Volvo Ocean Race, un groppo ed Ericsson 4 se ne va

[singlepic=904,170,250,,left]Volvo Ocean Race – Oceano Indiano – E’ bastato un groppo di vento per permettere ad Ericsson 4 di allungare il passo con decisione e lasciarsi alle spalle i compagni di squadra di Ericsson 3, rimasti a boccheggiare in meno di due nodi d’aria.

A maledire i Doldrums non è solo Anders Lewander; a parte gli uomini di Torben Grael, placidamente lanciati verso Cochin, tutti gli altri protagonisti della Volvo Ocean Race sono sospesi nel nulla e guardano con ansia i monitor dei radar nel disperato tentativo di individuare ammassi di nuvole sospetti.

Buoni progressi anche per Green Dragon che, saltando da un refolo all’altro, ha perso terreno ma ha guadagnato una posizione, scavalcando Il Mostro che, alle trentotto miglia di ritardo accusate questa mattina, ne ha aggiunte altre ventidue.

Leg 2, day 12, 13.00 GMT, rankings
1 – Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 821 nm
2 – Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +48 nm
3 – Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +58 nm
4 – Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +60 nm
5 – Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +64 nm
6 – Team Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +75 nm
7 – Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +114 nm
8 – Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +122 nm

Per seguire la regata sul Race Tracker clicca qui.

Per accedere alla galleria video clicca qui.

ADVANTAGE ERICSSON
[singlepic=903,250,170,,left][Volvo Ocean Race Press Release] The advantage, at 13.00 GMT today, belonged to Ericsson 4, who had made a massive gain thanks to a well-positioned rain shower. She disappeared as if in stealth mode earlier this morning, and when she emerged from her early bath, she had made a gain of around 45 nautical miles.

Torben Grael/BRA and his men are now sailing almost twice as fast as their nearest opponents who are clumped together in the middle group of the fleet as they race towards the finish of leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race in Cochin, India.

But, this is the Doldrums and to play poker with them is at your peril and the serious contenders in the leg have not placed any bets. They are sticking firmly, in a formation, which will ensure they will all benefit from, roughly, the same weather.

At daybreak this morning, the group of Ericsson 4, Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander/SWE), Puma (Ken Read/USA) and Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR) were all close together. Ericsson 4 was just a few miles ahead of Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander/SWE) and Puma (Ken Read).

Now, with Ericsson 4 long gone, Ericsson 3 reports being at almost a standstill. The sea temperature is 31 degrees and the wind speed is 1.3 knots from every direction. The chasing pack wallows helplessly in the wake of Ericsson 4.

On the outer flanks of the group are the two Telefónica boats 68 nm to the west of Puma, and Kosatka Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) 60 nm east of Green Dragon.

Onboard Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP), MCM Mikel Pasabant says that the constant stream of breakages is wearing thin. “The breakages are so many that we spend too much of our energy solving them, instead of proper sailing,” he said.

In the last 24 hours, the order of the fleet has changed. Green Dragon moves up to third place and Team Russia and Telefónica Black have swapped places. All the boats in the fleet except Delta Lloyd and Team Russia have lost miles to the leader in the past three hours.

Leg 2, day 12, 13.00 GMT, rankings
1 – Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 821 nm
2 – Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +48 nm
3 – Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +58 nm
4 –  Puma Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA)+60 nm
5 – Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +64 nm
6 – Team Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +75 nm
7 – Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +114 nm
8 – Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +122 nm

To follow the race on Race Tracker click here.

To visit the video gallery click here.

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