IRC BOATS

NORDICS TRIUMPH

Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race

After a torturous night of drifting towards Guanabara Bay, Magnus Olsson's Nordic crew finally crossed the finish line in Rio de Janeiro at 10:37:57 GMT to win the longest leg in the history of the Volvo Ocean Race.

ERICSSON TWINS ROUND CAPE HORN

Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race

Tuesday 17 March 2009, 15:10 GMT: UPDATED

Ericsson 3 led the fleet round Cape Horn today, passing the legendary landmark at 12:22 GMT to add four points to its overall tally.

The Nordics, skippered by Magnus Olsson, have had control of this marathon Leg 5 since navigator Aksel Magdahl’s gamble to ignore Southern Ocean tradition and head north from the previous waypoint at 36 degrees south.

The sistership, Ericsson 4, picked up 3.5 points for rounding in second place at 14:48 GMT.

For the leading duo, the treacherous conditions anticipated at the Horn did not materialize with wind conditions in the 25-30 knot range and moderate seas. That may not be the case for the chasing pack.

On the final approach, Ericsson 4's Media Crew Member Guy Salter passed on congratulations to his stable mates. “The Ericsson 3 boys have managed to hold us off – and fair play to them – they played a good move early after the last scoring gate – a move which none of the rest of us were as brave to play and go against all that is traditional with the NZ to the Horn leg,” he wrote.

Cape Horn Scoring Gate

1. Ericsson 3 – 12:22 GMT 4 points

2. Ericsson 4 – 14:48 GMT 3.5 points

Distance to Cape Horn at 15:00 GMT

PUMA – 94 nautical miles

Green Dragon – 191 nautical miles

Telefonica Blue – 722 nautical miles

ERICSSON 3'S PAYOFF

Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race

By Cameron Kelleher

The final cheque may still be in the post, but the last few days have been big pay days for Ericsson 3 navigator Aksel Magdahl.

Having banked plenty of leverage in breaking from the pack and heading north, soon after the scoring waypoint at 36 degrees south, Magdahl and the Nordics have been splashing out on a substantial lead ever since.

As the fleet negotiates the first ice gate and sets itself up for the second on the sleigh ride to Cape Horn, a split has developed and the gulf between the two factions is enormous.

In cricket terms, anything in the 300-450 range is an encouraging score. In the Volvo Ocean Race, when those numbers appear as deficits on the leaderboard, they don’t make pleasant reading.

By the 16:00 GMT Position Report, Ericsson 3, held power at 43 degrees south with a 229-mile advantage over sistership Ericsson 4, with PUMA a further 19 miles behind.

Soozal's Eight Bullets at Miami Grand Prix

Dan Woolery’s King 40 Soozal won the Acura Miami Grand Prix to sweep a trio of major US events so far in 2009, with her wins at Acura Key West Race Week and the Pineapple Cup - Montego Bay Race.  The Soozal team with Robbie Haines calling the shots found their form to win all of the seven races over the last three days, with eight bullets in their final tally. Owner and helmsman Woolery put their success down to “getting good starts and finding clear lanes... we have a few degrees worth of pointing on the rest of the fleet, if we want to go higher we can.”