It was an historic moment tonight in St Petersburg, Russia, when as the White Night turned to dawn the Volvo Ocean Race fleet, led by Telefónica Black in a thrilling climax, crossed the tenth and final finish line of this nine-month, 37,000 nm race around the world.
The seven boats racing, plus Team Russia, who is accompanying the fleet, are beating under a blazing sun towards the finish line of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 in St Petersburg tomorrow. Progress has been faster than predicted and the race director has just extended the course by 45 nautical miles, which has been an unpopular decision among some of the crews who are anxious to finish. The fleet is currently off the coast of Estonia, in the Gulf of Finland.
It was like the end of a school term at the skippers’ press conference in Stockholm today as the Volvo Ocean Race fleet prepares to tackle leg ten, a final, short, sprint to the overall finish line in St. Petersburg.
After an extremely disappointing leg nine, which saw second overall in the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 slip away when Telefónica Blue ran aground and had to return to Marstrand for emergency repairs, Bouwe Bekking and his men made a remarkable comeback today, to snatch the in-port race in Stockholm from nearest rival PUMA. Telefónica Black was third.
The Volvo Ocean Race fleet will take to the waters off Stockholm on Sunday afternoon for the seventh and final in-port race day of the event, and like many of the others, the forecast is for light winds.
Leg nine of the Volvo Ocean Race is one that the skipper and crew of Telefónica Blue would rather forget. Instead of anticipated heated racing against PUMA for second place in the event overall, Telefónica Blue became securely wedged on a rock just outside Marstrand moments after the start last Sunday and had to return to the harbour for repairs.
A third place finish in leg nine has been enough for Ericsson 4 to provisionally win the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. The team now has a 13-point lead over PUMA, with just 12 points available in the rest of the race.
Drama today in Marstrand as Telefónica Blue/Bouwe Bekking became wedged on a rock and suspended racing at 1231GMT while leading the fleet at the start of leg nine to Stockholm.
You are currently browsing the archives for the Ports 2008-09 category.
