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Ericsson 4 Leads Volvo Fleet in tough conditions for start
Leg 1: Day 1: 1330 GMT - 11 October 2008. |
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From the Volvo Ocean Race Media
Team. |
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The fleet of second generation Volvo
Open 70's break from the start line in Alicante, Spain
for leg 1 of The Volvo Ocean Race. Next is a 6,500nm
battle to Cape Town, South Africa.
Photo © Dave Kneale - Volvo Ocean Race.
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The long-awaited
start day of leg one of the 10th running of the Volvo Ocean
race dawned grey and very windy in Alicante, just as the forecasters
had predicted, but it did not dampen the spirits of the 88
sailors who have been anxious to get this 6,500 nautical mile
to Cape Town underway. Nor did it dampen the spirits of His
Majesty King Juan Carlos 1 of Spain and his two daughters.
The Infanta Doña Elena left the dock with her father
onboard Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) and
the Infanta Doña Cristina was onboard Telefónica
Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP). The royal party
was then transferred by RIB to the Spanish Navy frigate
Principe de Asturias where they joined Volvo Ocean Race
CEO, Knut Frostad, to watch the start. |
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The Volvo Open 70's break from the
start line in Alicante, Spain for leg 1 of The Volvo
Ocean Race.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson - Volvo Ocean Race.
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The Bishop
of Alicante-Orihuela blessed the fleet in traditional fashion
before, one by one, the crews threw off their lines, waved
to the huge crowd lining the harbour and departed the basin
which has been their home for the past few weeks, to the sound
of their team music. Fireworks exploded over the race village,
while overhead Spain's Blue Arrows aerobatic team gave a breath-taking
display. Over 900,000 visitors have visited the race village
since it opened on 19 September. |
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Team Russia launching off
a wave after the start of the 2008-2009 Volvo Ocean
Race in Alicante, Spain.
Photo © Dave Kneale - Volvo Ocean Race.
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Out on the
race track, conditions were wild. A strong north-easterly breeze
of 25 - 30 knots meant a windy start for the fleet which had
to sail a short lap of the Bay of Alicante before heading back
round a turning mark and out to sea. A simple breakage today
could be very costly.
Race winner in 1997-98 and second in 2005-06, American
skipper Paul Cayard once said, "You can't win the
Volvo Ocean Race on the first night, but you can certainly
lose it," and these wise words were echoing in the
minds of the eight skippers as they jostled for position
on the start line.
Waves were breaking over the boats as the teams held them
into the wind to hoist their reefed mainsails. Most opted
for small headsails, although Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR)
chose a large masthead genoa.
As the start gun fired from the Spanish frigate, the fleet
split, and it was Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) who rounded
the windward mark ahead of PUMA (Ken Read/USA) and Ericsson
3 (Anders Lewander SWE) in a surprise third place.
Further down the fleet, the two Spanish boats, Telefónica
Black and Telefónica Blue rounded the weather mark
fourth and fifth followed by Team Russia. Green Dragon,
who had struggled to sail as high as the rest of the fleet
with their large genoa, were seventh, and Delta Lloyd (Ger
O'Rourke/IRL) completed the fleet in eighth place.
The power was on as the fleet hoisted spinnakers and smoked
down the leeward leg towards the final turning mark. Torben
Grael kept his pole position and led the fleet as they
began their sleigh ride towards Gibraltar. PUMA maintained
second place, while Telefónica Blue moved up to
third and Ericsson 3 dropped to fourth. Telefónica
Black slipped to fifth place and Green Dragon moved up
to sixth. In seventh and eighth places, as the fleet headed
off on this 6,500 nautical mile leg to Cape Town, were
Delta Lloyd and Team Russia. |
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Green Dragon, Telefónica
Blue and Ericsson 4 after the start
of the 2008-2009 Volvo Ocean Race in Alicante, Spain.
Photo © Dave Kneale - Volvo Ocean Race.
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Weather
with Jennifer Lilly, Volvo Ocean Race Weather Forecaster
Throughout today there will be a north-easterly breeze
of around 20 knots. After the start, the wind speeds will
average in the low 20s with possible gusts over 30 knots.
The direction will generally be north-easterly, but there
may be right shifts which could go as far as easterly by
the end of the day.
Even more significant than the wind will be the seas. The
sailors can expect swells to nearly three metres with additional
wind-driven chop on top.
Both the winds and the seas are expected to decrease as
the fleet heads south-west towards the Straits of Gibraltar.
The question is just how quickly the conditions will calm
down. For now it looks like about 12 good hours of fast
sailing before things start to slow down. However, before
anyone reaches the Straits of Gibraltar, the wind speeds
are expected to drop below five knots. |
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Green Dragon starting the
race with a large masthead genoa while most of the
fleet started with small headsails due to the conditions.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson - Volvo Ocean Race.
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The Volvo Ocean
Race 2008-09 is the 10th running of this ocean marathon. It
started from Alicante in Spain, on 4 October 2008 with an in-port
race. Leg One from Alicante to Cape Town started today, 11
October and the course 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.
Visit www.volvooceanrace.org for
all the latest news! |
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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. |
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The official website: www.volvooceanrace.org |
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