The Pirate Waypoint
Leg 3 Day 3 - 14:43 GMT Monday, December 15, 2008. |
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| The eight-strong Volvo Ocean Race fleet in leg three from Cochin to Singapore are now racing south of a line set between two waypoints south of Sri Lanka. Put in place by race organisers to keep the fleet south of the coast, they are there to prevent any possible intrusion by pirates. |
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Ericsson 4 chases PUMA Ocean Racing
at the start of leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean race, from
Cochin, India to Singapore.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| The turn to the north up into the Bay of Bengal cannot be made until the second waypoint is passed, which is around 40 nautical miles ahead of the race leader Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael / BRA). |
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Team Russia at the start of leg 3 of
the Volvo Ocean race, from Cochin, India to Singapore.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Once around the waypoints, the fleet will then face a 1,000 nm beat towards Sumatra and the scoring gate set off the entrance to the Malacca Straits. Wouter Verbraak, Team Russia’s Dutch navigator puts the upwind slog into perspective.
"It is as far as Miami to New York, slightly shorter than Sydney to Auckland, or from Holland to the very most southern tip of Italy. Wow, that is more than a two-day drive" said Verbraak. |
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Telefonica Blue chases PUMA Ocean Racing
at the start of leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean race, from
Cochin, India to Singapore.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| According to Verbraak, it is clear that there is consistently more wind in the Bay of Bengal and the decision as to when to peel off north will be a crucial one. "Go further east to get that better right hand shift, or go earlier to get to the stronger wind first," Verbraak deliberates. Either way, it will be all to play for once the fleet gets clear of the second Sri Lankan waypoint. |
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Telefonica Black at the start of leg
3 of the Volvo Ocean race, from Cochin, India to Singapore.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking / NED) currently in third place, nearly found themselves the wrong side of the waypoint. They were washed down onto it by 2.5 knots of current, which Bekking says gave navigator Simon Fisher a few grey hairs! |
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PUMA at the start of Leg 3 of the
Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09, from Cochin, India, to Singapore.
Photo © Sally Collison / PUMA Ocean Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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At 13:00 GMT, the fleet was sailing upwind with tightly-sheeted Code Zero sails. Bekking said that PUMA (Ken Read / USA) was sailing the best, Ericsson 4 - second best, and his own boat, Telefónica Blue, the
worst.
"It’s just a matter of being patient and waiting for the conditions to change," he said. The leading pack has nearly three knots of current against them, which doesn’t help their progress. But at least there is breeze and the boats are still making miles in the right direction. |
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Green Dragon at the start of leg 3
of the Volvo Ocean race, from Cochin, India to Singapore.
Leg 3 is expected to take 8-10 days, arriving into
Singapore just in time for Christmas.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| Overnight, the order changed again. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael / BRA) slipped into the lead, followed by PUMA (Ken Read / USA). Telefónica Blue was relegated to third place and is being hounded by Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri / ESP). |
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Ericsson 3 at the start of leg 3 of
the Volvo Ocean race, from Cochin, India to Singapore.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| Green Dragon (Ian Walker / GBR) has gone from second to fifth place and is just five miles ahead of Andreas Hanakamp / AUT and Team Russia. Team Russia have gained a place, swapping with Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander / SWE) who is still struggling in the light conditions. Roberto Bermudez / ESP and Delta Lloyd continue to bring up the rear and are now 63 nm behind, losing 30 miles since 10:00 GMT yesterday. |
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Delta Lloyd battles with Green Dragon
at the start of Leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09
from Cochin, India, to Singapore.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Leg 3 Day 3 - 10:00 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(Boat name / country / skipper / nationality / distance to finish)
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael / BRA) DTF 1475
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read / USA) +1
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking / NED) +2
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri / ESP) +9
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker / GBR) +14
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp / AUT) +19
Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander / SWE) +22
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez / ESP) +63
Visit www.volvooceanrace.org for
all the latest news! |
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