[November 02, 2008]

Ericsson 4 wins first leg

(Associated Press WorldStream Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) CAPE TOWN, South Africa_Ericsson 4 won the first leg of the grueling round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race Sunday, sailing into Cape Town's harbor on a light early morning breeze 12 hours ahead of its nearest rival after a gale-lashed trip from Spain.

The international team skippered by Torben Grael covered the a 7,840 nautical mile stretch in 21 days, 17 hours and 54 minutes and has the overall lead with 14 points. PUMA of the United States arrived just as the sun was setting and has 13 points.

"We had a wonderful journey, very rough weather for a couple of days with a lot of speed," said Grael, a Brazilian of Danish descent. "I am very, very happy with everything we achieved."

Eight professional crews are competing for one of sailing's most prestigious prizes.

The race started in the Spanish port of Alicante and is due to finish in St. Petersburg, Russia in June 2009. There are 10 legs and six in-port regattas where the teams can score points.

After the Cape Town stopover, the yachts will depart Nov. 15 for Cochin in India, steering well clear of the pirate plagued east coast of Africa. After that they will head to China.

Champagne corks popped and crew members enjoyed hearty meals and joyful reunions with loved ones after three weeks surviving on vacuum-packed rations and adrenaline as they raced to Cape Town.

Fireworks lit up the night sky as Cape Town authorities celebrated the hoped-for tourism bonanza resulting from a worldwide television audience of millions. The Cape Town stopover in the last race in 2005/2006 pumped about $25 million into the local economy.

Ericsson 4 earlier shattered the distance record by covering 590 miles in just 24 hours, propelled by a cold front that brought gale force winds. This was despite losing crew member Tony Mutter who was evacuated with an infected knee just six days into the trip.

This allowed PUMA to seize the lead, but Ericsson 4 battled back.

"We had PUMA on visual for 70 per cent of the race," said Grael. "I was very glad we were ahead of them at the scoring gate and here at the finish." In the previous five competitions, the winner of the first leg has gone on to win overall.

In an e-mail on the race Web site, PUMA skipper Ken Read predicted a very tight, very tough race in the coming months.

"We know that there are teams better polished out there and we need to get better to beat them. We understand the rigors of what it will take to win this race better. And our pre-race view that the race will be close and the boats will be pushed harder than ever has rung very true."

Ericsson 4's bowman Phil James, said the sailing from Alicante to Cape Town was the "best sailing I've done in my life."

"Beats the America's Cup, any day," added the three-time Cup veteran. "Loved every minute of it."

Ericsson 3, staffed mainly by Nordic crewmembers as opposed to the international formation of Ericsson 4, was in third place and expected to arrive in Cape Town early Monday, ahead of the storm-damaged Green Dragon, staffed by a mainly British and Irish team which enjoys Chinese sponsorship.

Green Dragons skipper Ian Walker said he looked forward to reaching the tranquility of Cape Town's Table Bay harbor after the turbulent passage from Spain during which the yacht struck an unknown object and was lucky to avoid serious damage.

"The luckiest man on the boat is Guo Chuan our Chinese crew member," Walker wrote in a blog. "In one nosedive he managed to fly from the companionway, head over heels once or twice and end up head first upside down in the rubbish bag in the galley." He said that Guo Chuan's nose was "nice and swollen and bruised."

He said that the crew was looking forward to reaching dry land and swapping war stories.

"My story will be of our nighttime collision and the ensuing panic-stricken thoughts of a multitude of nose dives from which I saw no escape," Walker wrote.

"If anybody reading this is already in Cape Town, I'm the tired looking, balding bloke with a beard and mine's a pint of lager please."

_ On the web: http://www.volvooceanrace.org

Copyright ? 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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