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.
PUMA, who is now assured second place overall, led the Volvo fleet out of Sandhamn, on the outer edge of the Stockholm archipelago today – a spectacular day where conditions were perfect for the start of the tenth and final leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 to St Petersburg in Russia.
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.
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