Lunch is served 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
For the crew onboard Green Dragon there are several milestones onboard today, firstly that it is Tom Braidwood’s birthday, second they have passed through the ice gate and are heading for Cape Horn, and finally that today marks one month at sea for the crew. The focus for the top four boats has moved to Cape Horn and the next scoring gate. Whilst the top three boats have dived south east, the Dragon is once again pushing to the east. There is a band of low pressure which is circling in the north and they are looking to hook into it and make up some serious miles on the boats ahead.
As Volvo race expert Mark Chisnell said, “Are we now going to see the rule book burned to ash by Green Dragon? Their move doesn’t involve anything as dramatic as Ericsson 3’s tack at the scoring gate, but it could be just as effective, history quickly repeating. There are dangers though, and they are not all tactical – the Dragon must negotiate an ugly low pressure system to close down Ericsson 3”.
A month at sea also means that the crew will need to start realistically considering supplies onboard as this leg is turning into a 40 plus day event. With testing conditions onboard a shortage of food or snacks will be the last thing that the crew will need for a harmonious time onboard.
Leg Five Day 28: 1600 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
(boat name/country/skipper/nationality/distance to finish)
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) DTF 3,671 nm
Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +154
PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +194
Green Dragon IRL/CHI (Ian Walker/GBR) +414
Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) +828
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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