It has been a fast and furious start of Leg 8 as the fleet headed out of Galway and south towards the Fastnet Rock. The fleet were racing south in 25 plus know conditions. Green Dragon chose a route further out to the west offshore which paid dividends as they approached the Fastnet Rock and found themselves in first place. It was the home team led by Ian walker that led the fleet around the famous landmark, “it was a great thrill for the Green Dragon team to round the famous landmark and leave Ireland’s shores in first place,” commented skipper Ian Walker earlier today.
Whilst the Dragon performed an excellent gybe in some very challenging 35 plus know conditions, some other oats weren’t so lucky. Both Ericsson 4 and PUMA had difficulties and Torben Grael and his men suffered a wipe out and were left laying on their side left with a broken wheel and a lot of water onboard. The team also discovered a relatively large area of delamination between the hull and the deck on the after starboard quarter of the boat, with Marstrand just a pit stop and no assistance from the shore team allowed it will mean more work for the crew upon arrival in Sweden.
Once past the Fastnet Rock the tactical options opened up again, and the fleet have been re-shuffling every since. Green Dragon made a clear decision and headed off for the Scilly Isles with Telefoncia Black taking the same route. Elsewhere the rest of the fleet headed north of the Scilly Isles. Racing remains close as the fleet head into the English Channel with just 7 miles splitting front to back with Telefoncia Blue currently holding poll position.
Update from onboard
“Can you believe that there were a few spectator boats out at midnight at the Fastnet Rock in over 25 knots of wind? - a final Irish farewell. Even though the Fastnet Rock wasn’t a scoring gate it was a great thrill for the Green Dragon team to round the famous landmark and leave Ireland’s shores in first place. We did this with a good start, a good decision to get offshore quickly and excellent crew work to pull of some heavy air gybes. It was a fantastic sail down the Irish coast with a stunning backdrop and perfect downwind running conditions. We resisted the temptation to pull into QCs in Kerry, or ‘Gods country’ as Damian calls it and kept the pedal down hard. The highlight was pulling off a gybe with the masthead chute up in 35 knots whilst sailing alongside E4 and Puma. They weren’t quite so fortunate with their manoeuvres whilst ours was all the more remarkable as Neal forgot to swing the keel! Now we are reaching across the Irish Sea and suffering the pain of watching miles slip away. We have lost the lead but not hope or spirit. The weather looks complicated and far from a one way track. The first time I crossed the Irish Sea to the Fastnet was on a Mumm 36 and it was a very uncomfortable 24 hour upwind sail back. It hardly seems possible that 4 hours from the Rock we are halfway to the Lizard. Given the right angle and wind these boats just eat up the miles. It feels strange approaching England’s shores having travelled so far afield. It will feel even stranger to just sail on by.”
Skipper Ian Walker
To view images from the start of Leg 8 here
Fastnet Rock Rounding Order
1. Green Dragon 22:46:34 GMT
2. PUMA 22:51:51 GMT
3. Telefonica Blue 22:53:15 GMT
4. Ericsson 4 22:55:20 GMT
5. Ericsson 3 22:56:23 GMT
6. Delta Lloyd 23:14:15 GMT
7. Telefonica Black 23:23:50 GMT
Leg Eight Day 2: 1300 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)
1. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 911 nm
2. Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) +1
3. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +1
4. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +2
5. Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermúdez/ESP) +3
6. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +5
7. Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) +7
