Volvo Race - All-Ericsson lead in race to India

by Volvo event media on 23 Nov 2008
It has been an exciting 24 hours in the Volvo fleet racing towards Cochin, India, in leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race. With 2,239 nm to go to the finish, the lion’s share of this 4,450 nm leg is over, but as the fleet compresses, once again, many boats are in sight of each other.

Earlier this morning, Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) who is right up in the hunt and fighting it out with the leaders, had Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) on one side and PUMA (Ken Read/USA) on the other.

As the pace of life has slowed, the ‘big dry-out’ has started, it is a good opportunity to repair everything that needs fixing and dry out all the gear.

'All around the boat you can find bits of clothing hung up as everyone desperately tries to get stuff dried out before we begin reaching once more on starboard,' says Simon Fisher, navigator of Telefónica Blue. The air is warm, and the night skies are clear and full of stars. 'It’s amazing how fast the change from full we weather gear, fleeces and boots was to only shorts,' says Ericsson 3’s MCM Gustav Morin.

The team had a plastic bag caught around the keel this morning, but have become very proficient in backing up the boat and were able to free it quickly.

The fleet is now aiming on reaching the trade winds as soon as possible and setting up for a good angle into the Doldrums, but, after the Doldrums although the teams are expecting a good westerly breeze, in the final approach to India, the wind is likely to drop.

At 13:00 GMT today, it was an all-Ericsson affair with Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) in charge of the fleet with Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander/SWE) just three miles astern and to the north.

The first five boats are split 40 nm from first to fourth, with a gap of 40 nm to Puma in fifth. Boat speeds hover around the low teens with 24 hour runs around the 330 mark.

Volvo Ocean Race Positions - Leg Two, Saturday Day Eight: 13:00 GMT

1. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 2,239 nm

2. Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +3

3. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +28

4. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +34

5. Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +40

6. Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +79

7. Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +88

8. Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +104