So, This was the End

The seven boats racing, plus Team Russia, who is accompanying the fleet, are beating under a blazing sun towards the finish line of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 in St Petersburg tomorrow. Progress has been faster than predicted and the race director has just extended the course by 45 nautical miles, which has been an unpopular decision among some of the crews who are anxious to finish. The fleet is currently off the coast of Estonia, in the Gulf of Finland.

26 June was an historic moment in St Petersburg, Russia, when as the White Night turned to dawn the Volvo Ocean Race fleet, led by Telefónica Black in a thrilling climax, crossed the tenth and final finish line of this nine-month, 37,000 nm race around the world. Victory for Telefónica Black was hard-fought and a match race developed with PUMA, who had led the fleet for the majority of this 400-mile sprint from Stockholm. At just after midnight GMT and while on the additional triangle added to lengthen the course, Telefónica Black gained a small advantage, which translated into a two and a half boat length win, denying PUMA a second leg win in a row. However, with a total of 105.5 points, PUMA takes second place overall. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED) filled the third spot both on leg 10 and overall, to close the team’s account on 98 points. Fourth place finishers tonight and fourth overall with 78.5 points was Ericsson 3.

Runaway overall leaders, with a final tally of 114.5 points and nine points clear of PUMA, Torben Grael and his 10 crew of Ericsson 4 finished this leg in fifth place. Green Dragon kept her slender lead over Delta Lloyd to finish the leg in sixth place, and fifth overall with 67 points. To conclude the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09, Delta Lloyd, the only generation one Volvo Open 70 to compete in the race, finished shortly after Green Dragon to finish the race on a total of 41.5 points.

Overall Leaderboard (provisional)

1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA): 114.5 points

2. PUMA (Ken Read/USA): 105.5 points

3. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED): 98.0 points

4. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE): 78.5 points

5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR): 67.0 points

6. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP): 58.0

7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP): 41.5 points

8. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT): 10.5 points

Leg Ten Finishing Order St Petersburg

1. Telefónica Black

2. PUMA

3. Telefónica Blue

4. Ericsson 3

5. Ericsson 4

6. Green Dragon

7. Delta Lloyd

Barking Mad World Champions

The penultimate day was no less enthralling than the first two. Barking Mad (USA) heads the table after another day of conservatism, whilst Nerone (ITA) stands six-points behind in second, after a performance of truly mercurial liberalism. Two opposing race strategies seemingly on a collision course.

Three races today in a building westerly, with an underlying sea swell running, made for excellent racing conditions. Again, we had three different winners. Vincenzo Onorato looked to have put yesterday behind him, carving out a fine victory on Mascalzone Latino. The next two races though were killers for his Championship aspirations, as Mascalzone scored 13, 13. Massimo Mezzaroma's Nerone picked the plum in race two, following a second in race one. All this good work was almost wiped out as he started the third race too early. In that race, Marco Rodolfi and TWT (ITA) finally showed their true potential passing Helmut Jahn and Flash Gordon (USA) on the final leg to win.

The first race was notable for Joe Fly being over early. Giovanni Maspero's crew could finish no better than nineteenth, pushing them back in the standings, while Mascalzone's first and Nerone's second place had enabled them to close the gap to Barking Mad which finished sixth.
Come the second race, conditions had picked up further and the tension on the racecourse was becoming tangible. As the initial beat unwound at the first windward rounding, Mascalzone's recovery looked to be short lived as she struggled round in mid-fleet. At the front, Nerone led with Barking Mad in fifth - a result that would level their scores. But the race was far from over.
As it was, the third race of the day proved to be the more critical. In keeping with his character, Vascotto looked to seize the initiative early. One of a clutch of boats aiming to secure the pin end of the line, Nerone looked to have hit the line perfectly and at speed. A few seconds later, the heros to zeros were heading back to restart. One of two boats caught over early by the vigilant race officials.

Final day, June 27. Tremendous racing conditions with a building Mistral and a lumpy sea, made worse by the constant attention of the spectator fleet. Two races were sailed in winds from the northwest that gusted to the mid-twenties and stretched the already tired crews on the last day of competition. The scene was fit for a Championship finale and the two leading contenders made sure the curtain did not fall on the regatta without a flourish from those on stage. Nerone put her marker down to win the first race of the day and set up a winner takes all, second and final race - the tenth in this intensely fought series. Mascalzone Latino, the three times World Champions won the race, but the all-too significant result was Jim Richardson and Barking Mad crossing the line ahead of Massimo Mezzaroma's Nerone to secure the title for a third time. The first time an American boat has won outside of their home waters.

STANDINGS
1. BARKING MAD Jim Richardson USA, 1-6-4-1-6-6-3-3-6-2-38.00
2. NERONE Massimo Mezzaroma ITA, 5-1-13-2-4-2-1-8-1-8-45.00
3. JOE FLY Giovanni Maspero ITA, 4-5-5-4-1-19-2-6-2-5-53.00
4. MASCALZONE LATINO Vincenzo Onorato ITA, 2-10-2-9-8-1-13-13-7-1-66.00
5. FLASH GORDON Helmut Jahn USA, 20-4-3-11-11-20-4-2-3-3-81.00
6. PLENTY Alex Roepers USA, 12,13,19,13,10,4,15-5-4-7-102.00
7. TWINS Erik Maris FRA, 14-8-15-14-5-5-6-18-8-9-102.00
8. TRANSFUSION Guido Belgiorno-Nettis AUS, 9-7-1-3-20-25-5-4-17-13-104.00
9. ESTATE MASTER Lisa & Martin Hill AUS, 8-18-10-7-15-21-9-10-5-10-113.00
10. TWT Marco Rodolfi ITA, 6-9-14-19-13-13-7-1-20-15-117.00

Farr40 Worlds, Day 2

Two races, two winners, no change at the top. Three boats held their nerve the best. Jim Richardson and Barking Mad (USA), Giovanni Maspero and Joe Fly (ITA), Massimo Mezzaroma and Nerone (ITA) kept the damage to the minimum and lead the fleet going into day three. Neither race got away cleanly. The first race required two attempts, the second three. In the first race two boats still got it wrong second time around despite the threat of a Z Flag - which adds an irredeemable three-point scoring penalty at this regatta if you are over early. In the second race eleven boats sailed the course under the shadow of the penalty flag. Those got away cleanly through luck or judgement had a relatively easy day. Both Barking Mad and Joe Fly led their races; both sailed in mid-teen westerlies, from start to finish. The Italian crew had the better day posting a fourth in the first race to keep all their scores so far in the top five. The Americans posted a sixth in the second race, but stay in first overall. These two are separated by one point, with Nerone's score line of 2, 4 sufficient to lift them into third place, seven points off the pace. Transfusion took a solid third in one race and hefty twenty in the other. Vincenzo Onorato did only slightly better, with a combined score of seventeen-points, but the Z-flag in the second race suggests a chink in the usually impregnable armour of Mascalzone Latino (ITA).

Barking Mad has been on the Farr 40 circuit longer than anyone competing here. For a long time Farr 40s were sailed with nine crew, but in recent years there has been a move to ten and more often than not the tenth member is female and the reasoning is not just weight-related. About three years ago, the class changed from fractional kites to big mast head kites and now the boats sail completely differently within the manoeuvres. It is a good combination to have a good, strong, light person such as Olympic level sailors in that tenth position.

PUMA Leads As Volvo Fleet Heads To Russia

PUMA, who is now assured second place overall, led the Volvo fleet out of Sandhamn, on the outer edge of the Stockholm archipelago today - a spectacular day where conditions were perfect for the start of the tenth and final leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 to St Petersburg in Russia.
Sailing confidently in 10 -12 knots of breeze, PUMA, Telefónica Blue and Ericsson 4 were the front runners off the start line and a huge spectator crowd needed no excuse to get out on the water and watch what these ocean greyhounds do best. A steady breeze and flat water ensured plenty of white water spilled from the bows as the boats started a leg for the last time, fully powered up and under a cloudless sky.
Leading round both buoys marking the traditional "sausage" before heading to out to sea, the crew of PUMA had set the black boat up perfectly and extended their lead, while behind, Bouwe Bekking's bowmen wrestled with their heavy code zero sail, which had remained furled and unused on the bow and was slowing the blue boat down. Green Dragon scorched past overall race winner Ericsson 4, who had the pressure put on by sister ship Ericsson 3, while Telefónica Black and Delta Lloyd were in the second string.

Team Russia joined the pack once the racing fleet had completed the inshore loop, to sail, but not to race, homewards to St Petersburg, with owner Oleg Zherebtsov working the bow as he did in the earlier legs of the race.

Although speeds were good as the fleet left Sweden behind, the leg is expected to be predominantly upwind to Russia and race rules allow for Race Director, Jack Lloyd, to shorten the 400-mile course if necessary. The fleet must arrive in St Petersburg on Saturday morning in order to clear customs and pass through two bridges, which will be raised specially in order to let the fleet into the historic city.

PUMA has now clinched second place overall, their performance improving hugely in the second half of the race. Telefónica Blue will take third after losing the battle for second when they finished last in leg nine after going aground in Marstrand, while Ericsson 4 is the runaway leader, winning the race with a leg to spare.

Farr40 Worlds

Porto Cervo put on one of the feasts for which it is famous in the sailing world: A cobalt blue sky, solid warm breeze, decent waves and three excellent races. All on day one of the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship 2009. Barking Mad (USA) sits atop the heap this evening, with a narrow three-point lead over the 2008 Worlds sparring partners Mascalzone Latino (ITA) and Joe Fly (ITA). Today was all about keeping clean and trying to stay mean. Some got it right, others did not. The three race winners were Barking Mad, Nerone (ITA) and Transfusion (AUS). All three sit in the top five and will be happy to have held it together on a day when only four boats posted results inside the top ten in each race. Current World Champion, Vincenzo Onorato on Mascalzone, sits in second place after quietly going about his business to score a 2, 10, 2. All three races were held in a breeze that varied between 16 and 22 knots over the day, but stayed pretty consistently from the west. All three races were won from the front and clearly getting of the line cleanly, in good position was key. The second key to a successful day was minimising the points spread. According to Vasco Vascotto, tactician on Nerone the left hand side of the course looked the best, certainly for the first two races where their tactic of winning the pin worked well. In the third race, Nerone went hard left again and was more than a little disappointed to find itself the wrong side of a shift, which bumped the crew hard down the rankings to mid-fleet.

Farr40 Worlds

Representing 10 nations (AUS, DEN, FRA, GBR, GER, GRE, ITA, SUI, UKR, USA), 26 Farr 40s are ready and waiting for the start tomorrow of the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS). Racing will take place from June 24-27 with a maximum of 10 races scheduled for this highly competitive class in which victory often hangs on a team’s performance in the final race of the series. The majority of the Farr 40 fleet has been in Porto Cervo for several days giving owners and teams a chance to eyeball the competition during practice sessions and making them well aware of the task ahead.

In Port Race Stocholm

The rocks and islands surrounding the course set today for the final of the in-port race series in the Volvo Ocean Race were black with thousands of spectators, while out on the water, in the Stockholm Archipelago, spectator boats lined both sides of the course and masts could be seen as far as the eye could see. The well-behaved spectator fleet was expertly marshalled by the Swedish Navy. It was the perfect day for racing.

As the breeze built to nine knots for the first of two races, the fleet of seven Volvo Open 70s, sailing with plenty of heel and producing foaming white water from their bows made a clean start, led by Delta Lloyd.

The two local boats, Ericsson 3 and Ericsson 4, fought for the pin end of the line and chose the far left of the course. After a slightly sticky start, PUMA, followed Green Dragon out to opposite side of the course, where she gained clean air and took a lead, which she held on to until the end of the race. Ericsson 3, using their expertise in the lake-like sailing conditions, which are their home waters, was a consistent second.

Telefónica Blue, who was last on the first beat, made a terrific comeback and climbed steadily up through order to take third, which, coincidentally, was the same top three finishing order as the second of the Galway in-port races. So close were the next two boats, it was difficult to call the finish, however Ericsson 4 eventually beat Telefónica Black by a short head (one second) to take fourth, while Green Dragon was sixth, and, after a very promising start, Delta Lloyd completed the line up in seventh place.

It was in race two that the outcome for the day was decided as the breeze increased to 12 – 14 knots and a fog bank started to roll in across the course.

Telefónica Blue put in her usual polished performance and led the fleet from start to finish. Telefónica Black, with syndicate head, Pedro Campos at the helm, sailed a perfect race and spoilt the show for PUMA by finishing second in race two, a result which prevented PUMA from claiming overall victory today. With a third and a first for Telefónica Blue and a first and a third for PUMA today, the tie was broken in favour of the results in the second race, which left Telefónica Blue as the clear winner, from PUMA and Telefónica Black.

It has been an exceptional day of racing and although the order on the overall leaderboard remains unchanged, Telefónica Blue has crept a little closer to second place overall, and is now six points behind PUMA, with one more leg of the race still to come.

Race One Stockholm In-Port Race Finish Position
1. PUMA
2. Ericsson 3
3. Telefónica Blue
4. Ericsson 4
5. Telefónica Black
6. Green Dragon
7. Delta Lloyd

Race Two Stockholm In-port Race Finish Position
1. Telefónica Blue
2. Telefónica Black
3. PUMA
4. Ericsson 4
5. Delta Lloyd
6. Ericsson 3
7. Green Dragon

Stockholm In-Port Race Results (Provisional)
1. Telefónica Blue 4.0 points
2. PUMA 3.5 points
3. Telefónica Black 3.0 points
4. Ericsson 4 2.5 points
5. Ericsson 3 2.0 points
6. Delta Lloyd 1.5 points
7. Green Dragon 1.0 points

Overall Leaderboard
1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA): 110.5 points
2. PUMA (Ken Read/USA): 98.5 points
3. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED): 92.0 points
4. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE): 73.5 points
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR): 64.0 points
6. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP): 50.0
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP): 39.5 points
8. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT): 10.5 points

Troia Portugal Match Cup

19 June,2009 – After a long day stretched to the limits of sunset, Round Robin racing has been completed along with three flights of two pairs in the Quarter Final stage. Eight teams have advanced to this next stage in the competition out of 12 who came here for a slice of the 50,000 Euro prize money purse at the beautiful Troia Resort. After a fitful start in the morning and an entire flight of matches abandoned for lack of wind, the westerly seabreeze finally filled to perfect strength, with 8-14 knots available all afternoon to complete the six flights of three matches left in the Round Robin. Emerging from the pack as winner of this stage on the strength of 9 wins was Philippe Presti, though he went 1-1 on the day. His success in this stage was also due to a tie-break with fellow member of the French Match Racing Team Mathieu Richard. Others advancing to the Quarter-Finals include Peter Gilmour, Ian Williams, Adam Minoprio, Sebastian Col, Torvar Mirsky and Bjorn Hansen.

20 June, 2009 – After a long first-to-three point Quarter-Final series, four teams have emerged on top to compete in next day Semi-Final stage. The four Semi-Finalists are Adam Minoprio (NZL) and his Emirates Team New Zealand/BlackMatch team, Ian Williams (GBR) and his Bahrain Team Pindar, Mathieu Richard (FRA) and his French Match Racing Team, and Torvar Mirsky (AUS) and his Mirsky Racing Team.

One pair that went to five matches had the oldest and youngest skippers veteran Peter Gilmour, against Adam Minoprio. International umpire team was busy with numerous whistles and penalty flags in nearly all their matches. The 8-10 knot wind conditions were perfect for tight manoeuvring. Another particularly aggressive pair was the match-up between Ian Williams and Sebastian Col. Col had a good start to the series, winning their first match, but this ignited Williams determination, taking three straight.

21 June 2009 – In only their second full season on the World Match Racing Tour, Torvar Mirsky (AUS) and his Mirsky Racing Team. claimed their first win at the Troia Portugal Match Cup. Victory here for the 24-year old skipper puts him in company with other world-famous match racing legends who have been champions at this event, including Peter Gilmour, Chris Dickson, Peter Holmberg, and Ed Baird. Mirsky took his fellow antipodean Adam Minoprio in just two matches of the first-to-two point Final, displaying a smooth sailing style and impeccable sense of timing both in the pre-starts and around the track. And while the first match of the Final was decided fairly early in the game as Mirsky took and extended on his winning start, the second match was far from easy.

On the strength of an exciting 2-1 win over Richard in the Petite-Finals, Ian Williams jumped up to the runner-up position.

Olsson Wins Fun Race

Magnus Olsson's Ericsson 3 team sailed past their teammates on Ericsson 4 on Wednesday afternoon to claim top honours in the Stockholm 'City Sprint'.

The fun race format added a bit of spice to the delivery trip from the leg 9 finish line at Sandhamn to the race village in Stockholm. Although no points were at stake, the teams sailed with their regular crews on board for the 12 mile race.

Sunny afternoon weather provided the perfect excuse for thousands in Stockholm to play hooky from work to take in the action. The race course, which twisted and turned through the narrow waters between the islands off Stockholm, was filled with spectator boats. As was the shoreline around the city. It was all too much for Magnus Olsson.

Volvo Leg 9 Finished

A third place finish in leg nine has been enough for Ericsson 4 to provisionally win the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. The team now has a 13-point lead over PUMA, with just 12 points available in the rest of the race. It was a good night for PUMA. After a 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 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.

Fighting PUMA for second place overall is Telefónica Blue/Bouwe Bekking, 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.

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.

Volvo Leg 9 Start

The sun returned to Marstrand Saturday as the skippers sat down to discuss the forthcoming Leg 9, the short Swedish sprint down to Sandhamn off the coast of Stockholm. The leg measures just 525 nautical miles, but as it winds down the coast of Sweden, it promises to offer up numerous challenges to the fleet. Ericsson 4, who sit atop the overall leaderboard, are strongly positioned to win the Volvo Ocean Race on this leg. Skipper Torben Grael and his team have a 15 point margin over PUMA, with just 20 points available to any team that runs the table the rest of the way.

The start was extremely intense and tricky with very light shifty winds and irritating swell. But it was to change pretty quickly. After the gun the wind was flirting around each boat during the first beat upwind, giving everyone moments of glory. Telefónica Blue managed to go through the right hand side of the course and, luckily, the wind swung right some 120 degrees and they were in the lead together with Green Dragon. Telefónica Blue/Bouwe Bekking became wedged on a rock and suspended racing at 1231GMT while leading the fleet at the start of leg nine to Stockholm. The boat hit the rock while racing at around 14 knots of boatspeed and is hard aground in one-metre swells. The team immediately dropped the sails, but the boat’s keel is firmly wedged within the rocks whilst the rest of the fleet is sailing away. A pilot boat and the coastguards are standing by and attempting to tow the boat clear. All the crew are unhurt.

MedCup Marseille Completed

After an exciting, full stretch coastal race Emirates Team New Zealand lead the 2008 champions by 12 points with four scheduled races to go. Roma lead the GP42 Series. Defending champions Quantum Racing stepped up their challenge for the overall lead of the Marseille Trophy regatta when they won an exciting, stamina-sapping 39.7 miles coastal return race east to Cassis, but a steady third place for Emirates Team New Zealand ensures that the Kiwi team hold a cushion of 12 points going forward to the final two days of windward-leeward racing on the Rade Sud. With NW’ly winds blowing anything between 12 knots in the bay to 22-24 knots offshore on a long, fast sleigh ride downwind to the easternmost, leeward turning mark, this was a race which was doubly fulfilling, close and exciting to the end, with five boats finishing within two minutes after the long beat home, but the backdrop – the stunning limestone calanque cliffs and sheer valleys – is the most awesome of the Circuit.

Four different boats lead the race, but it was Quantum Racing’s afterguard who were able to take advantage, seizing the initiative to use the additional pressure in under the cliffs and the consistent favourable lift, to take the lead early on the beat which they were able to hold to win by 33 seconds from the Russian boat Valars III. Valars and Pisco Sour read the split breeze on the downwind leg to their advantage. After the mid race gate at the Isle Riou they hitched inshore and hooked into a turbo boost of extra wind pressure closer to the land which also gave them a much more favourable downwind slant, allowing them to pop out in front, Vasco Vascotto’s (ITA) crew on the black hulled Pisco Sour leading the former Mean Machine round the leeward gate on to the short reach inshore to turn for home at the entrance to the bay of Cassis.

While the TP52’s enjoyed their tour of coastal Provence, the GP42’s enjoyed near-perfect conditions for interesting games of tactical chess in three buoy races in this series.

The next day, gained from two contrasting races, a sixth and a first for Emirates Team New Zealand was enough for the Kiwi team to extend their overall lead in the Marseille Trophy regatta to sixteen points going in to the final day. After the excitement and high speed thrills of Friday’s TP52 Series' coastal race to Cassis, what started as a hot, slow and sticky day as Quantum Racing appeared to have increased the pressure on the overall leaders when they posted a third place in Race 8, three places ahead of the Kiwi team, ended with a sting in the tail.

In the GP42 Series, racing on the same race tracks in the same conditions the Italian Roma’s first and third ensure they, too, are in the box seats with what should be two final races to complete.

Emerging with a sixth from a scrappy, difficult final race which was contested in conflicting breezes Emirates Team New Zealand clinched the Marseille Trophy by 14 points, the biggest regatta winning margin on the Audi MedCup Circuit since Mean Machine won in Portimao in 2007. Winning four races and never finishing worse than sixth in the ten races here, the Kiwi team skippered by Dean Barker (NZL) with past MedCup winner Ray Davies (NZL) as tactician move 16 points clear at the head of the Audi MedCup TP52 Series standings ahead of defending Circuit champions Quantum Racing (USA).

In the Audi MedCup GP42 Series a third in the final race ensured that the team on Roma Mk2 skippered by Paulo Cian (ITA) leave France with the Marseille Trophy and head for their native Italy with a lead of four points over Alicante Trophy winners Islas Canarias Peurto Calero on the Audi MedCup Circuit GP42 Series standings.

TP52 Series
Overall (10 races)
1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 27.5 points
2. Quantum Racing (USA), 41,5 points
3. Matador (ARG), 47,5 points
4. Bigamist (POR), 55,5 points
5. Bribón (ESP), 62,5 points


GP42 Series
Overall (9 races)
1. Roma (ITA), 17 points
2. Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP), 23 points
3. Caser-Endesa (ESP), 27 points
4. Turismo Madrid (ESP), 35 points
5. Airis (ITA), 38 points

VOR Leg 8 Finished

Ericsson 4 has done it again. In a thrilling finish to leg eight of the Volvo Ocean Race from Galway to Marstrand, Sweden, Ericsson 4 pulled out all the stops to take a third leg win in a row. PUMA finished second and, after a heroic effort from the crew, Green Dragon clung on to third place, to complete the same order of finish as for leg seven.

Although Ericsson 4’s overall lead now seems unassailable (102 points overall), with just two legs to go until the finish of the race in St Petersburg later this month, the battle for second place has intensified. Bouwe Bekking’s fourth place on this leg has caused the Telefónica Blue team to lose their second place overall to PUMA (87 points overall) and they now trail by one point.

However, at the head of the field and after five days of relentless racing, Ericsson 4 made her way to the front on day four, arriving at the Rotterdam Gate in first place. Positions swapped regularly as the fleet toughed out typical North Sea conditions, and it was by no means certain that Ericsson 4’s lead was a given thing.

MedCup Marseille

The Rade Sud delivered the conditions which both the TP52 Series and GP42 Series fleets came to Marseille with hopes of, as westerly winds to 20 knots produced fast, physiscally challenging racing for both fleets. Emirates Team New Zealand proved the most consistent, top scorers of the day across the three windward-leeward races when they posted a 2,1,2 from the three races which were contested with a windward mark set off the Ile Maire on the eastern entrance to Marseille, while there was an occasional benefit too from the Cape Caveaux to the right of the course, the south west corner of the Ile Pomegues. In the brisk conditions Emirates Team New Zealand’s polished boat handling, smart starting and excellent, assured tactics combined to prove they are this regatta’s class act so far.

Each of the three races for the GP42’s went to the wire, down to one final surf in the high speed downwind sailing. In the first race it was Roma (ITA) which lurched ahead on a wave to pip the Spanish boat Islas Canarias Puerto Calero by just four seconds.

The Spanish boat turned the tables and got their revenge in the second race when they stole the winning gun by only two seconds from Roma. Only four seconds separated winner Roma from Turismo Madrid (ESP) in the third race, with Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP) third.

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 8 Start

The seven-strong Volvo Ocean Race fleet prepared to race to Sweden, leaving behind a Galway stopover that has exceeded all expectations. With visitor numbers through the race village now nearing 350,000 and climbing to well over half a million when the crowds along the sea wall for the in-port race weekend are factored in, Galway has demonstrated genuine enthusiasm and passion for the race.
But, on Saturday, the teams left that behind, as they got underway in leg eight, a relatively short sprint up to Sweden. The racecourse includes an opening loop around Galway Bay, before the teams sail for open water and past the iconic Fastnet Rock, en route to the English Channel.

Once up the channel, the race takes the boats towards Rotterdam, where there will be a single loop around two marks laid off the port entrance, near the Hook of Holland.

From Rotterdam, it’s up into the Baltic Sea and onwards to Marstrand for a short ‘pit-stop’ style stopover. Teams are restricted from their normal stopover activities in Marstrand and are not allowed, for example, to have outside assistance in working on the boats, nor are they permitted to add additional sails or other supplies before the restart for leg nine to Stockholm, where normal stopover rules apply.

Hometown boat, Green Dragon, made a fantastic start on Sunday as the Volvo Ocean Race fleet left Galway Bay on the 1250 nm sprint leg to Marstrand in Sweden. It was a great reward for the huge crowds of well-wishers, who filled every available space in Galway in order to cheer their home team on. Ian Walker’s Green Dragon revelled in the heavy breeze and flat water, which suited her perfectly and once clear of the start line, she overhauled Telefónica Black doing 19 knots, to take the lead at the first turning mark.

Sailing beautifully, starting in mid-field, Ericsson 4 out-muscled Telefónica Blue and fought off Green Dragon to take the lead after rounding the mark in second place and setting off up the beat towards the windward mark. At the mark, Ericsson 4 had taken control and hoisted her spinnaker for the second time, followed by Green Dragon who kept the pressure on, Telefonica Blue, PUMA and Telefónica Black. Further back were Ericsson 3 and Delta Lloyd.

In approximately 38 knots of wind yesterday, it became necessary to gybe - not the easiest of manoeuvres in these highly-strung racing yachts at the best of times, but in a strong breeze, it can become more than exciting.

It was a highlight for the Green Dragon team, who led the fleet round the Fastnet Rock late last night. They timed and executed their gybe perfectly whilst flying thief masthead spinnaker. They made the whole manoeuvre look easy, in spite of forgetting to swing the keel. PUMA and Ericsson 4, both of whom were right alongside at the time, did not fare quite so well. A 38-knot squall hit PUMA just as they needed to gybe. Overnight, the fleet has made very quick progress across the Celtic Sea, round the famous Fastnet Rock off south west Ireland, through the Western Approaches, leaving the Scilly Isles to starboard (only Green Dragon and Telefónica Black went to the south), past the Lizard Point and up into the English Channel.

On day 3, the breeze has dropped and the fleet now faces the challenges of the English Channel; tides, currents and shipping. A neck and neck battle between Telefónica Black and Green Dragon has developed as both teams continue to test their knowledge of this difficult region.

Korea Match Cup Finals

After a day of semi-finals that grew in pace and excitement, Sunday (7 June started flat, grey and uninteresting, and looked like staying that way. The start of the finals match between Williams and Cian was scheduled for 1400 hrs, but the race course was just a grey glass-out with no sign of any breeze at all – not even the small shifty zephyrs that had allowed the 5th-8th place sail-offs go through. Playing a waiting game out on the water, Cian was working hard to stay optimistic – if the finals were canned due to lack of breeze then the Korea Match Cup would be decided on the performances in the Round Robin – handing a win to Ian Williams (8 pts) against the Italian’s five wins that allowed him to just squeak into the quarter-finals. At 1450 hrs there was some sign of sunshine – an ingredient that encouraged a little sea breeze. Cian put up a spinnaker and sailed around slowly, as if to demonstrate to the Race Committee that there was enough breeze to get things started, and at 1530 hrs racing did indeed get under way.

Both boats hit the line together for a split-tack start with Cian going to the right. Williams gybe-set for a separation, found some pressure on the right and smoked into the bottom pin. But Williams then earned a penalty. Williams crossed ahead of Cian on the upwind leg, but had to execute his penalty. So Cian sailed gently down to his seventh win in a row.

Race 2 began with a slow motion dial-up. Both boats started together on port, Cian at the boat end. Williams went right, and led all the way down the run. Williams crossed Cian from the right coming into the finish and gybed into the line. Match squared at 1-1.

With one-all, the third race was a sudden death. Cian calmly controlled most of the pre-start, with Williams wriggling to get away. Williams started with pace, and split away to the right, followed by Cian. Williams went for the gybe-set plit-and-come-back-from-the-right option, but just couldn’t find enough breeze to make it work, and watched the soft-touch Italian ghost across the line 15 secs or so in the lead.

At US$240,000, the Korea Match Cup is the richest purse on the World Match Race Tour. A good deal more champagne was soon sprayed on stage in front of the Closing Ceremony crowd, and the giant cheques were presented by the Governor of Gyeonggi Province, Kim Moon-Soo. It had been a desperately slow start to the day, but it finished in cracking style.

OVERALL RESULTS
1st Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Shosholoza
2nd Ian Williams (GBR) Bahrain Team Pindar
3rd Ben Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin
4th Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Team Onboard
5th Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing
6th Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing
7th Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing
8th Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team
9th Sebastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team/K-Challenge
10th Laurie Jury (NZL)
11th Philippe Presti (ITA) French Match Racing Team
12th Byeong Ki Park (KOR)

Korea Semi Finals

The next day more costly turnarounds and huge drama marked the penultimate day of the Korea Match Cup. Unbeatable on Friday, ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing Adam Minoprio suffered three straight defeats in his quarter final races against Team Shosholoza’s Paolo Cian, putting him out of the competition. With the wind starting light and getting lighter until the sea breeze pumped up mid-afternoon, Minoprio found himself forced over the line early in the first race and infuriatingly repeated this in the second. 2-2 and for the decider it was gloves off. Minoprio picked up a penalty in the pre-start, but crossed the line with a four boatlength lead. But the Italian closed in and finally overhauled Minoprio on the second beat.

For TEAMORIGIN’s Ben Ainslie the day was very black and white. The quarter finals against France’s Mathieu Richard, Ainslie won two-one. However when he came up against Paolo Cian in the semis, Ainslie was dispatched three-zero, including a sorry first race when he had the race sewn up in the start, leading and a penalty up on Cian, only to suffer a wrap on his genniker on the second run, followed by a short trawl of it allowing Cian enough margin to overtake and successfully complete his penalty to take the point.

Ian Williams and his Bahrain Team Pindar started the day in the quarter finals level pegging, 1-1, with Torvar Mirsky and their series went to the full five races. In the second race there was a dramatic prang at the weather mark when Williams careered into the back of Mirsky’s boat. In the third race Williams’ boat looked a little lethargic in the pre-start and after Mirsky won the start they sailed a little way up the course before dropping their sails and hoisting their red flag. Finally Williams and his crew made it through to the semis where they were pitched against Bjorn Hansen, who had seen off Peter Gilmour in the quarter finals despite Hansen sailing with a mostly amateur crew. In their second semi-final race, Hansen lost to Williams. The wind had picked up unusually for the third race and after a long dive down into the start box Hansen led off the line. Hansen was ultimately black flagged for not having carried out either of his penalties soon enough.

Semi Final Results
Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Shosholoza 3-0
Ian Williams (GBR) Bahrain Team Pindar 3.5-2
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing 2-3.5
Ben Ainslie (GBR) TeamOrigin 0-3

Korea Quarter Finals

While America’s Cup legend Peter Gilmour was the class act of the first two days of racing at the Korea Match Cup, on 5 June it was Emirates Team New Zealand’s Adam Minoprio who got on to a strong winning streak, with a run of eight races and just one loss. In conditions similar to yesterday with the sun burning through early morning mist, followed by a light 8 knot sea breeze establishing itself, so in winning four of his five remaining races in the round robin put Minoprio on eight points out of eleven matches. This equalled him with Britons Ben Ainslie of Team Origin and Bahrain Team Pindar’s Ian Williams and, unexpectedly, Sweden’s Bjorn Hansen. In the first-to-three quarter final, Minoprio and his team were the only ones to end the day with 2-0 wins.

Minoprio chose Team Shosholoza’s Paolo Cian as his quarter final opponent, while Williams picked Torvar Mirsky. In both races Minoprio won the start from Cian and led around the course.

QUARTER FINAL PAIRINGS

Minoprio v Cian 2-0

Williams v Mirsky 1-1

Gilmour v Hansen 1-1

Ainslie v Richard 0-0

Korea Match Cup

Today 4 June the 12 teams through a full day, completing a further twelve of the 22 flights. When racing got underway at 1000, the conditions were not looking promising with the breeze light and the fog leaving the top mark obscured. However, come the fourth flight the sun had finally burned off the fog and a good 13-14 knot sea breeze had established itself until the last flights at the end of the afternoon. Peter Gilmour had a glamour day and at the end of day two his YANMAR Racing team looked set to be the only unbeaten team. With seven wins and no losses, all was looking good until the final flight when in a tight match that saw two lead changes in the dying breeze, he was finally beaten by Ben Ainslie and his TeamOrigin crew. Ainslie has now sailed all his races in the round robin finishing with eight wins in 11 matches. Among the scalps Gilmour claimed today was Ian Williams. Like Gilmour, Williams has still to sail his three final races. Mirsky also had a lively race against K-Challenge America’s Cup helm Sebastien Col with both sides picking up pre-start penalties, the first against the Australian for erring too close to an obstruction and the second against Col as the two boats separated on the start line and his stern touched the Aussie boat.

The Future of VOR

With 62,000 people in the race village and nearly 60,000 more taking in the racing from the sea wall between Salthill and Barna, along the Northern shores of Galway Bay, Saturday’s in-port Race in Galway was a great success. On Sunday morning the Volvo Ocean Race looked again to the future and particularly the next race, which is due to start in 2011.

The occasion was the third in a series of ‘round table’ meetings where future plans for the race were presented and explained. The Galway sessions follows similar presentations held in Rio de Janeiro and in Boston. In Ireland, special guests invited to attend included, amongst others, French multihull ace Franck Cammas, solo sailors Rolan Jourdain and Jean-Luc Nelias and noted French America’s Cup sailor Luc Gelluseau.

Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad opened his presentation by explaining again why and how the race must embrace changes so as to become more successful in the future. The number one objective is to increase the number of competitors in the next race. A larger fleet is needed in the future for the race to be able to reach its full potential. An important element in achieving more boats on the start line in Alicante in 2011 is a reduction of costs and an increase in value for the teams. To that end, changes already announced include a reduction in crew members, from 11 to 10, and nearly a 40% reduction in race sails.

According to Frostad there are three pillars to work on to get more teams on the water in the future. The first element is a technical cost containment and reduction programme, the second an increase on the value to teams, sponsors and ports involved in the race, and the third is to keep the race seriously attractive to the best sailors in the world.

Frostad and his team which includes renowned racing class technical expert Ken McAlpine and rules expert Bill Edgerton, explained further elements of change. They included the crew make-up for the next race. In an effort to encourage female participation, the new rule will allow ‘female’ teams to carry 12 sailors, including the media crew, two of whom may be men. This represents two extra crew members over an all male crew. In terms of the Volvo Open 70 Class Rule, the maximum weight for the keel fin and bulb will be set at 7,400 kgs in the future. There will also be a minimum keel fin weight to be defined at a later date. The fin will be required to be solid, with no fairings permitted. The weight of the yacht is to be increased so that it may fit into the range between 14,000 kilograms and 14,500 kilograms, compared with a range of 13,860 to 14,000 in the current edition of the race. The combination of these two adjustments is an attempt to create a common righting moment for the whole fleet which will yield closer racing between the existing and future fleets of Volvo Open 70s and stop the expensive research and long slow builds that result in maximized bulb weights. Teams with less time and funding have been compromised with the stability of their boats and hence competitiveness.
Headfoils will be banned, headsails will either be set on furlers or with hanks. Stacking of the boats, the movement of sails and loose stores, spares and equipment inside the boat, will be limited to the centre section of the hull.

On the energy side, the overall weight of each yacht’s batteries will be reduced by 100kgs. This reduction will allow design and build teams to put the same 100 kgs into the primary and secondary structure of the hull without increasing the weight of the boat. Currently, very few of the fleet carry any solar panels so each Volvo Open 70 will also be required to carry a renewable energy source capable of generating 80 Watts of electrical power.

Further discussion centred around two-boat testing. The organisers are seeking to ensure that a team needn’t build two boats to be competitive in the next edition of the race. With that in mind, no two-boat testing will be permitted until after the ‘race’ boat has been launched, or after a yet to be defined date, which may be as late as the race start. There will be more information on this at a later date.

The next ‘round table’ session is scheduled for 22 June in Stockholm.

World Match Race Final

The semi finals pitted a fascinating mix of talents against each other, with four time world match racing champion Peter Gilmour (AUS) Yanmar Racing facing three time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie (GBR) Team Origin. Where as in the other semi final pairing it was a case of ‘de ja vous’ Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Team found him self in familiar territory as it was to be a repeat of last years all French affair when he chose fellow country man Damien Iehl (FRA) French Team as his opponent. Ben Ainslie took the first two races in his semi final match, even after clearly losing the start in the first race against Peter Gilmour, only for Gilmour to comeback and tie the score going in to the final fifth match. The racing was tight and Gilmour and his Yanmar Racing crew never gave up they just kept coming back. The final race was a good reflection of the pair’s whole semi final with multiple lead changes and whenever either team was behind, they seemed to have the tenacious ability to get right back into the race. The two teams were overlapped at both the first windward mark and then overlapped again as they rounded at the final bottom mark, leaving the match wide open until the final windward leg, where Gilmour split to the right side of the course with Ainslie headed to the left. The wind gradually shifted to the right and when they converged Ainslie had a tidy lead which he was able to hang to until the finish.

The second semi final, the tasty all French match up of Richard versus Iehl, was also a five match nail biter with neither team willing to lie down and concede defeat. After four feisty encounters the score was two wins a piece with the two teams swapping wins and the semi final looking to go into a fifth match decider. However the umpires handed half a point deduction to Richard’s team as he was adjudged to have fouled Iehl in collision which resulted in damaged to the boats. This meant Richard would have to win two more races to reach the final, as it was first to three points wins, which undoubtedly put a little more pressure onto his team. Although the fifth match was a tense affair, Iehl was able to put Richard away and secure his place in final against Ainslie.

Match Race Germany ended with Ben Ainslie (GBR) and Team Origin taking 1st place in a first to three points final against Damien Iehl (FRA) and his French Match Racing Team. Ainslie drew first blood in the final. He then went on to defeat Iehl in the second match, however Iehl was not going to let his Match Race Germany title go without a fight. He secured the third match only to be out mastered by Ainslie in the fourth and final match. This is the first event for Team Origin on the Tour this year and the win catapults Ainslie to 4th place on the World Tour standings with 25 points. However the 20 points gained for being runner up takes the Frenchman to joint 1st place with fellow country man Mathieu Richard on the Tour standings.

Volvo In-Port Race Galway

PUMA won the in-port race series in Galway today after two thrilling races were held on Galway Bay. This is the first time that PUMA has been on top of the podium for the Volvo Ocean Race and it brings her closer to second place in the overall standings. Telefónica Blue, second today, maintains second place overall, but only by one point and Ericsson 4’s slightly disappointing performance shaves her overall lead from 14.5 points to 13 points.

In race one, Team Telefónica clearly dominated in what started out as perfect conditions, with blue skies and a building breeze. While local heroes, Green Dragon, opted for a committee-boat start followed by Delta Lloyd, Athens Olympic Gold Medallist Iker Martinez (49-er) quickly steered Telefónica Blue to the left of the course and into a clear lead, which he held until the finish gun. Telefónica Black, with America’s Cup helmsman and syndicate head Pedro Campos in charge, made it a one-two for the Spanish team in conditions that clearly suited the two Farr Yacht Design boats.

PUMA put in a good performance to take third, from Ericsson 4, just as the wind began to die and seriously shift. A big cloudbank swept across the racecourse sucking the breeze with it and causing a headache for the race committee who had to reposition the windward and leeward marks several times during the course of the race.

Ericsson 3, Delta Lloyd and Green Dragon all had their problems during the race and found themselves trailing the leaders on the procession to the finish line after the windshift.

After a short postponement, race two got underway and the clouds parted to allow the blue sky and sun to shine through. A new westerly breeze of around 10 knots meant a new course was set, slightly closer to the shore.

Delta Lloyd made a blinding start at the pin end of the start line and led the fleet early. Telefónica Black was on course side and had to dip back behind the line and re-start, but made quick recovery. Green Dragon tacked, dipping behind the whole fleet and headed out to the right hand of the course.

Good work from Kenny Read and his men onboard PUMA meant they rounded the first mark in the lead from Telefónica Blue and Ericsson 4. The order at the front of the fleet remained unchanged at end of the first downwind leg, while, further back, Telefónica Black overtook Delta Lloyd and Green Dragon, who was struggling in the lighter conditions.

On the second beat, Telefónica Black came right back into contention and followed Telefónica Blue through the mid course gate to the right hand side of the course. Green Dragon also chose the right hand side, nearest the beach.

The fleet converged on the windward mark for the last time with PUMA leading the fleet safely round. Second place was very close with Ericsson 3 coming in from the left hand side and the two Telefónica boats approaching from the right. Ericsson 3 got the better of the two Spanish boats and rose up through the fleet from fourth place to round the mark in second place, from Telefónica Blue, Ericsson 4 and Telefónica Black.

On the final spinnaker leg, PUMA remained in control to complete the second race in first place, confirming her win today on a tiebreak, which takes the results of the second race as the decider. Ericsson 3 remained in second place and Telefónica Blue finished third in front of Telefónica Black.

Overall, it was a team affair, with PUMA taking maximum points today, followed by Telefónica Blue and Telefónica Black, Ericsson 3 and Ericsson 4, Delta Lloyd and Green Dragon.