http://lamp4.ocvision.co.uk/ en lucy.harwood@intotheblue.biz Copyright 2009 2009-01-06T07:00:23+00:00 http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/green-dragon-announce-new-crew-ahead-of-in-port-race/ http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/green-dragon-announce-new-crew-ahead-of-in-port-race/#When:07:00:23Z Green Dragon have announced crew changes ahead of the forthcoming In Port race this Saturday 10th January. As part of their planned crew rotation, Volvo and America’s Cup sailor Ian Budgen will step onboard in place of watch leader Damian Foxall for the next leg to Qingdao. Green Dragon have announced crew changes ahead of the forthcoming In Port race this Saturday 10th January. As part of their planned crew rotation, Volvo and America’s Cup sailor Ian Budgen will step onboard in place of watch leader Damian Foxall for the next leg to Qingdao. Also re-joining Green Dragon for the In Port race will be America’s Cup sailors David Carr and Julian Cressant, both sailed onboard during the In Port racing in Alicante. Regular crew members Ian Moore and Tom Braidwood also return after their break from the previous leg. Ian Budgen (GBR) Ian joins Green Dragon with over 13 years of professional sailing to his name. He begun his career by dominating the Laser 5000 circuit. In 1997 Ian moved on to an Olympic 49-er campaign achieving second at the 1998 World Championships in Bandol. In 2000 Ian joined GBR Challenge (The British America’s Cup syndicate) as a trimmer sailing with the campaign throughout the Louis Vuitton series. Ian also has extensive experience on the TP52 circuit, which includes sailing onboard Lexus-Atalanti with America’s Cup skipper Russell Coutts and as tactician onboard l’Oreal CEO Sir Lindsay Owen Jones’ Magic Carpet 2. In 2006 Ian signed up with Paul Cayard and the crew onboard Pirates of the Caribbean for the 2005/06 Volvo Ocean Race. As a helmsman and trimmer he joined the team in Rio, sailing the remaining legs of the race, including winning the final leg to Gothenburg. This leg win cemented Pirates place on the podium where they finished second overall. Volvo Ocean Race Experience 2005/06 Pirates of the Caribbean America’s Cup 2000 – 2003 GBR Challenge Q&A Ian Budgen Ian Walker was looking to find someone to replace Damian who was dropping out of this leg, so he got in touch and asked me if I would like to come along! Obviously this isn’t my ideal choice of leg for just popping in, but it will be great to be back and involved and I am looking forward to getting back out and sailing a Volvo 70. Had you been looking to be part of a campaign this time around? I have but it has been quite difficult for one reason or another, but I’m really glad to be here now and to be involved. And we will see where it goes from here. How well do you know the other guys onboard? I have a lot of good friends on the boat, Anthony Merrington was on Pirates, Justin Slattery is a good friend as is Ian Moore, alongside Ian Walker and Neal McDonald there are maybe only a couple of people on the boat who I haven’t sailed with at some time or another, so it will be great to step in amongst friends. What have you been doing since the last race, how have you been keeping yourself busy? I am still sailing professionally; I have been pretty busy since the last race. When the last race finished I stepped straight into TP52’s that was skippered by Russell Coutts, which was fantastic. Since then I have basically spent the last two years doing tactics on a couple of boats one was a Wally called Magic Carpet 2, and also on the Swan 601 Spirit of Jethou for Sir Peter Ogden. It is a tough leg ahead from Singapore, but you will be onboard Green Dragon seeing it back to one of their two home ports on this race, are you looking forward to it? Yeah that will be fantastic. I have looked at the weather and every time I log onto the website it is always upwind. Wherever you are on the course the wind seems to just come from Qingdao. The frightening bit is that for the last few days it is going to be very cold. Ten days ago the weather at Qingdao was -1C during the day and -11C at night, with 20 – 25 knots on the nose, and snow! Boats are a big enough handful when they are warm, but when its cold and you have to wear all the gear it becomes even more complicated and difficult. Listen to the audio interview with Ian here Confirmed Green Dragon crew list for Leg 4 Skipper: Ian Walker (GBR) Watch Leader: Anthony Merrington (AUS) Watch-leader: Neal McDonald (GBR) Navigator: Ian Moore (N. IRL) Bowman: Justin Slattery (IRL) Pit/Trimmer: Tom Braidwood (AUS) Pit/Trim/Helm: Ian Budgen (GBR) Bowman/Trimer/Pitman: Andrew Mclean (NZ) Driver/Trimmer/ Sailmaker: Phil Harmer (AUS) Bowman: Freddy Shanks (GBR) Media Crew Member: Guo Chuan (CHN) 2009-01-06T07:00:23+00:00 http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/the-work-list-continues/ http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/the-work-list-continues/#When:12:37:29Z It has been just over a week since Green Dragon arrived into Singapore at the end of Leg 3.  The shore team have had a quick turn around after Christmas as the boat is prepared for the In Port race on the 10th January.  It has been just over a week since Green Dragon arrived into Singapore at the end of Leg 3.  The shore team have had a quick turn around after Christmas as the boat is prepared for the In Port race on the 10th January.  This stopover is also important as it will require the teams to re-weight for the first time since they started the race in Alicante over 3 months ago, all of the boats must be within thier measurement weight, any difference will mean more work for the shore team! We caught up with Green Dragon Shore Manager Johnny Smullen “Singapore, the early morning drive from the Airport to our hotel was peaceful and tranquil following the over night flight from Cochin direct to Changi airport, halfway there it dawned on me it was not the hour as there was still plenty of traffic, what was missing was the cacophony of car horns and tut tuts driving on every space available sometimes on the wrong side of the road, this was the sure sign we have left India behind. We are now all set up at the PT3 container terminal allocated to the Volvo teams for the wet area of this stopover, all the teams are together in a row and we have the luxury of having our containers in the shade inside a huge warehouse building, the yachts are outside in a row as we all get through our work lists in the searing heat and humidity. Our work list is not too bad this stopover in the sense there were no major failures on the leg from Cochin to Singapore which was sailed in reasonably light airs and flat water so we have no breakages to deal with which is a first for us, however we do have our ongoing worklist and checks to get on with and because we have in port racing here we have to get the yacht from “offshore mode” to “inshore mode” for the 9-10th of January and then back again for the offshore leg to Qingdao in China, There will be some official measurement checks for all the fleet here in Singapore. We will all be weighed and checked by the Volvo measurement team, basically this means if we are over the rule weight of 14.0T we have to adjust and if it can’t come out of the boat it has to come out of the bulb, This procedure is normal during the race as the yachts put on a bit of weight either due to repair work or sometimes just some water absorption. This is why we are always so sensitive concerning what we put on the yacht and if we really need it as we are always trying our best to keep as much weight as possible in the bulb for performance. We have some challenges ahead as the race village and the work area are miles apart so it is very important we work long hard hours to get as much done while we are out of the water here at PT3, We can’t complain too much about the heat as where we are headed for the next stopover we are to expect temperatures of zero and below, but that will be another chapter in our ever changing world of yacht racing, Happy New Year, Johnny” 2008-12-29T12:37:29+00:00 http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/green-dragon-take-sixth/ http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/green-dragon-take-sixth/#When:07:46:25Z Green Dragon crossed the finish line off Singapore at 0649 local time (2249 GMT Monday) to take sixth place on Leg 3.  It was a battle to the end as the Dragon had their own match race with Team Russia during the final days. At one point during the night they were just half an hour apart, as they weaved their way through the Malacca Straits.  Green Dragon crossed the finish line off Singapore at 0649 local time (2249 GMT Monday) to take sixth place on Leg 3.  It was a battle to the end as the Dragon had their own match race with Team Russia during the final days. At one point during the night they were just half an hour apart, as they weaved their way through the Malacca Straits. Conditions onboard were tough as the crew faced constant heat and humidity. The majority of this leg saw the crews slogging upwind often against a current, the frustration of being becalmed. For Skipper Ian Walker life onboard was a challenge especially as he managed to pick up a stomach bug half way throughout the leg.  “For 24 – 36 hours I was just useless, I couldn’t do anything and I was just in my bunk. I have definitely lost a lot of weight!” 2008-12-23T07:46:25+00:00 http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/the-final-day/ http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/the-final-day/#When:15:44:16Z Green Dragon is on the home straight and they are now caught in a battle with Team Russia to defend sixth place. It has been a frustrating leg for the crew as they fought tooth and claw to gain miles and join the leading pack who have now completed Leg 3. Green Dragon is on the home straight and they are now caught in a battle with Team Russia to defend sixth place. It has been a frustrating leg for the crew as they fought tooth and claw to gain miles and join the leading pack who have now completed Leg 3. The battle for the top four positions went down to the wire.  At 14:51:22 GMT Bouwe Bekking and his crew onboard Telefonica Blue crossed the finish line off Singapore to take their first leg win of the race, securing a maximum 6 points towards their overall score. The three remaining boats were separated by just a few hundred metres, but it was the big Cat (PUMA) who took second, as Ericsson 3 managed to hold off the international crew onboard Ericsson 4 to take third.  This is the first leg where current race leaders Ericsson 4 have not featured on the podium. Telefonica Black remain 55 miles ahead of the Dragon in fifth, the Spanish crew manage to slip through the transition zone and in doing so opened up a big gap to Green Dragon and Team Russia. The mood onboard the Dragon is of frustration but they are now back up to 14.8 knots and on track to finish in Singapore in early Tuesday morning local time (GMT + 8 hours). Update from onboard, Skipper Ian Walker All the talk on the Malacca Straits was of pirates, fishing nets, shipping and obstacles but it was the wind shifts and tide that we should have been focusing on. It has been a frustrating 24 hours on the Green Dragon. We gained many miles back on the leaders yesterday and then got stuck in a similar place to ERT 4 with no wind and lots of tide against us. For 5 hours we sat and got washed backwards into the old wind and we couldn’t get into the Westerly that carried the leaders away. It was infuriating, as we knew this was likely to be our 1 shot at getting back into the race. We licked our wounds and made gains back overnight but today we again got stuck at the narrowing of the straits in no wind and foul tide. This was simply bad luck on our timing. As we struggled to turn the corner the Russians reached up behind us in good wind from 24 miles astern! They are now about 3 miles behind us, which will ensure close racing until the end. This leg has simply not gone our way and I look with envy at the close racing amongst the top 4. It might seem strange but on balance I think we have sailed the best on this leg that we have so far in the race and everyone remains very focused on the task ahead. What is in no doubt is that we are all looking forward to getting to port.  Considering I write that at this stage of every leg it does make me question why on earth we choose to do this in the first place! Leg Three Day 10: 1500 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions (boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish) Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) Finished PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) FIN Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) FIN Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) FIN Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +23 Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +78 Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +84 Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +194 2008-12-22T15:44:16+00:00 http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/tense-times/ http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/tense-times/#When:13:32:24Z The final 200 miles to Singapore looks to be an exciting finish as the fleet weaves its way through the Straits of Malacca.The morning was full of promise for the Dragon as they found stronger conditions to the south of the fleet, at one point sailing over 8 knots faster than the pack in front. The fleet started to compress as the front runners sailed into a hole, creeping along at just 2 knots.  The final 200 miles to Singapore looks to be an exciting finish as the fleet weaves its way through the Straits of Malacca.The morning was full of promise for the Dragon as they found stronger conditions to the south of the fleet, at one point sailing over 8 knots faster than the pack in front. The fleet started to compress as the front runners sailed into a hole, creeping along at just 2 knots. Ian Walker and his crew worked away eating up the miles on the boats, they gained over 30 miles in three hours to place themselves just 30 miles behind the leader and 6 miles behind Telefonica Black still holding onto fifth. Elsewhere Ericsson 4 saw their lead disappear as Telefonica Blue and Ericsson 3 and PUMA closed in. By the 1000 GMT position report. They had been overtaken, and soon found themselves in fourth 7 miles behind the new leader Telefonica Blue. The freight train that the Dragon had jumped on was also about to come to a grinding halt, with the Russians ploughing their own field behind they had to defend sixth and in doing so a sharp left turn in towards the shore meant that the train had pulled to a complete stop, and were soon sailing at half the speed they were before. The top four boats remain in a tight tussle as they battle for every mile on the water, with just 7 miles separating first to fourth. Read the latest weather forecast here Leg Three Day Nine: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions (boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish) Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 220 nm Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +1 PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +4 Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +7 Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +28 Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +49 Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +60 Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +203 Scoring Gate Order Ericsson 4 (4 points) Telefónica Blue (3.4 points) Ericsson 3 (3 points) PUMA (2.5 points) Telefónica Black (2 points) Green Dragon (1.5 points) Kosatka Team Russia (1 point) 2008-12-21T13:32:24+00:00 http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/taking-on-the-straits/ http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/taking-on-the-straits/#When:11:33:06Z Conditions are yet to improve onboard with many of the fleet noting how tiring this leg has been. As each boat is forced to tack in order to make the most of the wind shifts, it is a daily mission to move all the sails and equipment onboard from one side of the boat to the other.  Bring in the rising heat and humidity, and the final few days to Singapore will be very challenging. At 16:09:30 GMT Ericsson 4 pocketed maximum points (4) when they crossed the scoring gate north of Palau We, and extended their overall race tally to 30. Telefonica Blue was just short of an hour behind to grab the 3.5 points on offer for second place at the gate, which puts them second overall on 22.5.  The battle for fifth place continued between Green Dragon and Telefonica Black, as the Dragon made a late charge towards the gate.  But the Spaniards held on forcing Green Dragon to pass in sixth, gaining 2 more points placing them fifth overall on the leaderboard. Conditions are yet to improve onboard with many of the fleet noting how tiring this leg has been. As each boat is forced to tack in order to make the most of the wind shifts, it is a daily mission to move all the sails and equipment onboard from one side of the boat to the other.  Bring in the rising heat and humidity, and the final few days to Singapore will be very challenging. With under 400 miles remianing the fleet are now navigating their way through the Straits of Malacca, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. It will be crucial that the crews take advantage of any opportunity they can get over the final few days and hope that they can capitalise on any mistakes that the boats may make ahead of them. Volvo’s race expert Mark Chisnell filled us in on the obstacles ahead for the fleet, “over the past few hours, the biggest hole seems to be anywhere inshore on the island of Sumatra, which is unfortunate, as it’s directly between the fleet and where they want to go. It looks like the wind out in the middle of the Straits, on the line that Ericsson 4 has taken, is an east-northeasterly TWD, blowing at a True Wind Speed (TWS) in the low teens. But closer to the coast, it’s pretty ugly, and everyone who has ventured in there has tacked to escape it as fast as possible”. Update from onboard, Skipper Ian Walker “Ok enough is enough lets get to Singapore. This is by far the longest I have ever been sailing upwind in my life. Even when we got to the Pulau We scoring gate and could turn right the wind shifted right with us so it was dead on the nose again. It has been upwind and very shifty in the Malacca Straits, which has meant lots of tacks. This is a nightmare for all the crew as it is hard to get any rest when off watch and you have to repeatedly carry all the stack of sails from one side to the other, as well as everything inside the boat down below. Tactics are very hard as you have to balance what shifts are worth tacking on against the hassle and loss of speed involved. Nothing is worse than tacking only to find the wind shift back and having to go through the process all over again.  You only get one or two of those before the crew have had enough! We have not gone well upwind in terms of boatspeed and we are very much trying to minimise our losses in the hope an opportunity will open up later in the leg. It feels like the last few days have gone quite well for us despite 6th place at the scoring gate being below our high standards. Onboard everyone is hot and a bit fed up of sailing upwind - it is all work and no pleasure. We have also had a major battery charging problem and at one point were very much looking like having no power for the last few days. That would have meant no food, water, lights, instruments or communications. Andrew (Animal), James and Steve have been on the tools all day and fortunately we are now able to once again charge off our main engine (the generator regulator is broken) and we are stocking up fresh water just in case of further problems. The shipping lane is getting busier and busier but no sign yet of many fishermen or pirates. What there is, is a lot of debris in the water like bits of bamboo and tree trunks. We have a permanent spotter during daylight but will have to keep our fingers crossed at night. It will only be a matter of time before we hit something. Hopefully it won’t be something as big as the tree we have just sailed past that stuck 7ft up out of the water! On the bright side we have made good progress against the clock and Christmas on dry land is now looking more than likely. We now have under 500 miles to go”. Leg Three Day Eight: 1000 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions (boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish) Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) DTF 390 Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +31 Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +32 PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) + 35 Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +53 Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +58 Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +97 Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +202 2008-12-20T11:33:06+00:00 http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/racing-for-the-gate/ http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/racing-for-the-gate/#When:13:30:27Z The battle to the scoring gate north of Palau We continues with just under 100 miles remaining.  The Dragon has been chasing hard behind Telefonica Black and now lays 9 miles behind in sixth. Ericsson 4 have held their lead from Telefonica Blue and look set to take full points at the gate.  The battle to the scoring gate north of Palau We continues with just under 100 miles remaining.  The Dragon has been chasing hard behind Telefonica Black and now lays 9 miles behind in sixth. Ericsson 4 have held their lead from Telefonica Blue and look set to take full points at the gate.  The fleet are all on port tack as they head east towards the gate, but Green Dragon is in a good position as they are positioned to windard along with Ericsson 4, team Russia and Delta Lloyd who are limping along with a damaged keel ram. Volvo’s race expert mark Chisnell filled us in on developments ahead” Everyone to the north will be able to go faster, as they will be sailing a wider True Wind Angle (TWA). So everyone that’s to the north should make miles on the leaderboard. Ericsson 4 will almost certainly open their lead up on Telefonica Blue, and Bekking will also lose ground to Ericsson 3 and PUMA. Green Dragon should take miles out of all them except the leader, and may even pass Telefonica Black, who’s almost directly to leeward of them. Once through the gate, the fleet will face the Straits of Malacca, one of the busiest shipping channels in the world, alongside numerous fishing boats and tricky conditions this leg is far from over. Watch the latest video from onboard Green Dragon here Read the latest weather forecast here Leg Three Day Seven: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions (boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish) Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 600 Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) + 7 Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +20 PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) + 24 Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +40 Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +49 Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +86 Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +166 2008-12-19T13:30:27+00:00 http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/frustrating-times/ http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/frustrating-times/#When:15:49:44Z It has been a frustrating day onboard Green Dragon as they fight to stay with the leading pack. The Dragon tacked twice last night to try and evade a huge cloud cell, which cost them dearly and they now lay in sixth. It has been a frustrating day onboard Green Dragon as they fight to stay with the leading pack. The Dragon tacked twice last night to try and evade a huge cloud cell, which cost them dearly and they now lay in sixth. Leg leaders Telefonica Blue are holding onto a small lead of 6 miles over Ericsson 4. The chasing pack from third to sixth are still battling it out for the crucial points at the scoring gate, which lies under 300 miles to the east.  So the drag race continues on port tack to the scoring gate north of Palau We. Every boat has been forced to tack with every wind shift, and in the process made gains and losses throughout the day.  With the fleet still racing close to the equator conditions onboard remain challenging as the crew sail in the heat and humidity. As they approach the scoring gate and the entrance to the Straits of Malacca the chances of squalls will increase, and the tricky and fickle conditions that the fleet witnessed at the end of Leg 2 will start to impact their progress to the finish.  With just over 850 miles remaining on this leg, the potential for a re-start once in the Straits is a possibility and one which skipper Ian Walker is hoping for, “our plan now is to stay close to the leaders so we can capitalise on any shut downs towards the end of the leg”. Watch the latest videos from onboard here View the latest images from Leg 3 here Update from onboard Green Dragon, Skipper Ian Walker Going upwind in a Volvo 70 can sometimes suck! I am beginning to question the merits of the new route through Asia if so much of it is upwind. The first problem is that these boats don’t point very high so it takes forever to get anywhere truly upwind. The second is that the hulls have so little rocker and are so flat that they slam on every wave. The third is of course that the boats are so powerful that in any wind the waves that make life so uncomfortable come thick and fast. This leg hasn’t been really windy and we haven’t experienced a big sea state, but with an average of about 20 knots overnight it is still hard to stay in your bunk at times, let alone sleep. The next leg to China will be a nightmare. So what is going on out here? Well we have all made our way North West and are set up on port tack near the lay line to the scoring gate at Pulau We. It has been a real drag race for the last 24 hours - something we are not too well equipped for in these conditions and we have slipped to sixth. Our last tack to the East was probably a mistake, but we realised this really fast and fortunately only went for an hour. There has been more wind in the North which, coupled to a left shift has made gains out here. Our plan now is to stay close to the leaders so we can capitalise on any shut downs towards the end of the leg. We are comfortably ahead of Kosatka (Team Russia) and Delta Lloyd at this stage. Onboard all is quiet as we are enjoying crossing off some miles finally. There is the normal battle with salt water sores in this heat but otherwise nothing major to report. Probably the funniest incident in the last few days was young Freddy Shanks who went on the bow at night in the pitch black, we all heard a bit of a scuffle forwards and were rather surprised to see him coming out of the companionway hatch cursing and swearing 20 seconds later. He forgot that we had opened the front hatch to get some air in the boat to help people sleep and had fallen straight through. A seven foot drop onto solid carbon, landing on your back is not something I would wish on anybody and in truth he was lucky to escape serious injury - a broken back or neck would not be out of the question and has been known. In typical Freddy style he hardly said a word picked himself up and went straight back on the bow to do what he had meant to do! Lesson 1 - don’t leave the front hatch open at night! Leg Three Day Six: 1600 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions (boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish) Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 869 Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) + 6 Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +27 Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +30 PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) + 30 Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +41 Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +106 Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +134 2008-12-18T15:49:44+00:00 http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/snake-and-ladders/ http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/snake-and-ladders/#When:16:53:42Z It has been a day of snakes and ladders for the fleet as they continue to move north in search of stronger wind and away from the adverse currents to the south.  The last boat to make the move was current leg leaders Telefonica Blue, who remain the most southerly boat at the 1600 GMT positions.  It has been a day of snakes and ladders for the fleet as they continue to move north in search of stronger wind and away from the adverse currents to the south.  The last boat to make the move was current leg leaders Telefonica Blue, who remain the most southerly boat at the 1600 GMT positions. Green Dragon have been involved in a drag race with Ericsson 3 and Telefonica Black all day. They made progress this morning as they moved to joint fourth alongside Telefonica Black at the 1300 GMT positions.  By 1600 GMT they had squeezed ahead to third past Ericsson 3, holding a fragile one mile lead. Elsewhere the gap to the back of the fleet continues to grow with Delta Lloyd 107 miles behind Bouwe Bekking and his crew.  After five days of sailing the fleet have nearly covered half the distance to Singapore. But the upwind conditions towards the scoring gate will remain challenging, alongside the increased possibility of squalls, the remaining passage through the Malacca Straits and Singapore is likely to be slow and frustrating, Christmas at sea still looks a possibility for much of the fleet. Race Meteorologist , Jennifer Lilly filled us in on the forecast ahead; Looking ahead, the winds are expected to slowly increase over the next 48 hours. After a light patch on Tuesday night, the winds are expected to build slightly on Wednesday, veering right to E’ly or even ESE’ly flow. This right shift will not last long, but it will give the teams an opportunity to sail north, getting into the area of stronger winds. In addition to building winds, the fleet is likely to see an increased chance of squalls. These squalls will develop on Wednesday afternoon and continue through Thursday, with the winds shifting to a more NE’ly flow as high pressure builds over Bangladesh/Myanmar. Friday and Saturday should see some clearing; however, as the fleet approaches the Malacca Strait they can once again expect increasing showers and squalls. Update from Watch leader Damian Foxall, read his full update here After several days at sea on this leg, we’ve decided that booms are a good thing! Even though we coped reasonably well without the last one, we think we’ll keep this one. Our new sails, which arrived and we tested in India, are looking great too so we’re very optimistic about the rest of the race. Unlike us, most of the other teams in the fleet had quite a lot of time prior to the start of the race in Alicante to develop their sails, so we feel like we’re sort of catching up with sail development as the race progresses. We’ve still got a lot of work to do because certainly on some points of sail we can see that E4 and Puma are still faster than us, but we do feel we’re closing the gap down on every leg. Leg Three Day Four: 1600 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions (boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish) Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 1065 Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +33 Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +47 Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +48 Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +52 PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) + 54 Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +104 Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +107 2008-12-17T16:53:42+00:00 http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/green-dragon-makes-big-gains/ http://www.greendragonracing.com/en/news/article/green-dragon-makes-big-gains/#When:09:15:52Z It has been a case of two steps forward and one step back for the fleet today, Ian Walker and his crew made strong progress overnight as they moved from seventh to third on the leader board by the 0700 GMT positions.  It has been a case of two steps forward and one step back for the fleet today, Ian Walker and his crew made strong progress overnight as they moved from seventh to third on the leader board by the 0700 GMT positions.  Ericsson 4 dropped four places to fifth and Telefonica Blue once again took the lead.  But any lead at this point is fragile, with the positions constantly changing as the skippers and navigators deal with some tough tactical decisions. Green Dragon remains the most southerly boat, but it is not a position the Dragon wants to stay in as Skipper Ian Walker highlighted today, “now we are trying desperately to get back north a bit so we don’t get hung out to dry down south where lighter winds await”. The big question facing the crews will be whether to go north for better wind or head south for less adverse current. Volvo’s Race expert Mark Chisnell filled us in on the current dilemma facing the fleet: “Normally, when faced with a strong current flowing against you, the plan would be to head for the beach, sailing in the shallow water, where the current flow is weaker. But because of the Sri Lanka waypoints, the pirate exclusion zone, keeping them off the south shore of the island, the fleet can’t get to the beach. So the solution may well be the opposite – to get south, further away from the island, where the current is not being compressed and strengthened by having to flow around the obstruction”. Conditions onboard are tough, every tack requires he crew to move a couple of tonne of kit from one side of the boat to the other, not to mention the heat and humidity that the climate throws at them. At the 1000 GMT position report, Green Dragon had lost two places, and is now fifth 14 miles behind Bouwe Bekking and his crew, who have found more consistent conditions to the north of the Dragon. But the racing remains tight with just 14 miles separating the top five boats. Update from onboard – Skipper Ian Walker “If there was a prize for tenacity then I think my crew deserve it. We do not have the speed of the Ericsson, Telefonica or Puma boats and it is not easy to see them putting miles on us whenever we are near them. All we can do is continue to squeeze every ounce of speed we can out of the Dragon and work hard on our steering, trimming and sail changes. 80% of this race has been a drag race where miles have slipped away but in the other 20% we have fortunately made good calls that seem to have kept us in the race. The last 48 hours have been brutal with up to 3.5 knots of current against us on the Southern tip of Sri Lanka and light headwinds. Because of the piracy marks there was no way of getting to shallower water and we finally came to the conclusion we had to take the somewhat drastic action of heading south to escape the current’s clutches. We had been sailing for hours making no more than 2 knots and often 0 VMG towards the finish so we had to do something. We didn’t really want to go south but had to bite the bullet. We also noticed that Telefonica Black had made some gains that way. So south we went and sure enough the current finally reduced and we started to pull bearing on the fleet. Both Telefonica boats have also done this nicely and have got the jump on the other frontrunners. Now we are trying desperately to get back north a bit so we don’t get hung out to dry down south where lighter winds await. Still 3rd place at this stage is quite an achievement and keeps the spirits up. There is not much to report on life onboard except it is hot and sweaty. I have only put my waterproofs on once and I suspect that might be it for the leg. Steve Hayles continues to do a great job navigating in very difficult circumstances and James Carroll is settling in nicely. There are no signs of any pirates yet but we have come pretty close twice to colliding with fishing boats - one incident in particular in the middle of the night was described by Neal as ‘the closest he has ever come to hitting one!’ - I guess that’s too close for comfort then!” Leg Three Day Four: 1000 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions (boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish) Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 1345 PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +10 Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +10 Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +12 Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +14 Ericsson 3 SWE (Anders Lewander/SWE) +25 Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) +55 Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +66 2008-12-16T09:15:52+00:00