Ericsson 3 finish first in Rio de Janeiro on leg 5 of Volvo Ocean Race

by Event media on 27 Mar 2009
Ericsson 3, skippered by Magnus Olsson (SWE) finished first into Rio de Janeiro on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, crossing the line at 10:37:57 GMT 26/03/09, after 41 days at sea.

At 12,300 nm it is the longest leg in the 36-year history of the event and the first time that 60-year old Olsson, the oldest competitor in this year’s race, has taken part as skipper, having competed five times previously as a crew member. His young navigator, Norway’s Aksel Magdahl (30), is half the age of Olsson and is competing in this competition for the first time.

Olsson and his crew stepped ashore in the Marina da Gloria to a euphoric and emotional welcome after spending 40 days 05 hours 37 minutes and 57 seconds at sea and the huge smile on this popular skipper’s face spoke volumes.

Buoyed by the result, Olsson said: 'It's unbelievable. We actually deserve it. We had a fantastic strategy when we needed it. Aksel did a really good job on that. We were so tired but we had a great fighting spirit to the end. We sailed really well, and our performance was 100 per cent all the time. We were on the borderline of destroying the boat, but we managed to find a balance and we managed to keep the boat in one piece.'

After the euphoric welcome given to Ericsson 3 this morning when she crossed the finish line in Rio de Janeiro to win leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race, Ericsson 4’s turn will come, but later on today.

Ending her StealthPlay this morning when she came within 50 miles of the finish, at 13:00 GMT today Ericsson 4 had 46 miles to run, but her boat speed is down to a miserable two knots, promising a long and drawn out affair.

PUMA in the third spot, (DTF 92 nm) is fairing fractionally better, achieving an average speed of 5.8 knots during the past three hours. However, both Green Dragon and Telefónica Blue are making excellent progress a double the speed of PUMA, but have a lot of miles yet to cover.

Ericsson is predicted to finish around 20:30 GMT Thursday, provided she is not completely becalmed, with PUMA expected later tonight, but both Green Dragon and Telefónica Blue will have at least another two days at sea before they can sample the culinary delights of Rio de Janeiro.

Volvo Ocean Race Positions - Leg Five, Thursday Day 41: 13:00 GMT

1. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) FINISHED

2. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 46nm

3. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +46

4. Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +438

5. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +626