VOR: Team Delta Lloyd Finishes Sixth in Galway In-Port Race

Delta Lloyd, skippered by Roberto Bermudez (ESP) during the In-port Race in Galway Bay. Image copyright Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race.

by Diana Bogaards

On Saturday May 30 2009, Team Delta Lloyd (NED) finished sixth at the Galway In-Port Race. The Dutch entry, skippered by Roberto Bermúdez de Castro (ESP), made some little mistakes and therefore could not impress as it did in Rio de Janeiro and Boston. The conditions were tricky with a light and variable breeze. The NED 1 fought with the rest of the fleet, but crossed the finish line in sixth position twice. Puma won the Irish In-Port day.

Saturday morning shortly before leaving the dock, navigator Wouter Verbraak (NED) forecasted the possibility of different weather scenarios. That expectation came true. Verbraak afterwards while waiting for the lock doors to open up: "It was a strange gradi ent wind of 8-10 knots. In the morning the direction was southeast and it shifted to the west during the first race." The sea breeze did not come.

A huge crowd on the water and the shore cheered enthusiastically for the seven Volvo Open 70's, as they lined up for the first start at 1 pm local time. Delta Lloyd came off the line poorly and had to tack for free air. Bowman Gerd-Jan Poortman (NED): "We were not able to fight ourselves back through the fleet. It was a day that everything has to work out for 110 per cent, and we performed at 90 per cent." Delta Lloyd passed the Green Dragon in the second beat and took a sixth place.

Back to routine
Team Delta Lloyd's second start was more promising. She was off the line at the pin-end and rounded the upwind mark in fifth position. Telefonica Black, that recovered very well from an early start, passed the NED 1 on the following downwind run. Poortm an: "We were close, but we made too many little mistakes, which means no podium position in this strong fleet." Skipper Bermúdez de Castro agrees: "And the difference with the last few In-Port Races is that nobody else made big missteps."

The last In-Port Race of this Volvo Ocean Race will be sailed on June 21 in Stockholm/Sweden. Verbraak: "In preparation of that final race, we have to stick to our routine of at least two training days and we have to work on the onboard communication."

Galway In-Port Race Results (Provisional):
1. PUMA: 4.0 point
2. Telefónica Blue: 3.5 points
3. Telefónica Black: 3.0 points
4. Ericsson 3: 2.5 points
5. Ericsson 4 : 2.0 points
6. Delta Lloyd: 1.5 points
7. Green Dragon: 1.0 points

Overall Leaderboard:
1. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael/BRA): 94.0 points
2. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/NED): 81.0 points
3. PUMA (Ken Read/USA): 80.0 points
4. Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE ): 62.5 points
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker/GBR): 53.0 points
6. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri/ESP): 39.0 points
7. Delta Lloyd (Roberto Bermudez/ESP): 31.0 points
8. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT): 10.5 points

Team Delta Lloyd
Volvo Ocean Race