At 03:55 GMT, in the early hours (00:55 local time) of a rainy Sunday morning, Telefónica Blue eased across the finish line off the Marina da Gloria in Rio de Janeiro to take fifth place in leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race.
At 1300 GMT, Green Dragon was 36 nautical miles from the finish line at Rio de Janeiro, with Bouwe Bekking’s Telefónica Blue only 65 nm behind. At 1300 GMT, the Volvo Open 70 was sailing at 11 knots but as can be seen on the ground in Rio there is very little wind in the Guanabara Bay. The estimated time of arrival has now pushed back to 1630 GMT or 1330 local time but that looks a little optimistic at present.
With the first three boats safely tied up in the Marina da Gloria, Rio after completing the 12,300 nm leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race, the next boat expected to finish will be Ian Walker’s Green Dragon.
Ken Read/USA guided PUMA over the finish line this morning in Rio de Janeiro at 0427 GMT (0127 local) to claim the third podium place on leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race, a result good enough for Read to retain second position in the race overall at this halfway stage.
Ericsson Racing Team made it a one/two today in leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race when Ericsson 4 crossed the finish line at 2257 GMT (1957 local time) in skipper Torben Grael’s home port of Rio de Janeiro, to stand second on the podium next to Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) who took line honours earlier today.
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.
Sweden’s veteran skipper, Magnus Olsson has done it! Olsson and his Nordic crew have won leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race, crossing the finishing line in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro this morning at 1037 GMT today (0737 local time).
It is day 40 of this 12,300 nautical mile jaunt from Qingdao, China to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and in the closing stages, the leading boat, Ericsson 3, has opted to play her stealth card. She has gone into hiding and will only reappear 24- hours later, or once she is within 50 nm of the finish in Rio.
As leg five draws out even further due to a complete lack of wind, the crews are longing for the finish in Rio and everything that it brings: results, families, cool beers, big steaks, showers, warm beds, and not necessarily in that order.
For Ericsson 3, the finish of Volvo Ocean Race leg five cannot come soon enough. It is a question of watching anxiously to see what the opposition is doing – in this case Ericsson 4, and waiting for the wind to fill in to propel them to a first-place finish in Rio de Janeiro. The team has covered a measly 189 nm in the past 24 hours.
You are currently browsing the archives for the Leg Five Daily Stories 2008-09 category.
