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5:13 PM Sat 30 May 2009 GMT
PUMA won the in-port race series in Galway today after two thrilling races were held on Galway Bay. This is the first time that PUMA has been on top of the podium for the Volvo Ocean Race and it brings her closer to second place in the overall standings.
Telef?nica Blue, second today, maintains second place overall, but only by one point and Ericsson 4's slightly disappointing performance shaves her overall lead from 14.5 points to 13 points.
In race one, Team Telef?nica clearly dominated in what started out as perfect conditions, with blue skies and a building breeze. While local heroes, Green Dragon, opted for a committee-boat start followed by Delta Lloyd, Athens Olympic Gold Medallist Iker Martinez (49-er) quickly steered Telef?nica Blue to the left of the course and into a clear lead, which he held until the finish gun.
Telef?nica Black, with America's Cup helmsman and syndicate head Pedro Campos in charge, made it a one-two for the Spanish team in conditions that clearly suited the two Farr Yacht Design boats.
PUMA put in a good performance to take third, from Ericsson 4, just as the wind began to die and seriously shift. A big cloudbank swept across the racecourse sucking the breeze with it and causing a headache for the race committee who had to reposition the windward and leeward marks several times during the course of the race.
Ericsson 3, Delta Lloyd and Green Dragon all had their problems during the race and found themselves trailing the leaders on the procession to the finish line after the windshift.
After a short postponement, race two got underway and the clouds parted to allow the blue sky and sun to shine through. A new westerly breeze of around 10 knots meant a new course was set, slightly closer to the shore.
Delta Lloyd made a blinding start at the pin end of the start line and led the fleet early. Telef?nica Black was on course side and had to dip back behind the line and re-start, but made quick recovery. Green Dragon tacked, dipping behind the whole fleet and headed out to the right hand of the course.
Good work from Kenny Read and his men onboard PUMA meant they rounded the first mark in the lead from Telef?nica Blue and Ericsson 4. The order at the front of the fleet remained unchanged at end of the first downwind leg, while, further back, Telef?nica Black overtook Delta Lloyd and Green Dragon, who was struggling in the lighter conditions.
On the second beat, Telef?nica Black came right back into contention and followed Telef?nica Blue through the mid course gate to the right hand side of the course. Green Dragon also chose the right hand side, nearest the beach.
The fleet converged on the windward mark for the last time with PUMA leading the fleet safely round. Second place was very close with Ericsson 3 coming in from the left hand side and the two Telef?nica boats approaching from the right. Ericsson 3 got the better of the two Spanish boats and rose up through the fleet from fourth place to round the mark in second place, from Telef?nica Blue, Ericsson 4 and Telef?nica Black.
On the final spinnaker leg, PUMA remained in control to complete the second race in first place, confirming her win today on a tiebreak, which takes the results of the second race as the decider. Ericsson 3 remained in second place and Telef?nica Blue finished third in front of Telef?nica Black.
Overall, it was a team affair, with PUMA taking maximum points today, followed by Telef?nica Blue and Telef?nica Black, Ericsson 3 and Ericsson 4, Delta Lloyd and Green Dragon.
The final in-port race will be held in Stockholm, Sweden on 21 June, and leg eight from Galway to Marstrand, Sweden will start at 1300 local time (1200 GMT) next Saturday.
Volvo Ocean race - Race One Galway In-Port Race Finish Position
1. Telef?nica Blue
2. Telef?nica Black
3. PUMA
4. Ericsson 4
5. Ericsson 3
6. Delta Lloyd
7. Green Dragon
Volvo Ocean race - Race Two Galway In-port Race Finish Position
1. PUMA
2. Ericsson 3
3. Telef?nica Blue
4. Telef?nica Black
5. Ericsson 4
6. Delta Lloyd
7. Green Dragon
Volvo Ocean race - Galway In-Port Race Results (Provisional)
1. PUMA: 4.0 points
2. Telef?nica Blue: 3.5 points
3. Telef?nica Black: 3.0 points
4. Ericsson 3: 2.5 points
5. Ericsson 4 : 2.0 points
6. Delta Lloyd: 1.5 points
7. Green Dragon: 1.0 points
Volvo Ocean race - Overall Leaderboard
1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA): 94.0 points
2. Telef?nica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED): 81.0 points
3. PUMA (Ken Read/USA): 80.0 points
4. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE): 62.5 points
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR): 53.0 points
6. Telef?nica Black (Fernando Ech?varri/ESP): 39.0
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP): 31.0 points
8. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT): 10.5 points
by Volvo media
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