Alicante - Cape Town - Kochi - Singapore - Qingdao - Rio de Janeiro - Boston - Galway - Stockholm - Gothenburg - St Petersburg
Winner: Ericsson 4
Ericsson 4’s victory in the 2008-09 race can be traced back to one key element of the campaign – preparation. The seeds of Torben Grael and his crew’s success were sown as early as November 2005, when the team announced a two-boat participation. The second boat will be crewed by a collection of talented, but inexperienced Nordic sailors.
There was an exclusive design deal with Juan Kouyoumdjian, the build expertise of Killian Bushe, a collection of Whitbread/Volvo veterans and a well-organised pre-race programme run out of Lanzarote.
PUMA, skippered by Ken Read just pipped Bouwe Bekking’s Telefonica Blue for second place. In fact the race was one of the closest in history with multiple podium places spread across the offshore legs and in-port race series.
Among the fleet, the tale of triumph over adversity was the common theme. The Nordics were eventually led by Whitbread/Volvo veteran Magnus Olsson who turned 60 during the event. It was the likeable Swede’s seventh lap round the world. He was joined on that number by Telefonica Black navigator Roger Nilson. Despite setbacks, the Nordics performed heroically to win Leg 5 from Qingdao to Rio.
Green Dragon came late to the campaign and were hampered by a boat speed deficit. With rooke skipper Ian Walker at the helm, they nonetheless turned a few heads. None more so than in their home port of Galway, Ireland where crowds flocked to get a glimpse of the fleet at the end of the transatlantic crossing on Leg 7.
Delta Lloyd, the former ABN AMRO ONE, winner of the 2005-06 event, struck a blow for first generation Volvo Open 70s by turning in some impressive performances under the guidance of Spain’s Roberto ‘Chuny’ Bermudez.
Team Russia started the campaign with the rest of the fleet in Alicante in November but fell victim to the global economic slow down and withdrew in Singapore. The Rob Humphreys-designed boat re-emerged for the parade of sail in St Petersburg at race end.