Sport-heute: Sailing - Der Traum der Amerikaner geht nicht in Erfüllung!

27. April 2009, 21:29

Der Traum der Amerikaner geht nicht in Erfüllung!

Auch Telefonica Blue noch abgefangen.

Der Traum der amerikanischen Yacht Puma und ihrer Besatzung geht nicht in Erfüllung. Sie wollten in ihrem Heimathafen als Erste über die Ziellinie segeln." Leider ist nichts daraus geworden, sagt Skipper Kenny Read. Wir haben zu viele Fehler gemacht, und es war mit den Winden äusserst schwierig vernünftig zu segeln. Es ist aber trotzdem schön, zu Hause zu sein auch wenn das Ergebnis für uns nicht stimmt.

Brüttisellen, 27.4.09 (mk) PUMA FOURTH INTO HOME PORT OF BOSTON

Having been the bridesmaid so often, leg six was one that PUMA’s skipper, Kenny Read would particularly have liked to win, but, once again, it wasn’t to be, and the team finished in Boston today at 2312 GMT (1812 local) in fourth place.

PUMA began leg six in the lead, after finishing second in the Rio in-port race, but quickly dropped to seventh the following day. The first third of PUMA’s leg was spent in the second division until, on day seven, they pulled up to third place.

Flirting regularly with the podium position right until the end of the leg, if Kenny Read was disappointed at finishing fourth, he certainly didn’t show it and an appreciative home crowd had gathered at Fan Pier, Boston, to welcome home their team.

“It’s good to be home,” he said. “It feels like a long way we’ve been already. This is not exactly the result we wanted, but it’s great to be here.”

Speaking about the leg itself Read said, “Nothing seemed to go our way. I wish I could say it was the boat, but we just kept tripping over little things. It was just one of those legs, but now we get to hang out with our family and friends.”

Read was complimentary about the leg winners, Ericsson 4, when he said, “They don’t seem to make any mistakes, we have to give them credit, good for them. Congratulations. “

Navigator Andrew Cape talked through their tactics, saying, “These races are never easy. With two boats in a line, it is always going to be tactical. We did our best, but it didn’t work out. You make your own luck, but it didn’t go our way. Even after the first day, we had to claw our way back. It may have looked like we weren’t positioning ourselves well, but we knew where we were going and what we wanted to do.”

The next boat is expected to finish in approximately six hours time.

Leg Six Finishing Order Boston
1. Ericsson 4: 8 points
2. Ericsson 3: 7 points
3. Telefónica Blue: 6 points
4. PUMA: 5 points

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) 25.0 points (RACING)
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bérmudez/ESP) 18.0 points (RACING)
8. Team Russia 10.5 points (DNS)

Scoring Gate Results Fernando de Noronha
1. Telefónica Blue 19:58:56 GMT 16.04.09 4..0 Points
2. Ericsson 4 22:55:36 GMT 16.04.09 3..5 Points
3. Delta Lloyd 23:28:32 GMT 16.04.09 3.0 Points
4. Puma 23:29:31 GMT 16.04.09 2.5 Points
5. Telefónica Black 23:42:20 GMT 16.04.09 2.0 Points
6. Ericsson 3 00:14:28 GMT 17.04.09 1.5 Points
7. Green Dragon 01:27:26 GMT 17.04.09 1.0 Point
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ERICSSON BOATS TOP THE VOLVO OCEAN RACE PODIUM IN BOSTON

Ericsson Racing Team continued its dominance of the Volvo Ocean Race today when Torben Grael/BRA/Ericsson 4 and Magnus Olsson/SWE/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.

Today, Ericsson 4 crossed the finish at 2105 GMT (1605 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.

“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. Normally, regattas in the United States give me luck. This is another one of them.”

British navigator Jules Salter added, “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.”

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, finishing at 2117 GMT, just over five minutes ahead of Telefónica Blue (2123 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 the skipper 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.

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.

Leg Six Finishing Order Boston
1. Ericsson 4: 8 points
2. Ericsson 3: 7 points
3. Telefónica Blue: 6 points

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 Bérmudez/ESP) 18.0 points (RACING)
8. Team Russia 10.5 points (DNS)

Scoring Gate Results Fernando de Noronha
1. Telefónica Blue 19:58:56 GMT 16.04.09 4.0 Points
2. Ericsson 4 22:55:36 GMT 16.04.09 3.5 Points
3. Delta Lloyd 23:28:32 GMT 16.04..09 3.0 Points
4. Puma 23:29:31 GMT 16.04.09 2.5 Points
5. Telefónica Black 23:42:20 GMT 16.04.09 2.0 Points
6. Ericsson 3 00:14:28 GMT 17.04.09 1.5 Points
7. Green Dragon 01:27:26 GMT 17.04.09 1.0 Point
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Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race PUMA Ocean Racing, skippered by Ken Read (USA) finish fourth on leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Rio de Janeiro to Boston, crossing the finish line at 23:12:42 GMT 26/04/09

Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race Ken Read and family

26APR09 Ken Read points out the place at Fan Pier where Il Mostro was initially launched and christened in May 2008. PUMA Ocean Racing arrive into their home port of Boston as they finish Leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09, crossing the line at 23:12:42 GMT (19:12:42 local), finishing the leg in 4th place.

Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race Bowman Anders Dahlsjo (SWE) is greeted by his family