Still More I'd Rather Be Sailing

Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race is all but complete. Leg 4 Started in Wellington, NZ and finished in Rio de Janeiro. Six boats started and five have finished. The boat Movistar was forced to pull in to port at Cape Horn to effect repairs and is currently about 800 miles from the finish and is not able to push the boat too hard. they should finish in 3 - 4 days.

Leg 4 was won by the overall points leader ABM AMRO One who continues to dominate the event. The remaining 2 positions on the finish podium came down to a close battle between three boats, with several lead changes in the last 100 miles. Paul Cayard, skipper of Pirates of the Caribbean described the finish in an email

We got passed by Brasil1 yesterday afternoon but we somehow managed a little better in all the crazy conditions to grab second place back. We broke the watch system off at the point when Brasil1 passed us. No one wanted to go to sleep until we had passed them back. To have to sprint like that right at the end of a 6700 mile - three week leg - was tough for everyone - Brasil1 and ABN AMRO Two also.

Here's a link to a video from the stern cam onboard Pirates that will give you a taste of what this race is like. Keep in mind as you watch that they are somewhere in the middle of the ocean, hundreds of miles from land. When this video was recorded on March 8, they still had 3 days of tough racing to go having been on the water for about 12 days already.

The beautifully done Pirate web site has a great video of helicopter footage of the boat in action, and a counter that they started off on day 1 of leg 1 currently at 120 dasy: 16 hours and counting.

ABN AMRO Two took third, dashing the hopes of the Brasil1 crew for a podium finish in their home port.

The crews will be in Rio for a while. There will be an in-port race and then Leg Five Rio to Baltimore.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 11:33 AM | No Comments | Add Comment