Ericsson 3 Leads Volvo Pack Toward Rio

What was only a 50-mile lead yesterday has doubled as Ericsson 3 leads the pack toward Rio in the Volvo Ocean Race. Thirty-four days into the bruising 12,800 mile leg, the ‘nordic boat’ from the Ericsson Racing Team’s stables is pushing on ahead. Driven by 59-year-young skipper Magnus Olsson and a crew that started this leg five hours late having sailed pretty much continuously since returning to Singapore for structural repairs during Leg 4, Ericsson 3 were first at the Cape Horn Scoring Gate and are in a good position to put some more points on the scoreboard. Stablemate, current leg runner-up, and overall race leader Torben Grael’s Ericsson 4 maintains a 100-mile edge over Ken Read’s Puma, which in turn has roughly the same lead on Ian Walker’s Green Dragon. But don’t call it done just yet; there should be a lot of  compression in the last thousand miles to go until the finish, as a high pressure builds in front of the leaders. You can keep apprised of all the race’s latest developments as the fleet approaches Rio here.