11/2008 –

Ericsson 4 has once again won a fight. Passing the 58th meridian ahead of Ericsson 3, the boat skipped by Torben Grael confirms its leadership at the intermediate classment of the 2008 Volvo Ocean Race. It is 4 points ahead of Green Dragon and Puma which faced important damages in the roaring 40s. Hence its broken boom, the chino-irish boat was the 3rd passing the buoy. Il Mostro, the second injured during this race to India, could not be better placed with the7th place.

Failures and reaching
At midnight on Friday November the 21st, 2008,  all the racers are gybing to the  north with an average speed of 18 knots in quieter seas. Ahead, the 2 Ericsson boats are only 9 milles away from one another. Then comes the chasing pack with Green Dragon, Téléfonica Blue and Puma 38 milles away. This last one faced some structural failures during leg one. Ken Read, the skipper, said in one of his last messages that he will have to modify route towards Cochin, that means they will lose some points and move away from the next depression. In the next few hours, the american team will have to do some repairs to cross the final line securely. On board Green Dragon also damages are numerous. Delta Lloyd, currently number 7, has just  sailed 508 milles, which represents the biggest distance during the day. The racers are now 100 milles one another and around 2500 milles away from final line.

More details: www.volvooceanrace.org

Photo Credit: Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race

– NG –