On board Puma

First shots from team snapper Sally Collison

Two days after Puma Ocean Racing christened its ferocious black boat il mostro - Italian for The Monster - in Boston Harbor, Ken Read and his crew headed out to sea to complete its 2000-mile qualifier for entry into the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009. Il Mostro and PUMA Ocean Racing's other boat, Avanti, left Boston, on a bright sunny day around 10am and will be out on the waters of the Atlantic for the next several days.

"We're pretty much heading out and just seeing where the wind will take us," said Read. "The qualifier is probably something we could have done later in the summer, but we wanted to start checking off the boxes early on the things we needed to do before we get closer to the race."

Puma Ocean Racing photographer Sally Collison jumped on-board for the first hour of the trip and grabbed these shots.

More photos on page 2....