Ericsson 3 leads Volvo Fleet towards home port of Stockholm
Leg 9 Day 2 - 14:41 GMT Monday, June 15, 2009. |
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| After 24-hours of hard racing and not much sleep, Ericsson 3 is today’s leader of a reduced pack of six Volvo 70s. But with 122nm to the finish in Sandhamn / Stockholm, only eight miles splits the fleet from first to last. |
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Ericsson 3, skippered by Magnus Olsson
(SWE) at the start of leg 9 from Marstrand to Stockholm.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| Conditions overnight have been fast. As the sun rose at 02:30 GMT, Ericsson 4 managed to slip to the front and at 03:00, they began a gybing duel with PUMA, both sailing offshore into better breeze. Ericsson 3 was also up with the front-runners, sailing in familiar waters. |
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Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael
(BRA) at the start of leg 9 from Marstrand to Stockholm.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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At 10:45 GMT, the fleet was comfortably pointing straight towards the finish when the wind shifted and began to die.
"Everyone was in a line on starboard tack, pretty much sailing direct to our waypoint, 10nm from the finish line and then a header and reduction in pressure came in. The shift was about 100 degrees, so we found ourselves sailing on the wrong tack. It was one of those shifts where the boys behind should benefit by seeing it coming as it hits the boats in front," explained Ericsson 4’s MCM. |
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PUMA Ocean Racing, skippered by Ken
Read (USA) at the start of leg 9 from Marstrand to
Stockholm.
Photo © Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race.
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The fleet is now beating upwind through the Baltic Sea, 21 nm off Utholmen on the western coast of Gotland. But they are still making around 10 knots and the crews are hoping for the wind will shift back to how it was to ensure a quick trip to the finish.
Presently, computer routeing software is predicting a finish at around 21:00 GMT tonight.
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Sunset onboard Green Dragon, on leg 9
from Marstrand to Stockholm.
Photo © Guo Chuan / Green Dragon Racing / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| Overnight it was cold and most of the crews had not taken sleeping bags with them on this leg. Sleep has been as rare a commodity as warmth and the chances of rest are now gone as the crews will be constantly stacking and tacking in the new wind direction. Its hard work for everyone, but especially for the crew of Ericsson 4, who have caught a ‘flu’. |
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PUMA Ocean Racing at dawn, as the fleet
pass the Orsund Bridge on the way to Stockholm.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| The crew of Telefónica Blue, which suspended racing yesterday after their boat became wedged on a rock in Marstrand, expects to resume racing on Wednesday or Thursday this week. It is their intention to arrive in Stockholm in time to compete in the Stockholm in-port race on Sunday. |
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Onboard Telefonica Black going 25 knots,
on leg 9 from Marstrand to Stockholm.
Photo © Anton Paz / Telefonica Black / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| As Telefónica Blue will score minimum points on this, the penultimate leg of the race, PUMA’s crew will strengthen their chances of second place in the race overall. However, there is still an in-port race to sail in Stockholm and Telefónica Blue’s track record inshore is impressive. |
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Telefonica shore crews work around the
clock to fix the damage sustained when they ran aground
at the start of leg 9.
Photo © María Muina / Equipo Telefonica / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| Cameron Kelleher in his leg blog on www.volvooceanrace.org reported encouraging news this morning. Telefónica Blue had been hauled out and inspected overnight at Inston, on mainland Sweden. The result of the inspection revealled that there was no major structural damage to the keel or the canting mechanism which is great news for Telefónica Blue. |
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Telefonica shore crews work around
the clock to fix the damage sustained when they ran
aground at the start of leg 9.
Photo © María Muina / Equipo Telefonica / Volvo Ocean Race.
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| The main damage is to the daggerboard casing and the hull aft of the casing. The daggerboard took the brunt of the impact. The shore crew, led by Campbell Field, is working on a fix for that. There is some gouging of the keel bulb, which will be filled. Apart from a few minor bruises, the crew is in good shape and there is a positive mood in the camp. |
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Telefonica shore crews work around
the clock to fix the damage sustained when they ran
aground at the start of leg 9.
Photo © María Muina / Equipo Telefonica / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Ericsson Racing has made their workshop available for repairs and plenty of other team members have weighed in to help.
"It is clearly our own mistake of course. We thought we were to leeward of the rock and clear of it, and we smacked it right on the head," said skipper Bouwe Bekking, who was complimentary towards the services, which stood by.
"We have to thank the Coast Guard, the Pilots and the Police here. They have been helpful. They managed to pull us off and get us safely to the harbour, so a big thanks to them," he said. |
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Ericsson 4 at dawn, as the fleet
pass the Orsund Bridge on the way to Stockholm.
Photo © Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race.
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Leg 9 Day 2 - 13:00 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(Boat name / country / skipper / nationality / distance to finish)
1. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson / SWE) DTF: 122
2. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael / BRA) +1
3. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read / USA) +1
4. Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermúdez / ESP) +7
5. Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri / ESP) +8
6. Green Dragon IRL / CHN (Ian Walker / GBR) +8
7. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking / NED) SUSPENDED
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp / AUT) DNS
Visit www.volvooceanrace.org for
all the latest news! |
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