Ericsson 4 wins Volvo Ocean Race

But it is Ken Read's Puma that clinch the leg to Stockholm

A third place finish on the 525 mile leg nine has been enough for Ericsson 4 to provisionally win the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. On 108 points, the team now has a 13-point lead over Puma, with just 12 points available in the rest of the race.

Ericsson 4 completed the leg in 1 day, 9 hours and 58 minutes. It finished 15 minutes behind leg winner Puma and 14 minutes behind teammate Ericsson 3.

“We made a few errors on the leg, but we got what we wanted so we're pretty happy,” said Ericsson 4's 48 year old skipper Torben Grael. “We were very close in Marstrand, but now it's done. It's finished. We can really enjoy it.”

It was a good night for Puma as well. Until overtaken by Ericsson 3 just off Öland Island, Puma had been leading the fleet for the preceding four hours of the 525 nautical mile leg. The two boats remained just boatlengths away from each other until the tacking duel ensued just outside Sandhamn. After this fearsome catfight with the crew of Stockholm-based Ericsson 3, whose crew wanted a win here in front of their home crowd more than anything, Puma stole victory on the finish line tonight at 22:43:10 local (20:43:10 GMT) in Sandhamn (an island in the Stockholm archipelago just east of the capital city), and claimed full points for Volvo Ocean Race leg nine.

Today’s win was Puma’s first leg victory in this 10-leg race, although they have had a good showing during the in-port racing. Their score of 95 points so far strengthens their second place overall at this stage of the event.



“It feels fantastic and it's wonderful to be here in Stockholm. We feel a little sad to spoil Ericsson 3's homecoming, but it's a great win, and a hard-earned win,” said American skipper Kenny Read.

"Man do we know how to make it hard! I don't think it has to be this hard, but somehow that's the only way we seem to have success. We let them [ Ericsson 3] get ahead of us at the lighthouse, in a little rain squall. They went from about half a mile behind to overtake us. We just had to battle back. I think most teams would have quit right then but our boys just kept on going. We threw a whole bunch of tacks at them, looking to force an error. Fortunately we got one when they got their jib hung up on the radar dome. We threw everything we had at them and it was just barely enough. It is unbelievable that a five hundred mile race could be decided right there in one tack, it’s amazing. It was quite a drag race for a long period of time. We’re tired. A great trip and it's a great relief to get our first leg win out of the way.”

“We’re not the bridesmaids any more! These short races are almost harder than the long races. You just don’t get any sleep at all. It feels very, very, very, very, very good. It’s a relief. It’s been frustrating always being the bridesmaid but you know what, better late than never.”

Fighting Puma for second place overall is Telefónica Blue, who had the terrible misfortune of being grounded on a rock outside Marstrand shortly after the start. The crew expects to complete this leg and be in Stockholm in time to contest the in-port race on Sunday and thereby pile the pressure back on Puma.

The largely Nordic crew of Ericsson 3, skippered by the hugely popular, Magnus Olsson, and winners of leg five, the longest leg of the race, had to settle for second place tonight, bringing their overall score to 71.5 points.

“It was very close. That was enough tacks for a lifetime. We wanted so badly to win and now Ken Read has destroyed my party. How mad do you think I am? From now on, I'm really going to pick on him,” joked skipper Swedish Magnus Olsson, when he stepped ashore.

With fourth, fifth and six spots were filled by Telefónica Black, Green Dragon and Delta Lloyd, the final podium spot went to Ericsson 4, which ensures her overall victory in the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. Although there is still one leg left to complete before the team crosses the finish for the final time in St Petersburg on 27 June, it is now not possible for them to be beaten.

Skipper Torben Grael said, “We are finishing Ericsson 4's circumnavigation. The boat was built here and left here nearly a year ago, so she’s back after sailing around the world and winning the race. It couldn't be any better.

“We have a wonderful crew. A lot of experience. They have been fantastic on the whole leg, the whole race around the world. It's a pleasure to sail with them and get back to Stockholm in this position,” he said.

Ericsson 4's 'International crew' has shown great consistency aboard the yacht that was christened less than one year ago. Designed by Juan Kouyoumdjian, she has racked up five leg wins, two in-port wins and three scoring gate wins for 60 of its 102 points.

The crew's consistency is due in part to the fact that it hasn't changed any members since the race began last October. Now it features four multiple winners of the circumnavigation race.



"It's true we didn't make any crew changes," said watch captain Stu Bannatyne (above), 38. "We have a very professional bunch of people and experienced group of people. Our No. 1 goal was to win, and now we can relax."

Kiwi Watch captains Bannatyne and Brad Jackson each won their third race, Jackson in particular was instrumental coming from Mike Sanderson's ABN AMRO One, winner of the last Volvo Ocean Race. Another pair of New Zealanders, trimmer Tony Mutter and pitman David Endean, won their second race.

First-time winners in the crew are navigator Jules Salter (GBR), trimmers Horacio Carabelli and Joca Signorini (both BRA), bowmen Ryan Godfrey (AUS) and Phil Jameson (NZL), and media crewman Guy Salter (GBR).

"For me, personally, the best moment was finishing Leg 1," said 28-year-old Godfrey. "We were behind after dropping Tony off, and then to win the leg and break the record . we realised the boat was quick. That was sort of the dawning moment."

Leg 1 was one of the most eventful for the crew. Mutter had to be transferred off the yacht at the Cape Verde Islands due to an infected knee. That left the crew short one person, but the remaining 10 still set the 24-hour speed record for a monohull with a run of 596 nautical miles.

Veterans Bannatyne and Jackson, who both won their first Volvo Ocean Race together in 1993-94 aboard the maxi yacht New Zealand Endeavour, say that the key to the win was the complete package.

"I have to stress it's a total team effort," said Bannatyne. "The whole thing started with Ericsson committing very early to doing this. We had good resources, committed early, got the right people and from there on all the right decisions were made."

The VO70s take part in a friendly race into Stockholm city centre on Wednesday morning, arriving in Skeppsbron, Stockholm at 1400 local time. There is then the Stockholm In Port race, which takes place just off Sandhamn, Sweden on Sunday 21 June.

Leg Nine Finishing Order Stockholm
1. Puma
2. Ericsson 3
3. Ericsson 4
4. Telefónica Black
5. Green Dragon
6. Delta Lloyd
7. Telefónica Blue SUSPENDED RACING
8. Team Russia DNS

Overall Leaderboard
1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA): 108 points
2. PUMA (Ken Read/USA): 95.0 points
3. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED): SUSPENDED RACING 86.0 points
4. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE): 71.5 points
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR): 63.0 points
6. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP): 47.0
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP): 38.0 points
8. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT): 10.5 points

Meanwhile Gabriele Olivo reports on progress with Telefonica Blue :

Work in progress....

This morning the boat has been hauled out of the water and work has started. All the guys, shore crew and sailors have been divided into each area of the boat, depending on everyone’s skills.

First priority was to check the bulb with all the bolts and the fin, to make sure everything was still in place and aligned. Then we had to check the mast area around the daggerboard case to see if the damage extended to the bulkheads or not.

Everyone was working, helping with a hammer and a scissors to clean up the mess around the bulb. You can see on each face that we all want to get back racing as soon as possible and try to get to Stockholm in time for the inshore. But time, is against us, so we need to work fast.

A big relief came when Mark Bishop from the Farr office checked the boat inside out and finally confessed that he was quite surprised to see how the boat was still in pretty good shape. No doubts that the design office and the builders have done an incredible job.

After hammering the boat upwind in 50 knots of wind during the fourth leg, we ‘tested’ the boat more than once and our lady came out like a princess for a wedding. A few scratches here and there but nothing major. Simply amazing. The clock is ticking and there is little time to rest. Keep working hard...