At the end of what has surely been one of the toughest-ever legs of the Volvo Ocean Race or even The Whitbread as it used to be known, the eight-strong fleet has finally pointed their bows north, away from the wet and wild winds of the Southern Ocean. At least for a short while anyway.The wind has decreased some and the sea state is very pleasant. It’s almost flat water and instead of rocking, shaking and getting airborn downwind we are heeling 15 degrees on a steady reach. As the fleet compresses, once again, many boats are in sight of each other.
But just when everything seemed to be going right for Bouwe Bekking and his men on Telefónica Blue, it all went wrong again. The boat was loving the conditions, the crew were pushing hard, and slowly, but surely, climbing back up the leaderboard, when the crew heard a big bang, and everything changed, as snapped one of the daggerboards, the boards which prevent the boat from slipping sideways. The team is underway again, but sailing much slower than they would like. The jury is clearly out on Green Dragon as to whether the crew should attempt to repair their broken boom or not. Skipper Ian Walker says the boat is still going well with no boom.
Positions:
Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) DTF 1885 nm
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +7
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +34
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +43
Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +53
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +98
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +135
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +154
