Erricson 4 Leads

Monday, November 24, 2008

The Ericsson twins continue to lead the Volvo Ocean Race during leg two, on its way to Cochin. Ericsson 4 leads, though both Ericsson 4 and Ericsson 3 are close enough to sight each other. PUMA is between Telefonica Blue (to the West) and Green Dragon (to the North). The trio inspite of suffering damages are chasing the Ericsson twins. PUMA has a structural failure, Green Dragon has a broken boom and Telefonica Blue has a damaged daggerboard. Telefonica Black, Team Russia and Delta Lloyd are sailing behind the rest of the team. 

As last night, Ericcson 4 found its way to traffic, Ericsson 3, for a short time, took the advantage and moved ahead. Later, as the wind picked up, everyone headed east-northeast and has settled into the east-southeasterly True Wind Direction. It was blowing at a pretty steady 14 knots True Wind Speed (TWS in the Data Centre), much to the relief of the teams. However, Delta Lloyd, were seen struggling to clear the high-pressure ridge.

The climatic conditions have changed in the past couple of days. From boots, gloves, double fleece sleeping bags etc, the crew members are enjoying the warm weather and have moved to wearing shorts, UV tops, shoes, sunhats and sun cream.

Andreas Hanakamp – skipper, Team Russia says," Everyone on board really enjoyed yesterday’s warmer and drier weather after being cold and wet for almost a week. Everything went on deck to dry out; less moisture is less weight, which will help, in the light stuff ahead."

The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 will be the 10th running of this ocean marathon. Spanning some 37,000 nautical miles, stopping at 11 ports and taking nine months to complete, the Volvo Ocean Race is the world's premier yacht race for professional racing crews.