 |
5:58 PM Sun 8 Feb 2009 GMT
Although just four teams reached the finish line in Qingdao (so far), the celebrations were far from muted at the leg four prizegiving ceremony in Qingdao. It was a festive evening, perhaps a chance for the sailors to enjoy themselves following two frustrating days of no racing due to lack of wind.
And all four teams who finished the leg into Qingdao had something to celebrate. Just arriving at the finish port was an achievement in itself, after having to race through what many called the hardest leg in the history of the race.
'The leg from Singapore to Qingdao was probably the toughest leg in the history of our race. The sailors were faced with extreme weather conditions beyond what most people can imagine,' said Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad in paying tribute to the sailing crews. 'Through a combination of sailing skill and seamanship four boats managed to sail through this and finish the leg.
'The other three suffered damage and their skippers made the right - and only - decision they could; to get to shore and ensure the safety of their crew and their boats. As a result they'll be able to re-join the race.'
All four boats to finish leg four suffered damage of one kind or another. PUMA and Green Dragon were the most extreme examples, with PUMA having to race half the leg with a broken boom, while Green Dragon saw their forestay break early in the piece, before structural damage nearly halted their progress completely.
For their efforts in getting the Green Dragon to its home port safely, the full crew was presented with the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Seamanship Award.
The Inmarsat Media Prize went to PUMA's Rick Deppe, who faced strong competition from the media crew members on both Ericsson boats. Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad presented the award, while Inmarsat's Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Chris McLaughlin, paid tribute to Deppe, who won the award for the second consecutive leg:
'Rick's confidence with a camera and talent for putting together a story has produced some captivating images that truly illustrate the personality of this race. He brilliantly captured the drama of the PUMA team battling the storm on a boat with no boom in extremely dangerous conditions and the result is an outstanding piece of filming, delivered under horrendous circumstance.'
The best 24-hour run went to a team that is still racing to get to Qingdao; Ericsson 3 has suspended racing to make repairs in Taiwan. The team is hoping to get back in the water over the next few days allowing it to finish leg four (in fifth place), and join the other teams here for the start of leg five on Saturday.
At the conclusion of the awards for the evening, Bouwe Bekking, the skipper of leg four Telefonica Blue, was generous in his praise of his team and he called for the entire Telefonica team - sailors, shore crew, and support staff, to join him on stage to collect the leg winner trophy.
And with that, the many of the sailors called it an early night. The in-port race has been re-scheduled for a possible 10:30 start on Monday morning so duty calls.
Volvo Ocean race - Leg four prizes
Best 24 hour run - 334 miles, Ericsson 3
Inmarsat Media Prize - Rick Deppe, PUMA
Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Seamanship Award - the Green Dragon crew
Leg Four, 3rd place - Ericsson 4
Leg Four, 2nd place - PUMA Ocean Racing
Leg Four, 1st place - Telefonica Blue
by Volvo media
|
|
Mount Wellington, TAS
Kitesurfing - Kites
Foiling - Prone/Surf Foilboards
Foiling - Foils Complete