2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race

Volvo Ocean Race 2008–2009 Logo

The 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race was a yacht race held between 4 October 2008 and 27 June 2009—the 10th edition of the round the world Volvo Ocean Race.

The eight participating boats made ten stops in nine countries around the world. The first offshore leg of the 2008–09 Race started in Alicante, Spain, on 11 October 2008, with the in-port race having been held seven days earlier. A total of ten legs created the route, with seven in-port (IP) races held at various cities around the world. Unlike previous editions, the route crossed the Strait of Malacca at the Malay Archipelago, instead of Cape Leeuwin south of Australia. The boats covered 37,000 nautical miles (69,000 km) in the course of their journey.[1] The chief executive of the 2008–09 race was Knut Frostad.[2]

On 15 June 2009, Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael, finished third on leg 9 from Marstrand to Stockholm, Sweden. With their third-place finish, they were able to secure overall victory. [3] Ericsson 4 covered the 42,500 miles (68,400 km) of the race in a time of 127 days, 7 hours, 46 minutes, 21 seconds.[4] Ericsson 4 completed the race with 114 ½ points, whilst Puma ended with 105 ½.[5] Afterwards Kochi was described as a "memorable" port but Galway was the best.[6]

Participants

Ericsson 3 and Ericsson 4 in Stockholm
Team & Boat nameSail no.FlagDesign FirmBuilderSkipper
Ericsson Racing Team
Ericsson 3 – Nordic crew		SWE 3 SwedenJuan KouyoumdjianKillian BusheMagnus Olsson (Leg 4- )
Anders Lewander (Leg 1–3)
Ericsson Racing Team
Ericsson 4 – International crew		SWE 4 SwedenJuan KouyoumdjianKillian BusheTorben Grael
Green Dragon Racing Team
Green Dragon		IRL 888 Ireland
 China		Reichel/PughMcConaghy BoatsIan Walker[7]
Puma Ocean Racing Team
Il Mostro		USA 1948 United StatesBotin CarkeekGoetz Custom Boats &
Customline Yachts		 Ken Read
Team Delta Lloyd
Black Betty		NED 1 NetherlandsJuan KouyoumdjianKillian BusheRoberto Bermudez (Leg 2- )
Ger O'Rourke (Leg 1)
Team Russia (Sponsor: WDCS)
Kosatka		RUS 1 RussiaHumphreys Yacht DesignGreen MarineAndreas Hanakamp
Telefonica Blue
H.R.M. Elena		ESP 12 SpainFarr Yacht DesignKing MarineBouwe Bekking
Telefonica Black
H.R.M. Cristina		ESP 11 SpainFarr Yacht DesignSouthern Ocean MarineFernando Echavarri

Budgets

Ericsson's budgets were €50 million, whilst Puma's budget was approximately €20 million.[8] By comparison, the joint Irish and Chinese team, Green Dragon, received €8 million from the Irish government and €4 million from China.[8]

Team websites

[9]

Route

Summary

Volvo Ocean Race 2008–2009 Route Map.
EventStarting dateStartFinishDistance (nmi)WinnerSecondThird
IP Race 14 October 2008Spain Alicante-Telefonica BlueTelefonica BlackPUMA
Leg 111 October 2008Spain AlicanteSouth Africa Cape Town6,500Ericsson 4PUMAGreen Dragon.[10]
Leg 215 November 2008South Africa Cape TownIndia Kochi4,450Ericsson 4Telefonica BlueEricsson 3
Leg 313 December 2008India KochiSingapore Singapore1,950Telefonica BluePuma Ericsson 3
IP Race 210 January 2009Singapore Singapore-Ericsson 4PUMATelefonica Blue
Leg 418 January 2009Singapore SingaporeChina Qingdao2,500Telefonica BluePUMAEricsson 4
IP Race 37 February 2009China Qingdao-Ericsson 4Telefonica BluePUMA
Leg 514 February 2009China QingdaoBrazil Rio de Janeiro12,300Ericsson 3Ericsson 4PUMA
IP Race 44 April 2009Brazil Rio de Janeiro-Telefonica BluePUMADelta Lloyd
Leg 611 April 2009Brazil Rio de JaneiroUnited States Boston4,900Ericsson 4Ericsson 3Telefonica Blue
IP Race 59 May 2009United States Boston-Telefonica BlueEricsson 4Delta Lloyd
Leg 716 May 2009United States BostonRepublic of Ireland Galway2,550Ericsson 4PUMAGreen Dragon
IP Race 630 May 2009Republic of Ireland Galway-PUMA Ocean Racing Telefonica BlueTelefonica Black
Leg 86 June 2009Republic of Ireland GalwaySweden Marstrand950Ericsson 4PUMAGreen Dragon
Leg 914 June 2009Sweden Marstrand Sweden Stockholm525PUMA Ocean RacingEricsson 3Ericsson 4
IP Race 721 June 2009Sweden Stockholm-Telefonica Blue PUMATelefonica Black
Leg 1025 June 2009Sweden Stockholm Russia Saint Petersburg370Telefonica Black PUMATelefonica Blue

[11]

The route also included seven ‘scoring gates’ (at Fernando de Noronha, Mauritius, Pulau Weh, Indonesia, Latitude 36S, Cape Horn, Fernando de Noronha and St John's, Newfoundland). Yachts scored 'half-points' at these gates, the same as for the in port races.

Telefonica Blue in Alicante, Spain.

Stopovers

Cape Town

Ericsson 4 won leg one of the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race from Alicante, Spain, to Cape Town in South Africa in a time of 21 days, 17 hours and 54 minutes.[12]

Kochi

The second leg of began on 15 November 2008, with the sailors avoiding pirates off the coast of Somalia on their way to India.[12]

Singapore

Telefonica Blue won leg three of the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race from Kochi, India, to Singapore in Singapore.[13] Puma Ocean Racing finished in second place, whilst Ericsson 3 and Ericsson 4 finished in third and fourth places respectively.[13] The race was described as very close, with the top four boats finishing the race within twenty minutes of each other.[13] The race took ten days to complete, ending on 22 December 2008.[13]

Qingdao

Telefonica Blue won leg four of the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race from Singapore in Singapore to Qingdao, China.[14] Puma Ocean Racing finished in second place, whilst Ericsson 4 finished in third place. Telefonica Black, Ericsson 3 and Delta Lloyd all withdrew to sail to the Philippines and Taiwan for repairs.[14] The leg lasted from 18 January until 29 January 2009.[14]

Rio de Janeiro

Ericsson 3 won leg five, the longest leg at 12,300 miles (19,800 km), of the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race from Qingdao in China to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, in a time of 40 days and five hours, arriving on 26 March 2009.[15]

The teams left for Boston in the United States on leg five, which began on 11 April 2009.[15]

Boston

The boats arrived in Boston in late April, with an in port race on 9 May. Leg 6 was won by Ericsson 4 at 21:05 GMT, 26 April 2009 after 15 days, 10 hours and 31 minutes of sailing

Galway

Ericsson 4 won leg seven of the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race from Boston in the United States to Galway, crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a time of seven days, 10 hours, 33 minutes and 51 seconds.[16] Puma Ocean Racing finished in second place, one hour behind.[16] Green Dragon finished in third position, whilst Telefonica Blue finished in fourth place.[16]

Fáilte Ireland West sponsored the two-week Galway Stopover.[17] It was expected that 140,000 people would visit Galway during the Stopover but the final total significantly outnumbered half a million, with some early reports suggesting that over 600,000 people had come to Galway to view the boats.[17][18][19] €43 million was the economic total predicted for Galway from the events but the final total was anticipated to be over €80 million.[17] Figures released the following November suggested the total was just under €56 million.[20] The atmosphere and support in Galway was described positively.[21]

At least 50,000 people watched the seven yachts leave Galway on Leg 8 of the race.[17] Irish President Mary McAleese made a public speech before the sailors took off, noting their “extraordinary skill and resilience” which had “inspired all of us”.[19] Liu Biwei, China's ambassador to Ireland, spoke of how he favoured the Irish-Chinese pairing, and the fleet received several blessings.[19] The sailors reported of the enjoyment they had in Galway, with Puma skipper Ken Read describing it as "the best stopover I have ever been involved with" saying he would return the following year after enjoying his time on the golf course and declaring that there was "something about Ireland and myself that seem to like each other".[22]

Galway is expected to compete again for a stopover during the next race, with other Irish destinations such as Belfast and Dún Laoghaire expected to compete also.[18]

Marstrand

Marstrand, finish of leg eight and start of leg nine.

Ericsson 4 won leg eight of the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race from Galway to Marstrand in Sweden in a time of 12 hours and 57 minutes, their third consecutive victory and fifth overall[23] Puma finished in second place and Green Dragon finished in third place.[1][23] It was Green Dragon's second successive podium finish[24] and, although they finished third, they had led for most of the race.[25]

The boats left Galway Bay, journeying southward along the west coast of Ireland.[26] They then travelled in a south-easterly direction across the Irish Sea to south England, moving in an eastwards direction up the English Channel.[26] The teams then travelled up into the North Sea until arrival at the Baltic Sea.[26]

Stockholm

Puma won leg nine of the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race from Marstrand to Stockholm in Sweden, their first win in the race. The third place for Ericsson 4 was enough for the team to also win the overall race at this point, leading to comparisons with the victor of the previous race, Mike Sanderson and ABN AMRO One, who won at the end of leg seven in Portsmouth, England, in 2006.[27]

Saint Petersburg

Telefonica Black won the last leg of the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race from Stockholm to Saint Petersburg, covering the 400 miles (640 km) in a time of 1 day, 12 hours and 41 minutes.[4] Puma Ocean Racing had led the race for most of the way.[4] Ericsson 4,[28][29] finished in third place.[4]

Results

Results* are listed below:

# Boat Total Leg wins IP race wins
1 Ericsson 4 114.5 5 2
2 Puma Ocean Racing 105.5 1 1
3 Telefonica Blue 98.0 2 4
4 Ericsson 3 78.0 1 0
5 Green Dragon 64.0 0 0
6 Telefonica Black 58.0 1 0
7 Team Delta Lloyd 39.5 0 0
8 Team Russia 10.5 0 0

(*Current results as of 27 June 2009, 2:05:00 GMT, after the finish of IP Stockholm.)[30]

Records

During Leg 1 "Ericsson 4", skippered by Torben Grael, broke the monohull 24 hour distance record when he sailed 596.6 nmi (1,104.9 km), an average of 24.85 kn (46.02 km/h).[31][32]

Pictures

References

  1. 1 2 "Grueling Volvo Ocean Race almost decided". CNN. 15 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  2. ↑ Volvo Ocean Race 2008/2009
  3. ↑ Twentysix London. "Volvo Ocean Race 2008/2009". Archived from the original on 20 June 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Telefonica Black wins last leg of Volvo Ocean Race". The Seattle Times. 28 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  5. ↑ Museler, Chris (27 June 2009). "After Long and Costly Trip, Volvo Race Closes". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  6. ↑ "World's enough for sailor Bill". The Belfast Telegraph. 29 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  7. ↑ "Walker to set sail in Volvo race". BBC. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  8. 1 2 "Missing the boat". Limerick Leader. 5 June 2009. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  9. ↑ Volvo Ocean Race 2008/2009 Teams
  10. ↑ Twentysix London. "Ericsson 3 demoted from 3rd – scoring penalty". Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  11. ↑ Volvo Ocean Race 2008/2009 Schedule
  12. 1 2 "Ericsson 4 claim Volvo Ocean leg". BBC. 2 November 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Telefonica Blue wins Volvo stage (Dec 2008)". BBC. 22 December 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  14. 1 2 3 "Telefonica Blue wins Volvo stage (Jan 2009)". BBC. 29 January 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  15. 1 2 "Ericsson 3 wins fifth Volvo stage". BBC. 26 March 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  16. 1 2 3 "Ericsson 4 wins Galway Volvo leg". BBC. 24 May 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  17. 1 2 3 4 "€80m benefit to Galway estimated". Galway News. 5 June 2009. Archived from the original on 8 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  18. 1 2 "Race is on to bring yachts to Dublin". Evening Herald. 9 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  19. 1 2 3 "Ocean racing yachts leave feelgood factor in their wake". The Irish Times. 8 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009. Addressing the crews before their departure, President Mary McAleese said their “extraordinary skill and resilience” had “inspired all of us”. She paid tribute to the organisers, to the hundreds of volunteers and to the “people of Galway who took this ocean race to their hearts”. The Chinese ambassador to Ireland Liu Biwei spoke of his enthusiasm for the Irish-Chinese twinning, and the fleet was blessed by Canon Maureen Ryan, Pastor Tim Cummings and Fr Dick Lyng. Commentator Daithí Ó Sé was anxious to correct any impression that the Galway populace had turned out specially for the nocturnal fleet arrival two weeks earlier. “That was just the crowd for first Sunday morning Mass,” he quipped.
  20. ↑ "Volvo race boosts Galway economy". RTÉ. 13 November 2009. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  21. ↑ "Dragon's poor display can't dampen fantastic week". Irish Independent. 3 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  22. ↑ "'I'll be back', Puma skipper vows". Galway Advertiser. 11 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  23. 1 2 "Ericsson 4 cement Volvo advantage". BBC. 11 June 2009. Archived from the original on 20 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  24. ↑ "Green Dragon takes podium placing". RTÉ. 11 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  25. ↑ Laven, Kate (11 June 2009). "Volvo Ocean Race: Green Dragon light on performance". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  26. 1 2 3 "Re-shuffle for Green Dragon crew". RTÉ. 4 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  27. ↑ Laven, Kate (17 June 2009). "Ericsson 4 win Volvo Ocean Race". London: The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  28. ↑ "Volvo Ocean Race winners: 'We fought for every mile'". CNN. 29 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  29. ↑ "Ericsson 4 team celebrates Volvo Ocean Race win". Taiwan News. 28 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  30. ↑ Volvo Ocean Race
  31. ↑ WSSRC – 24 Hour Distance Records
  32. ↑ "Swedish boat breaks 24-hour mark". BBC. 29 October 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2009.

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