VOLVO OCEAN RACE - THE WAITING IS OVER

Portsmouth, England (October 4, 2008) - The Farr designed Telefónica Blue
(Bouwe Bekking/Iker Martinez) made it a win-win situation in today’s in-port
races held in Alicante, Spain, and now heads the leaderboard of the Volvo
Ocean Race. After two races held in the bay of Alicante in glorious
Mediterranean sunshine, leading from start to finish in race one, and
winning an intense battle from PUMA to take race two, Telefónica Blue
finished in first place overall in front of their home crowd.

The short windward/leeward track set close to the shore was lined by more than
500 spectator craft and thousands of people watched from the many vantage
points on the shore. The quay walls that gave an excellent view were
packed, and huge crowds gathered around the big screen in the race village
as well as around the screens showing the race live in nearby hotels.

The first race, in which his Telefonica Blue team won by one minute and 47
seconds from Telefonica Black (Farr design), never looked in doubt. The
second race required a rally, with the opportunity for the lead coming on
the final run for the Spanish, where they erased PUMA Ocean Racing’s 14
second lead with just 1.6 miles to go. PUMA’s expensive angle through the
gate, combined with Telefonica’s better pressure on the right, turned a
Bekking silver into a 63-second procession for gold.

At the start of the second race, as Team Russia tried to fit between the
committee boat and Delta Lloyd, the Russian team’s bow sprit went through
the starboard side of the Dutch hull. Skipper Ger O’Rourke now has the boat
hauled for repairs and hopes to resume on-the-water training by Wednesday.
Team Russia also needed to be hauled for repairs. The Volvo Ocean Race
begins in earnest on Saturday, Oct. 11, when the fleet sets sail on a
6,500-nautical-mile leg to Cape Town, South Africa. -- Event website:
http://www.volvooceanrace.org

Current Standings
1. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/Iker Martinez), 1-1, 4 points
2. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri), 2-3, 3.5 points
3. Puma Il Mostro (Ken Read), 6-2, 3 points
4. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael), 4-4, 2.5 points
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker), 3-6, 2 points
6. Delta Lloyd (Ger O’Rourke), 8-7, 1 point
7. Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander), 5-5, 0.5 points
8. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp), 7-8, 0.5 points
Points from both races were amalgamated to give an overall score for the
day’s racing. Tie breaks were decided by finishing positions in race two.
One point was deducted from the Ericsson 3 score per the jury decision
number JN04 (October 2).

* The next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race will start in 2011. The timing of
the official start for the 2011-12 race is scheduled for late summer/autumn
2011. Details of the exact timing and route will be made in 2010. It is the
first time in the history of the Volvo Ocean Race that the next iteration of
the race has been announced before the start of the current event. The
decision to announce the following race at this early stage is in direct
response to prospective teams for the 2011-12 race requesting adequate time
to prepare projects. -- Full story:
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2008/october/2011-12/index.as...