How we won on Saturday

Ericsson tactician John Kostecki looks back at the first in-port race

Going into the first in port race, we had the goal of winning a spot on the podium. With the 'in port races' worth around 20% of the overall points in the Volvo Ocean Race, we on the Ericsson Team were not treating this race lightly..and it was nice to win!

After being postponed for a few hours because of light wind, the Volvo race committee got a line set up for the six competing boats. We had a light 6 knot southeasterly breeze that was slowly building from the sea. Our Meteorologist Chris Tibbs predicted it perfectly. He also advised us to avoid the shorelines early on in the race and stick to the middle of the bay for the most pressure. The Spanish spectator fleet was pretty big and keen to finally watch the Volvo 70s racing. The spectators were tight in on the startline and along the port tack layline off of the committee boat, so our pre-race game plan included staying away from the spectators, and getting out to the strongest breeze on the left side of the race track. The only way to get the left in the light wind was to win the pin end of the start line and troop left of the fleet.

With about two minutes to start, the opportunity opened up for us to get the pin and I encouraged Tim Powell our helmsman to win the pin and he did just that! The wind dropped to 5 knots in the final minute of the start sequence, so everyone was late getting to line, including us at the pin end. But, I was not worried a bit as we were a few boatlengths late, everyone else was further back! After the start gun had fired, I heard Tim, angry with himself for being late. I instantly told to him to look over his shoulder at the rest of fleet further behind and going slower off the line. That calmed his nerves and we proceeded to advance to the left side of the track which had more pressure, about 8 knots and a slight left shift. We were golden!

Half way up the first windward leg, we had launched out to a huge lead, where I could not read the sail numbers of our competitors. We covered the fleet on the left side as we approached the first windward mark and did a tack set at the windward mark to our light spinnaker. The crew work on the set was flawless as it was throughout the race. We sailed the two reaching legs and held our huge lead. The wind did not really build much, and we continued to cover the fleet on the second windward leg. Again we favored the left side which had more pressure than the right. At the second top mark we did another tack set several minutes ahead of our competition. We sailed down the first run and as we approach the leeward mark the committee hoisted the 'S' flag, shortened course, and we finished at the bottom mark, taking the win for the first in port race. The crew was pumped!

Reflecting back on the day, it was certainly the day of royalty out on the water. King Juan Carlos of Spain, sailed aboard the Telefonica Spanish team finishing fourth, with his daughter Princess Christina sailing as guest aboard the Pirates, finishing third. On the mighty Ericsson, we were fortunate to have HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden as one of our three guests.

Was the in port racing which is part of an offshore race a success? I think so. We had thousands of spectators on the water and on shore watching us race. It is a great opportunity to showcase our boats and what this exciting race is all about. Admit it would have been better if we had a strong breeze to show off these turbo charged ocean racing machines, but that will come.

It was nice getting off to a strong start winning this race. It was a payoff for the hard work that the sailing, shore and support team have put into this campaign, and it is always good for the team moral to win!

John Kostecki
Tactician - Ericsson Racing Team