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It was initially suspected that Green Dragon, who snapped their boom in a 48-knot gust just three days out of Cape Town, discussed stopping at Mauritius to pick up a spare only to drop the idea in favour of a jury rig.
However, Walker confirmed that plans were so advanced they had even received clearance from authorities at the island of Diego Garcia to fly in their replacement boom from Amsterdam.
Over the last few hours Jean-Pierre Dick, the southernmost of the chasing group, has reaped the reward of his positioning and has been making a blistering 18.8 knots average speed between the two ranking reports, the quickest in the fleet, and in fact setting the highest intermediate average speed of the race to date.
Wind conditions are forecast to improve for Team Russia as they soldier on towards the finish line for leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race.
The team is currently battling very light and variable winds, but the forecast is for the breeze to build as a Northeasterly funnels between the tip of the subcontinent and Sri Lanka. The stronger conditions, if they materialise, will help bring the team to the southern tip of India, where hopefully, they can utilise the heating effect of the land and the sea breezes that generate.
It redefined the concept of a last-minute dash, but the manner in which Telefonica Black stormed from seventh to fourth in the final few hours of leg two did not surprise navigator Roger Nilson in the slightest.
Fernando Echavarri's team were seemingly out of the race, destined to back up their last place arrival into Cape Town with a paltry two points in India after spending almost the entirety of the first 15 days in the bottom three.
The slowing global economies have claimed another victim. This time it’s not a boat yard, a big dealer or an equipment manufacturer that’s feeling the strain, but an astonishing explorer raising money for Sail 4 Cancer.
Despite big exposure and pledges of help during the Southampton Boat Show, the irrepressible adventurer Tom McNally is struggling to meet his pre-Christmas launch date in the world’s most diminutive transatlantic sailing boat – the amazing 3-foot 10-inch ‘Big C’.
The leading three boats in this Vendée Globe now stand at 39 degrees south, on the cusp of the Forties — the next four boats have plunged further south and are already there.
It’s time to pull out the thermals and put on their southern ocean heads…
Ericsson 3 crossed the finish line off Cochin at 07:36 GMT (13:00 local time) to earn third place in leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race.
The team will earn six points, taking them to 14.5 points overall. That's good enough for a short-term hold on third place. But as the boats behind finish, Ericsson 3 will slide down the table. How far they slide will depend upon the finishing order of the chasing pack.