Sport-heute: Sailing - PODIUM FINISH FOR ERICSSON 3

01. Dezember 2008, 23:11

PODIUM FINISH FOR ERICSSON 3

CLOSE FINISH FOR PUMA, DELTA LLOYD AND GREEN DRAGON

Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander/SWE) has filled the third podium position for the 4450 nm leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race to Cochin, India. The team spent the final 24 hours of the leg almost drifting, choosing to activate their StealthPlay in order to keep their position secret and prevent the chasing pack from sailing round them while they were becalmed.

cochin (mk) The wind filled in for the final miles and team crossed the finish at 0736 GMT this morning (1306 local time) earning six points. This brings their total to 14.5, which is good enough for third place overall. However, once the four-way battle for fourth place is decided later on this morning, Ericsson 3 will be relegated. Ericsson 4, the second boat in this two-boat project won the leg yesterday and leads the race overall.

This is the second time Ericsson 3 has crossed the finish line in third place, however, in Cape Town, the team was docked two points for racing with a non-compliant keel. A new, rule-compliant keel was subsequently fitted and this time the team will be able to celebrate third place properly. The podium finish comes after crossing the scoring gate in second place, which gained the team a further 3.5 points.

On stepping ashore, skipper Anders Lewander said, 'Coming into port is wonderful. It is something you dream of and realising it feels so great. A podium position is extraordinary. This race is worth fighting to be involved in. We have spent a lot of time developing and learning and each leg has its achievements, and on this leg, we have been though all sorts of weather. We now know how we can go forward. I have great confidence in the team.'

Magnus Olsson/SWE - watch captain and six-race veteran said, 'It's very good to be here in third. We had great boatspeed and we can get better, we just need to be more aggressive in our tactics. We think we deserve third place and would like to congratulate Ericsson 4 and Telefónica Blue. I already love India it is fantastic exotic place.'

After a dramatic start in Cape Town, when the team caught their headsail around the radar unit, ripping it from its bracket just after the start and tearing the sail, the crew quickly found their place mid-field, close to Ericsson 4.

On day five, as the wind increased to 40 knots, watch captain Magnus Olsson appealed to the wind Gods, 'No broach, please God, no broach.' In pitch darkness, a big gust hit the boat and forced the bow deep under water. The boat was heeling badly. The crew on deck, although attached to the boat by their harnesses, were washed down the length of the deck. Bowman, Anders Dahlsjö from Sweden lost his grip and smashed into a winch handle. The handle bent badly and Anders was in agony, holding his hands over his ribs. 'Now we have another guy on painkillers,' commented MCM Gustav Morin matter of factly.

The highlight of the leg for Ericsson 3 was crossing through the scoring gate on day six, 20 November, in a respectable second place, with Ericsson 4 just ahead of them. 'In the middle of nowhere, with only open seas surrounding us, and just birds and fish listening and watching, six guys are making big noises of joy. With fists in the air, screaming and laughing, we are celebrating being the second boat to the scoring gate,' said Morin.

It was still an all-Ericsson affair on day eight, with Ericsson 4 leading Ericsson 3 by just three miles. For the next five days, the two Ericsson boats led the fleet, swapping the lead back and forth.

When Ericsson 4 made a break and escaped the clutches of the Doldrums, Ericsson 3 was left leading the group of three, Green Dragon, Puma and Delta Lloyd, that had all chosen the middle path through the Doldrums.

The battle for third place continued, but by day 15, Ericsson 3 had a buffer of 40 miles and the team was able to cling on to this to clinch third place.

Leg Two Finishing Order into Cochin, India
1. Ericsson 4/SWE (Torben Grael/BRA)
2. Telefónica Blue/ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED)
3. Ericson 3/SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE)
**********************************************************

CLOSE FINISH FOR PUMA, DELTA LLOYD AND GREEN DRAGON

After a terrific battle in the final stages of leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race from Cape Town, South Africa, to Cochin in India, where three boats were in sight of each other today, Ken Read/USA emerged the victor and brought the red and black PUMA across the finish today at 1222 GMT (1802 local time) in fifth place.

They were followed, seven minutes later by Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) 1229 GMT (1809 local time) in sixth, and finally Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) 26 minutes later at 1308 GMT (1838 local time), in seventh place.

It has been a painful leg for the American team, who, on day five, 19 November, suffered damage to the main longitudinal frame (the part that prevents the boat from bending in half). The team was able to nurse the boat to the finish without having to resort to drastic measures such as stopping for repairs.

On arrival in Cochin, Ken Read said, 'It's wonderful to be here. I have a fantastic team. We would have had to pull in to fix the boat if they were not so good and not one of them quit. The boys rebuilt the boat. We are disappointed with our finish, we think we are better than fifth; we just have to figure a way to get better. It was a very difficult leg, it was 'life at the extreme', to take the Volvo tagline.'

Delta Lloyd has stayed in touch with this group under the leadership of Roberto Bermudez from Spain, who took over from skipper Ger O'Rourke at the beginning of leg two. This is the first time that a 'first generation' boat has competed for a second time. She was designed by Argentinean Juan Kouyoumdjian, and won the 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race. The Argentinean designer has also drawn the lines of both the Ericsson boats, one of which is currently leading the event.

Roberto Bermudez said, 'It was very interesting as it was my first time as skipper. The whole crew helped me. I think we have a very good crew of young guys and I am very happy.'

Green Dragon, was also limping, having broken her boom on day four, sailing the final 3,554 nautical miles with the boom safely down below and the mainsail loose-footed.

Ian Walker said, 'I've had better days sailing than today. It was a good tussle and we just lost in the last 12 hours. We didn't get the right cards. It was particularly hard. It was an amazing leg and I didn't think we would be in sight of other boats. It was great racing and action for us and everyone at home. We are very pleased to be here already. We've had a warm welcome and we are looking forward to the stopover.'

Scoring
Telefónica Black finished in fourth place, scoring five leg points and 1.5 gate points. Her total is 13.5 points and she lies in sixth place overall.

PUMA finished in fifth place, collected one point at the scoring gate and four points for leg two, bringing her tally to 18 points overall and third place overall behind Ericsson 4 who leads with 26 points, and just a point behind Telefónica Blue who has 19 points and lies second overall.

Delta Lloyd finished in sixth place, collected 0.5 points at the scoring gate and three points for the leg, and now has a total of 7.5 points. Team Russia will score one point for this leg when she finishes which will put here even with Delta Lloyd overall. The tie will be broken in favour of Delta Lloyd.

Green Dragon finished in seventh place, picked up three points at the scoring gate and two for the leg, which, when added to her existing score brings her total to 16 points and fourth place overall, three points behind PUMA.

Leg Two Finishing Order into Cochin, India
1. Ericsson 4/SWE (Torben Grael/BRA)
2. Telefónica Blue/ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED)
3. Ericson 3/SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE)
4. Telefónica Black/ESP (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP)
5. PUMA/USA (Ken Read/USA)
6. Delta Lloyd/NED (Roberto Bermudez/ESP)
7. Green Dragon/CHN/IRL (Ian Walker/GBR)
8. Team Russia/RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) (RACING)

Overall Leaderboard (Provisional)
1. Ericsson 4: 26 points (FINISHED)
2. Telefónica Blue: 19 points (FINISHED)
3. PUMA: 18 points (FINISHED)
4. Green Dragon: 16 points (FINISHED)
5. Ericsson 3: 14.5 points (FINISHED)
6. Telefónica Black: 13.5 points (FINISHED)
7. Delta Lloyd: 7.5 points (FINISHED)
8. Team Russia: 6.5 points (RACING)

At 1300 GMT today Kosatka Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) had 441 nm to run, having chosen the eastern route around the Doldrums and run out of breeze. Computer software is predicting a finish for the Russian team of 4 December.

*************************************************************

PUMA LEG TWO DAY 17 QFB: received 01.12.08 1115 GMT

Forty miles from the finishing line... What a leg! Hard one and bad one for us... but all is not negative at all. The crew has been doing a great job and every sailor knows that in our sport, you do not always control all the aspects. Saying that, once again, the strongest have won and I use the opportunity to congratulate them. They put together a great job to win this leg and create a significant lead on the scoreboard. Ericsson 3 and her Scandinavian crew are also very impressive and are giving a great response to their 'older brothers'.

Anyway, as Bouwe said after finishing second, this race is far from finished and lot will still happen, as we know in this Volvo Ocean Race.

As I write, we still don't know if we will finish fourth, fifth or sixth. We are still fighting against 'Black Betty' (ex ABN ONE, actual Delta Lloyd). I am pleased to see this boat being part of the fleet and giving a hard time to the new generation boats. It is a good signal for 'short budget campaigns' in the future. The different in speed between the 3rd generation Volvo 70 will be insignificant and very small with the second generation.

This hard leg is a good test for our team, the way to handle the 'hard moments' either gives more strength or destabilises a team. It is an important period for us.
We are four boats on an even line to the finish, fighting for 4th place...or 7th, after more than 2 weeks sailing. I guess it is a great leg!

See you soon.

Sidney Gavignet - watch captain

Leserkommentare (0) »

Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race Ericsson 3, skippered by Anders Lewander from Sweden, finishes third on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India. The nordic boat crossed the line at 07:36:45 GMT, securing 6 points for the finish and 9.5 points overall for the leg

Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race. Ericsson 3, skippered by Anders Lewander from Sweden, finishes third on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India. The nordic boat crossed the line at 07:36:45 GMT, securing 6 points for the finish and 9.5 points overall for the leg

Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race Ericsson 3, skippered by Anders Lewander from Sweden (pictured), finishes third on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India. The nordic boat crossed the line at 07:36:45 GMT, securing 6 points for the finish and 9.5 points overall for the leg

Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race Green Dragon, skippered by Ian Walker from UK, finishes leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India. They crossed the line without their boom which broke during the leg, at 13:08:20 GMT, securing 2 points for the finish and 5 points overall for the leg

Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race. Green Dragon, skippered by Ian Walker from UK, finishes leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India. They crossed the line at 13:08:20 GMT, securing 2 points for the finish and 5 points overall for the leg

Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race. Delta Lloyd, skippered by Roberto Bermudet de Castro from Spain, finishes leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India. They crossed the line at 12:29:00 GMT, securing 3 points for the finish and 3.5 points overall for the leg

PODIUM FINISH FOR ERICSSON 3

Weitere Bilder: [ 1 - 10 ] [ 11 - 19 ] [ 21 - 19 ] [ 31 - 19 ]