Telefonica Blue finishes Leg 1 Volvo Ocean Race

by Volvo Ocean Race media on 4 Nov 2008
Telefonica Blue crossed the finish line in Cape Town at 11:18:37 GMT to take fifth place on leg one.

They recorded an elapsed time of 22 days, 23 hours, 37 seconds for the 6,500-mile journey from their home port of Alicante, Spain.

On arrival at the dockside, Bekking said: 'It feels great to be here in Cape Town. It was a hard leg and we learned a lot.

'Seeing my family is my biggest thing to look forward to.I think we came back well after the breakages of the first night.'

Navigator Simon Fisher added: 'It was a wet trip. We had a big couple of days in the south Atlantic when the boat was completely covered in water.'

'We did have to bail out as with so much water going over the deck, some ended up below. It was good, but hard. I think we were unlucky with the breakages, which put us on the back foot.'

'It was frustrating, though we were improving all the time. We have learnt a lot in the last week which will help us to be a lot more competitive.'

Updated 11:35 GMT

Skipper Bouwe Bekking wrote an email to the race office earlier this morning, expressing his satisfaction at a job well done on a tough leg.

'We sailed tactically well this last couple of days, and played the 'Stealth' card very well. Even though we are sailing for fifth position, the crew has been working as hard as if it had been for a first place. This is like winning an extra point and the position reports have been followed with great interest.'

www.volvooceanrace..org