The Longest
Leg in History
11:00 GMT Friday, February 13, 2009. |
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| Five Volvo Ocean
Race teams are girding themselves for the longest leg in the
history of the race - a 12,300 nautical mile marathon to from
Qingdao, China to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The leg starts at 13:00
local time (05:00 GMT) from a start line positioned just off
the Olympic breakwater in Qingdao and will take the fleet into
the depths of the iconic Southern Ocean and around Cape Horn
before the teams find the relief of the finish line in the tropical
conditions of Rio de Janeiro. |
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Chinese drummers at Start Day for Leg
5 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Qingdao, China, to Rio
De Janeiro. At over 12,000 miles, Leg 5 is the longest
leg ever attempted in the history of the race.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Four of the race teams have been in Qingdao for nearly three weeks and after making various repairs, they competed in the in-port race on Monday. They’ve since spent their time this week making final adjustments and tune-ups, as well as provisioning for the long stretch ahead.
The fifth team, Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson / SWE), is currently racing towards Qingdao, hoping to finish leg four in the early hours of Saturday morning before joining the start for leg five to Rio. |
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Green Dragon's Media Crew Member Guo
Chuan, the only Chinese Sailor in the Volvo Ocean Race
2008-09, is interviewed by the Chinese media after the
Qingdao In-Port Regatta.
Photo © zzz.
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The 12,300 nm course includes two scoring gates (at latitude 37’00.000S and Cape Horn), and two ice gates to keep the fleet to the north and safe from a drifting iceberg that has now broken up, spewing lethal bergy bits and growlers across the ocean.
The Islands of New Zealand (East Cape) is also a mark of the course, which the fleet must leave to starboard. The leg is expected to take around 34 days to complete. |
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A young Chinese girl holding one of
a number of Doves to be released on Start Day for Leg
5 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Qingdao, China, to Rio
De Janeiro.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Today, the four skippers in Qingdao met the media and spoke of the challenge ahead. The race leader, Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael / BRA), is leaving China with a bigger lead than when they finished.
A win in the in-port race and a decision by second-placed Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking / NED) to change its rudders at the cost of a three-point penalty, have seen to that. But Ericsson 4 skipper Torben Grael says he’s still looking over his shoulder, despite holding a seven-point lead. |
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One of the many Chinese drummers at
Start Day for Leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Qingdao,
China, to Rio De Janeiro. At over 12,000 miles, Leg
5 is the longest leg ever attempted in the history
of the race.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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"Telefónica Blue is a very competitive team and I think they will improve their performance," Grael said. "They have shown in the last couple of legs that they are a very strong team and we will have to work very hard to beat them. PUMA is also very strong."
For his part, Telefónica Blue skipper Bouwe Bekking said the decision to take the penalty was easy. Following two consecutive leg wins, his team is confident that the new configuration for this leg will make them more competitive in the high winds and waves they’re sure to encounter in the Southern Ocean. |
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Chinese Olympic Gold Medalist Yin Jian,
onboard Ericsson 4, Qingdao - China. Inport Race Day.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| "We have a lot of confidence in that set-up," Bekking said. "The first leg (a fifth place finish), we weren’t good as a crew and we’ve learned a lot since then. We’ve been able to start learning our boat as well and I think the rudders will help us a lot in these conditions." |
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Chinese drummers at Start Day for Leg
5 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Qingdao, China, to Rio
De Janeiro. At over 12,000 miles, Leg 5 is the longest
leg ever attempted in the history of the race.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Running just one point behind Telefónica Blue is Ken Read’s PUMA, which has yet to win a leg although Read thinks that particular streak may be about to end.
"There is so much to look forward to," he said. "We have the team and the boat to win a leg and there’s no reason why we can’t win this one." |
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Awards Ceremony Qingdao.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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The PUMA skipper has never rounded Cape Horn before and admits that reaching the iconic waypoint will be a massive achievement. Similarly, Green Dragon skipper Ian Walker / GBR is looking forward to his first taste of the Southern Ocean. As a relative newcomer to offshore sailing, this will be his longest passage at sea. He says the experience of the Volvo Ocean Race has changed him as a sailor.
"I’m fortunate to have some very experienced sailors on the team so I’ve learned lots of specific skills," he said. "But if I had to summarise one thing that I’ve developed, I’m maybe a little bit more patient than I was before, a little bit. But I’m still working on that!" |
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Chinese drummers at Start Day for
Leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Qingdao, China,
to Rio De Janeiro. At over 12,000 miles, Leg 5 is
the longest leg ever attempted in the history of
the race.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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At 07:00 GMT this morning Ericsson 3 was 191 miles from Qingdao. Routing software is predicting a finish for the team at approximately 06:30 GMT tomorrow. The team suspended racing in leg four due to damage, which has since been fixed in Taiwan.
After resuming racing just before midnight (GMT) on Wednesday night, the Nordic team is in a dash for the finish line in Qingdao, where the team will make a short pit-stop to provision and pick up crew, before starting leg five. If the weather cooperates, they may even be in time to start with the rest of the fleet.
Live audio commentary of the leg start is available through www.volvooceanrace.org, beginning at 04:45 GMT.
Overall Leaderboard
1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael / BRA): 49 points
2. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking / NED): 42 points
3. PUMA (Ken Read / USA): 41 points
4. Green Dragon (Ian Walker / GBR): 30 points
5. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson / SWE): 24 points
6. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri / ESP): 21 points
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bérmudez / ESP): 12 points
8. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp / AUT): 10.5 points.
Visit www.volvooceanrace.org for
all the latest news! |
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