Media Crew Member Guo Chuan filming onboard Green Dragon, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro. Image copyright Guo Chuan/Green Dragon Racing/Volvo Ocean Race.
by Lucy Harwood
It has been a case of ups and down for the chasing pack today. Last night saw them all make significant gains, Green Dragon had pulled back over 150 miles on current leg leader Ericsson 3. But conditions today have seen them slow again and lose some miles as PUMA and Ericsson 4 followed the Nordic crew through the gate and took the dive south. As Ericsson 3 passed through the ice gate this morning, their progress slowed for a short time, which impacted the rest of the fleet allowing an opportunity to play catch up. But that was no to last long, as once they were through the gate Ericsson 3 dived south and were back up to speed.
Green Dragon have headed north and PUMA have concerns on their position as they try to keep some distance between them and the chasing Dragon. Skipper Ken Read talked of their worries about a low pressure system that Ian Walker and his crew could tap into and make up some ground on the big cat. There will be many weather options over the next few days as the boats setup their path to Cape Horn and the race for some extra points is now on!
Current forecasts suggest that the fleet will have a rough rounding of Cape Horn.
Leg Five Day 27: 1600 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) DTF 4,001 nm
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +109
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +141
Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +432
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +788
Delta Lloyd IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) DNS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNS
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS
Green Dragon Racing
Volvo Ocean Race
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