Fast Miles
To Boston
Leg 6 Day 9 - 14:27 GMT Sunday, April 19, 2009. |
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| The halfway point on leg six of the Volvo Ocean Race has been reached and long-term leader, Telefónica Blue is in the enviable position of being able to watch the battle unfold over 100 miles behind them. |
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Telefonica Blue, skippered by Bouwe
Bekking (NED) were first through the scoring gate
of Fernando de Noronha at 19:58:56 GMT 16/04/09,
securing 4 points, on of leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean
Race, from Rio de Janeiro to Boston.
Photo © Gabriele Olivo / Telefonica Blue / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| "We have been keeping pace with the guys behind which gives us some comfort, although we are still pushing hard to maintain our position," noted helmsman Simon Fisher. |
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Onboard Telefonica Blue, skippered
by Bouwe Bekking (NED).
Photo © Gabriele Olivo / Telefonica Blue / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| Telefónica Blue is at the same latitude as the island of Trinidad, but 1,000 nm to the east and 1,100 nm from the Caribbean island of Antigua. Behind them, the closest racing is between Ericsson 3, now in third place, just holding off Ericsson 4 who is a mile behind, and PUMA who is three miles behind. |
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Richard Mason checking the tension
of the topmast before hoisting the masthead zero
onboard Ericsson 3, on leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race,
from Rio de Janeiro to Boston.
Photo © Gustav Morin / Ericsson 3 / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| Thirty-three miles back, Telefónica Black and Delta Lloyd are also engaged in combat with just eight miles separating the two, while Green Dragon is threatening, just another two miles behind. |
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Telefonica Black's Watch Captain
Jaime Arbones, reaching on leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean
Race, from Rio de Janeiro to Boston.
Photo © Anton Paz / Telefonica Black / Volvo Ocean Race.
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During the last three hours, the chasing pack has been averaging approximately a knot faster than Telefónica Blue has and it is PUMA who has covered the furthest distance since 13:00 GMT yesterday, sailing 486 nm.
PUMA’s skipper, Kenny Read, describes the sailing as beautiful, but wet.
Reaching in 18 - 20 knots of wind in the northeast trades, its a band of wind
about that is predictable as any around the world. |
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Andrew ‘Meat’ Taylor grinding
onboard PUMA Ocean Racing, after the start of leg 6
of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Rio de Janeiro to Boston.
Photo © Rick Deppe / PUMA Ocean Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| According to Kenny, it leads to a different style of sailing. "Not the ‘sail-changing world championships’ we have bad over the past week, this is more the ‘throw up all the rag you can and hold on’ style of sailing," he says. |
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Wouter Verbraak in his new navigation
station, working on the tactics to defend the second
place when they held it earlier on leg 6 of the
Volvo Ocean Race, from Rio de Janeiro to Boston.
Photo © Sander Pluijm / Team Delta Lloyd / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Ericsson 3 has made some gains on the fleet in the last 24 hours, moving up to second place. "We even gained on Ericsson 4, something almost unheard of," explained navigator Aksel Magdahl.
"We know what sails to use and have set the boat up nicely. We also have very strong helmsmen and trimmers, who can tweak a few tenths of a knot extra out of the boat," he explained. |
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Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael
(BRA) at the start of leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race,
from Rio de Janeiro to Boston.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Scoring Gate Results Fernando de Noronha
1. Telefónica Blue - 19:58:56 GMT 16.04.09 - 4 Points
2. Ericsson 4 - 22:55:36 GMT 16.04.09 - 3.5 Points
3. Delta Lloyd - 23:28:32 GMT 16.04.09 - 3 Points
4. Puma - 23:29:31 GMT 16.04.09 - 2.5 Points
5. Telefónica Black - 23:42:20 GMT 16.04.09 - 2 Points
6. Ericsson 3 - 00:14:28 GMT 17.04.09 - 1.5 Points
7. Green Dragon - 01:27:26 GMT 17.04.09 - 1 Point |
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Andrew McLean reapiring ther mainsail,
on leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Rio de Janeiro
to Boston.
Photo © Guo Chuan / Green Dragon Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Leg 6 Day 9 - 13:00 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(Boat name / country / skipper / nationality / distance to finish)
1. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking / NED) DTF 2,449 nm
2. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson / SWE) +104 nm
3. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael / BRA) +105 nm
4. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read / USA) +107 nm
5. Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri / ESP) +140 nm
6. Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermúdez / ESP) +148 nm
7. Green Dragon IRL / CHN (Ian Walker / GBR) +150 nm
8. Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp / AUT) DNS
Visit www.volvooceanrace.org for
all the latest news! |
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