All home but one in Volvo Ocean Race Leg 2

1:28 PM Mon 1 Dec 2008 GMT

'Ericsson 3, skippered by Anders Lewander from Sweden, finishes third on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India. The nordic boat crossed the line at 07:36:45 GMT, securing 6 points for the finish and 9.5 points overall for the leg

The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 will be the 10th running of this ocean marathon. Starting from Alicante in Spain, on 4 October 2008, it will, for the first time,' Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race &copy

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 2 update - Ericsson 3 finish third, Telefonica Black in fourth, Puma in fifth, Delta lloyd in sixth and Green Dragon in seventh. Team Russia are, as yet, to finish Leg 2. The website tracker has them with 441nm left to sail to the finish line. Full report shortly.

Monday 1 December 2008 13:08 GMT update

Green Dragon finish in seventh- that's a long hard road from the scoring gate where they were third, and after staying in the right half of the fleet for so long.

12:35 GMT update

And there is Delta Lloyd crossing the line (12:29 GMT) for sixth place, just Green Dragon to come now, and she's already in sight.

Keep checking in as we'll have all the finish quotes and reactions here soon.

12:25 GMT update

And that's PUMA crossing the line in fifth(12:22 GMT) - mixed feelings for skipper Ken Read, who just wrote from the boat.

'Painful. That is the only way to describe this leg.

'The give and take that has occurred is like no other race I have ever been a part of. First off, huge credit again to our team for fixing what looked like a very grim situation, when our longitudinal frames broke - twice. Sure it cost us miles, but we got ourselves back into the game.

'We didn't do the doldrums well, but we keep talking about it and we aren't really sure where we went wrong. We got dealt on by a few clouds that ate up our mileage while others were chugging along. We entered the doldrums just ahead of the pack that we have been duking it out with since then, but the fact is we were within striking distance of E3 for third. We didn't pull it off. We need to get better.

'Since the doldrums it has been like - well the doldrums. Big black wind sucking clouds have ruled the day all the way across the Indian Ocean. And as this morning unfolded we were just behind the Dragons and just ahead of Delta Lloyd with T-Black tucked away pretty well. And we sailed really well today. We just snuck by Delta Lloyd right here at the end and put the Dragons away pretty nicely. But, just as our luck has gone this leg - while putting away our nearest competitors Telefonica Black somehow smoked us right up the beach. We put them over the horizon this morning behind us. This afternoon they are going to cross the line about five miles in front of us. Unreal.

'Another fact is that we are now very used to having boats right next to us over an entire leg. Literally we just crossed Delta Lloyd by about 100 meters just 20 miles prior to the finish. We see Telefonica Black on the bow and the Dragons off our transom. It has been incredibly close racing - and this is after 4000 miles!

'My college coach Skip Whyte used to say 'win your side of the race course'. We won our side. The two boats that were with us sailed really well and we had to exert more energy than I can remember in the 'sail changing world championships' to beat them. We nursed an injured boat into the finish without having to take more drastic measures like stopping for repairs. We sailed really hard. We learned more about ourselves and our boat. We learned that we have to get better especially in the doldrums.

'All in all we will take this small set back in stride and work like hell to be 100% in a couple of weeks when we hit the starting line for Singapore. I always knew this was going to be hard work but the competition out here is phenomenal. We simply have to keep getting better.

'Congrats to the podium finishers for the leg, as it will be the first time il mostro won't be on the podium. We can't make that a trend though.

12:15 GMT update

The fourth place finish will earn five points for the Telefonica Black squad, giving them a total of 13.5 for the race. That won't be enough to move them up the points table - they remain in sixth place - but they've certainly closed down the gap to those ahead.

12:05 GMT update

Telefonica Black come home in fourth(12:00 GMT), and a thrilled skipper, Fernando Echavarri begins the celebrations with his crew. Meanwhile, PUMA are maintaining that precious one mile advantage from Delta Lloyd, with Green Dragon following them home. No change in the conditions, still the westerly sea breeze in the low to mid-teens.ing them home. No change in the conditions, still the westerly sea breeze in the low to mid-teens.

11:50 GMT update

This just in from Sidney Gavignet on PUMA...

40 miles from the finishing line... What a leg!

Hard one and bad one for us... but all is not negative at all, the crew has been doing a great job and every sailor knows that in our sport you do not always control all the aspects. Saying that, once again, the strongest have won and I use the opportunity to congratulate them. They put together a great job to win this leg and create a significant lead on the scoring board. Ericsson 3 and her scandinavian crew are also very impressive and are giving a great response to their 'older brothers'.

Anyway...has Bowe said after finishing second, this race is far from finished and lot will still happen has we know in this Volvo Ocean Race. As I write, we still don't know if we will finish fourth, fifth or six, we are still fighting against 'Black Betty' (ex ABN1, now racing as Delta Lloyd). I am pleased to see this boat being part of the fleet and giving hard time to the new generation boats, it is a good signal for 'short budget campaigns' in the future. The difference in speed between the 3rd generation Volvo 70 will be unsignificant and very small with the second generation.

This hard leg is a good test for our team, the way we handle the 'hard moments' gives more strength or destabilises a team. it is an important period for us. We are four boats on a even line to the finsh, fighting for 4th place...or 7th, after more than 2 weeks sailing. I guess it is a great leg!

See you soon.

Sidney

11:40 GMT update

Telefonica Black sailing a slightly tighter True Wind Angle (TWA in the Data Centre), and popping out in front of PUMA. I think that she's had to sail a little slower to do it, but she's now directly between PUMA and the finish - only about six miles away. No change in the order elsewhere, or the wind - everyone headed for the barn.

11:10 GMT update

Just under 13 miles to go for Telefonica Black - PUMA is closing, just under six miles behind. But while Ken Read and his team are not running them down fast enough, they will be happy to get clear of Delta Lloyd, she's now a mile behind them. Green Dragon is also slipping back in seventh, the gap to Delta Lloyd now nine miles.

Still plenty of breeze, 14 - 15 knots of wind speed, everyone beam reaching - wet and fast.

11:00 GMT update

Telefonica Black is holding her lead, still tucked in right on the beach, just passing Vembanad Lake. She's holding her advantage over Delta Lloyd and PUMA, who are neck and neck a little bit further offshore. Green Dragon is dropping into line behind these two. Everyone has a really solid 12-14 knots of sea breeze, blowing from the west.

10:30 GMT update

Three boats are home and cooled (well, it's not that cool) in Cochin, where the podium has taken an Ericsson slant. First place to Ericsson 4, second place last night to Telefonica Blue and this morning, Ericsson 3 completes the triumverate.

But there is a very hot battle being waged this afternoon on the waters just off Cochin, where Telefonica Black has stolen the inside lane to sneak past PUMA, Delta Lloyd and Green Dragon.

At 10:00 GMT just seven miles separated fourth from sixth. Green Dragon was a further eight miles back in seventh place.

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by Volvo Ocean Race media