8:04 PM Sat 20 Jun 2009 GMT
The Volvo Ocean Race fleet will take to the waters off Stockholm on Sunday afternoon for the seventh and final in-port race day of the event, and like many of the others, the forecast is for light winds.
The teams are racing on a body of water called Kanholmsfj?rden, about 25 miles from the race village in Stockholm. That will make for an early start for the sailors; the fleet will leave the dock in Stockholm by 07:30 local time to get to the race area in time. Racing is scheduled to start at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT), with two races on the cards.
While Ericsson 4 has mathematically locked up the overall race title, the battle for second place is still alive. Puma has built a seven-point margin over Telef?nica Blue, after the Blue boat ran aground and finished in last place in leg nine. But, with 12 points still available between now and the race finish in St. Petersburg, the battle is still alive.
Telef?nica Blue has the best record of all the teams in the in-port race series, including wins in Rio de Janeiro and Boston, along with second place in Galway. But the winner in Ireland was Puma. So, with the leaderboard the way it is, Telef?nica Blue skipper Bouwe Bekking is expecting some special attention from Puma.
'We will see. They will probably try and sail us to the back of the fleet, but they are so comfortable (with the seven-point lead),' he said. 'We are just trying to win and see where we end up. If they want to make it a match race, it is still very tricky with other boats around.'
The forecast is for light winds in the morning, with a sea breeze forecast to build near 10 knots by race time. Bekking says anything between five and 15 knots is possible on the day.
It will be a special race day for the two Ericsson boats as well, sailing in home waters. Ericsson 4 is sailing with the same 11 core crewmembers it has used for every leg and in-port race to this point. And, for Ericsson 3's Nordic crew, the opportunity to sail in front of a home crowd is sure to be inspiring.
Crew List Stockholm In-Port Race
DELTA LLOYD 1. Roberto Berm?dez De Castro/ESP - skipper 2. Wouter Verbraak/NED - navigator 3. Sander Pluijm/NED - MCM 4. Stuart Wilson/NZL - mainsheet 5. Nick Bice/AUS - pit 6. Andre Fonseca/BRA - tactician 7. Ben Costello/NZL - trimmer 8. Ed Van Lierde/NED - grinder 9. David Pella/ESP - pitman 10. Gerd-Jan Poortman/NED - bowman 11. Morgan White/AUS - mid bow 12. Marcelo Ferreira/BRA - trimmer 13. Dave Miller/NZL - grinder
ERICSSON 4 1. Torben Grael/BRA - skipper 2. Jules Salter/GBR - navigator 3. Guy Salter/GBR - MCM 4. Brad Jackson/NZL - mainsheet 5. Stu Bannatyne/NZL - tactician 6. Dave Endean/NZL - pitman 7. Horacio Carabelli/BRA - trimmer 8. Tony Mutter/NZL - trimmer 9. Joao Signorini/BRA - trimmer 10. Ryan Godfrey/AUS - bowman 11. Phil Jameson/NZL - bowman 12. Brian McInnes/CAN - grinder 13. Joe Spooner/NZL - grinder
ERICSSON 3 1. Magnus Olsson/SWE - skipper 2. Aksel Magdahl/NOR - navigator 3. Gustav Morin/SWE MCM 4. Arve Roaas/NOR - mainsheet 5. Richard Mason/NZL - mainsheet 6. Thomas Johanson/FIN - helm 7. Eivind Melleby/NOR - trimmer 8. Martin Str?mberg/SWE - trimmer 9. Jens Dolmer/DEN - pitman 10. Anders Dahlsj?/SWE - mastman 11. Martin Krite/SWE - bowman 12. Jann Neergaard/DEN - grinder 13. Rasmus Koster/DEN - tactics
GREEN DRAGON 1. Ian Walker/GBR - skipper/tactician 2. Neal McDonald/GBR - mainsheet 3. Guo Chuan/CHN - MCM 4. Damian Foxall/IRL - strategy 5. Jean-Luc Nelias/FRA - navigator 6. Anthony Merrington/AUS - trimmer 7. Phil Harmer/AUS - trimmer 8. Andrew Mclean/NZL - pitman 9. James Carroll/IRL - pit assistant 10. Justin Slattery/IRL - bow 11. Freddy Shanks/GBR - mid bow 12. Henrik Norberg/SWE 13. Johnny Mordaunt/IRL - grinder
PUMA OCEAN RACING 1. Ken Read/USA - skipper 2. Andrew Cape/AUS - navigator 3. Rick Deppe/GBR MCM 4. Craig Satterthwaite/NZL - trimmer 5. Robert Greenhalgh/GBR - tactician 6. Rob Salthouse/NZL - pit 7. Justin Ferris/NZL - trimmer 8. Shannon Falcone/ANT - trimmer/pit 9. Casey Smith/AUS - bowman 10. Erle Williams/NZL - mainsheet trimmer 11. Jerry Kirby/USA - mid bow 12. Andrew Taylor/NZL - grinder 13. Michael O'Mullahan/IRE - grinder
TELEF?NICA BLUE 1. Iker Martinez/ESP - skipper 2. Bouwe Bekking/NED - tactician 3. Simon Fisher/GBR- navigator 4. Gabriele Olivo/ITA - MCM 5. Jonathan Swain/RSA - trim 6. Jordi Calafat /ESP - mainsheet 7. Xabier Fernandez/ESP - trimmer 8. Pablo Arrarte/ESP Spanish - trimmer 9. Laurent Pages/FRA - trimmer 10. Daryl Wislang/NZL - bowman 11. Pepe Ribes/ESP - bowman 12. Federico Giovanelli/ITA - grinder 13. Carlo Castellano/ITA - grinder
TELEF?NICA BLACK 1. Fernando Ech?varri/ESP - skipper 2. Luis Doreste/ESP - Tactician 3. Roger Nilson - MCM 4. Antonio (?eti) Cuervas-Mons/ESP - trimmer 5. Gonzalo Araujo/ESP - watch captain 6. Jaime Arbones/ESP - watch captain 7. Pablo Iglesias/ESP - trimmer 8. Javier de la Plaza/ESP - trimmer 9. David Vera/ESP - bow 10. Michael Pammenter/RSA - bow 11. Maciel Cicchetti/ARG - trimmer 12. I?igo Losada/ESP - grinder 13. Pedro Campos/ESP - helmsman
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by Volvo Ocean Race media
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