Ericsson 3, skippered by Magnus Olsson (SWE) finish first into Rio de Janeiro on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race. Image copyright Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race.
by Gustav Morin
Sailing and hockey
"Everything can happen in sailing and hockey!”. That is what Magnus Olsson usually says when the wind is dropping or something is uncertain.
That comment has been said a few of times the last couple of days... Now we are only 20 miles away from finish, close, yes, but it has been like that the last four hours. "Our record during this watch was 2.1 knots", Magnus said a couple of minutes ago, before he went to sleep.
Magnus said the other day that he is really only trying to make the time pass as quickly as possible.
"I am trying not to show it, but I am very nervous and if I could, I would like to sleep this time away.”
Ericsson 3, skippered by Magnus Olsson (SWE) finish first into Rio de Janeiro on leg 5. Image copyright Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race.
The others onboard have been trying to cope with the situation by doing things. Servicing winches, washing clothes, working out or talk, talk, talk about stupid things. Yesterday Magnus tried to figure out how many Swedish Crowns would fit into the Globen Arena in Stockholm... After that we figured out that it would be good for the media crew member to have a pedestal so he can produce his own electricity.
"It would take about two hours of very intense grinding to make your computer and media desk run for an hour,” Magnus concluded.
Well, back to reality. We can now see the glow from the famous statue of the Christ and the light from Rio is clearly reflecting on the sky. So close but still so far away.
The ETA is shifting between four to 24 hours. Hopefully we will get some land breeze soon.
We are not in stealth mode anymore but Ericsson 4 is, which feels good since we then know that they are more than 30 miles away. When it is 50 miles left to finish stealth is not on anymore. But still, the fat lady has not sung yet.
Volvo Ocean Race
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