Celebration as Ericsson 4 Wins Leg One
08:01 GMT Sunday, November 2nd, 2008. |
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It's a win for Torben Grael / BRA and his international crew from Ericsson 4 as they crossed the finish line at 05:54 GMT (07:54 local time) as dawn rose in Cape Town today. The team took 21 days, 17 minutes and 54 seconds to complete this, the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, which started from Alicante (Spain) on 11 October. At 6,500 nm, leg one is the second longest leg of the race. |
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Ericsson 4 wins leg 1 of the Volvo
Ocean Race, crossing the finish line at 05.54 GMT.
Skippered by Brazilian Torben Grael and with a crew
of international sailors, they completed the 6,500
mile leg from Alicante, Spain to Cape Town, South Africa
in 21 days, breaking the 24 hour monohull record on
29/10/08 with a distance of 602.66 miles.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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The leg win is worth 8 points, which, when added to the points already on the board for Ericsson 4 from the Alicante in-port race (2.5) and 3.5 for passing the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha in second place, brings their overall tally to 14 points. Ericsson 4 leads the race overall, just one point ahead of PUMA (Ken Read / USA) provided she finishes in second place.
On stepping ashore, Grael said: "It's really fantastic to be here. It was a great trip with lots of speed and I am very happy with what we have achieved. I think we had PUMA in visual for about 70 per cent of the race and I am very glad that we were ahead at the scoring gate and at the finish. It feels great to win." |
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Ericsson 4 wins leg 1 of the Volvo
Ocean Race, crossing the finish line at 05.54 GMT.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Navigator, Jules Salter added, "It's really good to be here. It is always good to be in Cape Town. It was an eventful race; I really can't remember most of it, but it feels really great to be in the lead from the very beginning."
It's been an eventful and dramatic opening leg of the event for Ericsson 4, which included evacuating a crewman with an infected knee on day seven (17 October) and breaking through the 600 nm 24-hour barrier to record a new world record of 602 nm in 24-hours (subject to official ratification) on day 19 (29 October).
After leading the fleet at the start, Ericsson 4 made a detour to the Cape Verde islands to evacuate trimmer / helmsman, Tony Mutter / NZL, who had an infected knee. From that moment, the crew was a man down, sailing with a crew of nine men and missing the helming skills of Mutter. |
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Ericsson 4 wins leg 1 of the Volvo
Ocean Race, crossing the finish line at 05.54 GMT.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Losing an estimated 50 nm to the fleet while the evacuation took place, Ericsson 4 then began the long haul back up the leaderboard and, by day 8, 18 October, they were back in third position, 56 nm behind PUMA. The vagaries of the Doldrums then caused havoc as the boats wildly oscillated up and down the leaderboard trying to make the most of squally conditions.
It wasn't until they rounded the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha, off the coast of Brazil, that Ericsson 4 pounced on PUMA and stole her lead, just momentarily, on the distance to finish data. Although Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri / ESP) went to the top of the table for a few moments based on their easterly heading, the real fight remained between Ericsson 4 and PUMA.
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Ericsson 4 wins leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean
Race, crossing the finish line at 05.54 GMT.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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As the two leading boats sailed south, skirting the South Atlantic
High, PUMA was clinging to Ericsson 4's coat tails. The two racing
yachts were often in sight of each other, even though over 3,000
nm of the course had already been sailed.
"We have had some interesting skirmishes with PUMA throughout
this race and again we find ourselves within four miles of each
other, with them in the ascendency," wrote Ericsson's British
navigator, Jules Salter, on day 17. |
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Ericsson 4 wins leg 1 of the Volvo
Ocean Race, crossing the finish line at 05.54 GMT.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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As the depression
in the South Atlantic aligned itself perfectly to fire Ericsson
and PUMA towards Cape Town, records were clearly up for grabs,
although Grael said at the time that his focus was on winning
the leg, and not setting new records. PUMA was back in sight
of Ericsson and neither team had any intention of backing off. "We
knew they would be back," said PUMA's skipper Ken Read. "We
will keep the pressure on," he said.
By day 19, Ericsson 4 had broken loose, and PUMA was trailing
them by 34 nm when Ericsson set the new 24-hour world record.
As Ericsson rode the front, they extended away, displaying
a foot perfect display. |
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Ericsson 4 wins leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean
Race, crossing the finish line at 05.54 GMT.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Ericsson 4 continued her dominance at the head of field right into Cape Town where she finished 135 miles ahead of PUMA. Current estimates show a late afternoon (local time) finish for PUMA today, Sunday.
Visit www.volvooceanrace.org for
all the latest news!
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Ericsson 4 On The Dockside Cape Town
08:41 GMT Sunday, November 2nd, 2008. |
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Torben
Grael - skipper
We had everything. We had a wonderful journey, very rough weather for a couple of days with a lot of speed. I am very, very happy with everything we achieved.
We had PUMA on visual for 70 per cent of the race. It is amazing. I was very
glad we were ahead of them at the scoring gate and here at the finish. |
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Skipper Torben Grael greets crew member
Tony Mutter, who had to be taken off Ericsson 4 with
a knee injury earlier in the leg.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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It feels great to win. We are happy that the finish wasn't very painful. When we arrived here with Brasil1, we were 12 hours waiting outside without any wind. It was very good to have just a little bit of wind at the end and not stop before crossing the finish line.
The teamwork was marvellous, not only onboard, but as a whole team. The shore team too. Onboard it a little harder with one man down, a little bit of extra work for everybody, but everyone gave it best, and here we are. |
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Navigator Jules Salter sprays champagne
over his fellow crew members on stage.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Jules
Salter - navigator
It's good to be here; it's always good to be in Cape Town. It was an eventful race, so many things going on; I really can't remember most of it. We had a good lead after 24 hours, but that disappeared, then we had to evacuate Tony.
It was great to be in the lead from the very beginning.
I can't wait to kick a football around a field. |
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