Feed Editor 25 Oct 2008 04:28:02 GMT Volvo Ocean Race is the most prestigious and spectacular round the world marathon ocean yacht racing competition, seen as the ultimate in extreme adventure sporting. It is for the first time in its 35 year history that the Race is stopping over in India. The toughest of extreme adventure sporting: The Race will commence its round-the-world marathon sailing in October 2008 and cover more than 39,000 nautical miles, visiting 11 ports across the world. Starting from Alicante in Spain, it would stopover at Cape Town, Cochin, , Qingdao, Rio de Janeiro, Boston, Galway, Goteborg and Stockholm, before reaching the finishing line at St.Petersburg. http://www.cochinoceanrace.com Primmero Technologies (P) Ltd Binosh Alex Bruce en Binosh Alex Bruce Green Dragon crossed the finish line in Cape Town at 07:12 GMT to be the fourth boat home on the first leg of the 2008-09 race. Due to the points' penalty handed out by the International Jury to Ericsson 3, who finished about three hours ahead of Ian Walker's men, the Irish-Chinese entry, will be promoted to the final podium position. "It is definitely good to be here," said an exhausted Ian Walker, skipper. "The first 10 days of this leg were easy and then it got tight and tactical with four or five race leaders right across the leg. Obviously, we were very happy coming first at the gate and the boys did a great job. Waking up this morning and seeing Table Mountain was a great feeling." Ian Moore, the navigator, added, “I’ve done this leg of the Volvo before, but it did seem that this leg was windier but easier, but it still seems like a very long way. I honestly love being back in Cape Town, it is a very special place. We saw the outline of the mountain at dawn, with the lion’s head, and we always have a fantastic warm welcome here, there is a special atmosphere. It was an exciting finish to the leg and I am pleased with what we have done." Meanhile, Ericsson 3 celebrated their finish on a high note. “I am very proud of the team,” said skipper Anders Lewander. “It is fantastic coming to Cape Town: what an achievement for us. We have fought really hard and come back with great attitude. All the hours of preparation were worthwhile. We have had a lot of hard work, but we’ve got through and built on our spirit.” Green Dragon had been hoping to overhaul Ericsson 3, but Ian Walker’s crew is wary of pushing too hard after hitting a submerged object last week. Ericsson 3 earned four leg scoring points for their efforts over the past three weeks, after taking into account the two-point penalty imposed by the International Jury for a measurement infraction. Updated at 04:15 GMT Anders Lewander has led the Nordic crew aboard Ericsson 3 into Cape Town on a spectacular morning. The boat finished under a beautiful sunrise at 06:08:50 local time, or 04:08:50 GMT. Ericsson 3 is the third boat into Cape Town and the team will collect four points for Leg One (following a two-point penalty deduction for a measurement infraction). We’ll bring you the reaction from dockside shortly. Updated at 02:40 GMT Ericsson 3 is now just over 10 nautical miles at 16 knots. Updated at 01:15 GMT It has been a quick run tonight for the Ericsson 3 crew as they close in on the finish line in Cape Town. The team has been averaging near 20 knots for the last several hours, making a fast charge towards the finish line. But the wind is expected to ease in Table Bay, slowing the boat down as they make final approach. The ETA could slip back beyond the original projection of 03:00 GMT. Although Green Dragon has closed the gap down to 37 miles overnight, Ericsson skipper Anders Lewander is well positioned to be the third boat into Cape Town. 3 Nov 2008 09:39:01 GMT http://www.cochinoceanrace.com/news20.php 468B6F18-4984-42F2-AEEF-1692EDD9D979 By Riath Al-Samarrai It was a stunning result that not even Richard Mason expected, but the crew onboard Ericsson 3 received a further surprise shortly after finishing leg one in Cape Town this morning. Just moments after the team crossed the finish line at 06:08 local time they were told by Richard Brissius, Ericsson Racing Team's managing director, that their new keel was ready ahead of schedule and waiting yards away on the dock. "This was a great result on the water, and a really good one off it," said their navigator Aksel Magdahl. "We always said what matters is how we perform, but now it is good to get the penalty off our back." That penalty was, of course, the reason why the arrival of a sailing crew consisting of eight race newcomers as the third boat across the finish line off Cape Town was rewarded with 4.0 points instead of the 6.0 a team would usually scoop. Had they not fitted a new keel - the existing one was deemed non-compliant by the International Jury before the race started - they would have continued to be docked one point per in-port race, one for every scoring gate and had two deducted from each leg finish. Now, however, that tax will be lifted and the bill which has already accounted for four points will stop growing. "We are back competing on equal terms with the other teams and it was a happy moment for us," Magdahl added. "We knew it was going to be produced in this stopover, but we didn't think we would get it until four days before the start. They have done a great job to get it here." Equally great was a result that skipper Anders Lewander attributed to "great perseverance". They led the fleet in the critical phase between Alicante and the exit of the Strait of Gibraltar, but soon fell to fifth in light winds. And then, having recovered to lead from Cape Verde, they suffered a sticky Doldrums crossing in the middle of the field and only reached the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha in sixth. Irrespective, they battled back again and in holding a more direct route east when Green Dragon gybed south on day 18, they picked up third place. "We are very proud of that, for sure," said Lewander. "We were so great in keeping going when we had our dips in the Doldrums. The guys just kept going and this is a great achievement. "It was nice, though, to know we have a fast boat and people who sail the boat well." Lewander, whose team is currently sixth on the leaderboard with five points, has now set his sights on a top-three finish when the fleet reaches St Petersburg. "We are going to fight for a podium place," he said. "We will continue to learn and we know we can only get better. "This is a complex sport and a lot of things add up to a good position. I have the greatest respect for everyone in this race and I know it is going to be tough all the way. It will be a very close race from what we have seen." Mason has seen enough to feel confident going forward. "What a great group of guys," he said. "It was a hell of a trip - a whole race crammed into one leg. "The guys did a fantastic job. They fought like hell. They were a very strong team unit and they enjoyed every minute of it. "To arrive third is great, a bit of a surprise really. Hopefully it is a sign of thing to come. No question, if we tidy our game out, it (winning a few legs) is very much a possibility." To do so they will need the right boat and Thomas Johanson thinks they have that. "We have great boat speed," he said. "We pushed it really quite hard, especially to catch the low after Fernando. When we got it we had worse angles than the others but we were just pushing. We pushed hard and felt fine doing that. "We picked up only a bit of damage to some sails (their A4 tore a couple of days out from the finish) and damaged a furling mechanism, but the boat held up fine." Magdahl added: "We got some ideas of our strengths, but it is hard to conclude. We went well compared to some boats in heavy stuff (they managed a 540-mile 24-hour run). We didn't go too well in the light, but we can't attribute that to the boat yet because it could be how we sail and what sails we use. We can still work on that and we will because there is some light weather coming up. "Otherwise, it is great. The difference between the boats is so small. Some boats have an edge in some conditions, but it is only 2/10ths of a knot maximum. This boat is great. If we handle it well, we have a very good chance of doing well here. 3 Nov 2008 09:37:34 GMT http://www.cochinoceanrace.com/news21.php 50F3FCF8-190A-4036-A11D-A29C6271559C It's a win for Torben Grael and the international crew on Ericsson 4 in Leg One of the Volvo Ocean Race. The team eased across the finish line at 05:54 GMT, on a bright, sunny morning in Cape Town. The wind was light, and the final few hundred metres took longer than expected, but the result is the same – a Leg One victory as well as a new (still to be ratified) 24-hour distance record. The leg victory is worth eight points, and this vaults Grael's crew to the top of the leaderboard with 14 points. 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 sight 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." 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." Look for Mark Chisnell's regular TEN ZULU report later this morning, as well as full coverage of the Ericsson 4 arrival and celebration by Riath Al-Samarrai. 2 Nov 2008 09:18:26 GMT http://www.cochinoceanrace.com/news18.php 0EA0C82D-C38E-4E0C-B1F8-5BBA9CCE5015 At 05:54 GMT or 07:54 local time, Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael, drifted across the finish line off Cape Town to win Leg One of the Volvo Ocean Race. Although the last miles were faster than first expected, the final couple of hundred metres were a challenge. With the finish line just hundreds of metres in the distance, the wind died, and Ericsson 4 was becalmed for a few minutes, before sniffing out a little zephyr of breeze to get across the line. With the win on Leg One, Ericsson 4 will pick up eight points, to climb to the top of the table with 14 scoring points accumulated so far in the race. Flash quotes from the boat will follow shortly. 04:30 GMT Ericsson 4 is closing down the miles to the finish line off the busy Waterfront area of Cape Town. On the 04:00 GMT position report, the team had just 18 miles to run and was making over 20 knots of boat speed. This could be the final hour of Leg One for the race leader. Already, overnight, the mood on board was best described as 'finish mode' as media crew member Guy Salter wrote: "The feeling onboard is different as we know we are getting near the end of our separation from the outside world. People have been busy preparing job lists and tidying the boat up after the 'hanging on mode' of mid-week's fast and furious ride. "Lots of the boys have been catching up what they can with rest - we know that the last 150 miles of this leg will probably be some of the toughest as the breeze gets lighter and less predictable the closer to land we get." That is the normal finishing procedure in Cape Town – fast ride in followed by very light, shifty winds in the Bay. But there is breeze this morning and the boat appears to be moving well. Behind Ericsson 4, PUMA is also tracking well for the finish, nearly 120 miles in arrears. The battle still rages for third place, but emerging from StealthPlay, Ericsson 3 certainly looks to have the advantage over Green Dragon this morning. The Nordic crew is nearly 30 miles ahead of the Dragons, a number which wouldn't seem like much in the middle of the leg but looms large with just over 300 miles to go. There is one boat in StealthPlay this morning. Team Russia opted to 'go dark' beginning with the 04:00 position report. They won't emerge until 13:00 today. Stay tuned for all the coverage of the finish. 2 Nov 2008 09:16:26 GMT http://www.cochinoceanrace.com/news17.php 20344082-00D4-4184-84CA-929BCA9B5705 Mr Knut Frostad , CEO, Volvo Ocean Race , along with Mr Jeremy Troughton, Director Operations and Ms Allison Crook Events Manager of Volvo Event Management UK visited Cochin Port today to review the arrangements being made at the Race Village for the Volvo Ocean Race India Stopover, scheduled to be held from 3rd to 13th December 2008. 29 Oct 2008 04:28:08 GMT http://www.cochinoceanrace.com/all_news.php Cochin Ocean Race BLOG RACE BLOG 379D6879-FC65-473C-B741-4864B9726F8C OFFICIAL WEBSITE