Up all night

Ericsson 4 claims honours but the star of the show into Galway is third placed Green Dragon

Ericsson 4 again claimed maximum points in the early hours of this morning when she crossed the finish line of the Volvo Ocean Race's seventh leg in first position. She arrived at 0054 GMT this morning after taking seven days, 10 hours, 33 minutes and 51 seconds to sail across the North Atlantic from Boston.

A huge and very excited Saturday night crowd was on the dockside in Galway, principally waiting to celebrate the arrival of Green Dragon, their hometown boat, but Ericsson 4 was first to benefit from the raucous welcome as they drew alongside.

After fighting his way ashore, Brazilian skipper Torben Grael said: “It's nice to get first place. It's another big step towards our goal, so we're pretty happy about it.”

The North Atlantic threw everything it could at the seven-strong fleet, which revelled in the fast downwind conditions. Many of the crews have declared the latter part of this leg as the best sailing they have ever experienced, but before this there was plenty to contend with: leaving Boston and on around the Grand Banks and the Ice Exclusion Zone they encountered thick fog, a myriad of lobster pots.

Reflecting on their leg, Torben Grael said: “The beginning was tough. There was a big decision once we realised we couldn't get the first two positions at the gate, so we positioned ourselves for the rest of the leg. Then when we got this big front, we split from the fleet, which worked out well, but it was risky and it was a rough ride in. We had to push it to have a good position, so it was tough."

Ericsson 4 sailed the first half of this leg conservatively, only rising to the top of the pack on 19 May, day four. The remainder of the leg was spent either in first or second place, with the exception of a blip on day six when the team dropped briefly to fourth place.

“It's always a matter of risk against return,” Grael contined. “If you think it's worth running the risk, you take it. That's the game. We were conservative at times on this leg but took some big risks as well.”

The next stream of arrivals was a nailbiter, with the second to sixth placed finisher crossing the line within 38 minutes of each other. The big moment of course was when Puma pipped Green Dragon to the post in the fight for second place after a lengthy drag race to the line. Ken Read's US team crossed at 0219 GMT but Green Dragon at this stage was only three miles behind finishing 11 minutes later at 0231 GMT. Despite the late hour Ian Walker's team and her particularly her three Irish sailors on board - Ian Moore, Damian Foxall and Justin Slattery - were greeted by a very large and noisy Galway crowd.
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“It's unbelievable. Phenomenal,” said navigator Ian Moore. “This is pretty special. Being an Irishman on an Irish boat finishing in an Irish port... I don't think anyone will ever forget this.”

The leg from Boston proved far from easy for Green Dragon, which rounded the St John scoring gate last. “To be so far behind at the beginning and then to catch up was just through hard graft... The guys worked so hard. We're a bit slower than the others and the only way to catch up is to work harder,” said Moore.

Skipper Ian Walker was almost lost for words on arrival in Galway. “I'm flabbergasted. The number of people, the number of boats. There must have been 500 boats out there. All at four in the morning. Some of them in little RIBs 30 miles offshore, shouting us on. Is the whole town here? Did anyone stay in bed tonight?

“The whole point of our boat was to get Galway in the race. The whole point of our team was so that Galway could have a stopover and the whole point of that is what you have all just witnessed here."

Having come last on the previous leg and in the previous two in port races, a third place into their home town was a welcome turn-around. “Given our recent run, third place was beyond our expectations, but that is what we strive for. We knew if we got heavy downwind conditions, that was the one thing we could do well in,” said Walker.

For Green Dragon, the strategy was to stay in touch with the fleet and wait for the right moment to pounce. They did just that. “I think we managed to just keep going, keep going... We did a number of things well. First, we stayed close. We stayed close enough that we could attack when it got windy. We managed to pull more miles and we chose the perfect place to gybe. I think we got just the right spot,” Walker explained.

They were in touch around the ice exclusion zone and when the fleet divided in two once clear of the IEZ they made the sound decision to stay with the northern pack in better breeze. From then on it was a case of hanging on as the boats rollercoastered downwind in 30 knot conditions.

It has been 20 years since Ireland made its debut into what was then the Whitbread Round the World Race with NCB Ireland. Finishing third in Galway means everything to the Green Dragon team. “We desperately wanted to get third. We desperately wanted to get on the podium,” said an elated Walker.

Although Puma posted a string of second places they have yet to win a leg, but the team was still thrilled with second place, particularly after having lost their port rudder in heavy seas two days ago, forcing them to fit their replacement.

“This is as good as it gets,” said skipper Kenny Read upon his arrival. “That was some of the best sailing we've ever done in our whole lives. To come back after breaking the rudder like that. This crew is unbelievable. What an amazing reception here in Galway! It’s three in the morning for crying out loud and the crowds are huge. I have never witnessed anything like this - we are stunned!

“I don’t even know how many miles we were in last place by when we broke the rudder, so this is like winning a gold medal to me. I don’t know if any of us have ever pushed a boat as hard as we pushed it after we broke the rudder out there on Thursday night. I have to admit, this is the greatest race result I have ever had in sailing, that wasn’t actually a race win. We even had guys hanging in the water to get the rudder fixed at one point. It’s almost like adversity is our challenge. The legs in which we have broken something big are the legs in which we have thrived – first breaking our boom on the way to China, and now the rudder coming in here. I couldn’t be more proud of this team, this is unbelievable.

“One of the wild things about this race is the contrast between leaving the dock in one port, racing, and coming in. They couldn’t be three more different feelings, and sets of emotions. This typifies it. After what we did in that leg, it’s an emotional time. This is really cool, a really good day.”

In the latter stage Green Dragon was having pressure put on them by Telefonica Blue, reeling them in as they made their final approach into Galway Bay. In the end Walker's team held off the Spaniards beating them to the finish line by just three miles. But it was a nervous night for both the team onboard and on shore as they watched the hourly position reports coming in. Navigator Ian Moore wrote in the early hours of the morning, “Without prejudice, this is the most fun I have ever had on a Volvo 70. I mean we, are having a baby in five weeks time and I am much more nervous about the next 12 hours than becoming a father again. The guys have been phenomenal. We always feel we really have to work harder for every mile gained in this race and this leg has been no exception. Tobe in this position is through pushing harder, keeping the gear up longer, and brutal graft. You can be sure that we will continue pushing to the bitter end, whatever it may bring. It will make the first sip of black taste all the sweeter.”

Telefónica Blue finished in fourth place at 0242 GMT, just 11 minutes after the Irish team.

Delta Lloyd claimed fifth at 0339 GMT, although the team had been up in the lead during this leg and was in contention for a podium finish right up until the last moment.

Stepping ashore, skipper Roberto Bermúdez said, “We're sailing against really good teams and really good people. We are trying to not make mistakes and to sail within our limits and that's what we did here. And you enjoy the race so much more when you don't 'lose' the fleet.

“You always think about the real big downwind sailing in the Southern Ocean when you think about this race, but these last couple of days were maybe the best downwind in the race. It was really good.

“It's a happy team and we've enjoyed it a lot. Everybody sailed very well and we are really starting to feel like a close group.”

Telefonica Black arrived in sixth at 0358 GMT. Although they passed the ice exclusion zone first they did not enjoy the big downwind conditions. They were, according to navigator Roger Nilson, “demolished”.

Skipper Fernando Echávarri, commented, “We performed quite well. In the first half we were very comfortable with the boat and we did well. But we knew it was going to be really hard downwind. At the end we were really close to passing Delta Lloyd, but we could not. It was very exciting racing, very close. It is more interesting when you can see the other boats.”

Ericsson 3, finished two hours later in seventh position at 0558 GMT. Leg seven was a leg the crew would rather forget, but in his usual irrepressible way, skipper Magnus Olsson was pragmatic: “We are a little disappointed with the result, but that’s life. We think we’ve sailed the best ever, but this time it wasn’t enough. When we sail as well, we are normally fighting for podium positions, it was frustrating when we didn’t go so well and in the end, we took some chances. In the short term, our egos have taken a beating. And now we know how hard it is to really be up there.”

With Volvo fleet safely arrived in Galway, there is a full two weeks for the crews to enjoy the legendary Irish hospitality before the in-port race next Saturday 30 May and the start of leg eight the following Saturday 6 June.

The finishing order on leg seven does not change the overall top three positions. Ericsson 4 continues to steal a march and tops the leaderboard while just 1.5 points separate Telefónica Blue in second from Puma in third.

Leg Six Finishing Order Galway
1. Ericsson 4: 8 points
2. PUMA: 7 points
3. Green Dragon: 6 points
4. Telefónica Blue: 5 points
5. Delta Lloyd: 4 points
6. Telefónica Black: 3 points
7. Ericsson 3: 2 points

Overall Leaderboard (Provisional)
1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA) 92.0 points
2. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) 77.5 points
3. PUMA (Ken Read/USA) 76.0 points
4. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) 60.0 points
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) 52.0 points
6. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) 36.0 points
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermúdez/ESP) 29.5 points
8. Team Russia 10.5 points (DNS)