Roberto Bermudez de Castro/ESP brought the crippled Delta Lloyd across the finish to complete leg three of the Volvo Ocean Race from Cochin in India, at 2007 GMT tonight, after 10 days, 10 hours, 7minutes and five seconds (elapsed time 10:10:7:5), more than 24 hours after Bouwe Bekking and Telefónica Blue scored their first leg win of the event.
Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) and Kosatka Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) have been fighting their own private battle for the minor placings.
Fernando Echávarri from Spain brought Telefónica Black through the finish in Singapore today in fifth place at 1736 GMT (0136 local time), after racing for nine days, seven hours, 36 minutes and 23 seconds (09:07:36:23).
Fighting for every inch, Telefónica Blue, skippered by Dutchman Bouwe Bekking, crossed the finish line at the end of leg three of the Volvo Ocean Race to score an emphatic victory in Singapore today at 1451 GMT (2251 local time).
Leg three of the Volvo Ocean Race is in its final stages, but which teams will be on the podium today in Singapore is still anyone’s guess. Only 22 nautical miles separate the top four boats, which are due to finish in just one hour’s time. “A solid three iron is what it would take to whack a golf ball off the mainsail of half the fleet at this stage,” says Kenny Read, American skipper of PUMA currently in second place.
Not a great day onboard Ericsson 4 – we watched a 30+ mile lead turn into a deficit of 10 miles in six hours, the victim of the Malacca Straits and its very light winds.
We were caught five miles further offshore than the chasing pack with our path blocked by a few small islands and a complete lack of wind.
It was also 37+ degrees inside the boat today – so the only comfort has to be had on deck, and with Telefónica Blue, Ericsson 3 and Puma all within view – it has really got the boys working hard – there is no way they will roll over after all the effort that had been invested to reach the scoring gate in first.
We had managed to get within 300m of Puma in a drifting race with only the tide moving us both – but they have now stretched this back out to around a mile – but its never say die onboard and we will keep the pressure on all in front of us until we find the opportunity to pass.
It has been very positive onboard – everyone was obviously gutted to be passed – but why waste time and effort on regrets – and so the attitude became one of trying to drag ourselves back into the action and with around 200 nm to go we feel there may be one or two chances to do this.
The potential is in place for a real fight to the finish – so stay tuned, just hope the weather plays ball!
Guy Salter MCM
Although the Volvo Ocean Race fleet is in the final stages of the 1950nm leg three from Cochin to Singapore, nothing is certain and a nail-biting finish is in store.
Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) led the Volvo Ocean Race fleet through the scoring gate at Palau We yesterday, followed by Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) and Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander/SWE). Although they were disappointed not to be first through the gate, Bekking and his crew were pleased with the second place points, but today, they are not happy at all.
In the tussle to be first to reach the Volvo Ocean Race leg three scoring gate, a line that runs directly north from Pulau We, at the northern end of the Malacca Strait, Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) has rolled over the top of Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) and has a slim lead of eight nautical miles.
The Dutch/Irish entry in the Volvo Ocean Race, Team Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) has suffered damage to the port side carbon structure around the keel ram. The boat was half way across the Bay of Bengal when the damage occurred, at 1930 local time, midday GMT. Skipper Roberto Bermudez de Castro and his crew are safe and boat is not taking on water.
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