A furious
fight for fifth
12:00 GMT Monday, April 27, 2009. |
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The fight for fifth place in leg six of the Volvo Ocean Race went down to the wire today between two Spaniards, Fernando Echávarri on Telefónica Black and Roberto Bérmudez at the helm of the first generation boat, Delta Lloyd.
After a tremendous battle, Telefónica Black crossed the finish ahead of
Delta Lloyd and claimed the four points on offer for fifth place, finishing at
09:48 GMT (04:48 local). Delta Lloyd crossed 22 minutes later at 10:10 GMT (05:10
local). She adds three points to her overall tally. |
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Telefonica Black, skippered by Fernando
Echavarri (ESP) finish fifth on leg 6 of the Volvo
Ocean Race, from Rio de Janeiro to Boston, crossing
the finish line at 09:48:15 GMT 27-4-2009.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| On stepping ashore, Echávarri was downbeat: "We have made quite a lot of mistakes this leg, but we are happy to pass Delta Lloyd, but it was a disappointing leg with a few problems. We didn’t route well in some places, but we did well in others. It is good to be in Boston with our families and friends here." |
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Delta Lloyd, skippered by Roberto Bermudez
(ESP) finish sixth on leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race,
from Rio de Janeiro to Boston, crossing the finish
line at 10:10:29 GMT 27-4-2009.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| In contrast, Roberto ‘Chuny’ Bérmudez was delighted with his result: "I am really happy with this leg. We were fighting until the end and there is a good feeling onboard. Everyone is really happy for all the new people on the team who did a really good job and the boat is better now. Nothing big has broken and we’ve still got two months to keep fighting." |
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Telefonica Black, skippered by Fernando
Echavarri (ESP) finish fifth on leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean
Race, from Rio de Janeiro to Boston, crossing the finish
line at 09:48:15 GMT 27-4-2009.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| Both boats had sat out leg five from Qingdao to Rio after suffering serious damage on leg four (Singapore to Qingdao) forcing retirement from the leg. With refreshed crews, both teams were expecting to put in a good performance and neither crew was prepared to give an inch. |
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Delta Lloyd, skippered by Roberto Bermudez
(ESP) finish sixth on leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race,
from Rio de Janeiro to Boston, crossing the finish line
at 10:10:29 GMT 27-4-2009.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Telefónica Black raced this leg with only nine sailing crew after bowman Mike Pammenter (RSA) damaged his ankle in a manoeuvre as the fleet left Guanabara Bay within hours of the start. He was taken off the boat by RIB with a suspected broken ankle.
"It was hard without Mike Pammenter. It was quite easy to sail with the crew, but in important moments, like squalls at night, it was difficult. Mike does play an important and physical role but we managed as best we could," Echávarri said. |
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Telefonica Black, skippered by Fernando
Echavarri (ESP) finish fifth on leg 6 of the Volvo
Ocean Race, from Rio de Janeiro to Boston, crossing
the finish line at 09:48:15 GMT 27-4-2009.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Delta Lloyd put in a particularly sparkling performance earlier in the leg, rounding the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha in third place, just seconds ahead of PUMA who finished yesterday in fourth place. The team also had two spells in second place before dropping back through the pack day nine, April 19.
Navigator Wouter Verbraak, who began the race as navigator on Team Russia, moved to Green Dragon for leg five and is now navigating Delta Lloyd said: "I really enjoyed this trip. It has been beautiful sailing and everyone is keen to improve and make the best of what we have. We did so many sail changes and by the end, we were flawless. Improvement is a long and difficult journey, communication and working as a team takes time. The spirit was very good and no one complained, they just got on with it." |
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Navigator Wouter Verbraak (NED) from
Delta Lloyd, skippered by Roberto Bermudez (ESP) finish
sixth on leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Rio de
Janeiro to Boston, crossing the finish line at 10:10:29
GMT 27-4-2009.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| The final boat to finish will be Green Dragon, which has approximately 38 nm to run. |
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Delta Lloyd, skippered by Roberto Bermudez
(ESP) (pictured) finish sixth on leg 6 of the Volvo
Ocean Race, from Rio de Janeiro to Boston, crossing
the finish line at 10:10:29 GMT 27-4-2009.
Photo © Dave Kneale / 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
4. PUMA: 5 points
5. Telefónica Black: 4 points
6. Delta Lloyd: 3 points |
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Navigator Roger Nilsson (SWE) from
Telefonica Black. Skippered by Fernando Echavarri (ESP),
Telefonica Black finished fifth on leg 6 of the Volvo
Ocean Race.
Photo © Dave Kneale / 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) 64.0 points (FINISHED )
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) 29.0 points (FINISHED)
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bérmudez / ESP) 21.0 points (FINISHED)
8. Team Russia 10.5 points (DNS) |
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Telefonica Black crew photo in Boston.
Skippered by Fernando Echavarri (ESP), Telefonica Black
finished fifth in leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from
Rio de Janeiro to Boston. They crossed the finish
line at 09:48:15 GMT 27-4-2009.
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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Delta Lloyd crew photo in Boston. Skippered
by Roberto Bermudez (ESP), Delta Lloyd finished sixth
in leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Rio de Janeiro
to Boston. They crossed the finish line at 10:10:29 GMT
27-4-2009.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| Visit www.volvooceanrace.org for
all the latest news! |
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