In a hour from now (11 p.m. EST) leg five of the Virtual Ocean race will get underway. 12,300 miles from Qingdao, China to Rio de Jeneiro.

The real boats start on the same course too. There is a story developing that outlines the extreme dedication of the teams and crews of these boats.

During the last leg, the real boats encountered severe weather. Several boats suffered damage and had to put into shore to make repairs before resuming racing. Of the seven boats that started, two survived unscathed, two effected repairs and finished, and two did not finish and will make their way to Rio via freighter.

That leaves one boat unaccounted for. Ericsson 3.

Ericsson 3 suffered significant damage and had to put into port in Taiwan to effect major structural repairs that took several days. Then they resumed sailing.

With three and half hours to go before the start, they were about 50 miles from the leg 4 finish line sailing in light wind. Their plan is to finish, immediately resupply the boat, which they estimate will take two to three hours then set out on the 12,300 leg five before the fleet gets too far ahead.

That is dedication. That is commitment.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 11:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment