Green Dragon closes in on Volvo finishing line

8:16 AM Sat 31 Jan 2009 GMT

'Green Dragon, on leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Singapore to Qingdao, China' Guo Chuan/Green Dragon Racing/Volvo Ocean Race &copy Click Here to view large photo

Green Dragon continues to close in on the finish line in Qingdao. At 04:00 GMT, the team had just 52 miles to run. ETA for the Dragons arrival in China is now around noon GMT, or 20:00 local time.

It's been a slow 24 hours for Ian Walker and company as they've been forced to tack into headwinds blowing directly down from Qingdao. It's not the most efficient point of sail for a boat with a broken forestay and progress has been stately to say the least, with a 24-hour run of 199 miles.

Meanwhile, Telefonica Black, which had been holed up in Subic Bay in the Philippines after retiring from leg four with structural damage, is now at sea and under sail...but is heading south.

The team has remained quiet on its plans for the Black boat, but presumably the boat is sailing to Singapore where it will either be flown to Qingdao, or shipped on to Rio de Janeiro. At 01:25 GMT this morning, its position was 12-degrees 44-minutes North / 118-degrees 19-minutes East.

Equally quiet on its intentions is Delta Lloyd. The team remains suspended from racing and hasn't yet retired from the leg. The boat is in Keelung, Taiwan.

Also in Keelung is Ericsson 3, which has also suspended racing. The team has decided to perform the necessary repair work in Taiwan, but will transport the hull by barge to another shipyard in order to start work.

'A transport barge is due to arrive Saturday and we'll probably load the boat on Sunday,' said navigator Aksel Magdahl. 'It'll begin the journey down the coast either Sunday or Monday.'

A replacement panel for the bow is being built off-site and will be air-freighted to the yacht in Taiwan, where it will be scarfed and bonded into place. The team hasn't decided beyond that what will happen with the boat, but in theory, if the repair is completed in time, Ericsson 3 could resume racing and still finish leg four.

Navigator Roger Nilsson and skipper Fernando Echavarri plan their strategy on leading boat Telefonica Black, on leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Singapore to Qingdao, China

www.volvooceanrace.org

UPDATE: Green Dragon is just 3 hours away from crossing the finsih line off Qingdao, China. The 11 crew are due to arrivE into the Olympic marina between 1800 - 1900 local time (GMT + 8)

www.greendragonracing.com

by Volvo Ocean Race media

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