Leg three isn't over yet for the Ericsson Racing Team although the boat has arrived in Wellington and is safely docked in the harbour. During the legs, the teams are allowed to suspend racing and receive external assistance in order to carry out repairs, as three of the competitors have already done in previous legs. However, during "Pit Stops", no external assistance is allowed without incurring a two hour penalty on the next leg. The Ericsson Racing Team has therefore decided to make the best of its unfortunate last place in the leg by allowing its shore crew to step onboard whilst the sailing team has a well deserved rest. When they cross the finish line, the team will pick up two points for arriving in sixth place, bringing its total to 18.5 points.
The team will use the opportunity to carry out maintenance and repair minor electrical problems such as hot wiring, before heading into the Southern Ocean. At the same time, it will check every piece of equipment on the boat to ensure she is in top shape for the next leg, which is possibly the toughest of the whole race. Once the work that needs to be done is completed, the sailing team will step back onboard, hoist the sails and cross the finish line.
It looked like a promising start for the Ericsson Racing Team as they headed out of Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne (AUS) on 12 February, to embark on leg three of the Volvo Ocean Race. Having analysed weather reports in preparation for the leg, they knew that their goal was to be as far ahead (and east) as possible in order to take advantage of the low pressure system that would take them most of the way to Wellington.
However, Ericsson didn't manage to stay ahead of the cold front and they missed the breeze that would soon propel the rest of the fleet across the Tasman Sea. From then on it was a case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer as Ericsson fell into the light.
During the last hours of racing, Ericsson caught up well with the boats in front, and actually managed to close a 30 nautical miles deficit on ABN Amro Two to about half a mile. However, the Dutch boat managed to hold its lead until the finish line, prompting Ericsson to take its decision to suspend racing.
The fourth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race will commence on Sunday 19 February at 14.30 local time, a 6,700 nm leg around the infamous Cape Horn to Brazil.
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Quotes:
Neal McDonald (GBR): "It was a tough race - we should have had a better result, but we did our best and we sailed the boat as hard as we could. The good news is we have had no structural problems.
"The Volvo Ocean Race rules allow us to stop and do repairs or maintenance during the legs, but not during this stopover as it is a Pit Stop. So we have decided to use this rule to our advantage, and to allow our shore crew to step onboard before we cross the finish line. Obviously, we can only do this as we were last in the leg. We don't have any major problems to sort out, but we have had hot wiring, which resulted for example in the alarms going off all the time, which is quite annoying."
Richard Mason (NZL): "We have suspended racing which gives us the opportunity to allow the shore crew onboard to carry out modifications and prepare the boat for the next leg. We had some fantastic sailing during the leg - we went howling out of the Bass Strait. All the boats were very close for the first 30 miles. The boats to weather had a slightly better angle and got past us, which meant that we were left behind in the lighter breeze.
"We kept chipping away at ABN Amro Two's lead on us and racing was very close until the end. We have had no structural damage on the boat. Our keel woes of the last two legs have gone and we feel in pretty good nick for the next leg. We have to be gracious losers - these guys all sailed a fantastic leg and that's what this race is all about. We'll be back!"
Magnus Woxen (SWE): "We are disappointed with the result but it was a great leg. We had a good start, and even took the lead for a while. But then all the boats got parked and as we sailed out of Port Phillip Bay, some of our competitors had overtaken us. Those ahead of us were able to sail away with more breeze as we reached the open ocean. The arrival in Wellington was great too, and we managed to catch up a lot on the "kids". But when we realized that we wouldn't manage to overtake them, we decided not to cross the finish line today so that we can carry out some maintenance work, as the rules allow us. There isn't much work, but we've had a leak in the engine's electronics and other little problems that we need to sort out before the start of next leg."
Steve Hayles (GBR): "There was one precise moment, soon after we sailed out of the Heads in Melbourne, when the other boats were simply quicker than us and this is when we lost the race; there was nothing we could do. Those boats are very subtle, and a slight change in sail trim - or in sail design - can have a huge impact on speed. At one stage, we were sailing alongside Brasil 1 and Pirates and we were going slightly faster than them. An hour later, as the wind had changed slightly, they were gone."
Guillermo Altadill (ESP): "We knew that this would be a reaching leg and that we needed to be fast. But unfortunately we lost some ground during the first night and ended up with less wind than the boats ahead of us. Then all we could do is see them disappearing. One day, we even lost 100 miles. It was tough and on a short leg like this there is not much you can do. But we never stopped fighting and caught up well by the end. We still learn a lot about this boat. The good thing about this leg is that we didn't break anything important and the keel movement system worked perfectly."
Tom Braidwood (AUS): "The morning after the start Pirates and the kids [ABN Amro Two] sailed up to us and then went straight past. We just couldn't match their speed at that moment, which was strange as we had been faster than them previously. Otherwise, the boat went fine and we are taking advantage of the rules in order to allow our shore crew onboard to carry out maintenance on the boat."