SAILING:IN A cliff-hanger conclusion to leg eight of the Volvo Ocean Race, Ian Walker and the Green Dragon crew secured their second podium result of the event shortly after dawn yesterday at the picturesque island of Marstrand on Sweden's west coast.
The final 60 miles of the 1,250-mile stage from Galway proved critical, as the Irish-Chinese entry had battled to hold either first or second place for most of the passage around the Irish and English coasts and up into the North Sea to Denmark.
However, a low-pressure system that centred directly over Green Dragon and overall race leader Ericsson 4 brought the leading pair to a halt. In desperation to maintain any boatspeed, both hugged the Danish coast just outside the surf line.
Meanwhile, Ken Read on American entry Puma Ocean Racing was staging a massive recovery from a 100-mile deficit after shredding their masthead spinnaker off the Dutch coast on Tuesday.
The Rhode Island skipper had a separate low-pressure system to negotiate and opted to sail north-west in a move that appeared to write-off his team's chances.
Instead, Read and navigator Andrew Cape skirted the fleet and converged with the leaders before midnight on Wednesday, just seven miles behind Green Dragon, who was at that stage a mile behind Torben Grael on the overall leader.
Next, a rain squall shrouded the leading three boats, and, when it cleared, Puma was on the Dragon's hip and pounced. The shredded spinnaker had been repaired on board and, taking advantage of the Galway boat's weakness in reaching conditions, powered ahead.
As first light broke over Marstrand yesterday, crowds gathered along the rocky shoreline as three sails appeared: first Grael, who collected his third consecutive stage win, then Read in second, while Walker and the Dragon clung on just seven boat-lengths behind, tantalisingly close but powerless to overtake.
It was a carbon copy result of the leg into Galway when Walker's team collected their first third place of the race.
But the close finishes hadn't ended. Less than half an hour later, Bouwe Bekking on Spain's Telefonica Blue crossed the line ahead of his team-mates on their Black boat that was dicing with previous race-winning yacht now named Team Delta Lloyd.
In a daring move, navigator Wouter Verbraak called for the Dutch boat to short-cut through a rocky patch and succeeded in stealing fifth place from the Spanish by a mere boat-length.
That move was all the more daring as Marstrand is a four-day pit-stop only: the fleet must remain in the water and repairs can only be completed by the sailing crew with materials carried on-board.
Of the fleet, just Grael's Ericsson 4 has significant problems, with a large area of delamination in the hull to be contained until the fleet reaches Stockholm next week. However, with a 15-point lead, few doubt this race has now been won and only a calamitous, total loss will prevent the Brazilian Olympic legend from lifting the overall trophy in two weeks.
