GREEN DRAGON skipper Ian Walker's pre-start predictions proved accurate at the weekend when leg three of the Volvo Ocean Race got under way from Kochi, India en route to Singapore - hopefully in time for Christmas.

With light to moderate winds expected for the duration of the 1,950-mile leg, Walker warned not to expect too many tactical options and that fleet compression would be a regular occurrence.

The race start was preceded by a parade of sail around the harbour before a crowd estimated to number in tens of thousands. The overall attendance for the two-week stop-over was reported to have been close to Alicante's record of 900,000 people.

As the starting-gun fired, the Galway boat nailed the pin end of the line and led the fleet southwards before running out of pace minutes later and was quickly over-hauled by the seven other boats.

For the rest of the day, Green Dragon lagged in last place before a bold move into the coast that paid dividend by midnight when the Irish-Chinese backed entry was in the lead in the first turn-around as per the prediction.

That was followed during the day yesterday when the light-airs specialists of Telefonica Blue edged ahead quickly followed by race leader Torben Grael on Ericsson 4 - an old order of sorts forming again. That order sees Team Russia and Ger O'Rourke's Team Delta Lloyd haggling over eighth place.

But Walker - and the other skippers - were in agreement about this leg: slow and full of surprises. The first of those possibilities will have been passed this morning as the fleet clears an exclusion zone off Sri Lanka and begins a sprint eastwards to the north end of Sumatra where piracy risks increase once more.

From here, these unraced waters are unknown to the crews and a slow approach through the Straits of Mallacca is likely. "I think we all know deep down it will take forever to get to Singapore and Christmas on board could be a reality," said Walker yesterday.