Leg 10: Live blog, day one, PM

Thursday, 25 June 2009, 22:15 GMT UPDATE

Welcome to the Leg 10 Live Blog - with the fleet now in the Gulf of Finland, the web squad are doing planes, trains and automobiles in a synchronised dash to St Petersburg. Mark Chisnell has signed off on the evening shift, with Peter Rusch taking over from Helsinki into the wee hours...

Don't forget, you can send us your comments and queries at liveblog@volvooceanrace.org. Follow us on Twitter right here. And you can also link to it directly from your mobile via the top of the mobile channel.

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22:15 GMT UPDATE

The 22:00 GMT positions are in and what a race we have. Ericsson 4 has moved to the top of the leaderboard, but Telefonica Blue is further East. Take a look on the 2D tracker to see how it breaks down.

It might be the last leg, but it doesn't appear as though anyone on that race course is willing to concede an inch.

Ericsson 3's Gustav Morin checked in about 45 minutes ago and said exactly that:

"Again we have a very intense race going on. We still have everyone more ore less in sight but the big fight has since the start been between PUMA, Telefonica Blue, Ericsson 4 and us.

"Just a couple of minutes ago we tacked from the Estonian coast and we are right on the tail of our sister ship and the Blue Spanish boat. PUMA did a bold move and went closer to shore.

"'It can pay of with a better shift in there but the risk is that the breeze gets lighter,' according to our navigator Aksel Magdahl. 'We would of course want to be in front but with the start we did we are pretty happy where we are now.'

Eivind Melleby is standing by the helm and overhears the conversation.

“'Yeah, this race is far from over.'@

That's the view from Gustav, the MCM on Ericsson 3.

Meanwhile, everyone seems to be settling in for the night. Mark Covell has just sent me a message from the FleetBroadband Express that he's going to put his head down for a couple of hours, and I'm going to do the same.

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't email us. I'll be up before the next position report and it would be great to have some emails to answer. But until then...

Before I take a breather, I'll answer a couple of the mails now, to clear the inbox.

Aafke wrote in to say he's having trouble getting detailed weather from the 2D tracker when he zooms in on any particular boat in the fleet. I think that's simply a resolution problem Aafke. You should also be aware that the weather in the tracker is a forecast, not a display of real conditions. The best place to get an idea of what any particular boat is actually experiencing is in the Data Centre, where the 'Environmental Data' section gives you wind speed averages for each boat.

Tony voiced his opinion on the tracking situation (see previous post), giving a vote for real time tracking. I think that's the way I lean on it as well, although I'd like to see a model where we, the public, can have real time tracking, but the boats are restricted to two position reports a day. Not sure how we'd stop that public information getting on board however.

Finally, Andrew wrote in from Toronto, just up the road from my hometown in Burlington. He's asking about the link between teams and stopover ports. Specifically, if we have 12 or 15 teams next race, will we have 12 or 15 ports? There's a lot of work going on to plan the next race, Andrew, but I can say with a high degree of confidence that there will be less than 10 stopover ports, regardless of the number of teams. Certainly, there's a synergy when a country or city is closely associated with a team and as race organisers, we'll be encouraging ports to throw their support behind a team from their region. This doesn't have to be as a direct sponsorship by the way. There are plenty of ways a port can provide support to a team apart from directly handing over cash. As for the possibility of a Canadian 'pit-stop' on the way back to Europe, it certainly has my vote! Look for an announcement on the route for the next race before this time next year.

21:15 GMT UPDATE

Thanks Mark. Great job getting us started on Leg 10. Peter Rusch here, reporting for the night shift. As Mark said, we probably won't be posting quite as often. After seeing the fleet off the dock at 07:30 in Stockholm this morning, it's been a very long day.

I'm at the airport hotel in Helsinki, having just flown over the fleet as we crossed from Stockholm. We had spotters on both sides of the plane but never did the see the fleet.

Interesting to see how much progress they've made already. Let's see how far they've got to go on the next position report, now less than an hour away. Speaking of which... Dave Gruver has written in requesting real time tracking for short legs like thie one, and looking ahead to the next race, asks will it happen then?

It's a good question, and not an easy one to answer. To the first part, why are there not more position reports on the short legs? The quick answer is that each position report is hand checked by a Duty Officer in race headquarters to ensure the numbers are right. In that sense, it's a manpower issue. Although they are there 24/7 when the boats are at sea, they can't process that information all of the time.

But more importantly looking ahead to the next race, it's a question of what people want. Up until this race, position reports came just four times a day. For the Barcelona World Race, they were every two hours for most of the day, with a six-hour break overnight. This time around, we decided to double the frequency, to every three hours. There's a clear upside to that - it feels more like you're watching in real time. The downside - or perceived downside depending on your point of view - is that as the boats all know where the rest of the fleet is, you never get those 'breakaway' moves. That was one of the reasons for instituting the StealthPlay. It allowed to teams to make a tactical break from the fleet.

I don't think it's a coincidence that the racing has been so close in this edition of the race. I think it's a direct result of the increase flow of information in the position reports. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it is a change. It's certainly one of the things we'll be evaluating, with input from the teams, when we look ahead to the next race.

What do you think about it? Drop us an email...

 

20:45 GMT UPDATE

The FleetBroadband Express is on station with the fleet, and reporting that they have all now tacked to starboard. Telefonica Black was the first to go, followed by Green Dragon. Telefonica Blue then went, and crossed Ericsson 4 when she did so – it’s looking like an inshore race out there at the moment. Ericsson 4 and Ericsson 3 then tacked as well, and were finally followed by Delta Lloyd.

PUMA held on, going right into the coast and looking to get some benefit from the island’s influence on the wind. But they have finally tacked as well, just before we posted this, so everyone is now on starboard, headed across the Gulf of Finland, towards the northern shore, towards Finland, in fact.

Apparently Hiiumaa is flat with trees, but everywhere around there has trees, doesn’t it? Or maybe I’m once again displaying my sketchy grasp of the geography of the area.

The breeze is dropping, and they are in flatter water now, with some shelter from the island. Everyone has fractional genoas up, PUMA and Ericsson 4 look to be operating a watch system, while Telefonica Black has everyone on the weather side, giving it their all.

Ericsson 4 has rigged some protection for their radar, because she has started tacking, and doubtless they don’t want to do what Ericsson 3 did on the approach to the Stockholm finish, i.e. hook the headsail sheet up on the radar and lose the leg, just in case you weren’t paying attention.

Jan Innes writes from the Marblehead sunshine, and gives me a VERY hard time over my 17:15 GMT Update comment about Andy Murray’s tennis match being an English thing, when he is of course a Scot. Good point, although I actually meant that ridiculously over-hyping the prospects of our one decent player to the point where the pressure and expectation makes it impossible for them to ever get a result on their home (British) turf, was an English trait. If you see what I mean.

And fortunately, Jan, I have food on this long evening blog stint. And I suspect that Aksel and Ericsson 3 have taken those cheese snacks with them, as this is only a 1-2 day leg.

Patrik Wikberg also writes from Helsinki, and it sounds like plenty of people are planning to go and watch the fleet go by tomorrow morning. The Race Viewer shows them passing close to Tallin, but this is based on the weather forecast and, of course, that could change. So keep watching the Viewer for updates, and hopefully you’ll be able to make a plan to intercept closer to the time.

I’m going to sign off there, as Peter Rusch has just called to say he’s landed in Helsinki, and will be keeping you updated (although not quite so regularly, as he’s had a very long day) through the wee hours. And I’m off for a very short kip, before catching a plane to St Petersburg – hopefully see you back here tomorrow afternoon.

20:15 GMT UPDATE

Everyone is still headed for the coast of Hiiumaa, Estonia. PUMA is leading the fleet in towards the beach, Delta Lloyd directly behind her (west), Telefonica Blue and the two Ericsson boats to the north-west, and Telefonica Black and Green Dragon to the south-west. PUMA can go a maximum of another ten or 12 miles before they will have to tack.

And the breeze is cranking, we have up to 20 knots on the fleet now, so I think we can be confident that it is wet and cold, and about to get dark, albeit briefly. And the wind is continuing to shift towards the east, so I think we will see them get right into this coast – there could easily be a beneficial geographic shift and perhaps even more breeze around the headlands.

BR Pekka is asking a tough question from Finland, “Based on the last fix of the fleet and predicted course and speed of the boats, when and to what bearing should I leave on from Helsinki to see the fleet? I can make 20 knots.” Too early to call that, I’m afraid, because the forecast is for them to be tacking upwind, eastwards along the Gulf of Finland. So they could be anywhere by the time they get a reasonable distance from Helsinki.

Andrew Brewer has written in from Peter Rusch’s home town of Toronto, and after wrestling with the balance of performance against the factors we suggested (like budget and preparation time), Andrew reckons; “I think the best performers are the smaller teams with limited resources such as Green Dragon and Delta Lloyd. Considering the fact that Delta Lloyd is an older generation boat I think they should be considered as one of the best performers.”

For the best innovation – Volvo Open 70, take a bow. “It’s amazing the damage the boats take and they still keep going. I can’t believe how quickly the PUMA team replaced the broken rudder in the open ocean [neither could they], or managing to carry on with a broken boom or forestay.”

Andrew also has the best boat as PUMA, particularly as it’s a single boat team. “Best memory, this is hard, so I will cheat and say the entire Volvo Ocean Race program. I found it very exciting and you all at HQ did a great job reporting all the details to us. I’m going to miss it when it’s over. Worst memory was when Team Russia was forced to suspend racing in Singapore.”

At least they are back for the coronation parade, Andrew.

19:45 GMT UPDATE

I’m guessing that by now you’ll all have checked out the 19:00 GMT position report, along with the fleet on the Race Viewer. They are still heading towards the coast of Estonia on the south shore of the Gulf of Finland. And that island is called Hiiiumaa.

Since then, PUMA has eased ahead of the rest of the northern group of Telefonica Blue and the two Ericsson boats, but she’s done it by sailing a wider wind angle, and is now separated from the others, a little further south. Delta Lloyd has also separated from her southern group, and is now directly behind PUMA, while Telefonica Black still leads Green Dragon along a lane to the south of the fleet.

Russell Dexter is in Boston and wondering what will happen to PUMA after the race. Personally, I’m just wondering about the next two days, and then I’m going to collapse in a heap in a darkened room and enjoy not worrying about PUMA for a while. And thanks for the thanks, Russell. As I said, that’s how you get your emails posted.

It now appears that we’re not going to get thrown out of the media centre, and Cassie has brought me food. So all is well with the world.

19:15 GMT UPDATE

Rick Deppe has just written in from PUMA. For anyone who has just joined us, I should add that at the 16:45 GMT Update, we talked about the wind being forecast to shift from the north-northeast towards the east this evening (which Rick refers to by the sailor’s jargon of ‘header’ and ‘right-hander’ – don’t ask), and this wind shift apparently started to arrive at the 18:15 GMT Update.

“Apparently the hammering taken by Telefonica Blue the other week on the rocks outside Marstrand seems to have had very little effect on the boat. They do not have a speed problem at the moment, although I'm sure they might see it differently because they just failed to get by us after coming at us hard since trailing in second from the 
start.

“A big effort by the PUMA crew and a bit of a header to 54 degrees (True Wind Direction or TWD) has meant that Il Mostro keeps the lead for now. However, despite our nice half-mile lead the chasing pack of Telefonica Blue and the Ericsson boats looks particularly menacing. 

“Capey (Andrew Cape, navigator) is in the hot seat monitoring this expected right hander and at some point he will be making the call to tack onto starboard. In anticipation of the tack all the crew are on deck and as I write I can hear the guys trimming the runner winch. When this is over, I'm not going to miss the noise that it makes when they ease it.”

I can add to Rick’s notes that whatever happens they are going to be tacking quite soon, as there’s some serious real estate in the way. Twenty miles in front of them is an island, which may, or may not, be called Hiiumaa, but as there’s no atlas in this media centre I can’t confirm it one way or another. But it’s the island at the southern side of the entrance to the Gulf of Finland, if anyone can enlighten us? Or I’ll just have to Google it.

Meanwhile, Rick is getting cold. “Quite a bit chillier out here than it was in the waters around Stockholm, not surprising really at such a northern latitude. Thankfully there is very little water coming over the decks, with the current 14 degrees centigrade water temperature and our upwind sailing, waves would be a bad thing.

“Things are very quiet on the boat, I had been hoping for some type of raucous Baltic Beer cruise which would give me something to get my teeth into as a final video contribution to the race, but right now the guys seem hyper-focused and no-one is even saying much - interesting. Maybe tomorrow when the wind dies they will relax a bit.”

Or not.

18:45 GMT UPDATE

The whole fleet has now got the wind shift we reported in the 18:15 GMT Update, and they are all now steering a course slightly south of east. But the north-to-south separation has stayed about the same at two miles, so not much, even in the context of the slightly less than 300 miles that they have to go.

The FleetBroadband Express is with the boats, and Mark Covell reports that there is some jostling amongst the northern group of PUMA, Telefonica Blue and the two Ericsson boats. It’s Ericsson 3 making the running with a move to sail a course slightly closer to the wind (closer to east), and everyone else in that pack has followed shadowed the move. The waves have picked up to a short chop, but nothing particularly unpleasant, and everyone has masthead genoas up.

Eliot Shanabrook lives in Boston and has lots of great memories from the race’s stopover there. Along with a good answer to the best innovation question, “The reliability of these boats is incredible given the pounding they take. That’s no easy engineering feat!” And for Eliot, the best performances were Telefonica Blue’s epic seamanship through the storm in the Luzon Strait to finish first in Qingdao, along with Ericsson 4’s 24-hour record. There was more, but you’re not supposed to come up with a list. Sorry. We have rules.

And Andy Murray has beaten Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 at Wimbledon. Could this be the year when plucky failure is not emblematic of British tennis? Probably not.

18:15 GMT UPDATE

It’s starting to get a little flaky out there – although the breeze is still solid strength wise, blowing in the mid- to high-teens, the northern group (PUMA, Telefonica Blue, Ericsson 3 and 4) has hit a veering (rotating clockwise) wind shift, from the north-northeast to the north-east, and it’s forcing them to converge with the group to leeward.

Stephen Slingerland has come up with some cracking answers to the Race Report questions we posed you in the 15:45 GMT Update. He reckons that the Green Dragon team has done the best job, taking into account the competitiveness of the boat, financial clout, preparations and so on, saying:

“I'm awfully proud of Ian Walker and Green Dragon. Having so many smaller sponsors, especially with Chinese and Irish cultures mixing, has got to be tough to deal with, and they still managed a good result. Of course Kenny Read and the PUMA boys deserve a hand for putting up a good fight with Ericsson 4, and I think they can say their sponsor got a good return - I know I bought a pair of deck shoes to support the team!”

Stephen has the best boat as Telefonica Blue, reckoning; “If it hadn't been for some seriously bad luck, they would be higher up on the podium.” And the best memory was the nail-chewing finish into Singapore, “I really didn't get any work done that day!” While the worst memory was “Waking up Saturday morning and finding out that half the fleet had serious damage from the storm in Leg 4. It made my pancakes far less appetizing knowing the guys were out there battling those conditions.”

And to the question about the best innovations in this race, Stephen replied; “Everyone seems to agree about the Telefonica rig, but I think the level of media coverage has done the most to improve the race. The only thing I'd ask for is more frequent position reports, but then I probably wouldn't get as much work done in my office!”

That, people, is the way to get your emails in the blog. Sucking up. Stephen, you’ve cheered us up enormously, which is a good thing, as it could be a long night. Or we could get thrown out of the media centre at any moment, as we’re apparently already 15 minutes past the official closing time. Given the dial-up era connection speed of the hotel wi-fi that would seriously curtail the blog, and may end with my laptop in a thousand pieces in the street outside...

18:00 GMT UPDATE

The photo team have been flat out posting images from the start – there’s some great stuff from Rick Tomlinson and Dave Kneale, along with the first of the shots from the media crews – check it out right here.

Joost Kors wants to know how Team Russia is doing. Good question, we don’t have position updates from them, as I believe the electronics aboard the boat was one of the many issues with it. But Gustav Morin described the fleet set-up relative to Ericsson 3 at 16:00 GMT as follows: “The Russians are behind us to leeward, Delta Lloyd and Green Dragon are straight to leeward. PUMA is still in front and Telefonica Blue and Ericsson 4 are following closely behind.” So now you know.

17:45 GMT UPDATE

Nothing too remarkable out on the water, the breeze is back up a little, the northern group pushing out ahead of the southern group a little more.

But there’s plenty of action in the Race Report questions we posed you in the 15:45 GMT Update. Henk van Ommeren has a worst memory of Telefonica Blue’s rock escapade out of Marstrand in Leg 9. I think that may turn out to be a popular choice. And his best memory is of Ericsson 4’s 24-hour record run, 596 miles plus change.

An interesting, and largely untold, story from that one was that they were deliberately slowing down for the last few hours as they were taking in water through damage to the rudder fittings. Otherwise, it would easily have been 600+ - read the full story in my book about the race, Spanish Castle to White Night, selling like hot cakes, and it isn’t out for four months....

Yes, I know; shameless self-promotion. So sue me.

17:15 GMT UPDATE

The breeze has dropped a couple of knots, it’s more like 12-14 now, and it’s backed (rotated anti-clockwise) to the north-northeast. It’s forecast to go the other way – see the 16:45 GMT Update. Not much change in the standings, PUMA still has a narrow lead from Telefonica Blue, Ericsson 4 and Ericsson 3.

But the wind shift has sent Telefonica Black back to fifth as everyone is now sailing much closer to the course to the waypoint at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland. I guess that better reflects her position on the water, leading the southern (leeward) group of Delta Lloyd and then Green Dragon. The latter two continue to drift off the back of the fleet.

Ericsson 3’s media crew, Gustav Morin, has cheered up a bit, after his earlier rather downbeat email.

We’ve had the first answers in from the questions posed in the 15:45 GMT Update – and I should say, in case Riath’s story didn’t make it clear, that we’re talking about this race only.

Phil Gross puts forward as his best memory PUMA winning the last leg. I guess that’s an easy one if you’re a PUMA fan; tougher if you’ve been rooting for Ericsson 4, who have won 5 legs. And his worse memory was all the problems the teams had getting to China. 

And Andy Murray is 6-1 and one game up in the second set against Ernests Gulbis. It’s an English thing.

16:45 GMT UPDATE

Like everyone else, in his latest email, Green Dragon’s skipper, Ian Walker is looking forward to coming back to Stockholm to have a proper look around. Meanwhile, he finds himself in a familiar position, “Here we go again - sailing upwind and slowly losing miles. I will not miss this when the race ends. Fortunately it cannot last for days as St Petersburg is less than 300 miles away.

“Now everybody is engaged in a drag race on port tack and we are nearly halfway to Estonia. Hopefully something will change in the weather at some point to shake up proceedings. For now it is a question of doing the best we can to stay in touch with the other boats. The conditions are perfect with flat water, medium winds and sunshine - who knows, maybe we can get to St Petersburg without getting wet?”

I guess he hasn’t checked in with the bowman’s union recently, last time I saw the guys on the front of Ericsson 4, they were already wet. And it does seem that there will indeed be a shake-up with the weather. I’ve had a quick look at the Race Viewer, and if you click the weather forward six hours, the wind is going to shift to an easterly. That’s why everyone is happy to sail fast, south of the course, because it will give them a better position once the wind veers (rotates clockwise) to the east.

The start video has been posted on the .tv website - it’s good, particularly the bit where I say Telefonica Blue is in the lead, only for the pictures to cut straight to PUMA rounding the mark ahead of them. That’s what happens when you don’t buy the television producer dinner when you have the chance...

16:15 GMT UPDATE

The fleet are starting to edge back to a course closer to the waypoint at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland. No real change amongst the top five, but Green Dragon and Delta Lloyd are slipping back a little further.

Gabri Olivo writes from Telefonica Blue; “The situation hasn't changed much, we are still holding the two Ericsson boats behind us, while PUMA is 200m ahead. Telefonica Black has stopped gaining bearing (note: moving forward against the fixed compass card), and we're holding steady on her, while we gained quite a bit on Delta Lloyd and Green Dragon. It is gonna be pure boat speed until the wind shift tonight, where the cards on the table may change. Mood on board is pretty good, plenty of coffee flying around while we’re pushing the boat hard.”

So I guess I better find a weather forecast now that things have calmed down a bit after the madcap ride back from Sandhamn, and figure out what wind shift he’s talking about. Standby, caller.

Meanwhile, Gabri goes on, “The only downside is that my beloved SLR (camera) died this morning after being serviced in Stockholm, seems weird that it doesn't work after going to the doctor. I’ve had to go back to the small compact camera and it's a bit of a pain, but no choice for me. We're talking about giving her the old style funeral, which means gently letting her go over side... But I think she deserves to arrive at the finish in St Petersburg.”

Probably for the best, otherwise I think you’ll find that’s littering, Gabri, and you don’t want to get us all in trouble with the green lobby.

Roland wrote from Cape Town before the start, asking, “What are we going to do when the race is over?” I know the answer should be, “Concentrate a lot more on work...” but hell, it's going to be hard... I know the crews must be tired, but don't you guys want to go round one more lap so the fun doesn't end just yet?”

And in reply, I can only refer you to the words of one Gustav Morin, who, I suspect, speaks for many of us...

15:45 GMT UPDATE

So much for the yacht race - time for some final leg reflections. Riath Al-Samarrai did a great story yesterday called Race Report Cards, in which he asked a handful of crew the same five questions.

1: Considering each team's circumstances - competitiveness of boat, financial clout, preparations and otherwise - who do you think has performed the best?

2: Have any innovations among the teams stood out for you?

3: Which do you think is the best boat?

4: Best memory?

5: Worst memory?

This is your chance to have your say on the same questions – answer any or all to the usual liveblog@volvooceanrace.org email address, and we’ll be posting the best answers - assuming that there are any, and you haven’t all gone sailing...

15:30 GMT UPDATE

The southern group of Telefonica Black, Green Dragon and Delta Lloyd have been sailing a wider, faster wind angle. As a result they have gained some ground on the leaderboard, which is measuring their straight-line distance to a waypoint at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland. But all seven boats are heading below the course to that waypoint, so unless there’s a shift in the wind direction, they will all have tack, and that will put the northern group back in the lead.

But at the moment, for what it’s worth, the leaderboard reads: PUMA, with Telefonica Blue, Telefonica Black, Ericsson 4 and Ericsson 3 all within a mile of her, then Delta Lloyd and Green Dragon struggling a little for pace, another half mile, and a mile behind respectively. So, nothing much in it then.

15:20 GMT UPDATE

After a couple of hours of blatting back from the start at Sandhamn (along with about another thousand boats), this is Mark Chisnell reporting for the first evening shift of the Leg 10 Live Blog. So, what’s been going on out there on the Baltic since the fleet eased away from the Swedish coast?

The breeze has got up, now about 14-16 knots from the north-east. They have split into two groups, the top four overall are in a tight pack to the north, led by PUMA with Telefonica Blue right behind them, and the two Ericsson boats chasing them from a little further to windward (north). The group to leeward (south) is led by Telefonica Black, with Green Dragon and Delta Lloyd chasing them. The split came straight out of Sandhamn when the leaders went on the wind, while the others sailed a faster, more easterly course. We’ll be watching to see how that one works out.

The emails are already coming in from the media crews, Guy Salter aboard Ericsson 4 has plans for the finish line: “There seem to be a few changes in our galley. Gone are the tea bags and cup-soups and in their place we have two bottles of port - which are strictly NOT for cooking. Rather, a nice small glass of port as we cross the finish line is going to be a pleasant way to end this race - after all we have a long motor to the customs dock in Russia.”

13:25 GMT UPDATE

This email just in from Rick Deppe on PUMA: "The start for PUMA couldn't have been better - il mostro led from the gun and extended almost immediately after rounding the inshore "sausage" and last mark before heading out to sea."

"Reaching starts are always fun as they come with the danger of coming in too fast and being over. Jerry Kirby, back on the team for the last leg, was on the bow and he had a few anxious moments as he slowed Kenny down in the final few boat lengths before the start line.

"His quote walking back from the bow, 'That was too close!'

"Kenny gave a pep talk before the race, he told us that treating this like any other leg of the race was our best strategy and to not get sidetracked by the points issue and the re-emergence of Team Russia, who we just found out are not actually in the race.

"The guys are pumped and looking forward to the leg and the finish in a few days."

13:20 GMT UPDATE

OK... I lied... this is the final entry from Sandhamn. But don't fret - Mark Chisnell will be online in Stockholm shortly to keep you up to date.

The first position report of the leg has come through and PUMA continues to lead the fleet away from Sweden. Telefonica Blue and the Ericssons are falling in line behind, while Green Dragon, Delta Lloyd and Telefonica Black have fallen to leeward. So already, the fleet has split.

OK...that's it from Sandhamn. Mark will be online soon, and I'll be back later tonight from Helsinki. By lunchtime tomorrow, we should all be in St. Petersburg.

13:05 GMT UPDATE

A final post from here in Sandhamn as they're tearing the internet connection out.

Phil has pushed an email our way asking about coverage of the next race... he'd like to see the 24/7 cameras on the boats. So would we!! It's a bit early to say how coverage will evolve over the next couple of years. The technology is there to transmit images 24/7 now, but the bandwidth and connectivity costs through the satellites would be horrendous. I think it's safe to say the coverage is moving towards being 'always on' but whether we'll get there by the next race is an open question.

12:50 GMT UPDATE

Back on the blog now, following the dot-tv coverage of the start. PUMA leads the fleet away from Sandhamn on the final 'one-percent', in mileage terms, of the Volvo Ocean Race.

We'll bring you a quick update following the 13:00 GMT position report, and then Mark Chisnell (currently catching a fast RIB back to Stockholm, will take over for the evening. Send in your emails, share your thoughts, and enjoy the last leg of the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race with us.

12:35 GMT UPDATE

A little over half an hour into the leg, PUMA leads from Telefonica Blue, Green Dragon, then the two Ericsson boats, Delta Lloyd and behind them Team Russia making up the eight boat fleet.

It looks like everyone is hard on the wind now they are clear of the final two lighthouses and stretching away from the coast.

It's beautiful day, we have good breeze, flat water, a huge spectator fleet, what more could you need for some great sailing.

12:22 GMT UPDATE

Ericsson 4 and Telefonica Black are furling up their code zeroes, which obviously didn't work for them as they would have hoped. The genoa-carrying boats are moving much faster.

PUMA goes through the start line to round the second mark and streaks away to lead the fleet off to the final finish in St Petersburg.

Telefonica Blue has tacked around the mark, points their bow at Russia and they're off, Green Dragon rounds not far behind them, closely followed by a speedy Ericsson 4 and then Ericsson 3.

12:14 GMT UPDATE

The fleet has extended as they head back down the course to the next mark, and Telefonica Blue struggles to hold off PUMA the lead.

Bowman Pepe Ribes was battling to move the furled code 0 to the leeward side so they can drop it safely, but they have had to go for the drop beneath their genoa - they have done it, but it's looking a bit soggy now...

12:07 GMT UPDATE

At the moment it is looking very even between PUMA and Ericsson 4 as they approach the first mark. Telefonica Blue, out to windward, is also in the lead bunch. However Ericsson 4 looks to be losing some pace as they are covered by PUMA, to windward of them.

Team Russia will wait for the Volvo Open 70s to complete the first loop of the start course before joining the fleet on the leg to St Petersburg.

12:03 GMT UPDATE

At the gun, all the oats were clear with Telefonica Blue, Ericsson 4 and PUMA having the best start as they reached across the line. The boats are flying, doing 15-16 knots on the first leg of the course.

Most of the fleet have a big genoa reacher up, with only DL and Telefonica Black carrying staysail and code 0 which could be a big advantage for them.

11:55 GMT UPDATE

At the 5-minute gun, the boats are sailing around the start area, timing their runs to the line and deciding which end of the start they want.

11:50 GMT UPDATE

The 10-minute gun has just sounded, and the Volvo Open 70s are getting into race mode. Breeze is around 12 knots at the moment.

There is a decent number of spectator boats out on the racecourse, despite it being a work-day in Stockholm.

Watch the start live here: www.volvooceanrace.tv/page/live/ with commentary from Peter Rusch and Mark Chisnell, or listen to Guy Swindells' on-water commentary.

11:30 GMT UPDATE

We've just been speaking to Bill O'Hara the Principal Race Officer. He's told us the Race Committee has elected to run with 'course 2'. For those of you who follow the leg sailing instructions, that's the slightly shorter race track.

The course axis for the first loop that the fleet will sail before heading for St. Petersburg is 120-degrees. The wind is near 045-degrees at about 8 to 10 knots.

11:00 GMT UPDATE

Still sunny and bright here on Sandhamn. Mark Chisnell and Peter Rusch here out on the island getting ready for the live dot-tv broadcast of the start.

We've just heard from Knut on the race course. He's saying the wind is near 10 knots, from 045. At the marina where the boats finished leg 9, it's a hive of activity. It may be Thursday, but it looks like most of Stockholm is on the water this afternoon.

You can listen to Guy Swindells and Lisa McDonald cover the start of the final leg through the links on the homepage. Or flip over to www.volvooceanrace.tv where Mark Chisnell, Knut Frostad and myself, Peter Rusch, will be watching the start. Both programmes go live at 11:45 GMT, or 13:45 local time. (Guy has put together a 30-minute audio pre-show that starts on both channels at 11:15 GMT).

10:00 GMT UPDATE

Mark Chisnell checks in with his leg preview: There’s not a whole lot to say about the weather and course for Leg 10, a 400 mile trek eastwards across the Baltic and down the Gulf of Finland, to where St Petersburg lies at the eastern end. But the need to get everyone to the finish in time for the parade lap through the bridge and into the city means that Race Management have given themselves options to both extend and shorten the course. All the details are in the race instructions for those of you who like that kind of stuff, but we will update you on those options in the blog if they are exercised.

Whatever happens, the fleet must reverse the route they took into Sandhamn at the end of Leg 9, leaving the lighthouses of Svangen and Revengegrundet to starboard. There is one navigational mark (Sodergrundan) that they must leave to port. After that it’s a straight blast eastwards until the longitude of 27 degrees 50 minutes east when a decision will be made on the rest of the race course. There is also an exclusion zone that will keep the fleet away from the south coast just before St Petersburg. Did I say it was simple? I meant in principle, in practice it seems to be turning out a little more complex.

At first sight, the weather is also straight-forward. A huge area of high pressure is sitting over northern Europe, centred over the northern Baltic, and this has set up the light to moderate north-easterly breeze that Jennifer Lilly’s final (we’re having an in-house competition to see who can use this word the most in the next three days) race start forecast is predicting for this afternoon.

The high pressure isn’t going anywhere in a hurry, but while the conditions will be stable on a macro scale, there will be plenty happening at the micro scale to influence the outcome of our boat race. The north-easterly breeze will dominate the next couple of days, but it will be subtly shifting as the high pressure wobbles and waffles.

And once the fleet get into the Gulf of Finland, they will have the choice of the north or south coastline to play all the way to the finish, with the possibility of sea breezes and Katabatic or drainage winds to mix things up. So, this may be a straight-line coronation parade, but there’s going to be plenty of ways to make gains and losses, and no shortage of people who’d love the chance to stand on the top of that final podium.

06:40 GMT UPDATE

And with that, the final departure ceremony is over. It's going to be a little while before we have more for you, as the fleet is now on a three-hour plus motor out to the start area. Mark Chisnell and Peter Rusch are soon off as well, heading to Sandhamn to bring you live coverage of the start over on www.volvooceanrace.tv. Or, here on the main website, Guy Swindells and guests will have audio commentary of the start as well.

In the meantime, our friends at Ericsson have processed the video from Sunday's in-port race and put together the 'multiview' package of the start of the first in-port race. You can find it here. 

06:30 GMT UPDATE

Riath Al-Samarrai reports from dockside: They've gone. For the final time in this nine-month odyssey the fleet have left the dock. Just one more leg remains and then it's time for home.

For Tony Mutter, Ericsson 4's two-time race winner, it will be the first real trip to his house in New Zealand for four and a half years. "I did the ABN AMRO ONE project, then the America's Cup and now this," he said moments before the screeching of Metallica signalled their time to go. "I'll be going back home for a couple of days, then off to LA for the Transpac with Alfa Romeo. Then it's a real break. I'm just looking forward to sitting by the fire, doing the school run. I guess that's what it's like to do something normal. Sounds nice. This race is great, I love it. But I'm ready for a rest now."

He's not the only one. "This race is seriously tough," added Green Dragon's Phil Harmer. "It's brutal. What a great experience. But I'm tired. I'm looking forward to just getting home. I don't know if I'll fit back into society after this."

There remains a leg, though, and despite the apparent foregone conclusion of the leaderboard there is still a sharp competitive edge. "We want to win a leg," said Roberto "Chuny" Bermudez, the Delta Lloyd skipper. "Call him the Chunster, he loves it," prompted crew-mate Nick Bice. Volvooceanrace.org can confirm he does not.

Erle Williams, the PUMA veteran whose round-the-world career dates back to 1981, spent the final minutes with only his thoughts. "It's always a bit sad when the race ends," he says. "I'd like to come back and have another go. It's a great trip. You do some amazing things on these boats; it's amazing what you put yourself through. It can just be relentless, smashing off waves, charging along. Love it."

He might not get the chance for too much fast sailing this leg. Once again, it looks like it will be an upwind slog. "Should start quite breezy," Williams added. "About 15 to 20 knots for the first day and then dropping to about 10 as we go by Finland."

The consensus is that it will amount to a 38-40-hour trip. "Always the hardest, these short legs," said Ken Read, the PUMA skipper. "So intense. Everyone is in sight so you push all the time. Not much sleep between here and Russia." Where they think they will be on Saturday afternoon. "It'll be hard. Just like the rest of this race," he added.

With Team Russia unable to make any impact on the leaderboard because of yesterday's heartbreaking failure to be deemed eligible (they will still sail to Russia with the fleet), the race for second is now all but over. The only thing that will stop PUMA claiming the spot is seriously debilitating damage before the start gun goes. That said, there is a three-hour trip to the start-line...

Blue skipper Bouwe Bekking has repeatedly played down his team's chances this week, but still looked a little disappointed when told the Team Russia news last night. "We've still had a good campaign," he said. "A lot of positives to be taken."

He is already in discussions with sponsors about doing another race, a race that would be his sixth in this event. "I love it," he said. "Can't stay away for long." They are an odd bunch of people. An odd bunch who have left the dock for the last time in this race.

06:00 GMT UPDATE

Team Russia is back - sort of. See the full story here. Although they won't be racing in Leg 10 - the measurement and other Rule compliance hurdles were just too high - the team will follow the fleet across the start line and shadow them all the way to St. Petersburg.

05:30 GMT UPDATE

Welcome to the Leg 10 Start Blog, which will, inevitably, morph into the leg blog a few hours hence. As on the Swedish sprint of Leg 9, we'll be bringing you 24-hour, tag-team coverage of the entire final leg into St. Petersburg. Riath Al-Samarrai, Mark Chisnell, Cameron Kelleher and Peter Rusch will be contributing along the way, as will the Media Crew Members on each boat and Mark Covell on the FleetBroadband Express.

And don't forget, you can send us your comments and queries at liveblog@volvooceanrace.org. Follow us on Twitter right here. And you can also link to it directly from your mobile via the top of the mobile channel.

Let's start off with a quick update from Stockholm. It's just on 07:30 local time here and the fleet is in departure mode. It's a bit of a 'stutter-start' for us here with the fleet obliged to leave so early in order to get out to the start area in Sandhamn, over three hours away.

But they've got a good day for it. Again, not a cloud in the sky, warm temperatures and a forecast for the start of winds around 12 knots. What more could you ask for?

It's Riath Al-Samarrai and Peter Rusch on the early shift this morning, and Riath will have comments from dockside in just a few minutes.

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