2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race was a yacht race

Yacht racing

Yacht racing is the sport of competitive yachting.While sailing groups organize the most active and popular competitive yachting, other boating events are also held world-wide: speed motorboat racing; competitive canoeing, kayaking, and rowing; model yachting; and navigational contests Yacht racing...

held between October 4, 2008, and June 27, 2009—the 10th edition of the round the world Volvo Ocean Race

Volvo Ocean Race

The Volvo Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three years. It is named after its current owner, Volvo...

.

The eight participating boats made ten stops in nine countries around the world. The first offshore leg of the 2008–09 Race started in Alicante

Alicante

Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, on October 11, 2008, with the in-port race having been held seven days earlier. A total of ten legs created the route, with seven in-port (IP) races held at various cities around the world. The boats covered 37000 nautical miles (68,524 km) in the course of their journey. The chief executive of the 08–09 race was Knut Frostad

Knut Frostad

Knut Mauritz Frostad is a Norwegian yachtsman who has participated in a broad range of world championship level sailing events including the Volvo Ocean Race and the Olympic Games, the latter in windsurfing. He is currently CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race...

.

On June 15, 2009, Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael

Torben Grael

Torben Schmidt Grael is one of the most well known Brazilian sailors, renowned in international competitions. A descendant of Danes, he was taken sailing by his grandfather at five years old on the sailboat Aileen, of the extinct 6 meter class, which was the boat used by the silver medal winning...

, finished third on leg 9 from Marstrand to Stockholm, Sweden. With their third place finish, they were able to secure overall victory.
Ericsson 4 covered the 42500 miles (68,397 km) of the race in a time of 127 days, 7 hours, 46 minutes, 21 seconds. Ericsson 4 completed the race with 114 ½ points, whilst Puma ended with 105 ½. Afterwards Kochi was described as a "memorable" port but Galway

Galway

Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...

was the best.

Participants

Team & Boat name	Sail no.	Design Firm	Builder	Skipper
Ericsson Ericsson Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks... Racing Team Ericsson 3 - Nordic crew	SWE 3	Juan Yacht Design	Killian Bushe	Magnus Olsson (Leg 4- ) Anders Lewander (Leg 1-3)
Ericsson Ericsson Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks... Racing Team Ericsson 4 - International crew	SWE 4	Juan Yacht Design	Killian Bushe	Torben Grael Torben Grael Torben Schmidt Grael is one of the most well known Brazilian sailors, renowned in international competitions. A descendant of Danes, he was taken sailing by his grandfather at five years old on the sailboat Aileen, of the extinct 6 meter class, which was the boat used by the silver medal winning...
Green Dragon Racing Team Green Dragon Racing Team Green Dragon Racing Team competed in the 2008-2009 Volvo Ocean Race. The team was captained by Ian Walker and finished the race in fifth place overall, scoring 63 points. The boat was designed by Reichel Pugh and built by McConaghy Boats.-Race Team:... Green Dragon	IRL 888	Reichel Pugh Reichel/Pugh Reichel/Pugh is a yacht design company based in San Diego, California, USA. It is led by John Reichel and Jim Pugh.Since the late 1990s, Reichel/Pugh-designed yachts have successfully competed in many major races, including the America's Cup...	McConaghy Boats	Ian Walker Ian Walker (sailor) Ian Walker is one of Britain’s most successful sailors, with two Olympic silver medals to his name. Walker also coached Shirley Robertson and her Yngling Team to gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics...
Puma PUMA AG Puma SE, officially branded as PUMA, is a major German multinational company that produces high-end athletic shoes, lifestyle footwear and other sportswear. Formed in 1924 as Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik by Adolf and Rudolf Dassler, relationships between the two brothers deteriorated until the two... Ocean Racing Team Il Mostro	USA 1948	Botin Carkeek	Goetz Custom Boats & Customline Yachts	Ken Read Ken Read (sailor) Ken Read is one of the world’s most accomplished and celebrated sailors. He was named “United States Rolex Yachtsman of the Year” twice and has over 40 World, North American, and National Championships to his credit in a variety of classes including the J/24 and Etchells 22. While sailing at...
Team Delta Lloyd Black Betty	NED 1	Juan Yacht Design	Killian Bushe	Roberto Bermudez (Leg 2- ) Ger O'Rourke (Leg 1)
Team Russia Team Russia Team Russia was the name of the Russian backed entry in the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race. Team Russia was founded by Oleg Zherebtsov, the founder of the Lenta hypermarket chain in Russia... (Sponsor: WDCS) Kosatka	RUS 1	Humphreys Yacht Design	Green Marine	Andreas Hanakamp Andreas Hanakamp Andreas Hanakamp is an Austrian sailor who has competed in two Olympic Games as well many other sailing events including the 1996 Hong-Kong-Challenge, , Rolex Fastnet Race and most recently, is competing in the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race....
Telefonica Telefónica Telefónica, S.A. is a Spanish broadband and telecommunications provider in Europe and Latin America. Operating globally, it is the third largest provider in the world... Blue H.R.M. Elena	ESP 12	Farr Yacht Design Farr Yacht Design Farr Yacht Design, headed by Bruce Farr, is a racing yacht design team based in the United States. Its yachts measure from 25 to 125 feet . Farr develops custom and production yachts, including: interiors, sails, and hull design...	King Marine	Bouwe Bekking
Telefonica Telefónica Telefónica, S.A. is a Spanish broadband and telecommunications provider in Europe and Latin America. Operating globally, it is the third largest provider in the world... Black H.R.M. Cristina	ESP 11	Farr Yacht Design	Southern Ocean Marine	Fernando Echavarri Fernando Echavarri Fernando Echavarri Erasun is a professional yachtsman in the Olympic Tornado Class. Teaming with crew Antón Paz Blanco, he became Spanish, European, World Champion, ISAF Sailor of the year in 2005, Olympic Gold Medalist at the Beijing Games held in Qingdao.- Origins :Born and raised in Santander,...

Budgets

Ericsson's budgets were €50 million, whilst Puma's budget was approximately €20 million. By comparison, the joint Irish and Chinese team, Green Dragon, received €8 million from the Irish government and €4 million from China.

Team websites

Summary

Event	Starting date	Start	Finish	Distance (nmi Nautical mile The nautical mile is a unit of length that is about one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian, but is approximately one minute of arc of longitude only at the equator... )	Winner	Second	Third
IP Race 1	October 4, 2008	Alicante Alicante Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...		-	Telefonica Blue	Telefonica Black	PUMA
Leg 1	October 11, 2008	Alicante Alicante Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...	Cape Town Cape Town Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...	6,500	Ericsson 4	PUMA	Green Dragon.
Leg 2	November 15, 2008	Cape Town Cape Town Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...	Kochi	4,450	Ericsson 4	Telefonica Blue	Ericsson 3
Leg 3	December 13, 2008	Kochi	Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...	1,950	Telefonica Blue	Puma	Ericsson 3
IP Race 2	January 10, 2009	Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...		-	Ericsson 4	PUMA	Telefonica Blue
Leg 4	January 18, 2009	Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...	Qingdao Qingdao ' also known in the West by its postal map spelling Tsingtao, is a major city with a population of over 8.715 million in eastern Shandong province, Eastern China. Its built up area, made of 7 urban districts plus Jimo city, is home to about 4,346,000 inhabitants in 2010.It borders Yantai to the...	2,500	Telefonica Blue	PUMA	Ericsson 4
IP Race 3	February 7, 2009	Qingdao Qingdao ' also known in the West by its postal map spelling Tsingtao, is a major city with a population of over 8.715 million in eastern Shandong province, Eastern China. Its built up area, made of 7 urban districts plus Jimo city, is home to about 4,346,000 inhabitants in 2010.It borders Yantai to the...		-	Ericsson 4	Telefonica Blue	PUMA
Leg 5	February 14, 2009	Qingdao Qingdao ' also known in the West by its postal map spelling Tsingtao, is a major city with a population of over 8.715 million in eastern Shandong province, Eastern China. Its built up area, made of 7 urban districts plus Jimo city, is home to about 4,346,000 inhabitants in 2010.It borders Yantai to the...	Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...	12,300	Ericsson 3	Ericsson 4	PUMA
IP Race 4	April 4, 2009	Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...		-	Telefonica Blue	PUMA	Delta Lloyd
Leg 6	April 11, 2009	Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...	Boston Boston Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...	4,900	Ericsson 4	Ericsson 3	Telefonica Blue
IP Race 5	May 9, 2009	Boston Boston Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...		-	Telefonica Blue	Ericsson 4	Delta Lloyd
Leg 7	May 16, 2009	Boston Boston Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...	Galway Galway Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...	2,550	Ericsson 4	PUMA	Green Dragon
IP Race 6	May 30, 2009	Galway Galway Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...		-	PUMA Ocean Racing	Telefonica Blue	Telefonica Black
Leg 8	June 6, 2009	Galway Galway Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...	Marstrand Marstrand Marstrand is a seaside locality situated in Kungälv Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,432 inhabitants in 2005. It has held city privileges since 1200. The most striking feature about Marstrand is the 17th century fortress Carlsten, named after King Carl X Gustav of Sweden. The...	950	Ericsson 4	PUMA	Green Dragon
Leg 9	June 14, 2009	Marstrand Marstrand Marstrand is a seaside locality situated in Kungälv Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,432 inhabitants in 2005. It has held city privileges since 1200. The most striking feature about Marstrand is the 17th century fortress Carlsten, named after King Carl X Gustav of Sweden. The...	Stockholm Stockholm Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...	525	PUMA Ocean Racing	Ericsson 3	Ericsson 4
IP Race 7	June 21, 2009	Stockholm Stockholm Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...		-	Telefonica Blue	PUMA	Telefonica Black
Leg 10	June 25, 2009	Stockholm Stockholm Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...	Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...	370	Telefonica Black	PUMA	Telefonica Blue

The route also included seven ‘scoring gates’ (at Fernando de Noronha

Fernando de Noronha

Fernando de Noronha is an archipelago of 21 islands and islets in the Atlantic Ocean, offshore from the Brazilian coast. The main island has an area of and had a population of 3,012 in the year 2010...

, Mauritius

Mauritius

Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...

, Pulau Weh, Indonesia

Weh Island

Weh Island or Pulau Weh or Pulo Weh is a small active volcanic island to the northwest of Sumatra. It was originally connected to the Sumatran mainland and became separated by sea after the volcano's last eruption in the Pleistocene era. The island is situated in the Andaman Sea...

, Latitude 36S

36th parallel south

The 36th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 36 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, Australasia, the Pacific Ocean and South America....

, Cape Horn

Cape Horn

Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...

, Fernando de Noronha

Fernando de Noronha

and St John's, Newfoundland

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador

St. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 192,326 as of July 1, 2010, the St...

). Yachts scored 'half-points' at these gates, the same as for the in port races.

Cape Town

Ericsson 4 won leg one of the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race from Alicante, Spain, to Cape Town in South Africa in a time of 21 days, 17 hours and 54 minutes.

Kochi

The second leg of began on 15 November 2008, with the sailors avoiding pirates off the coast of Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

on their way to India.

Singapore

Telefonica Blue won leg three of the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race from Kochi, India, to Singapore in Singapore. Puma Ocean Racing finished in second place, whilst Ericsson 3 and Ericsson 4 finished in third and fourth places respectively. The race was described as very close, with the top four boats finishing the race within twenty minutes of each other. The race took ten days to complete, ending on 22 December 2008.

Qingdao

Telefonica Blue won leg four of the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race from Singapore in Singapore to Qingdao, China. Puma Ocean Racing finished in second place, whilst Ericsson 4 finished in third place. Telefonica Black, Ericsson 3 and Delta Lloyd all withdrew to sail to the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

and Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

for repairs. The leg lasted from 18 January until 29 January 2009.

Rio de Janeiro

Ericsson 3 won leg five, the longest leg at 12300 miles (19,794.9 km), of the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race from Qingdao in China to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, in a time of 40 days and five hours, arriving on 26 March 2009.

The teams left for Boston in the United States on leg five, which began on 11 April 2009.

Boston

The boats arrived in Boston in late April, with an in port race on May 9.
Leg 6 was won by Ericsson 4 at 21:05 GMT, 26 April 2009 after 15 days, 10 hours and 31 minutes of sailing

Galway

Ericsson 4 won leg seven of the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race from Boston in the United States to Galway, crossing the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

in a time of seven days, 10 hours, 33 minutes and 51 seconds. Puma Ocean Racing finished in second place, one hour behind. Green Dragon finished in third position, whilst Telefonica Blue finished in fourth place.

Fáilte Ireland West

Fáilte Ireland

Fáilte Ireland is the National Tourism Development Authority of the Republic of Ireland. This authority was established under the National Tourism Development Authority Act of 2003 and replaces and builds upon the functions of Bord Fáilte, its predecessor organization...

sponsored the two-week Galway Stopover. It was expected that 140,000 people would visit Galway during the Stopover but the final total significantly outnumbered half a million, with some early reports suggesting that over 600,000 people had come to Galway to view the boats. €43 million was the economic total predicted for Galway from the events but the final total was anticipated to be over €80 million. Figures released the following November suggested the total was just under €56 million. The atmosphere and support in Galway was described positively.

At least 50,000 people watched the seven yachts leave Galway on Leg 8 of the race. Irish President

President of Ireland

The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...

Mary McAleese

Mary Patricia McAleese served as the eighth President of Ireland from 1997 to 2011. She was the second female president and was first elected in 1997 succeeding Mary Robinson, making McAleese the world's first woman to succeed another as president. She was re-elected unopposed for a second term in...

made a public speech before the sailors took off, noting their “extraordinary skill and resilience” which had “inspired all of us”. Liu Biwei, China's ambassador to Ireland, spoke of how he favoured the Irish-Chinese pairing, and the fleet received several blessings. The sailors reported of the enjoyment they had in Galway, with Puma skipper Ken Read

Ken Read (sailor)

Ken Read is one of the world’s most accomplished and celebrated sailors. He was named “United States Rolex Yachtsman of the Year” twice and has over 40 World, North American, and National Championships to his credit in a variety of classes including the J/24 and Etchells 22. While sailing at...

describing it as "the best stopover I have ever been involved with" saying he would return the following year after enjoying his time on the golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

course and declaring that there was "something about Ireland and myself that seem to like each other".

Galway is expected to compete again for a stopover during the next race, with other Irish destinations such as Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

and Dún Laoghaire

Dún Laoghaire

Dún Laoghaire or Dún Laoire , sometimes anglicised as "Dunleary" , is a suburban seaside town in County Dublin, Ireland, about twelve kilometres south of Dublin city centre. It is the county town of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County and a major port of entry from Great Britain...

expected to compete also.

Marstrand

Ericsson 4 won leg eight of the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race from Galway to Marstrand in Sweden in a time of 12 hours and 57 minutes, their third consecutive victory and fifth overall Puma finished in second place and Green Dragon finished in third place. It was Green Dragon's second successive podium finish and, although they finished third, they had led for most of the race.

The boats left Galway Bay

Galway Bay

Galway Bay is a large bay on the west coast of Ireland, between County Galway in the province of Connacht to the north and the Burren in County Clare in the province of Munster to the south. Galway city is located on the northeast side of the bay. It is about long and from to in breadth...

, journeying southward along the west coast of Ireland. They then travelled in a south-easterly direction across the Irish Sea to south England, moving in an eastwards direction up the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

. The teams then travelled up into the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

until arrival at the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

Stockholm

Puma won leg nine of the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race from Marstrand to Stockholm in Sweden, their first win in the race. The third place for Ericsson 4 was enough for the team to also win the overall race at this point, leading to comparisons with the victor of the previous race, Mike Sanderson

Mike Sanderson

Mike Sanderson is a New Zealand sailor. In 2006 he married British round-the-world yachtswoman Emma Richards in Cowes, UK....

and ABN AMRO One, who won at the end of leg seven in Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, in 2006.

Saint Petersburg

Telefonica Black won the last leg of the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race from Stockholm to Saint Petersburg, covering the 400 miles (643.7 km) in a time of 1 day, 12 hours and 41 minutes. Puma Ocean Racing had led the race for most of the way. Ericsson 4, finished in third place.

Results

Results* are listed below:

#	Boat	Total	Leg wins	IP race wins
1	Ericsson 4 Ericsson Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...	114.5	5	2
2	Puma Ocean Racing PUMA AG Puma SE, officially branded as PUMA, is a major German multinational company that produces high-end athletic shoes, lifestyle footwear and other sportswear. Formed in 1924 as Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik by Adolf and Rudolf Dassler, relationships between the two brothers deteriorated until the two...	105.5	1	1
3	Telefonica Blue Telefónica Telefónica, S.A. is a Spanish broadband and telecommunications provider in Europe and Latin America. Operating globally, it is the third largest provider in the world...	98.0	2	4
4	Ericsson 3 Ericsson Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...	78.0	1	0
5	Green Dragon Green Dragon Green Dragon is a tincture made by leaching the buds, leaves, or stems of the cannabis plant in a high-proof alcohol or glycerin. The THC dissolves into the alcohol resulting in a dark green or brown liquid. The liquid is very potent and is usually dropped under one's tongue or it can be mixed with...	64.0	0	0
6	Telefonica Black Telefónica Telefónica, S.A. is a Spanish broadband and telecommunications provider in Europe and Latin America. Operating globally, it is the third largest provider in the world...	58.0	1	0
7	Team Delta Lloyd	39.5	0	0
8	Team Russia Team Russia Team Russia was the name of the Russian backed entry in the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race. Team Russia was founded by Oleg Zherebtsov, the founder of the Lenta hypermarket chain in Russia...	10.5	0	0

(*Current results as of June 27th 2009, 2:05:00 GMT, after the finish of IP Stockholm.)

Records

During Leg 1 "Ericsson 4", skippered by Torben Grael

Torben Grael

, broke the monohull 24 hour distance record when he sailed 596.6 nmi (1,104.9 km), an average of 24.85 kn (48.7 km/h).

External links

Volvo Ocean Race – Official site
Volvo Ocean Race TV – Official Web TV site
Volvo Ocean Race Mobile Site – Official Mobile site
Volvo Ocean Race Press Information – Press releases etc.
The Volvo Open 70 Rule – Volvo Open 70 Rule
Volvo Ocean Race Official Image Gallery – (For Media Use, but browsing is unrestricted)
Volvo Ocean Race Events Information
Volvo Ocean Race – Live reporting and TV footage

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