The 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race was a yacht race held between October 4, 2008, and June 27, 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 October 11, 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. The boats covered 37,000 nautical miles (69,000 km) in the course of their journey.[1] The chief executive of the 08–09 race was Knut Frostad.[2]
On June 15, 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]
Contents |
| Team & Boat name | Sail no. | Nat | Design Firm | Builder | Skipper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ericsson Racing Team Ericsson 3 - Nordic crew |
SWE 3 | Sweden | Juan Yacht Design | Killian Bushe | Magnus Olsson (Leg 4- ) Anders Lewander (Leg 1-3) |
| Ericsson Racing Team Ericsson 4 - International crew |
SWE 4 | Sweden | Juan Yacht Design | Killian Bushe | Torben Grael |
| Green Dragon Racing Team Green Dragon |
IRL 888 | Ireland China |
Reichel Pugh | McConaghy Boats | Ian Walker[7] |
| Puma Ocean Racing Team Il Mostro |
USA 1948 | United States | Botin Carkeek | Goetz Custom Boats & Customline Yachts |
Ken Read |
| Team Delta Lloyd Black Betty |
NED 1 | Netherlands | Juan Yacht Design | Killian Bushe | Roberto Bermudez (Leg 2- ) Ger O'Rourke (Leg 1) |
| Team Russia (Sponsor: WDCS) Kosatka |
RUS 1 | Russia | Humphreys Yacht Design | Green Marine | Andreas Hanakamp |
| Telefonica Blue H.R.M. Elena |
ESP 12 | Spain | Farr Yacht Design | King Marine | Bouwe Bekking |
| Telefonica Black H.R.M. Cristina |
ESP 11 | Spain | Farr Yacht Design | Southern Ocean Marine | Fernando Echavarri |
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]
| Event | Starting date | Start | Finish | Distance (nmi) | Winner | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IP Race 1 | October 4, 2008 | Alicante | - | Telefonica Blue | Telefonica Black | PUMA | |
| Leg 1 | October 11, 2008 | Alicante | Cape Town | 6,500 | Ericsson 4 | PUMA | Green Dragon.[10] |
| Leg 2 | November 15, 2008 | Cape Town | Kochi | 4,450 | Ericsson 4 | Telefonica Blue | Ericsson 3 |
| Leg 3 | December 13, 2008 | Kochi | Singapore | 1,950 | Telefonica Blue | Puma | Ericsson 3 |
| IP Race 2 | January 10, 2009 | Singapore | - | Ericsson 4 | PUMA | Telefonica Blue | |
| Leg 4 | January 18, 2009 | Singapore | Qingdao | 2,500 | Telefonica Blue | PUMA | Ericsson 4 |
| IP Race 3 | February 7, 2009 | Qingdao | - | Ericsson 4 | Telefonica Blue | PUMA | |
| Leg 5 | February 14, 2009 | Qingdao | Rio de Janeiro | 12,300 | Ericsson 3 | Ericsson 4 | PUMA |
| IP Race 4 | April 4, 2009 | Rio de Janeiro | - | Telefonica Blue | PUMA | Delta Lloyd | |
| Leg 6 | April 11, 2009 | Rio de Janeiro | Boston | 4,900 | Ericsson 4 | Ericsson 3 | Telefonica Blue |
| IP Race 5 | May 9, 2009 | Boston | - | Telefonica Blue | Ericsson 4 | Delta Lloyd | |
| Leg 7 | May 16, 2009 | Boston | Galway | 2,550 | Ericsson 4 | PUMA | Green Dragon |
| IP Race 6 | May 30, 2009 | Galway | - | PUMA Ocean Racing | Telefonica Blue | Telefonica Black | |
| Leg 8 | June 6, 2009 | Galway | Marstrand | 950 | Ericsson 4 | PUMA | Green Dragon |
| Leg 9 | June 14, 2009 | Marstrand | Stockholm | 525 | PUMA Ocean Racing | Ericsson 3 | Ericsson 4 |
| IP Race 7 | June 21, 2009 | Stockholm | - | Telefonica Blue | PUMA | Telefonica Black | |
| Leg 10 | June 25, 2009 | Stockholm | Saint Petersburg | 370 | Telefonica Black | PUMA | Telefonica Blue |
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.
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
The boats arrived in Boston in late April, with an in port race on May 9. Leg 6 was won by Ericsson 4 at 21:05 GMT, 26 April 2009 after 15 days, 10 hours and 31 minutes of sailing
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]
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]
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]
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* 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 June 27, 2009, 2:05:00 GMT, after the finish of IP Stockholm.) [30]
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]
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