Ericsson 3 underway

Seven hours behind, Magnus Olssen's VO70 starts leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race

Magnus Olsson and the Nordic crew on Ericsson 3 were simply not going to give away points. Retiring after their boat was seriously damaged in the crossing between Luzon Island in the Philippines and the northern tip of Taiwan, was not an option for this team, whose tenacity is beyond doubt. Four points for finishing in fifth place on leg four were on offer, and they belonged to Ericsson 3.

“I think I’ve done 40 legs in the Whitbread / Volvo and I have never abandoned a leg,” said skipper Magnus Olsson. “I have always finished and this feels like the best finish I have ever made. And the reason is our fantastic boat builders and shore team. They never gave up even when it looked hopeless. They battled on and wanted us to finish in time for the next start and we almost made it.”

The original incident where the boat was damaged was a terrifying experience for the crew who, on day 10 of Volvo Ocean Race leg four from Singapore to Qingdao in China, discovered the bow compartment of their boat was full of water and found a four-metre crack and an open hole in the hull. As soon as the boat started leaking, Olsson turned the bow back towards Taiwan where he steered for shelter and the sanctity of a boatyard to assess the damage.

The damage was serious to the outer carbon-fibre skin, as well as delamination of both inner and outer skin in the bow area. Another boatyard was found which could make the repairs, but it required a painful 20-hour trip with a tugboat precariously towing a rusty barge loaded with Ericsson 3. Boat builders were flown in from all corners of the globe, a new piece of bow section was built in Italy and flown to the new yard and suddenly the impossible looked possible.

“We have really worked like maniacs,” said 59-year old skipper Magnus Olsson. “The boat builders and sailors have fought around the clock and now we’re back on track. I really want to give all the guys credit for a fantastic job.”

On 11 February, the team returned to the spot where they suspended racing and restarted leg four at 23:44 GMT. They arrived in Qingdao at 10:01 GMT or 18:01 local time.

When Ericsson 3 arrived in Qingdao it had new graphics on the blue hull and orange bow: a white, dashed line around the new piece of hull with scissors mocking the cut out.

But there was no time for big celebrations for this team. No rest or relaxation, no prize giving to attend and no in-port race to take part, when they arrived in China. Instead of the celebratory bottle of champagne for finishing a leg, the crew made a beeline for the dock where new sails, a spare fuel tank, extra fuel, a slew of food bags, extra clothing and extra sailors waited. After less than two hours, the team were off the dock again.

At 19:50 local time, (11:50 GMT) Ericsson 3 crossed the start line of leg five, nearly seven hours after Puma, Ericsson 4, and Green Dragon. It will be another 12,300 nautical miles for this crew until they can relax.

"They saw us," quipped Olsson, referring to the three boats that have already started. "And I saw they were sheeting on the sails because they're afraid we're going to catch up. I saw how they tried to go faster when they saw us.

"I feel very confident with the boat. The boatbuilders are fantastic. I never felt, even though it was a rush, I never felt they'd rush and send us out if they weren't happy. There was one day a few things went wrong so they had to redo that. They said it was only 90 percent good and wanted it 100 percent. We were six hours delayed perhaps, but it doesn't matter."

The Nordic crew's deficit to the fleet was minimised because of the light winds the three boats battled for most of the afternoon. But Olssen's team still had to complete the 5 mile circuit off Qingdao's headlands and beaches before heading out to open sea. And, much to their chagrin, by that stage the wind had died away again to 6 knots or less.

Meanwhile, Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED), which suffered damage earlier today, just minutes before the start of leg five, has been hauled out of the water. A crack has appeared in the keel and the keel bulb has been damaged.

“That crack shouldn’t have been there," said Bouwe Bekking. “We have to do it the proper way. We have to be 100 per cent sure. A structural problem would be a major and then it’s a drama. I don’t even want to think about that.”