POSTED: Saturday May 23rd 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGH SPEED DRAG RACE TO GALWAY FINISH

Galway is prepared for a grandstand finish in the early hours of Sunday morning.

After all but Telefónica Black played their Stealth option overnight to cover the timing of the critical gybe, the fleet is now converging on the finish in Galway in what is promising to be dramatic ending to this trans-Atlantic leg from Boston, USA.  Accordingly, Galway is prepared for a grandstand finish in the early hours of Sunday morning. 

The sailing continues to be fast and wet, but it has been a thrilling and memorable ride across the Atlantic. 

“Take what you most love doing in your life and keep doing it for hours and hours, day after day.  That is how I would describe the sailing conditions at the moment.  No matter what, this remains the best sailing in the world,” wrote an enthusiastic Gabriele Olivo, MCM onboard Telefónica Blue (6th place +52nm). 

For team of Green Dragon, it will be a homecoming and the team is currently level pegging with PUMA for second place, their best showing so far on this 37,000 nm race around the world. 

“The race now is all about speed.  There are no tactical options,” said skipper Ian Walker who has extra people on deck to put every last drop of energy into the final miles to the finish.  “I am sure no crew is willing their boat forwards more than ours right now,” he said.

Onboard Delta Lloyd, spirits are high.  Although the team is in fifth place, it is so close, anything can happen.  The team is focused, eager and determined.  Navigator Wouter Verbraak sums up the final hours of this leg:

“The last two days have been intense, and we are all feeling the grunt of that.  We have to keep pushing hard all the way to the end.  This is what ocean racing is all about.  The end of another marathon is drawing to a close, with it, the grand slam finale right in front of Galway.  Perfect.”

With the speeds still topping 23 knots, routing software is currently predicting a finish for the first boat at just after 0100 GMT tomorrow morning.

Scoring Gate Order
                      1. Telefónica Blue at 03:11.24 GMT
                      2. PUMA at 03:12.04 GMT
                      3. Ericsson 4 at 03:33.05 GMT
                      4. Ericsson 3 at 04:06.02 GMT
                      5. Telefónica Black at 04:36.54 GMT
                      6. Delta Lloyd at 06:16.00 GMT

Leg Seven Day 8: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
                      (boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)

1. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTL 231 nm
                      2. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +39
                      3. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +39
                      4. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +52
                      5. Delta Lloyd NED (Roberto Bermúdez/ESP) +57
                      6. Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) + 84
                      7. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +88

Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS

Race reports are issued daily to the media at 1300 GMT by email; however, positions are updated every three hours on www.volvooceanrace.org  where you will also find the latest news, feature stories, images and video.  Full press information can be read and downloaded from: http://press.volvooceanrace.org  

For media information on the Volvo Ocean Race, please contact:

Lizzie (Green) Ward – Senior Race Press Officer (Race HQ - UK)
                      Tel:                +44 1489 554 832        : Mob:                +44 7801 185 320        
                      Email: lizzie.ward@VolvoOceanRace.org  

Sophie Luther – International Press Officer
                      Mob:                +44 7595 116 797        
                      Email: Sophie.luther@volvooceanrace.org

Images
                      High resolution images can be downloaded from: http://images.volvooceanrace.org  
                      Tim Stonton, Picture Desk Manager Email: images@VolvoOceanRace.org  
                      Tel:                +44 1489 554 867         Mob:                +44 7816 975 355        

Broadcast
                      For broadcast-standard video, please go to: www.thenewsmarket.com  
                      If you are a first-time user, please take a moment to register.
                      For assistance, please Email: journalisthelp@thenewsmarket.com  

Radio/Audio
                      For all radio reports/interviews audio requests, please contact:
                      Guy Swindells (English)
                      Mob:                +44 7710 295 995        , Email: guy.swindells@VolvoOceanRace.org  or
                      Amanda Blackley (English, Spanish and French)
                      Mob:                +44 7548 543 215        , Email: amanda.blackley@VolvoOceanRace.org

                     
                     
                 
                 
                     
                     
Visit www.volvooceanrace.org for all the latest news!

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Keywords · Telefónica Black · Telefónica Blue · PUMA · Delta Lloyd · Ericsson 3 · Ericsson 4 · Volvo Ocean Race

Name: Lizzie Ward
Organization: Volvo Ocean Race
Email:
Phone: 07801 185 320
URL: http://www.volvooceanrace.org/

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