Outimage Australia - VOR 2008-2009 - Green Dragon and Kosatka Team Russia Battle To The End

The banner for the Outimage coverage of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008 - 2009.

Outimage Publications ocean yacht racing coverage of the VOR 2008-2009.

Green Dragon and Kosatka Team Russia Battle To The End
01:36 GMT Tuesday, December 23, 2008.

Green Dragon (Ian Walker / GBR) and Kosatka Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp / AUT) have been fighting their own private battle for the minor placings.

As the Malacca Straights narrowed, Green Dragon was becalmed with a strong tide against her. As the team struggled to turn the corner, Kosatka reached up from 24-miles behind with good wind, closing to within a mile of the Chinese / Irish boat. Ian Walker managed to hold off the Russian advances and crossed the finish in Singapore tonight at 22:49 GMT in sixth place. Kosatka followed shortly after at 00:08 GMT.

Green Dragon, skippered by Ian Walker (GBR) (pictured) takes sixth place on leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race from India to Singapore, crossing the finish line at 22:49:36 GMT.

Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.

"This leg has simply not gone our way and I look with envy at the close racing amongst the top four. It might seem strange but on balance, I think we have sailed the best on this leg that we have so far in the race and everyone remains very focused on the task ahead" said Ian Walker earlier today.

Team Russia’s Austrian skipper, Andreas Hanakamp also reflected on the close racing at the end of this leg.

"For the last 24 hours of the leg, everyone has been working incredibly hard to get in front of Green Dragon and we got within a mile of them. They had managed to get further inshore than us and picked up the breeze just a few minutes earlier, which gave them valuable miles."

Team Russia, skippered by Andreas Hanakamp (AUT) takes seventh place on leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race from India to Singapore, crossing the finish line at 00:08:25 GMT.

Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.

"The leg was a different challenge again, with forecasts unreliable in the light winds. Again, the fleet was close together from start to finish which shows how close the racing is. I am happy to get to Singapore, looking forward what they come up with after the great time we had in India. Thanks to my sailing team for the incredible effort they put in right to the finish line" added Hanakamp.

Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez / ESP) who is limping with a damaged keel ram, will be the next boat to finish later tomorrow.

Leg Three Finishing Order Singapore
1. Telefónica Blue: 8 points (FINISHED)
2. PUMA : 7 points (FINISHED)
3. Ericsson 3: 6 points (FINISHED)
4. Ericsson 4: 5points (FINISHED)
5. Telefónica Black: 4 points (FINISHED)
6. Green Dragon: 3 points (FINISHED)
7. Kosatka Team Russia: 2 points (FINISHED)

Overall Leaderboard (Subject to Protest)
1. Ericsson 4: 35 points (FINISHED)
2. Telefónica Blue: 30.5 points (FINISHED)
3. PUMA : 27.5 points (FINISHED)
4. Ericsson 3: 23.5 points (FINISHED)
5. Green Dragon: 20.5 points (FINISHED)
6. Telefónica Black: 19.5 points (FINISHED)
7. Team Russia: 10.5 points (FINISHED)
8. Delta Lloyd: 8 points (RACING)

Visit www.volvooceanrace.org for all the latest news!

The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 will be the 10th running of this ocean marathon. Starting from Alicante in Spain, on 4 October 2008 with in-port racing, it will, for the first time, take in Cochin, India, Singapore and Qingdao, China before finishing in St Petersburg, Russia for the first time in the history of the race.

Spanning some 37,000 nautical miles, stopping at 11 ports and taking nine months to complete, the Volvo Ocean Race is the world's premier yacht race for professional racing crews.

The official website: www.volvooceanrace.org

The icon banner to access the Outimage homepage.

Outimage Publications Homepage

This page was checked and found to be a valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional webpage by the WC3 organisation.