Sport-heute: Sailing - Telefonica Blue

30. Januar 2009, 12:29

Telefonica Blue - The Winner Leg 4

IT'S A WIN FOR TELEFÓNICA BLUE IN VOLVO OCEAN RACE LEG FOUR

In a leg that has been full of drama, bravery and courage, Bouwe Bekking and his men racing Telefónica Blue have pulled off their second leg win in a row to take first place on the podium in Qingdao, China, after sailing immaculately.

VOLVO OCEAN RACE 2009, 29.1.09 (mk) PUMA (Ken Read/USA) finished in second place at 0817 (1617 local time).

Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) took the third spot at 0904 GMT (1704 local time).

Full
press release, including comments, to follow shortly.

Leg Four Finishing Order Qingdao
1. Telefónica Blue/ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) 8 points
2. PUMA/USA (Ken Read/USA) 7 points
3. Ericsson 4/SWE (Torben Grael) 6 points

Overall Leaderboard (Provisional)
Ericsson 4: 45 (FINISHED)
Telefónica Blue: 41.5 (FINISHED)
PUMA: 38 (FINISHED)
Green Dragon: 22.5 (RACING)

Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) is still racing, with 347 miles to go, and is anticipated to finish in fourth position on 31 January.

Teams that have suspended or retired from this leg will be assigned points by the race committee at a later date.

Ericsson 3: SUS
Delta Lloyd: SUS
Telefónica Black: DNF
Team Russia: DNS

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TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG FOUR DAY 12: received 29.01.09 0541 GMT

We were nearly becalmed for half an hour, with 30 miles to go, but now we have some nice breeze again. To make it even trickier a thick fog has rolled in. Will this leg never stop giving us a break?

We saw on the radar that we passed two boats within a couple of boat lengths and it makes me wonder if these other boats have radar as well. Iker (Iker Martinez) and Xabi (Xabier Fernandez) told me that during their practice time for the Olympics this happened often, and that once with their 49-er, a fast Olympic class dinghy, they nearly snapped into a small fishing boat. So we are having a crewmember to leeward to keep his eyes open as well.

I really hope for our 49-er sailors that they win this leg, why ........figure that out yourself. 18 miles to go, and still breeze.

Over and out for this leg from me, I hope we pull it off!!!

Cheers,

Bouwe

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ONE STEP AT A TIME FOR GREEN DRAGON

With the first three boats safely tied up in Qingdao after finishing earlier today, the only team still at sea is Ian Walker's Green Dragon.

The damaged Dragon has made it across to mainland China, by just taking it 'one step at a time', reminiscent of the way in which '80's rockstar Simon Le Bon's crew nursed the damaged yacht Drum, when they were limping towards Cape Town in the1985 Whitbread, the forerunner today's Volvo Race. American skipper, Skip Novak later said that they only made it safely to Cape Town by taking it, 'one watch at a time', a phrase which later became the title of Novak's book on Drum's adventures in the race.

The Green Dragon team has strengthened their initial repair by gluing and bolting sail battens to the bulkhead, which has worked well. The team has 334 nm to run to the finish and an assured fourth position on this leg and five leg points are waiting for them in China.

Ian Walker is expecting the breeze not to exceed 20 knots to the finish. 'It looks pretty favourable - upwind - but favourable,' he explained. He added, 'It was a good feeling for us to see the first bit of China this morning. We all got on deck - it was a significant moment for us.'

Meanwhile, in Keelung City, Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) has been hauled out of the water and inspection has begun on the damage sustained earlier in the week, when water was discovered in the forward, watertight compartment. The boat was leaking through a crack in the hull. Coupled with the great water pressure from slamming into six-metre waves, the outer and inner carbon-fibre skins of the hull became delaminated.

"We are not sure of the cause of the damage
and don't want to speculate on it at this time,' said Richard Brisius, Ericsson Racing Team' general manager.

"But we are sure that it's possible to repair. We are considering having a new panel built off site, which will be fitted to the yacht in either Taiwan or China. We don't know where yet," Brisius said.

The affected area of damage is on the port, underside of the hull, about 200 millimetres off centreline. There is a delaminated area between three and four metres long, and the affected area is, at the most, about one and a half metres wide. The shore crew has taken samples from other areas of the bow to inspect for further delamination.

A replacement panel is planned to be built in Italy. Pieces of Nomex foam core, left over from the original build of the Ericsson yachts, are being sent from the team's boatyard in Kista, Sweden.

"Once we have the boat prepared to receive the new panel and the new panel is there, scarfing and bonding the panel in place is the easiest part of project," said Juan Kouyoumdjian, the yacht's designer.

The team is looking at options of carrying out the repair work in Taiwan, possibly shipping to the boat Qingdao - the leg finish port in China, or making a temporary repair and sailing the boat to Qingdao.

"We're starting to understand what we have to accomplish, now we need to determine where and how we will accomplish it best," said Brisius.

Two other boats have either retired (Telefónica Black/Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP) or suspended racing (Delta Lloyd/Roberto Bérmudez/ESP).

Leg Four Finishing Order Qingdao
1. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) 8 points
2. PUMA (Ken Read/USA) 7 points
3. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael) 6 points

Overall Leaderboard (Provisional)
Ericsson 4: 45 points (FINISHED)
Telefónica Blue: 41.5 points (FINISHED)
PUMA: 38 points (FINISHED)
Green Dragon: 22.5 (RACING)

Teams that have suspended or retired from this leg will be assigned points by the race committee at a later date.

Leg Four Day 12: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) DTF 334
Delta Lloyd NED/IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) SUS
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) SUS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando EchÃ¡varri/ESP) DNF
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS

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Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael (BRA), finishes third, on leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Singapore to Qingdao, China at 09:04:00 GMT

Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race The Volvo Ocean race fleet are greeted by an amazing welcome from the Chinese people in Qingdao at the finish of leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race. Drums, fireworks and the Emperors walk of the wall by the skippers saw thousands turn out and watch

Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael (BRA), finishes third, on leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Singapore to Qingdao, China at 09:04:00 GMT

Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race Qingdao - China. Leg 4 Boats arrive in Qingdao in foggy conditions to be greeted by an amazing welcome by the Chinese people, drums, fireworks, the emporers walk on the wall the the skipper presented with an emperors helmet and cloak.

Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race Telefonica Blue, skippered by Bouwe Bekking (NED) (pictured), finishes first, on leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Singapore to Qingdao, China at 07:00:25 GMT

Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race PUMA Ocean Racing, skippered by Ken Read (USA) (pictured), finishes second, on leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Singapore to Qingdao, China at 08:17:36 GMT

Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race Telefonica Blue, skippered by Bouwe Bekking (NED) (pictured), finishes first, on leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Singapore to Qingdao, China at 07:00:25 GMT

Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael (BRA), finishes third, on leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Singapore to Qingdao, China at 09:04:00 GMT

Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael (BRA), finishes third, on leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Singapore to Qingdao, China at 09:04:00 GMT

Telefonica Blue - The Winner Leg 4

IT'S A WIN FOR TELEFÓNICA BLUE IN VOLVO OCEAN RACE LEG FOURIn a leg that has been full of drama, bravery and courage, Bouwe Bekking and his men racing Telefónica Blue have pulled off their second leg win in a row to take first place on the podium in Qingdao, China, after sailing immaculately.

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IT'S A WIN FOR TELEFÓNICA BLUE IN VOLVO OCEAN RACE LEG FOUR

In a leg that has been full of drama, bravery and courage, Bouwe Bekking and his men racing Telefónica Blue have pulled off their second leg win in a row to take first place on the podium in Qingdao, China, after sailing immaculately.