It feels fantastic coming to Stockholm!
2009-06-15 by Roger Nilson
This really cold evening, reaching on port, we on Telefónica Black have just seen Almagrundet lighthouse blinking straight ahead, the first rounding mark before the finish.
The water is very cold for the season, only nine degrees Celsius and I apologize to my shipmates for not being able to offer a warmer welcome to the Swedish east coast.
Well before The Sound, Oresund, yesterday, we lost our second place to Ericsson 4 on pure boatspeed. Coming into Oresund Ericsson 3 was very close in our heels. At the south west tip of Sweden, Falsterbo rev, we hoisted our big downwind gennaker and soon also Ericsson 3 passed us on pure boat speed. It was very frustrating even if it was not for the first time in this Volvo Ocean Race.
The speed race continued and also Green Dragon and Delta Lloyd came very close just before we arrived to Olands Sodra Udde. From there we had tighter wind angle for a while and could hold Dragon and Delta off but the frontrunners Puma, E4 and E3 disappeared to the North.
After passing a small through line, like a mini Low, we came out well on Green Dragon and Delta and are in fourth place when making the last few miles to the well-known lighthouse on the bow.
It feels fantastic that the VOR is coming to Stockholm. In my wildest dreams I could not have imagined that to happen when I sailed my first Whitbread 1981. Not even when we finished the successful The Card project in 1990 that was a realistic thought.
But here we are, seven VOR race boats finishing in Sandhamn this chilly evening in June... Fantastic!
Yours,
Roger Nilson
Navigator on Telefónica Black