Four in a flurry

Puma wins the fight for fifth into Cochin on the Volvo Ocean Race

Fernando Echávarri brought Telefónica Black into Cochin, India, in fourth place on leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race, earning five points, which when added to their scoring gate total of 1.5 points, brings their total to 13.5 and sixth place on the overall leaderboard. The team was second in the in-port race in Alicante, but last on the first leg of the race from Alicante to Cape Town after suffering damage.

The team took 16 days, 00 hours, 40 minutes and 26 seconds to complete the leg, crossing the line at 1200 GMT (1730 local time).

“We are really happy to be here after all our issues,” said Echávarri on arrival. “It is nice to be with our family and the Volvo family. We got really close to the other boats in the last few days, and we had to play it sharp and hug the coast to get pass them.”

Swedish navigator, Roger Nilsson, on his seventh lap of the planet, said: “Yesterday, we had the idea that if the other teams went to the beach, we would stay offshore. We then realised that offshore would not be good, so we didn’t care where the others were, we just got as close as one or two miles off the beach. I was surprised the other boats allowed us to do that and I was not surprised we gained. The sea breeze was very useful with its angle, and we came out the good way.”

The leg was not without its dramas for Telefónica Black. On day seven, 21 November, a problem with a halyard meant that Mike Pammenter had to go to the top of the mast in 25 knots of wind. The boat heeled badly and he lost his grip on the mast, swinging round it twice before regaining his hold and completing the job. He returned to the deck, had his breakfast and went to bed, as if nothing had happened.

Echávarri and Nilsson chose the western route through the Doldrums, which for several days, looked as if it would not pay off, and on day 12, they were 112 nautical miles in arrears.

The team moved up to seventh place on day 13, 27 November, and stayed there, making their remarkable comeback over the last 48 hours, and going into StealthPlay in the closing stages of the leg.

But the hottest battle were the four boats battling for fourth, impressively three remaining in sight of one another throughout the final day, after more than 4,000 miles of racing.

At 0900 GMT Telefoncia Black came out of Stealth Mode and popped up on the racecourse ahead of Puma and Delta Lloyd. But Green Dragon had also gone into Stealth disappearing at 0700 GMT. For the chasing boats it was a hard pill to swallow as the difference between finishing fourth and seventh grew even closer as they all approached the finish. At 1030 GMT Green Dragon came out of Stealth (under race rules once a boat is within 50 miles of the finish line Stealth Mode must be turned off). Ian Walker's team was still the most westerly but Puma and Delta Lloyd had extended by 16 miles.

In the end it was Puma which emerged victorious, Ken Read's red and black boat crossing the finish today at 1222 GMT (1802 local time), seven minutes later by Delta Lloyd at 1229 GMT (1809 local time) and finally Green Dragon 26 minutes later at 1308 GMT (1838 local time), in seventh place.

It has been a painful leg for the American team, who, on day five, 19 November, suffered damage to the main longitudinal frame (the part that prevents the boat from bending in half). The team was able to nurse the boat to the finish without having to resort to drastic measures such as stopping for repairs.

On arrival in Cochin, Ken Read said, “It’s wonderful to be here. I have a fantastic team. We would have had to pull in to fix the boat if they were not so good and not one of them quit. The boys rebuilt the boat. We are disappointed with our finish, we think we are better than fifth; we just have to figure a way to get better. It was a very difficult leg, it was 'life at the extreme', to take the Volvo tagline.

“The give and take that has occurred during this leg is like no other race I have ever been a part of. This is the hardest sailing race I can ever remember being in. It was so diverse and so bizarre. Today was a good example - this afternoon Telefonica Black was way out on the horizon behind us, we could barely see them. Then an hour before the finish we realise they’re seven miles ahead. It was really remarkable. We are now very used to having boats right next to us over an entire leg. We literally just crossed Delta Lloyd by about 100 meters about 20 miles prior to the finish. It was incredibly close racing - and this is after over 4000 miles! Congratulations to the podium finishers for the leg. It will be the first time il mostro isn’t on the podium. We can’t make that a trend though.”

Delta Lloyd has stayed in touch with this group under the new leadership of Roberto Bermudez, who took over from skipper Ger O’Rourke at the beginning of leg two.

Skipper of the former ABN AMRO One, Bermudez said: “It was very interesting as it was my first time as skipper. The whole crew helped me. I think we have a very good crew of young guys and I am very happy.”

Green Dragon, was also limping, having broken her boom on day four, sailing the final 3,554 nautical miles with the boom safely down below and the mainsail loose-footed.
Ian Walker said, “I’ve had better days sailing than today. It was a good tussle and we just lost in the last 12 hours. We didn’t get the right cards. It was particularly hard. It was an amazing leg and I didn’t think we would be in sight of other boats. It was great racing and action for us and everyone at home. We are very pleased to be here already. We’ve had a warm welcome and we are looking forward to the stopover.”

He added: “It was nearly a great result. I think that’s what’s most disappointing is that it would have been an outstanding result but it feels like we have had it all taken away. At the moment we are very disappointed, having said that it was a good race, with three boats in sight for the finish and we were part of that, I guess that’s sport, that’s racing”.

Watch leader Neal McDonald added: “It was a bit like snakes and ladder at the end, a bit disappointing, but it was great racing. We were all in sight of boats for a lot of this leg. Sailing without the boom definitely made life harder, in reality there were certain times in a steady state, when the wind was steady and at certain angles, it made very little difference. But there were other times when the wind was changeable, which made life harder. We had to adapt, a day of sailing with it and trying to set it up and you know we have a boom for a reason. We don’t spend all that money on a piece of carbon for nothing! You do need a boom there is no doubt about it. But the guys did a great job, but it made steering a lot harder as you couldn’t release easliy. Once you got the mainsail where you wanted it, you could ease the pressure, but ultimately the steering was much much, more tricky”.

Leg Two Finishing Order into Cochin, India
1. Ericsson 4/SWE (Torben Grael/BRA)
2. Telefónica Blue/ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED)
3. Ericson 3/SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE)
4. Telefónica Black/ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP)
5. PUMA/USA (Ken Read/USA)
6. Delta Lloyd/NED (Roberto Bermudez/ESP)
7. Green Dragon/CHN/IRL (Ian Walker/GBR)
8. Team Russia/RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) (RACING)

Overall Leaderboard (Provisional)
1. Ericsson 4: 26 points (FINISHED)
2. Telefónica Blue: 19 points (FINISHED)
3. PUMA: 18 points (FINISHED)
4. Green Dragon: 16 points (FINISHED)
5. Ericsson 3: 14.5 points (FINISHED)
6. Telefónica Black: 13.5 points (FINISHED)
7. Delta Lloyd: 7.5 points (FINISHED)
8. Team Russia: 6.5 points (RACING)

More photos on the following pages...