Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race
Wednesday 3 December 2008, 15:30 GMT
Team Russia skipper Andreas Hanakamp/AUT was in good spirits as the boat pulled alongside the pontoon, and philosophical about their leg:
“It's been up and down. It was our conditions in the Southern Ocean and we felt really comfortable there, we had a lot of fun and kept pushing hard. The first transition zone I don't think we got it perfect and then we had this meeting where we decided to go to the east, which made a lot of sense at the time, so we sacrificed 100 miles there in the hope we'd gain a couple of hundred miles, but...well, you know what happened. We risked, we went for it, and it didn't work, but that's sailing.”
The team principal and bowman, Oleg Zherebtsov, sailed his first leg of a Volvo Ocean Race and was in very good form as he stepped off the boat.
“I'm happy, happy, happy! It's a very extreme feeling. It's such a high amplitude of feelings,” he said. “I can't describe it, we've been in such different conditions from the Southern Ocean with the cold and wind to the hot, +30-degrees and the Doldrums, no wind, and before that wind up to 40 knots and the Chinese gybe and then catching the fishing net...It's such a powerful experience and after three weeks on the water to see all these people, it’s really amazing.”
13:30 GMT update
Team Russia has finished leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race, crossing the finish line at 13:23 GMT, or 18:53 local time.
Moments earlier, the inauguration ceremony for the Race Village was completed, and it is expected Team Russia will be called up to the main stage for their arrival ceremony, in the coming hour.
The Cochin stopover marks the first visit of the Volvo Ocean Race / Whitbread Round the World Race to Asia in the 35 year history of the event. The celebrations this evening are a reflection of this momentous occasion.
12:30 GMT update
Team Russia has picked up the pace and made good progress in a building breeze this afternoon. The Russians are due to finish around 14:00 GMT, or about an hour after sun set in Cochin.
Before that, at 18:00 local time, the opening ceremonies for the Race Village in Cochin will commence.
We’ll have full reports from both events as the evening here progresses.