Volvo Ocean Race will be based in Spain by the end of this year, where its headquarters will remain for the next three editions of the race.
“There are many other elements to the partnership with Alicante,” said Knut Frostad. “These include initiatives to ensure the participation of at least two separate Spanish teams in each of the next three races.”
Significantly, the agreement will also see the construction of a race museum and interactive exhibition that celebrates the 36-year history and heritage of the race. The first phase is scheduled for completion in 2010.
“The museum and interactive exhibition is very important for us,” said Frostad. “This race has a long and storied history. Over the years, many of the very best sailors in the world have earned their reputations racing through the ‘Life at the Extreme’ conditions that characterise the Volvo Ocean Race. The museum and interactive exhibition will celebrate that heritage and provide a link between our future in Alicante and our past racing around the world.”
In addition, the port of Alicante has agreed to make itself available as a home to any of the teams in the current race after the finish in St. Petersburg at the end of June. Other benefits to new and existing teams feature in the arrangement as well.
This announcement of the start port is separate from the bidding process which was recently initiated for international stopover ports for the next edition of the race. That process will finish by the end of the first quarter of 2010.
The Volvo Ocean Race fleet is currently in Boston after completing six stages of the 10-leg race. In the midst of the current competition, the race organisers set themselves the task of developing and evolving the race through a consultation process with stakeholders, with a particular focus on cost-cutting and increasing value from participating in the race.
Green Dragon Crew Celebrates On Podium In Boston (Photo By Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race)
“We’ve been looking forward to Boston for a long time,” said skipper Ian Walker, “It’s the first step to Galway if you like. What a perfect day, spinnaker up all the way down the river, the sun’s out, there are worse things in the world.
“I’m just pleased we had a bit of a race of it. We had a few little opportunities and we got within a few hours of other boats, and as you saw with Telefonica Black, you can make up some miles. But we had a terrible night last night – no wind at all, just flapping around – we’re just lucky we had enough wind to get in here today.
“We don’t give up until the other boats have crossed the finishing line. There’s always hope.
“I just had a chat with the lads at the end and I said, ‘a lot of crews wouldn’t still be together after the tough last leg, running out of food and the problems we’ve had to overcome, and then this leg, finishing last and slipping further and further behind on the long reaching sequence…’ But I think the fact that we’re all here, we’re all smiling, that speaks volumes.
“It’s funny how your concept of scale changes. I used to think sailing across the English Channel was a long way. Now, when I got in the Atlantic, I thought I was nearly home. I’d never done a transatlantic before this race, but now Galway doesn’t seem far away at all.”
It is the first time that the Volvo Ocean Race has stopped in Boston and the seven crews will now be able to have good recuperation period in Fan Pier before the in-port race on 9 May. The start of leg seven, on 16 May, will take the fleet 2,550 nm back across the Atlantic and into Galway, Ireland, another new port for this edition of race.
Leg Six Finishing Order Boston
1. Ericsson 4: 8 points
2. Ericsson 3: 7 points
3. Telefónica Blue: 6 points
4. PUMA: 5 points
5. Telefónica Black: 4 points
6. Delta Lloyd: 3 points
7. Green Dragon: 2 points
Overall Leaderboard (Provisional)
1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) 77.5 points (FINISHED)
2. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) 64.5 points (FINISHED)
3. PUMA (Ken Read/USA) 64.0 points (FINISHED )
4. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) 53.0 points (FINISHED)
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) 44.0 points (FINISHED)
6. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) 29.0 points (FINISHED)
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bérmudez/ESP) 21.0 points (FINISHED)
8. Team Russia 10.5 points (DNS)
Scoring Gate Results Fernando de Noronha
1. Telefónica Blue 19:58:56 GMT 16.04.09 4.0 Points
2. Ericsson 4 22:55:36 GMT 16.04.09 3.5 Points
3. Delta Lloyd 23:28:32 GMT 16.04.09 3.0 Points
4. Puma 23:29:31 GMT 16.04.09 2.5 Points
5. Telefónica Black 23:42:20 GMT 16.04.09 2.0 Points
6. Ericsson 3 00:14:28 GMT 17.04.09 1.5 Points
7. Green Dragon 01:27:26 GMT 17.04.09 1.0 Point
Telefonica Black At Boston Finish of Leg 6 (Photo By Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race)
The fight for fifth place in leg six of the Volvo Ocean Race went down to the wire today between two Spaniards, Fernando Echávarri on Telefónica Black versus Roberto Bérmudez at the helm of the generation one boat, Delta Lloyd.
After a tremendous battle, Telefónica Black crossed the finish ahead of Delta Lloyd and claimed the four points on offer for fifth place, finishing at 0948 GMT (0448 local). Delta Lloyd crossed at 1010 GMT (0510 local). She adds three points to her overall tally.
Delta Lloyd Finish In Sixth In Boston (Photo By Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race)
On stepping ashore, Echávarri was downbeat: “We have made quite a lot of mistakes this leg, but we are happy to pass Delta Lloyd, but it was a disappointing leg with a few problems. We didn’t route well in some places, but we did well in others. It is good to be in Boston with our families and friends here.”
In contrast, Roberto ‘Chuny’ Bérmudez was delighted with his result: “I am really happy with this leg. We were fighting until the end and there is a good feeling onboard. Everyone is really happy for all the new people on the team who did a really good job and the boat is better now. Nothing big has broken and we’ve still got two months to keep fighting.”
Both boats had sat out leg five from Qingdao to Rio after suffering serious damage on leg four (Singapore to Qingdao) forcing retirement from the leg. With refreshed crews, both teams were expecting to put in a good performance and neither crew was prepared to give an inch.
Telefónica Black raced this leg with only nine sailing crew after bowman Mike Pammenter/RSA damaged his ankle in a manoeuvre as the fleet left Guanabara Bay within hours of the start. He was taken off the boat by RIB with a suspected broken ankle.
“It was hard without Mike Pammenter. It was quite easy to sail with the crew, but in important moments, like squalls at night, it was difficult. Mike does play an important and physical role but we managed as best we could,” Echávarri said.
Delta Lloyd put in a particularly sparkling performance earlier in the leg, rounding the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha in third place, just seconds ahead of PUMA who finished yesterday in fourth place. The team also had two spells in second place before dropping back through the pack day nine, 19 April.
Navigator Wouter Verbraak, who began the race as navigator on Team Russia, moved to Green Dragon for leg five and is now navigating Delta Lloyd said: “I really enjoyed this trip. It has been beautiful sailing and everyone is keen to improve and make the best of what we have. We did so many sail changes and, by the end, we were flawless. Improvement is a long and difficult journey, communication and working as a team takes time. The spirit was very good and no one complained, they just got on with it.”
The final boat to finish will be Green Dragon, which has approximately 38 nm to run.
Leg Six Finishing Order Boston
1. Ericsson 4: 8 points
2. Ericsson 3: 7 points
3. Telefónica Blue: 6 points
4. PUMA: 5 points
5. Telefónica Black: 4 points
6. Delta Lloyd: 3 points
Overall Leaderboard (Provisional)
1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) 77.5 points (FINISHED)
2. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) 64.5 points (FINISHED)
3. PUMA (Ken Read/USA) 64.0 points (FINISHED )
4. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) 53.0 points (FINISHED)
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) 42.0 points (RACING)
6. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) 29.0 points (FINISHED)
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bérmudez/ESP) 21.0 points (FINISHED)
8. Team Russia 10.5 points (DNS)
Scoring Gate Results Fernando de Noronha
1. Telefónica Blue 19:58:56 GMT 16.04.09 4.0 Points
2. Ericsson 4 22:55:36 GMT 16.04.09 3.5 Points
3. Delta Lloyd 23:28:32 GMT 16.04.09 3.0 Points
4. Puma 23:29:31 GMT 16.04.09 2.5 Points
5. Telefónica Black 23:42:20 GMT 16.04.09 2.0 Points
6. Ericsson 3 00:14:28 GMT 17.04.09 1.5 Points
7. Green Dragon 01:27:26 GMT 17.04.09 1.0 Point
PUMA Ocean Racing Boston (Photo By Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race)
I just think everybody is happy to be here in what we call home,” he said. “Eleven days short of one year ago, this boat was christened by Salma Hayek at the Institute of Contemporary Art next door to us right now. In our Boston to Boston journey round the world since then, we have sailed exactly 48,182 miles on il mostro.
“Great to be back.”
The huge number of hollering spectators, native to the city of PUMA’s headquarters, suggested it was a welcome arrival. But the slow shake of Read’s head a few minutes later suggested there was something else on his mind.
He admitted before the leg began that he was desperately keen to win this of all stages, hoping the victory that had until then eluded his team would come in the town where it all began.
But they were the fourth fastest boat to complete the 4,900-nautical mile course from Rio de Janeiro. The fact they did not win is no huge surprise; his team have proven themselves to be superb contenders in this race, taking podiums at 11 of the 14 scoring opportunities before this leg, but they have never won a leg, in-port race or scoring gate.
And in a cruel twist of fate they ultimately recorded their second-worst result of the race. The fourth place finish, coupled with a fourth at the Fernando de Noronha scoring gate, was only fractionally better than a second leg showing where they suffered serious damage.
“It was an exciting leg, but the result is not what we wanted,” explained Sidney Gavignet. “We worked very hard, but fourth does not help us.”
Of course the numbers do not paint a fair or totally accurate picture. As recently as the final morning they held third before becoming becalmed, allowing Telefonica Blue to pass. And the fact their position changed almost 40 times from sched-to-sched tells how close the racing was after 15 days of sailing. But Read admitted luck was rarely on their side.
“It wasn’t from lack of effort,” he said. “It was one of those legs where nothing seemed to go our way. I wish I could say it was effort, or the boat, or the sails, but we just kept tripping over little problems that we didn’t trip over on legs past.”
“We sailed well but it just didn’t really go our way,” added Rob Greenhalgh.
Boris On Beluga Racer Looking For Wind (Photo Courtesy of www.beluga-racer.com)
The Portimão Global Ocean Race fleet passed south of Rio de Janeiro shortly before midnight GMT on Sunday night with the double-handed boats separated by just 15 miles and solo sailor Michel Kleinjans mixing in with the fleet, ten miles behind the leading Class 40. As the fleet left Rio to port, Jeremy Salvesen and David Thomson were making the best speeds in the fleet on Team Mowgli. “
