It has been a busy stopover for the Ericsson Racing Team, with crew changes
bringing new energy to the team, and a strong focus on sail development.
John Kostecki (USA) joins the team as skipper for leg five, bringing with
him sail trimmer Ross Halcrow (NZL).
"For our team onboard Ericsson, this stopover has been special," comments
Kostecki. "We have managed to accomplish our goal of being on the podium in
the in-port race, and we have also made a few crew changes. It's quite
refreshing, as it brings a new energy to the team, which will hopefully help
us improve from now on. We've done a lot of work on improving the sail
programme too."
The shore team has been flat out preparing the boat for the next leg and all
of the electronic equipment has had to be replaced following the lightening
strike on the approach to Rio. A number of sails have been re-cut and new
sails have been added to the inventory.
"This stopover is definitely a turning point," confirms Neal McDonald. "Half
of the points available have been distributed and it is the end of ice and
massive storms. We also have a lot of new sails for this leg; we planned
this from the beginning as we knew there would be a lot of reaching between
Rio and Baltimore."
Tomorrow, as they leave Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, the teams will be
heading for the south-easterly trade winds. The start will be important, as
the scoring gate of Fernando de Noronha is only 1200 miles away. "There will
be two races in one", comments Ericsson crewmember Guillermo Altadill (ESP).
"The first one is a three days sprint, so we will work very hard towards
this first goal."
The fifth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race will provide almost everything sailing
has to offer, from beautiful trade wind sailing to dead calms, showers and
thunderstorms. It will end up in the Chesapeake Bay (USA), very possibly in
"lottery type" sailing. Indeed, all the skippers agree to the fact that the
winner won't be known until it crosses the finish line. "It's going to be a
real challenge", says Kostecki. "There are lots of shoals, crab pots and
variable winds because you are surrounded by land on both sides. I've sailed
up the Chesapeake three or four times and I've struggled with it."
The boats are expected to arrive into Baltimore between the 17-19 April.