Leg nine of the Volvo Ocean Race is one that the skipper and crew of Telefónica Blue would rather forget.  Instead of anticipated heated racing against PUMA for second place in the event overall, Telefónica Blue became securely wedged on a rock just outside Marstrand moments after the start last Sunday and had to return to the harbour for repairs. 

Today, as the team completed the leg and arrived in safely Stockholm, the mood was sombre onboard and what turned out to be more of a delivery from Marstrand to Stockholm had been no fun for the crew who had sailed silently, reflecting upon their misfortune.

“Finally we have finished, but not easy,” wrote skipper Bouwe Bekking shortly after the crossing the line. “No cheers, no handshakes, as we crossed the line. We know we had an absolute shocker and have given a better podium place away.

“On a personal note, this was the leg I have been looking forward so much to; sailing through home waters, going around a lot of corners, a leg which suited us well on paper, but the opposite happened. Now we will focus on the in-port race, where have the best track record by far, and then it will be sweet to finish on top in St. Petersburg.”

His feelings were echoed across the team: “Since we left, there was not much talking going on.  Everyone was pretty much into his own world, dealing his theoretical philosophy of what has happened,” said MCM Gabri Olivo.

The team will be ready to race in Sunday’s in-port race and the crew is hoping to salvage their pride by winning both this, the final of the in-port race series, and the last leg of the race to St Petersburg in Russia.

“This is the only way we can finish this race on a decent note.  There is a lot of talent onboard as well as a lot of pride.  We are a team and, as such, we want to show it to everyone.  We will be back on the water as strong as never before.  This is a must,” said Olivo.

At the time of the incident, skipper Bouwe Bekking offered his special thanks to Kimo Worthington, Neil Cox, Shaun Healey and Will Oxley from the PUMA team, all of whom were out on a chase boat at the leg start and did not leave Telefónica Blue’s side until she was back in the harbour, even taking over the towing ropes to the big vessel. 

Ericsson  Racing Team quickly offered the use of their work container with all its boat building equipment, and it took the crew and shore crew two and half days to repair the boat in order to restart the leg on 17 June at 1916 GMT.

Bekking and his men now trail PUMA by seven points. In the immediate aftermath of the grounding, Bekking conceded that “most likely, second place is gone.” 

However, PUMA’s skipper, Kenny Read, is taking nothing for granted.  “It was a huge shame what happened to them.  We are really happy that everybody is healthy and that nobody got hurt.  They are, mathematically, not out of it by any means.  We still have a battle on our hands,” said the skipper whose team claimed line honours in the leg. 

Telefónica Blue has just one in-port race worth half leg points and the final leg to St Petersburg in which to make up the deficit.  It will be a thrilling finish. 

Leg Nine Finishing Order Stockholm
1. PUMA
2. Ericsson 3
3. Ericsson 4
4. Telefónica Black
5. Green Dragon
6. Delta Lloyd
7. Telefónica Blue
8. Team Russia DNS

Overall Leaderboard
1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA): 108 points
2. PUMA (Ken Read/USA):  95.0 points
3. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED): 88.0 points
4. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE): 71.5 points
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR): 63.0 points
6. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP): 47.0
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP): 38.0 points
8. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT): 10.5 points

Share on Facebook

A third place finish in leg nine has been enough for Ericsson 4 to provisionally win the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09.  The team now has a 13-point lead over PUMA, with just 12 points available in the rest of the race.

“We made a few errors on the leg, but we got what we wanted so we’re pretty happy,” said Ericsson 4 skipper Torben Grael.  “We were very close in Marstrand, but now it’s done. It’s finished. We can really enjoy it.”

 

It was a good night for PUMA as well.  After a fearsome catfight with the crew of Stockholm-based Ericsson 3, whose crew wanted a win here in front of their home crowd more than anything, PUMA stole victory on the finish line tonight in Sandhamn (an island in the Stockholm archipelago just east of the capital city), and claimed full points for Volvo Ocean Race leg nine. 

Today’s win was PUMA’s first leg victory in this 10-leg race, although they have had a good showing during the in-port racing.  Their score of 95 points so far strengthens their second place overall at this stage of the event. 

 

 

 

“It feels fantastic and it’s wonderful to be here in Stockholm. We feel a little sad to spoil Ericsson 3′s homecoming, but it’s a great win, and a hard-earned win,” said American skipper Kenny Read.

 

“Man do we know how to make it hard. I don’t think it has to be this hard, but somehow that’s the only way we seem to have success.  We let them [Ericsson 3] go, on a little squall by lighthouse, and they went from half a mile behind, to overtake us.  We had to battle back, but none of these guys quit. They sailed a great race and it was quite a drag race.

 

“When we let them get ahead of us at the lighthouse, I think most teams would have quit right there, but adversity seems to be our friend and we got a little break when they got their jib hung up on the radar dome. It’s a great relief to get our first leg win out of the way,” Read said.

Fighting PUMA for second place overall is Telefónica Blue/Bouwe Bekking, who had the terrible misfortune of being grounded on a rock outside Marstrand shortly after the start. The crew expects to complete this leg and be in Stockholm in time to contest the in-port race on Sunday and thereby pile the pressure back on PUMA.

The largely Nordic crew of Ericsson 3, skippered by the hugely popular, Magnus Olsson, and winners of leg five, the longest leg of the race, had to settle for second place tonight, bringing their overall score to 71.5 points.

“It was very close. That was enough tacks for a lifetime. We wanted so badly to win and now Ken Read has destroyed my party. How mad do you think I am? From now on, I’m really going to pick on him,” joked skipper Swedish Magnus Olsson, when he stepped ashore.

The final podium spot went to Ericsson 4, which ensures her overall victory in the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09.  Although there is still one leg left to complete before the team crosses the finish for the final time in St Petersburg on 27 June, it is now not possible for them to be beaten. 

Skipper Torben Grael said, “We are finishing Ericsson 4′s circumnavigation. The boat was built here and left here nearly a year ago, so she’s back after sailing around the world and winning the race. It couldn’t be any better.

“We have a wonderful crew. A lot of experience. They have been fantastic on the whole leg, the whole race around the world. It’s a pleasure to sail with them and get back to Stockholm in this position,” he said.  Read Ericsson 4’s full race statistics here: http://press.volvooceanrace.org/?p=3030#more-3030  

Fourth, fifth and six spots were filled by Telefónica Black, Green Dragon and Delta Lloyd. 

Leg Nine Finishing Order Stockholm
1. PUMA
2. Ericsson 3
3. Ericsson 4
4. Telefónica Black
5. Green Dragon
6. Delta Lloyd
7. Telefónica Blue SUSPENDED RACING
8. Team Russia DNS

Overall Leaderboard
1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA): 108 points
2. PUMA (Ken Read/USA):  95.0 points
3. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED): SUSPENDED RACING 86.0 points
4. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE): 71.5 points
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR): 63.0 points
6. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP): 47.0
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP): 38.0 points
8. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT): 10.5 points

Share on Facebook

 

 And it’s the gun for PUMA as they take their first leg win here in Sandhamn, Stockholm. Ericsson 3 is about 10 boat lengths behind, but the wind dropped away.   It was a duel to the finish with PUMA taking the lead over Ericsson 3 and holding them off in a tacking race to the finish.

Share on Facebook

 

 

Drama today in Marstrand as Telefónica Blue/Bouwe Bekking became wedged on a rock and suspended racing at 1231GMT while leading the fleet at the start of leg nine to Stockholm. 

The boat hit the rock while racing at around 14 knots of boatspeed and is hard aground in one-metre swells. The team immediately dropped the sails, but the boat’s keel is firmly wedged within the rocks whilst the rest of the fleet is sailing away.  A pilot boat and the coastguards are standing by and attempting to tow the boat clear.  All the crew are unhurt. 

Telefónica Blue was first across the start line, but PUMA quickly established a lead of around 10 boat lengths and Ken Read tacked a few metres away from the rocks, where the spectators enjoyed a grandstand view. 

Ian Walker took Green Dragon in to a very light patch of breeze immediately after the start and the crew unfurled their enormous code zero fleet as they headed towards the spectator fleet on the right hand side of the course.

 Out on the left, PUMA and Delta Lloyd had plenty of wind and for the first 20 minutes of this inshore lap, the left side of the course continued to pay very well, but the breeze was dying all the way across the racecourse. 

A big lumpy swell made it difficult for the teams drive the boats in just five to six knots of wind and it was painful to watch as the boats came to a shuddering halt on every wave. The new breeze, when it came, filled in on the right hand side of the course and Green Dragon with the luck of the Irish, and had the first taster of the eight or nine knots of breeze, giving them the advantage in the approach to the first turning mark. 

They took the lead followed one boat length behind by Telefónica Blue. PUMA and Ericsson 3 made up the top four, while Telefónica Black, Delta Lloyd and, unusually, Torben Grael and Ericsson 4 were the second string.

Racing downwind, the top three boats hoisted spinnakers, while the chasing pack stayed with their massive code zero headsails.  Enthusiastic race goers invaded the racecourse and PUMA sailed downwind escorted by a big spectator fleet.

By the time the leading four had reached the final turning mark, the order had changed again and there was action and drama aplenty.  Green Dragon had stayed out to the left of the course, nearest the spectator fleet, but the wind filled in from the right, causing them to lose their lead and allowing Telefónica Blue, Ericsson 3 and PUMA all to reach the mark ahead. 

 

 

Rounding the mark, Telefónica Blue showed a clean set of heels, while Ericsson 3 caught their spinnaker on their spreaders, which rendered them dead in the water.  PUMA powered in and quickly took the opportunity to nip between Ericsson 3 and the mark, as Ericsson 3 wallowed and the crew tried to sort out the mess. 

Meanwhile, Green Dragon approached at speed, and sailed inside both Ericsson 3 and PUMA.  They were not able to establish their position and it was Telefónica Blue, who led the fleet out into the Kattegat from archrival PUMA, Ericsson 3 and Green Dragon, until disaster struck and the boat struck the rock.

This is the second time that such a disaster has befallen Telefónica Blue.  The team struck a rock in Qingdao just before the start of leg five and the boat had to return to Qingdao to be hauled out for damage inspection.

As this press release is closed efforts continue to tow the yacht free from the rocks before the more serious damage is done.

Telefónica Black sailed a solid race to hold off Delta Lloyd, while Ericsson 4 remained mysteriously at the back of the fleet having also had a poor spinnaker drop at the leeward mark.

The 525 leg nine is expected to finish in Stockholm on Tuesday.

Overall Leaderboard
1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA): 102 points
2. PUMA (Ken Read/USA): 87.0 points
3. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED): 86.0 points
4. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE): 64.5 points
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR): 59.0 points
6. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP): 42.0
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP): 35.0 points
8. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT): 10.5 points

 

 

Share on Facebook

Ericsson 4 Crossing The Finish Line In Marstrand (Photo by Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race)

 

In one of the closest finishes in the race to date, Ericsson 4 held off the recently resurgent PUMA and Green Dragon teams to win Leg 8, and claim their third consecutive leg win and fifth in the race so far. The victory puts Ericsson 4 in an all but unassailable position on the leaderboard.

“We’re very close to winning the race,” admitted Ericsson 4 skipper Torben Grael. “But we’re not there yet.”

His team now holds a 15-point lead with just three scoring opportunities left (for a maximum 20 points) before the finish in St. Petersburg.

This may have been one of the shorter legs of the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race, but the intense sprint from Galway to Marstrand was no less testing for its short duration. The leg threw a bit of everything at the crews, who were exhausted beyond all sensibility by the time they reached the finish off the small island of Marstrand.

The battle for second place, between PUMA, who made a late pass, and Green Dragon, was particularly close (less than a minute separated the pair), as was the fight for fifth, where Delta Lloyd stole past Telefonica Black just metres before the finish line for a 19-second margin of victory. All seven teams finished within one hour and 19 minutes.

 

PUMA is on a roll after a disappointing performance in their hometown in Boston. The team made some crew changes ahead of the leg to Galway, and has since posted two second place finishes in the offshore legs, as well as their first win of the race at the Galway in-port race. Their finish position on this leg was particularly sweet as the team appeared to be in danger of finishing in last place 24 hours ago.

 

“The ‘no-quit’ in this team is beyond imagination,” said skipper Ken Read, dockside in Marstrand. “We had every reason to quit and I think we’re kind of stunned to be honest. 24-hours ago we were sailing with a triple reef and a number four jib, upwind in a gale, while the other guys were running down the coast. I give (navigator) Andrew Cape a lot of credit. We got ourselves in a tough spot and he got us out of it. He could have said ‘let’s just follow them in’ and he didn’t. He deserves a ton of credit.”

PUMA was forced to split from the fleet after ‘blowing up’ one of their spinnakers. At the time, Read said they were “hoping beyond hope” that the tactic would work. PUMA sailed to the opposite side of a low pressure system, forced into that position by not having the sail required to sail the same angle as the fleet. They soon tumbled to the nether regions of the leaderboard.

But by yesterday afternoon, it looked like their tactic of punching through the low just might work. Still a long way back, PUMA were sailing in much stronger wind than the opposition, and pulling back the miles. But they wouldn’t get past Green Dragon until both had reached the tip of Denmark and made their final turn for Marstrand.

 

“I almost feel bad a little bit for Green Dragon,” Read said. “They sailed a great race. They were right at the front pretty much the whole time. That’s their best effort yet. We got them going around the corner at the end. We had a little pace on them in reaching conditions and we just got by them.”

 

But Ian Walker, skipper of the Irish team, was in no mood to accept anyone’s pity. It’s the second consecutive podium finish for the Dragons and Walker and his men were happy with the result.

“We sailed pretty much a perfect leg, so there’s no point in being upset,” Walker said. “This leg, there were a lot of big tactical gains. We sailed a very different route to everyone else in the race. It clearly paid. It was only at the end when we were all straight-line reaching that they all came smoking past us.”

In the end, the Ericsson 4, PUMA, Green Dragon, podium placing was the same as in the leg to Galway. And PUMA and Green Dragon finished with a couple of hundred metres of each other.

In fourth place was a disappointed Telefonica Blue. Combined with PUMA’s second place finish, the result sees Bouwe Bekking’s team surrender second place on the overall leaderboard to the American team. Bekking wasn’t happy with the result.

“In the areas where we are normally very strong we just sailed badly,” he said. “Fourth place…well for a big part of the race were seventh, so in that sense, it was a good effort, but it’s always disappointing when you don’t win.”

This fight for second is likely to last all the way to the finish in St. Petersburg, with PUMA and Telefonica Blue battling down to the bitter end.

 

Further back, Delta Lloyd stole a point from Telefonica Black just ahead of the finish line, the boats nearly overlapped as they crossed the line.

 

“We had only one possibility, which was to go through an impossible gap full of rocks, so that’s what we did,” was the way navigator Wouter Verbraak explained the passing move. “It was tight, but we made it. Fantastic. We took them 10 lengths before the finish. Really, really cool.”

Ericsson 3 completed the leg in a disappointing seventh place.

The results for leg 8 set up an interesting leaderboard with just three scoring opportunities left.

Ericsson 4 is in a very strong position to lock up the race on the next leg, the short Swedish sprint to Stockholm. Meanwhile, PUMA and Telefonica Blue appear destined to fight for second place until the very end.

After two poor legs, Ericsson 3 will need to start looking over their shoulders at Green Dragon, now just 5.5 points behind. Similarly, Telefonica Black is suddenly less comfortable with Delta Lloyd lurking just 7 behind.

The teams are on a restricted regime now in Marstrand due to the ‘pit-stop’ designation here. In general, all repairs have to be made by the crews, and no new sails, or food, or other material is permitted to be brought on board. Crew substitutions are allowed however and Telefonica Blue have previously announced Tom Addis will step down for Simon Fisher.

Share on Facebook

The shadow boxing of the past few days has descended into a brutal street brawl as the elements take cheap shots in the closing stages of Leg 8. Both Ericsson 3 and Telefonica Blue have sustained heavy psychological blows. Today it was PUMA’s turn.

Slamming upwind and hot footing it through a minefield of tidal shifts, in the waters off the Hook of Holland, can take its toll. And forget tip-toeing through the tulips found in this part of the world, try threading your way round tankers in a Volvo Open 70. Rows of them.

For Ericsson 3, the mood is dark and the pain acute. A tactical decision to continue north overnight, against the run of play, resulted in a massive hemorrhaging of miles. At midday yesterday, the Nordics were in third place on the leaderboard, just seven miles off the leaders, Telefonica Black and Green Dragon.

By 10 ZULU today, that deficit had ballooned to 55 miles and their ignominious slide to the foot of the rankings continued unchecked. Setting the fastest time in the Rotterdam Gate Race was scant consolation.

Media Crew Member Gustav Morin revealed that Ericsson 3 was far from a happy ship. “There is everything but happy days on Ericsson 3 for the moment,” he wrote. “We have been stuck behind the other boats on the wrong side of a low pressure.

“They have been sailing downwind in a lot of wind, while we have more or less been lying still.

“In other sports you can throw your racket, scream at the referee, pick a fight with your opponents or get changed for another player. Here you are left alone with 10 other guys who have the exact feelings as you, and there is absolutely no point of doing anything than just cheer each other up and try to recover the losses and make up a new game plan. There are no opponents to fight with, no referee to blame and no one waiting for you on the bench.”

Telefonica Blue were badly caught out by the constant tide and wind shifts near the exclusion zone in the Dover Strait. Skipper Bouwe Bekking was not amused.

“We had an absolutely shocking last 24 hours, were just nothing worked out and losing a lot of miles,” he said.

“We have been battling hard, but no gains to be made. We came very close to PUMA and Delta Lloyd near the Dover Strait, but they got a puff first and extended again. This morning the wind swung from the NE into the SW, meaning we sailed right into the old swell, doing about 15-20 knots of boat speed. Boat breaking stuff.”

For long periods, the Blue boat has appeared to be without a prayer in this leg, and Media Crew Member Gabri Olivo has looked to the heavens for an explanation for their position in economy class on the leaderboard.
“Probably someone didn’t go to church last Sunday,” he reasoned. “This morning we were just in front of Ericsson 4, Delta Lloyd and PUMA, catching up with Ericsson 3 and quite happy about the battle that we had during the night to keep our position.

“Then we decided to go a little lower than the others and slowly but continuously, we got sucked into a mixture of a header and a less favorable tide that we never got out from.

“Things went from bad to worse when we had to stop the boat three times to clear some weed from the keel. Within four hours we lost sight of all the others. As you can imagine, the darkness came onboard. You can see on everyone’s face how bad the mood is.”

PUMA hit the canvas soon after the Gate Race when they blew out a spinnaker. It meant a course change and an altering of outlook on board.

“We have been in a heavyweight prize fight for days now and fighting off blows to the head and sleep deprivation,” Read said.

“Sailing back into third place today and then amazingly blowing our big spinnaker up sailing downwind just after the Rotterdam loop. Then the chain reaction occurred and the culmination of it all is a complete split from the fleet and hoping beyond hope that this new tactic works.

“The spinnaker just broke, right below the head patch. Absolutely no warning. After the chute exploded we had to put up small sails and in turn we sailed a higher course than the rest of the fleet. So we lost touch. Our best hope is to try and punch through the center of the low and wait for the rest of the group to hit their light air eventually.

“The team is down right now but all realize that we can’t quit and need to press on. Sometimes it just doesn’t go your way. Today may have been one of those days for us as time will only tell.”

By the 16:00 GMT Position Report, and with 295 miles remaining to the finish, PUMA’s mishap had relegated them to the bottom of the pile – 32 miles adrift of leader Ericsson 4.

Green Dragon held second at +4 miles ahead of Delta Lloyd and Telefonica Blue (both +19). Bekking’s men were in an arm wrestle with the sistership, Telefonica Black (+21), while Ericsson 3, who’s travails are well documented earlier, was 27 miles off the lead and just ahead of the wounded PUMA.

Ericsson 4 have not escaped unscathed from the past few days. The first night out of Galway Torben Grael’s men they found themselves having to right the boat after a gybe became a broach in 35+ knots. A broken wheel was the upshot.
Nevertheless, they stepped into the battle that had raged between Green Dragon and Telefonica Black for the past 48 hours and claimed the outright leadership of the leg at 07:00 GMT this morning.

Grael and navigator Jules Salter benefited from a big wind shift as the fleet made its way towards the Rotterdam Gate Race off the Hook of Holland.

“It was a tough night onboard Ericsson 4 as we made our way through the constant changing maze of ships and wind shifts,” reported Media Crew Member, Guy Salter, adding that sleep was at a premium given the constant tacking required in the North Sea. Even for a recovering sleepaholic.

“For this whole race I have won Ericsson 4’s highly-coveted ‘Golden Blanket’ award – it hasn’t been the easiest of feats I can assure you – but dogged determination and perseverance has seen me fight off some very tough competition.

“This leg however I thought I would step aside and allow one of the other chaps onboard to live the glory. So here I am with only three short naps under my belt over the last 30 hours totalling no more than four hours’ sleep and through no fault of my own I am still the leader in the sleep stakes. The rest of the lads are living off less than two hours’ rest for the same time period – such has been conditions for the last day or so.”

Salter also reported that the crew of Ericsson 4 may be in need of dental work such has been the pounding over the past few days.

“It’s extremely choppy, very uncomfortable slamming which is near impossible for the lads to drive through without shaking a few of those old fillings loose.

“I hope the dentists of Marstrand are ready – they may have 77 new customers looking for amalgam replacements.”

This afternoon the fleet was being propelled by a 25-30 knot westerly gale off the coast of northern Holland from where they will make their turn towards Scandinavia. Computer routing software is predicting a finish in Marstrand in the early hours of Thursday this week.

PUMA’s Rick Deppe had more to report on the hazards of being on board a Volvo Open 70 in the busiest shipping lane in the world.

“The amount of shipping traffic is staggering. If they are a danger to us, we must equally be a real pain to them. We seem to change direction for no reason and I’m sure that they are very confused as to how a sailboat can go so fast.

“If Singapore seemed like the parking garage for the world’s shipping fleet then the Straits of Dover would have to be the M25 and DC Beltway combined at rush hour.”

More like bewitching hour on PUMA.

Share on Facebook

 

 

PUMA won the in-port race series in Galway today after two thrilling races were held on Galway Bay.  This is the first time that PUMA has been on top of the podium for the Volvo Ocean Race and it brings her closer to second place in the overall standings.  Telefónica Blue, second today, maintains second place overall, but only by one point and Ericsson 4’s slightly disappointing performance shaves her overall lead from 14.5 points to 13 points.

In race one, Team Telefónica clearly dominated in what started out as perfect conditions, with blue skies and a building breeze.  While local heroes, Green Dragon, opted for a committee-boat start followed by Delta Lloyd, Athens Olympic Gold Medallist Iker Martinez (49-er) quickly steered Telefónica Blue to the left of the course and into a clear lead, which he held until the finish gun.  Telefónica Black, with America’s Cup helmsman and syndicate head Pedro Campos in charge, made it a one-two for the Spanish team in conditions that clearly suited the two Farr Yacht Design boats. 

PUMA put in a good performance to take third, from Ericsson 4, just as the wind began to die and seriously shift. A big cloudbank swept across the racecourse sucking the breeze with it and causing a headache for the race committee who had to reposition the windward and leeward marks several times during the course of the race. 

Ericsson 3, Delta Lloyd and Green Dragon all had their problems during  the race and found themselves trailing the leaders on the procession to the finish line after the windshift.

After a short postponement, race two got underway and the clouds parted to allow the blue sky and sun to shine through.  A new westerly breeze of around 10 knots meant a new course was set, slightly closer to the shore. 

Delta Lloyd made a blinding start at the pin end of the start line and led the fleet early.  Telefónica Black was on course side and had to dip back behind the line and re-start, but made quick recovery. Green Dragon tacked, dipping behind the whole fleet and headed out to the right hand of the course.

Good work from Kenny Read and his men onboard PUMA meant they rounded the first mark in the lead from Telefónica Blue and Ericsson 4.  The order at the front of the fleet remained unchanged at end of the first downwind leg, while, further back, Telefónica Black overtook Delta Lloyd and Green Dragon, who was struggling in the lighter conditions.

On the second beat, Telefónica Black came right back into contention and followed Telefónica Blue through the mid course gate to the right hand side of the course.  Green Dragon also chose the right hand side, nearest the beach.

The fleet converged on the windward mark for the last time with PUMA leading the fleet safely round.  Second place was very close with Ericsson 3 coming in from the left hand side and the two Telefónica boats approaching from the right.  Ericsson 3 got the better of the two Spanish boats and rose up through the fleet from fourth place to round the mark in second place, from Telefónica Blue, Ericsson 4 and Telefónica Black.

On the final spinnaker leg, PUMA remained in control to complete the second race in first place, confirming her win today on a tiebreak, which takes the results of the second race as the decider.  Ericsson 3 remained in second place and Telefónica Blue finished third in front of Telefónica Black.

Overall, it was a team affair, with PUMA taking maximum points today, followed by Telefónica Blue and Telefónica Black, Ericsson 3 and Ericsson 4, Delta Lloyd and Green Dragon.

The final in-port race will be held in Stockholm, Sweden on 21 June, and leg eight from Galway to Marstrand, Sweden will start at 1300 local time (1200 GMT) next Saturday. 

Race One Galway In-Port Race Finish Position
1. Telefónica Blue
2. Telefónica Black
3. PUMA
4. Ericsson 4
5. Ericsson 3
6. Delta Lloyd
7. Green Dragon

Race Two Galway In-port Race Finish Position
1. PUMA
2. Ericsson 3
3. Telefónica Blue
4. Telefónica Black
5. Ericsson 4
6. Delta Lloyd
7. Green Dragon

Galway In-Port Race Results (Provisional)
1. PUMA: 4.0 points
2. Telefónica Blue: 3.5 points
3. Telefónica Black: 3.0 points
4. Ericsson 3: 2.5 points
5. Ericsson 4 : 2.0 points
6. Delta Lloyd: 1.5 points
7. Green Dragon: 1.0 points

Overall Leaderboard
1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA): 94.0 points
2. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED): 81.0 points
3. PUMA (Ken Read/USA): 80.0 points
4. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE): 62.5 points
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR): 53.0 points
6. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP): 39.0
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP): 31.0 points
8. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT): 10.5 points

Share on Facebook

The sixth in-port race day of the Volvo Ocean Race is scheduled for Saturday afternoon on Galway Bay and it promises to be among the more memorable events of the 2008-09 race. If the welcome the fleet received last weekend at the conclusion of the leg from Boston is any indication, the local crowds will be large, loud, and very enthusiastic.

The Sparring has already begun for the skippers at the skippers meeting today.

“We have a Danish guy, eight and a half feet tall and 250 kilos strong,” grinned Magnus Olsson, the inimitable 60-year-old skipper of Ericsson 3. “Ken Read has an extra pit winch because his crew is not strong enough.”

“The reason they need a 250-kilo guy is because they have such an old and decrepit skipper,” replied Read, Olsson’s counterpart on PUMA.

The pair’s light hearted sparring sessions have become something of a regular feature at the pre-race gatherings, but the real battle for Read was sitting a few seats away to his right.

Iker Martinez, the inshore skipper of Telefonica Blue, has something that Read wants: second place.

He would also appear to hold a good share of the aces ahead of tomorrow’s in-port race. The forecasts are suggesting yet another battle in reasonably light breezes – between nine and 12 knots for the first race and five to 10 in the second, according to Read – and it is accepted wisdom that Blue has a boat speed advantage in such conditions.

They proved as much by winning the races around the cans in Alicante, Rio de Janeiro and Boston, all of which saw very little wind. They also scooped second in the light in Qingdao and claimed third in the strong breeze of Singapore. It amounts to an inshore tally of 18.5 points, a full two clear of Ericsson 4, the next best.

“I don’t know how they do it, but Telefonica have some kind of connection to the wind gods for these in-port races,” Read said. “We get a lot of light breeze.”

The weather forecast is for sunshine and light to moderate breezes, which should offer fair racing conditions and fantastic opportunities for race fans to watch the proceedings. The hometown favourites, Ireland’s Green Dragon, will be among seven teams battling for supremacy on a short, inshore racecourse, located just outside the city on Galway Bay.

The local team received a hero’s welcome last weekend, after securing a podium finish on the leg into Galway and their skipper, Ian Walker, knows the pressure is on for another strong performance during the in-port race.

“Within our team, we have made a really big effort this week,” he said at the skippers’ press conference today. “We’ve done twice as many training days here as we have before. We’ve bolstered the crew. We’re taking it very seriously, we know that all of these people are coming and they want to see Green Dragon do well, and we’re going to do our best.”

The action is sure to be closely contested. On the overall race leaderboard, Ericsson 4 has built a 14.5 point lead over its nearest rivals, Telefónica Blue. But the crew on the Blue boat has shown itself to be a force on the in-port races, having won the last two in-port days in Boston and Rio de Janeiro.

In addition, PUMA is just 1.5 points behind Telefónica Blue on the leaderboard, in the hard-fought battle for second place.

“The question of the week has been about the fight between Telefónica Blue and PUMA,” said Telefónica Blue in-port helmsman Iker Martinez. “But I think the big fight is with ourselves; just to round these marks, get the spinnaker up and down with no problems, that’s already pretty difficult. The goal for us is to have no problems and try to be in the top three.”

“There’s no doubt we’ll know where they are on the race course,” admitted PUMA skipper Ken Read, speaking about the rivalry with Telefónica Blue. “As the regatta gets further along, you start to pinpoint your closest competitors so that’s really a normal thing. One problem is that Telefónica Blue has a really nice way of dialling in the weather because these light air days surely are very good for them. That makes it a little bit harder to really go after them if they potentially have speed on you. If it’s light air tomorrow, they’re certainly the boat to beat.”

The teams are permitted to add two additional sailors to their crew lists for in-port racing and there was some light-hearted banter between Ken Read and Ericsson 3 skipper Magnus Olsson over who was adding the most muscle to their team. After hearing Read detail the two ‘grinders’ who would be added to PUMA for the race, Olsson joked: “We have a Danish guy on our boat, eight and a half feet tall and 250 kilos strong!”

Racing is due to start on Saturday at 1300 local time, 1200 GMT. Two races are scheduled over the course of the afternoon.

The race area is just outside Galway Docks, in the middle of Galway Bay. The racecourse will be visible along the coast from Salthill to Barna. Locally, there will be audio commentary on the water on VHF channel 15 as well as Galway Bay FM. TG4 will be broadcasting the racing live.

Overall Leaderboard
1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA): 92.0 points
2. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED): 77.5 points
3. PUMA (Ken Read/USA): 76.0 points
4. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE): 60.0 points
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR): 52.0 points
6. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP): 36.0
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP): 29.5 points
8. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT): 10.5 points
 
Team Lineups For In-Port Races In Galway

DELTA LLOYD

1. Roberto Bermúdez De Castro/ESP – skipper
2. Wouter Verbraak/NED – navigator
3. Sander Pluijm/NED – MCM
4. Stuart Wilson/NZL – mainsheet
5. Nick Bice/AUS – pit
6. Andre Fonseca/BRA – tactician
7. Ben Costello/NZL – trimmer
8. Ed Van Lierde/NED – grinder
9. David Pella/ESP – pitman
10. Gerd-Jan Poortman/NED – bowman
11. Morgan White/AUS – mid bow
12. Juan Meseguer/ESP – trimmer
13. Marcos Iglesias/ESP – grinder

ERICSSON 4

1. Torben Grael/BRA – skipper
2. Jules Salter/GBR – navigator
3. Guy Salter/GBR – MCM
4. Brad Jackson/NZL – mainsheet
5. Stu Bannatyne/NZL – tactician
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
12. Brian McInnes/CAN – grinder
13. Carl Williams/NZL – grinder

ERICSSON 3

1. Magnus Olsson/SWE – skipper
2. Aksel Magdahl/NOR – navigator
3. Gustav Morin/SWE MCM
4. Arve Roaas/NOR – mainsheet
5. Richard Mason/NZL – mainsheet
6. Thomas Johanson/FIN – helm
7. Eivind Melleby/NOR – trimmer
8. Martin Strömberg/SWE – trimmer
9. Jens Dolmer/DEN – pitman
10. Anders Dahlsjö/SWE – mastman 
11. Martin Krite/SWE – bowman
12. Jann Neergaard/DEN – grinder
13. Rasmus Koster/DEN – tactics

 GREEN DRAGON

1. Ian Walker/GBR – skipper/tactician 
2. Neal McDonald/GBR – mainsheet
3. Guo Chuan/CHN – MCM
4. Damian Foxall/IRL – strategy
5. Ian Moore – navigator/tactician
6. Anthony Merrington/AUS – trimmer
7. Phil Harmer/AUS – trimmer
8. Andrew Mclean/NZL – pitman
9. James Carroll/IRL – pit assistant
10. Justin Slattery/IRL – bow
11. Freddy Shanks/GBR – mid bow
12. Winston Macfarlane/NZL – grinder
13. Johnny Mordaunt/IRL – grinder

PUMA OCEAN RACING

1. Ken Read/USA – skipper
2. Andrew Cape/AUS – navigator
3. Rick Deppe/GBR MCM
4. Craig Satterthwaite/NZL – trimmer
5. Robert Greenhalgh/GBR – tactician
6. Rob Salthouse/NZL – pit
7. Justin Ferris/NZL – trimmer
8. Shannon Falcone/ANT – trimmer/pit
9. Casey Smith/AUS – bowman
10. Erle Williams/NZL – mainsheet trimmer
11. Francis Tregaskis – mid bow
12. Andrew Taylor/NZL – grinder
13. Michael O’Mullahan/IRE – grinder

TELEFÓNICA BLUE

1. Iker Martinez/ESP – skipper
2. Bouwe  Bekking/NED – tactician
3. Simon Fisher/GBR- navigator
4. Gabriele Olivo/ITA – MCM
5. Jonathan Swain/RSA – trim
6. Jordi Calafat /ESP – mainsheet
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
12. Federico Giovanelli/ITA – grinder
13. Carlo Castellano/ITA – grinder

TELEFÓNICA BLACK

1. Fernando Echávarri/ESP – skipper
2. Luis Doreste/ESP – Tactician
3. Anton Paz/ESP – MCM
4. Antonio (Ñeti) Cuervas-Mons/ESP – trimmer
5. Gonzalo Araujo/ESP – watch captain
6. Jaime Arbones/ESP – watch captain
7. Pablo Iglesias/ESP – trimmer
8. Javier de la Plaza/ESP – trimmer
9. David Vera/ESP -  bow
10. Michael Pammenter/RSA – bow
11. Maciel Cicchetti/ARG – trimmer
12. Iñigo Losada/ESP – grinder
13. Pedro Campos/ESP – helmsman

Share on Facebook