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SPORTS> World Events
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Maximum points again for Ericsson 4
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-26 09:36 Ericsson 4 moved a step closer to becoming overall champion of the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race when she finished the trans-Atlantic leg 7 ahead of the fleet in Galway, Ireland on Sunday.
She was granted by a huge and very excited Saturday night crowd taht was waiting dockside for hometown boat Green Dragon. After fighting his way ashore, Ericsson 4's Brazilian skipper Torben Grael said: "It's nice to get first place. It's another big step towards our goal, so we're pretty happy about it." The North Atlantic threw everything it could at the seven-strong fleet, which relished fast downwind conditions. Many of the crews declared the sailing leg the best they had ever experienced despite having to navigate an oceanic gauntlet . Thick fog, a myriad of lobster pots followed by a whale exclusion zone, a scoring gate - which Ericsson 4 rounded in third place - and an ice exclusion zone all preceded a high-speed drag race to a nail-biting finish. "The beginning was tough," Grael said, reflecting on the leg. "There was a big decision once we realized we couldn't get the first two positions at the gate, so we positioned ourselves for the rest of the leg. "Then when we got this big front, we split from the fleet, which worked out well, but it was risky and it was a rough ride in. We had to push it to have a good position, so it was tough. Ericsson 4 sailed the first half of the leg conservatively, only rising to the top of the pack on May 19. The remainder of the leg was spent either in first or second place, with the exception of a blip on day six when the team dropped briefly to fourth place. "It's always a matter of risk against return," said Grael. "If you think it's worth running the risk, you take it. That's the game. We were conservative at times on this leg but took some big risks as well." Ken Read's PUMA finished second, just 12 minutes ahead of Green Dragon. An army of screaming fans waited until 0400 on Sunday morning to welcome her home. "I don't think I've seen anything like it, quite honestly," said Green Dragon navigator Ian Moore. "We are just thrilled, absolutely thrilled," added crew Justin Slattery. Initially things did not look great. They were sixth as recently as Friday morning, but once the heavy conditions kicked in, they kicked on. "Once we got into the downwind, we were able to push hard," said watch captain Damian Foxall. "Ian (Moore) picked the gybes and we were able to pull it off. "We knew if we got heavy downwind conditions, that was the one thing we could do well in," added skipper Ian Walker. And well they did, courtesy of pushing themselves to extreme levels. "For about 99 percent of that last bit we were sailing out of control," Moore said, only half joking. "We so desperately wanted to do well, we threw everything at it." They briefly held second, before surrendering the spot to PUMA, a position they would struggle to regain after destroying their fractional reaching spinnaker. "For the next 12 hours it was the sail we wanted," Moore said. "It hurt us not having it." |
