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‘Telefonica Black’ last to finish first leg of Volvo race

A bruised Telefonica Black was the last boat to reach Cape Town for the grueling first leg of the Volvo yacht race around the world, after taking a battering during 24 days at sea.

The Spanish boat takes fifth place on the leaderboard, as teams are scored on position at various points in the race.

Telefonica Black arrived two days after the record-breaking Ericsson 4, inching toward Table Bay as a breeze temporarily disappeared. However, the crew were entertained by a large Southern Right whale breaching alongside the vessel.

The yacht did not have an easy time in the first leg of the prestigious race, now in its 10th year, after crash landing off a wave in gale force winds, losing a rudder, the bowsprit and part of the daggerboard.

Despite the setbacks, skipper Fernando Echavarri was upbeat about what lay ahead.

“There will be a lot of light legs with a lot of equator crossings. That can work well for us. Very well. We showed we are among the fastest in the light wind and that will count for us and on a race course like this,” he said.

Telefonica Black arrived hours after last-minute entrants Delta Lloyd, who also struggled in the calm Table Bay wind to drift toward shore.

Navigator Matt Gregory said the crew would have a tough time ashore preparing for the next leg to Kochi in India.

“No rest at all. We’ve broken some things and we have a big job list. I might go for a little wine tour tomorrow and then it’s straight back into it. We still have to figure out how to get to India. Nobody on board has ever done that before,” he said.

Second on the leaderboard is Puma Ocean Racing from the US, who were followed by the Ericsson 3 on Monday, arriving third but losing podium position to Green Dragon for sailing with a non-compliant keel.

Telefonica Blue, which played the stealth card — an option allowing a team to hide its position — arrived fifth, followed by Team Russia, whose skipper Andreas Hanakamp said he had “never sailed in a race where the fleet was so close and fighting so hard.”

Ericsson 4 became the fastest monohull yacht ever when it broke the world 24-hour distance record last Wednesday, putting it at the top of the leaderboard with 14 points.

In the last five editions of the Volvo Ocean Race, the winner of the first stage went on to win the event, which is decided on points rather than fastest overall time.

Eight yachts from seven nations — the two Ericsson yachts are Swedish — set off on Oct. 11. Formerly known as the Whitbread Race, the “Everest of Sailing” has grown in prestige since its launch in 1973.

The dramatic first leg was the second-longest at 6,500 nautical miles (12,038km).

Participants depart Cape Town next Saturday for Kochi, India, for stage two. The finish line in the 37,000 nautical mile classic is in St Petersburg, Russia, where the teams are expected to arrive in June.

OVERALL STANDINGS

1. Ericsson 4 — 14 points

2. Puma Racing — 13 points

3. Green Dragon — 11 points

4. Telefonica Blue — 10 points

5. Telefonica Black — 6 points

6. Ericsson 3 — 5 points

7. Delta Lloyd — 4 points

8. Team Russia — 4 points
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