Ericsson boats
top the Volvo Ocean Race podium in Boston
23:35 GMT Sunday, April 26, 2009. |
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Ericsson Racing Team continued its dominance of the Volvo Ocean Race today when Torben Grael (BRA) on Ericsson 4 and Magnus Olsson (SWE) on Ericsson 3, finished first and second on leg six from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Boston, USA.
The two Ericsson teams shared the same top two positions on the previous leg from Qingdao in China to Rio, but in that case, Ericsson 3 came out on top. |
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Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael
(BRA) finish first on leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race,
from Rio de Janeiro to Boston, crossing the finish
line at 21:05:10 GMT 26-04-2009.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Today, Ericsson 4 crossed the finish at 21:05 GMT (16:05 local) recording an elapsed time of 15 days, 10 hours 30 minutes and 54 seconds.
Skipper Torben Grael said: "It feels fantastic. I think we had a very good leg. We were always very close to the other boats. I think it was very important when we gybed a few days ago. After that, there were not many options. We just managed to keep the front, which was not easy." |
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Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael
(BRA) finish first on leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race,
from Rio de Janeiro to Boston, crossing the finish
line at 21:05:10 GMT 26-04-2009.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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"Even here at the end, when it looked like it was OK, the wind was very light with sea breeze fighting the land breeze. It was a very hard job, but a very good result for us. It couldn’t be better. It’s one more step towards our objective," said Grael.
"Normally, regattas in the United States give me luck. This is another one of them," added Grael. |
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Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael
(BRA) (pictured) finish first on leg 6 of the Volvo
Ocean Race, from Rio de Janeiro to Boston, crossing
the finish line at 21:05:10 GMT 26-04-2009.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| British navigator
Jules Salter said: "It was very hard work, probably the
hardest, but we had a lot of luck to get this win. People talk
about strategy and reading books, but I think it comes down to
luck. We knew our sails and our crew work was good, but it was
never certain until we were over the finish. I’ve had 30
minutes sleep in the past day. Really, the whole leg has been
a bit like that." |
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Ericsson 4 leading the fleet, approximately
80 miles from the finish of leg 6 in Boston.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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A fearsome battle played out in the closing stages of the leg to decide the points for second place, which culminated in Ericsson 3 taking second. Ericsson 3 finished at 21:17 GMT, just over five minutes ahead of Telefónica Blue (21:23 GMT), after 4,900 nm and nearly 16 days of ocean racing.
It was a particularly remarkable achievement for Ericsson 3, whose skipper Magnus Olsson was washed into the steering pedestal on day six, 16 April, and was nursing a bruised back.
"Of course we are really happy," said Olsson when he stepped ashore. "My back is not too bad, the pain at the beginning was a lot, but my crew did all the work. Telefónica Blue was coming in from behind and we kept watch on them. We have all had our problems and Ericsson 4 didn’t have a watermaker, but we wouldn’t have beaten them, but maybe next time," he added. |
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Ericsson 3, skippered by Magnus Olsson
(SWE) finish second on leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race,
from Rio de Janeiro to Boston, crossing the finish
line at 21:17:58 GMT 26-04-2009.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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A relieved Bouwe Bekking said on finishing third: "We had a really good come back after two horrible days. Passing PUMA and nearly catching Ericsson 3 was great. It has been fantastic and it is really nice to be back here. We have had some shocking times, but we have come back to a real high."
Scoring 3.5 points for second place at the scoring gate of Fernando de Noronha and eight points for a leg win, Ericsson 4 extends her overall lead to 77.5 points.
Telefónica Blue moves up to second overall with 64.5 points, only half a point ahead of PUMA provided she finishes in her current position of fourth. Ericsson 3 has a total of 53 points, which is good enough for fourth place on the overall leaderboard. |
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Telefonica Blue, skippered by Bouwe
Bekking (NED) finish third on leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean
Race, from Rio de Janeiro to Boston, crossing the finish
line at 21:23:02 GMT 26-04-2009.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Leg Six Finishing Order Boston
1. Ericsson 4: 8 points
2. Ericsson 3: 7 points
3. Telefónica Blue: 6 points |
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Ericsson 3, skippered by Magnus Olsson
(SWE) finish second on leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race,
from Rio de Janeiro to Boston, crossing the finish
line at 21:17:58 GMT 26-04-2009.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Overall Leaderboard (Provisional)
1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael / BRA) 77.5 points (FINISHED)
2. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking / NED) 64.5 points (FINISHED)
3. PUMA (Ken Read / USA) 59.0 points (RACING)
4. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson / SWE) 53.0 points (FINISHED)
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker / GBR) 42.0 points (RACING)
6. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri / ESP) 25.0 points (RACING)
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermúdez / ESP) 18.0 points (RACING)
8. Team Russia 10.5 points (DNS)
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Ericsson 3, currently lying in second
place behind Ericsson 4, approximately 80 miles from
the finish of leg 6 in Boston.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / 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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all the latest news! |
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