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.
0141 GMT this morning we managed to do what we have tried to achieve many times during the last eight months…To win a leg!
I now know that I have heard it all. This race has been extended! The race organizers didn’t think the previous 37,000 miles were long enough so this leg has been extended. Oh my God.
Time is running down in the 08-09 Volvo Ocean Race. We have had the last in-port race, the last pro-am race, the last day of corporate sailing and the last Green Dragon party.
Today “Life at the Extreme” got yet another meaning. We are getting closer to the finish and it’s not the weather, winds, waves or speed that are extreme. Not even the environment surrounding us is something I would raise my eyebrows for. But, a look in the sea chart does… It even makes me nervous. Not the least after I heard about our navigator Aksel Magdahl’s experiences from the area.
It’s sunny it’s calm were going over 11 kts but still it isn’t enough for the Ericsson 4 posse!
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.
We have just passed over a rocky ledge between two islands and I had my heart in my mouth as the depth dropped to 1.9 metres below the keel – I prayed the chart was accurate and breathed a sigh of relief as the depth shot back up. That’s enough of those scares for one day. Other than that no real change out here in the Gulf of Finland.
It is not only Magnus Olsson who is tired on Ericsson 3. It feels like everyone is taking every opportunity they can to get some sleep. We are running a standby watch system with three hours off and six hours on, but if there is not much happening some of the guys can go to sleep during the watch.
We are still yet to crack sheets or change a sail on this leg as we sail hard on the wind to St Petersburg.
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