Stalking or overtaking?
Leg 5 Day 11 - 15:14 GMT Tuesday, February 24, 2009. |
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| As the Volvo fleet presses south on day 11 of what could be a 40-day leg five to Rio, Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael / BRA) has pushed the bows of Ericsson 4 further into the lead and a game of cat and mouse is being played out astern. However, it is not the cat that is doing the stalking. It is Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson / SWE) and actually, they are not ‘stalking’, they are ‘overtaking’. Or at least they are trying to. |
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Ericsson 3 hit high speeds, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Photo © Gustav Morin / Ericsson 3 / Volvo Ocean Race.
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"They are right there, about three miles behind us and mile to weather," says PUMA’s MCM Rick Deppe. "They are laughing as they sail away over the horizon before their ultimate arrival in Rio, days before us," he says.
How does he know this? "Because, of course, we are trying to do exactly the same to them and their team mates on Ericsson 4. In fact, every other boat out here," he says. |
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Skipper Ken Read and Michael Muller pack the MG sail onboard il mostro, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro.
Photo © Rick Deppe / PUMA Ocean Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| "It is nice to have them so close. It pushes the crew to always stay on top and make the boat perform at its best," says Ericsson 3’s helmsman Thomas Johanson. "We are happy to have caught up with PUMA, but we are also trying hard to gain on Ericsson 4," he added. |
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Norwegian squad: Eivind Melleby helming, Aksel Magdahl holding on and Arve Roaas trimming; onboard Ericsson 3 during leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro.
Photo © Gustav Morin / Ericsson 3 / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Deppe says that Ericsson 3 is the one boat that the PUMA team has seen most of during the course of the race. "They always seem to be lurking around somewhere and often show great bursts of speed which gives them the ability to stay in the fight and also to get them out of trouble when they need to."
He also notes that the Ericsson 3 crew seem to be having a lot of fun on their boat. "I like that," he says and adds that the Ericsson 3 crew is quite a bit younger than the PUMA team "except Magnus Olsson, who would fit right in over her." |
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Michael Pammenter and Simon Fisher get lunch before duty, onboard Telefonica Blue, during leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro.
Photo © Gabriele Olivo / Telefonica Blue / Volvo Ocean Race.
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The chasing duo crossed the Equator yesterday, almost side by side. Onboard PUMA, there were no new crewmembers who needed permission from King Neptune to pass from the northern to the southern hemisphere, so instead, the crew indulged in some contraband and held an impromptu party to celebrate the arrival of Michi Mueller’s newly born daughter.
"Jerry (Jerry Kirby) brought along some Cuban cigars (the good ones) for Michi, but he wouldn’t even touch them. The rest of us were happy to help out. Justin (Justin Ferris) smuggled a small bottle of rum aboard disguised as sewing machine oil and we all managed a nip of that as well. Fortunately, the ‘Scandihooligans’ on Ericsson 3 must have been having an even bigger time because while the party rocked, Il Mostro sailed right away and took about half a mile out of them. A nice moment," reported Deppe. |
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Sidney Gavignet smoking a cigar to celebrate the arrival of Michi Mueller’s newly born daughter, as PUMA Ocean Raced over the equator, during leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Photo © Rick Deppe / PUMA Ocean Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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As Ericsson 3 and PUMA enjoyed their Equator crossings, Ericsson 4 put more miles on the clock, building a buffer of 47 nm. This is almost double that of recorded yesterday at 13:00 GMT. She is currently 790 nm northwest of the islands of Fiji and the whole fleet looks set to give Fiji a close look as they pass by.
Further back, Telefónica Blue and Green Dragon (Ian Walker / GBR) briefly swapped places and then swapped back again. Telefónica Blue has gained another 21 miles and Green Dragon a further 12.
The first scoring gate set at 36 degrees south is 1,825 nm ahead of the fleet, but until then, it will be a drag race south. |
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Neal McDonald onboard Green Dragon, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro.
Photo © Guo Chuan / Green Dragon Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Leg 5 Day 11 - 13:00 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(Boat name / country / skipper / nationality / distance to finish)
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael / BRA) DTF 9,036 nm
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read / USA) +47
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson / SWE) +50
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking / NED) +123
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bérmudez / ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri / ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp / AUT) DNS
Visit www.volvooceanrace.org for all the latest news! |
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