Team Telefónica - news

IKER AND XABI PICK UP ROLEX SAILORS OF THE YEAR 2011 PRIZE

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 00:00:00

Following the award ceremony Iker and Xabi headed for Lanzarote, where they will commence their intensive Olympic training schedule.

On this Monday, July 9^th, some eight months after the title was revealed Iker Martínez and Xabi Fernández finally picked up the prize awarded to them as the ISAF Rolex World Sailors of the Year 2011 at a ceremony held in Madrid at the headquarters of Rolex Spain.

The news was made public on the 9^th of November: ISAF, the international federation for sailors had named Iker Martínez and Xabi Fernández as the sailors of the year at an event held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. However, Iker and Xabi didn't receive the news amid the protocol and solemnity of a federation event but in the North Atlantic, whilst they were competing in the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race aboard “Telefónica”. The leg became the first win for the Spanish Volvo Open 70.

The reasons behind the decision to award the title to Iker and Xabi were patent, with the Spanish pair boasting an impeccable sporting record and having demonstrated an incredible adaptability in their field in 2011, moving from the 49er class successfully to the IMOCA Open 60 class to then go on to sail on board the VO 70 “Telefónica”. Right now the Basque duo have a fresh objective in their sights and having just finished the Volvo Ocean Race in Galway (Ireland), their next challenge are the Olympic Games and London 2012 where they will be back competing on the 49er “Movistar”.

Together Iker and Xabi have notched up two Olympic medals, three world titles and three european titles, as well as successes in offshore classes such as a world speed record with “movistar” in 2005 and third place with “Telefónica Blue”, as well as silver in the Barcelona World Race.

“We would like to thank ISAF and Rolex for these fantastic awards which really are the fruits of a great season for us and of the great careers we've enjoyed over the past four years. It's been four years since the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and London 2012 and in that time frame we'll have done two Olympics and been round the world three times”, confirmed Iker Martínez, who added: “We'd also like to thank ADO, our sponsors and our families for all their support”.

Iker also revealed what the Spanish pairs objectives are for the Olympics in London: “The aim now is to be as prepared as possible for the Olympic Games and to fight for medals. We'll be training for a week at the Marina Rubicón in Lanzarote in strong winds, which is what we want and it's perfect for training as conditions are very similar to those we'll get out on the racecourse at Weymouth”.

From Olympic to offshore sailing

Iker and Xabi began their joint careers back in 1999 aboard a 49er. It was also the boat that took the Basque duo to their first great triumph: a world title held in Hawaii (USA) in 2002. Two years later Iker and Xabi repeated that success, this time in Athens, on the same racecourse on which months later they would take the much sought after Olympic gold.

They had the biggest titles behind them, but Iker and Xabi announced that they were taking on a new challenge and signed up for the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006 with “movistar”. On that occasion Iker Martínez was on tactics for the in-shore racing whilst Xabi Fernández was trimming and helming in a round the world regatta that they will never forget. On 5^th April 2005 “movistar” took the speed record by sailing 530 miles in 24 hours during a training session in the South Pacific, between Wellington (New Zealand) and Cape Horn. The boat also became the first Spanish boat to win an offshore leg in a round the world race.

Three times round the world between two Olympic Games

Following their first taste of offshore racing the Basque sailors stepped back aboard a 49er to become european champions for two consecutive years. In 2007 they did so in the waters of Marsala (Italy) and in 2008 they took the title again in Palma de Mallorca (Spain). They also took a silver medal at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Soon after the Olympic regatta was over, Iker and Xabi headed for Alicante to fall in with “Team Telefónica” and to join the bid for the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009. This time Iker headed up the crew of the VO70 “Telefónica Blue” alongside Bouwe Bekking, whilst Xabi was back trimming and helming. The Basque pair would notch up more successes for Spanish sailing. “Telefónica Blue” finished on the podium of sailing's most extreme regatta, taking third place overall after two leg victories and a pair of scoring gate wins as well as four in-port race victories.

After the round the world regatta Iker and Xabi took on a new challenge: they wanted another world title, the third in their careers. After lots of training and effort, Iker and Xabi scooped the title of world champions yet again, this time in the Bahamas.

Now three-time world champions in the Olympic class the pair boarded the IMOCA Open 60 “MAPFRE” to take on the Barcelona World Race, the double-handed, non-stop round the world regatta in which Iker and Xabi not only took silver overall but also became the first Spaniards to cross the finishing line, and they also became the first crew to complete the round the world regatta without making any stops and having received no external assistance.

On the 7^th July, last Saturday, Iker and Xabi finished the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 in Galway (Ireland) and climbed onto the podium for the final in-port race and also notched up three consecutive offshore wins.

Right now the Basque sailors are fully immersed in their Olympic training in preparation for London 2012 where they are set to represent Spain in the 49er class.

A second ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year title for Team Telefónica

In 2005 Fernando Echávarri and Antón Paz became the first male Spanish sailors to be awarded the international honour. This is now the second time that Iker and Xabi take the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year title for Spain and for Team Telefónica, becoming Spain's most successful sailing crew ever and the world's best sailors of 2011.

IKER MARTÍNEZ: “GOING OUT INTO THE SOUTHERN OCEAN WITH A BOAT WHEN I'M NOT SURE EXACTLY WHERE IT'S BEEN BUILT, OR DESIGNED, OR HOW IT REACTS... WELL, IT MIGHT NOT BE WORTH MY WHILE”

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 00:00:00

“Telefónica” says goodbye to Galway with a podium. Iker Martínez and Pedro Campos look back over the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012

The Volvo Ocean Race finished in Galway (Ireland) yesterday with the final in-port race in this edition of the competition. Iker Martínez and his “Telefónica” bid farewell to the racing fans with a podium finish, picking up the third place in the in-port race.

Aims reached and still to reach

“Before the round the world race I said that a winning team wasn't necessarily the winner, but a team that did everything possible to win and in that sense no one can argue that we're not a winning team”. These are the words which Pedro Campos opened his intervention with today, before giving thanks for the efforts and support from sponsors, the crew, the shore crew and all of the families of the team members involved.

“We had various aims”, he added. “The main aim was to project a positive image of Spain, at a time where we really need it: that has clearly been achieved, showing our technological, industrial and financial ability. The other aim was to win and we were really close at times, although it wasn't to be in the end, so all that's left is to say congratulations to 'Groupama' for their win”.

Iker Martínez also did some reflection of his own, highlighting the CEO's efforts: “I'd like to thank Pedro for the fact that we've had absolutely everything we've needed to be able to win this round the world regatta. I want everyone to know that we haven't wanted for anything and even Pedro himself pushed things forward at times to get us exactly what we needed”.

“Saying that, with everything we had available to us, there's really no excuse. We should have won this. It was our aim and we didn't achieve it and I'm not happy about that. If I am happy about something today it's that we've all come home safely, and that's the priority when you sail a round the world regatta. You really can't imagine right now how much I'd love to be able to have a rematch for this at some point”.

Constructive criticism

One of the questions that lots of people are asking themselves now is, what is the future of the Spanish team in the regatta? Faced with the question, both Pedro Campos and Iker Martínez have been clear in their individual positions.

The Spanish CEO touched on the points that in his opinion the organisers should take into consideration to improve the regatta, stating also his intention to meet with Volvo Ocean Race to discuss them, as “constructive criticism because we think that the system in place is unfair, although we fully accept it as valid and we knew the rules and those are the rules which we chose to compete under, but that doesn't take away from the fact that there is a bot of injustice when it comes to these rules. For example, for the first time in history the fastest boat isn't the winner. We took exactly 125 days, four hours, 13 minutes and 33 seconds to complete this round the world race. The boat after us took six days more and the following boat took eleven days more than us, no less. It's obvious that this is not fair and it's an offshore competition, that's how we view it and I repeat that we'll be fighting so that this is somehow taken into consideration, as it was in the past, either by following a mixed or other formula”.

Campos supports a change in the scoring system for future editions of the race, which in his words “to us seem fair, and we said that in the last edition of the race when we were the best boat in the in-port races. We don't think that the scoring for the in-ports should be so high, nor that it's fair that a leg like the Southern Ocean leg, with all of the endurance, risk, and everything else implied should be scored the same as the final leg which is barely one long night in length”.

Next edition?

The question on whether we'll be seeing the Spanish team in the next Volvo Ocean Race with the new boat designs was sure to come up.

“We're at a moment of uncertainty where almost everything is changing. I'll say again that what we want to do is to fight for this to be a fairer regatta in terms of offshore racing in our view and so I think it'll take us two or three months to see what is decided and to look at how these rules work and based on that we'll decide if we go for it agin or if we take some time out. We'll only be back in the Volvo Ocean Race if we think we've got a chance at winning. That means: very clear rules, objective rules which don't leave anything to chance, which is what any sportsperson would ask for. It's taken Spain a lot to get to the level we have reached”, said Pedro Campos.

With the Volvo Ocean Race's latest announcement on the new design, designer and the build process etc. Spain has been pushed out of the game in terms of industry, research and development and Campos has an opinion about that: “I think that on the ground, Spain is the country that has done the most for the Volvo Ocean Race: It has set off from Spain for three editions now, there have been four boats... and they need to listen to us, also because we are asking for fair and just things, reasonable and objective things. If we were listened to, I think that it would make for a better regatta and if they don't listen to us, well we won't want to take part. It's a right we think we have and we really believe in it”.

Iker Martínez also opened up on the subject: “personally I can't really see myself in the next edition of the race and I don't think that from a sporting point of view right now we even have enough time to launch it. There are so many uncertainties, so many things still up in the air; a rule we're not sure we know how will work, a class that we don't know what will be like and there are less than two years to go, so personally today I don't see myself there. We'll see have to see further ahead”.

The uncertainty of the new class of boat

Knut Frostad presented the new class of boat to the press at Lorient (France). It will be a one-design designed exclusively by Bruce Farr and only shipyards in England, Switzerland, Italy and France will be involved.

Iker Martínez gave his opinion from a sporting perspective, whilst Pedro Campos focussed on a more strategic response.

The Basque skipper's reply began like so: “If there's something that I can really feel proud of it's that we finished a round the world race and that the boat was designed and built at home and it's our boat. First of all, on a personal level, I'm not crazy about buying a boat abroad. It looks like it will have to be that way and I don't like it”.

Martínez added that “I also think that there's a very important part of this regatta to consider and that is development, but also safety. You're in the Southern Ocean where the seas are treacherous and things can get tricky... Going to places like these with a boat when I'm not exactly sure how it's been built, or designed, and I'm not really sure how it will respond... Well, I'm not really sure that it will be worth my while. I don't think that I would be able to take overall responsibility for eleven crew on a boat without having absolute and total control. As I'm the first person on the boat to decide when to really push, I'd like to be able to do it within the safety of the knowledge that the boat will respond”.

For Pedro Campos the changes do have a basis: “To drive down costs, which in theory is true, although in theory only. It basically uses the same mould, the same design... Everything else, in my opinion, is a drawback”.

“We also aren't sure why nothing will be done in Spain, but I think that we at least deserved the option to offer our shipyards and designers... The designed of the past three winning Volvo Ocean Race boats is in Valencia and 24 people work in his studio and the designer of the second placed entry in this edition is Marcelino Botín, who is Spanish”.

“We also know that with one designs there are never two identical boats and there are always differences in speed. There's also the matter of finance, which may seem like a paradox, but it's true. When you have the freedom to choose your design you can build a different keel, a different distribution of weight... and have a winning boat if you make the right decisions. When the boats are the same every single detail is expensive and they require hours and hours of research and study... So if we get into it, they're not actually cheap at all”.

Galway podium

To say goodbye to the Volvo Ocean Race, “Telefónica” finished on the podium of the in-port race held in Galway, Ireland yesterday taking third place after 55 minute and 8 seconds of racing.

“We've finished now and although there weren't any positions left to play for we had an-port with some great conditions and we were lucky enough to get back up onto the podium which was an experience we had been missing”, said Iker Martínez.

The final in-port race in this edition of the round the world race began at 13:00 local time with an 8.2 mile course. The start was given with 12 knots of southwesterly breeze which held up for almost the whole race. Iker Martínez and his crew had a change in line-up for today and their physical trainer, Iñigo Losada took the place of Xabi Fernández who was out with back problems.

The Spanish crew strengthened after coming back from the start, pushing ahead of 'Groupama' on the last leg and scooping third place. Ken Read and his US crew won the race with the boat from New Zealand in second place.

FINAL In-Port Race Galway (Ireland)

1. Puma powered by Berg (Ken Read). 53:12

2. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson). + 1:19

3. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez). +1:56

4. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas). +2:29

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker). +3:59

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson). +4:30

FINAL OVERALL STANDINGS. Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.

1. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), 253 points

2. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), 231 points

3. Puma powered by Berg (Ken Read), 226 points

4. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 213 points

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), 131 points

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), 51 points

FINAL IN-PORT RACE FOR “TELEFÓNICA” TOMORROW

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 00:00:00

Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 finale for “Telefónica” tomorrow from 13:00 local time

Tomorrow will be the final opportunity to see the boats competing in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 together on the water. At 12:00 UTC (13:00 local time) the crews will be racing the tenth and final in-port race of the eleventh edition of the round the world regatta. It will be in Galway, Ireland on the same race course used in the last edition of the regatta.

Although this in-port race won't have an impact on the final standings, as the finish of the offshore leg makes that mathematically impossible, “Telefónica” is approaching this leg in the same way the team approached the first in-port back in Alicante on the 29^th of October last year: aiming for the best possible finish and looking to enjoy an in-port race with some 15 knots of breeze.

“It won't change the final standings but we've got all of our sponsors here and all of the people who've come to say goodbye to the project and a good result would be a great way to round this off for everybody. Let's hope we can all ensure that everyone enjoys themselves and enjoys being here in Galway,” said skipper Iker Martínez this morning.

Once again, starting will be fundamental. There are up to four possible courses of differing lengths being considered for tomorrow, but the final route will depend on how strong the wind blows tomorrow. That decision will be taken, as always, just moments before the racing begins. “The course will be similar to recent in-ports but we don't really know yet how we'll start, if it'll be an upwind or a downwind start, as the courses are fixed but will depend on the breeze. It'll either be upwind, downwind, a reach and a reach or if the wind were different maybe downwind, upwind, reach, reach and then around once or once and a half or maybe twice... We'll have to wait and see.”

“We've had a lot of problems during the regatta with the in-ports, but we've also done some really good in-port racing so to be competitive we've got to sail at one hundred per cent and manage an excellent start, so thats what we're going to try to do,” added Martínez.

Once the in-port is finished it will be time for the prize giving ceremony at the Race Village in Galway, which thousands of people are expected to attend. At 18:00 local time the public prize giving ceremony for the whole regatta will take place.

The final gala dinner will be held an hour later, rounding off a competition which has gone around the world over nine months.

Tomorrow Saturday 7^th July after the Galway in-port race (Ireland), Pedro Campos, CEO of the Spanish team and skipper on “Telefónica” Iker Martínez will be reviewing Team Telefónica's Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 performance at a press conference to be given at the Harbour Hotel in the Race Village.

IKER MARTÍNEZ: “EVERYONE THOUGHT THAT REACHING GALWAY NOT HAVING WON THE RACE WOULD BE REALLY TOUGH FOR US, BUT THE TOUGHEST MOMENT WAS BACK IN LORIENT”

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 00:00:00

A look over the final leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012

Almost nine months after starting the round the world race “Telefónica” faced the final leg: 550 miles which would be crucial in terms of the final overall standings for the race. Iker Martínez looks back over the leg which didn't finish how he or Team Telefónica wanted it to, although on Saturday 7th July with the final in-port race of the competition in Galway the competition will draw to a close and there can be absolutely no doubt that the team demonstrated a fighting spirit and a push to the finish that made them the rival to beat in this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Right from the start this final leg was different to the others: it was the shortest, the most intense and the overall standings were yet to be defined. How did you prepare for it?

We did what we thought was necessary to prepare for it. The boat was ready and we had taken only the necessary supplies on board. On this leg the boats would sail very differently because without so many provisions for so many days at sea and fewer supplies they would be sailing very light. Once we were out there we saw that the performance of each of the boats was also very different. It was another leg for us, which was also different because it was very short, almost more like an inshore than an offshore leg but with lots of points to play for: we were playing for the same points in this leg as we did in the first, where we set out from Alicante and finished in South Africa.

You set out from Lorient in France leading the fleet: a good start to the leg...

Before the start we were very clear on the fact that starting well was key and that whoever got in front early on would have a big advantage, so we fought to get there. We started the leg reaching, and that's quite tough in these boats as they accelerate very quickly. We approached the line fairly well and “Camper” came in on a port tack, tacked and wanted to tack again very close to us to then get into a good position to be able to slow us down. We raised our flag and the Jury gave them a penalty, which meant that they had to go back and restart, which was good for us at the time. We made a very good start and were able to lead the fleet from the first mark right up until the end of the course marked out until we headed out to sea.

You continued at the front for the following few miles...

To win a leg starting at the front of the fleet is best, so everything was going perfectly. We set off fairly quickly from Lorient and set course for Belle-Île, which was a fast course with the Code Zeros up, at full speed, which means perfect conditions for these boats. It was very fast and we managed to push to a half a mile lead. It's not much, but it was comfortable for us to be able to sail around the island where there was some dirty air and a bit of a mess and in the end “Camper” caught up with us, as they were moving in very fast from behind and were doing a great job.

We were able to get out of there in the lead but with “Camper” stuck to our stern, “Puma” also very close and “Groupama” slightly further away, but we were still in the lead, and that's what mattered.

Psychologically how did the Team Telefónica crew take on this final leg?

Morale on board has always been good. Of course you're always happier if you are leading and starting leg nine knowing that we had no chance of winning the Volvo Ocean Race wasn't a nice feeling, but even so everyone was out there to give one hundred per cent and we were going to try to sail a great leg. Yes, it's true that we weren't as happy as we could have been, which is to be expected, but we worked hard and we suffered a lot to try to get there, but the end of the eighth leg with the broken rudder pushed us out of the running. Everyone felt that we must keep on fighting and that we had to try to sail a good leg and no one at any point gave up fighting.

One of the important points on this last leg was rounding Fastnet Rock. How did it go?

One we'd rounded Fastnet Rock the breeze dropped a lot and we had to sail upwind with the boats closer to the coast clearly having less breeze. That happened to “Puma”, to ourselves, to “Camper” and it even reached “Groupama” which was moving in fast from behind and we managed to get through that area but suffered a lot in doing so. After that it was time for more open courses where all of our sails filled and the differences began to increase even more. “Puma” and “Camper” pushed away and we were left with “Groupama” a little bit further behind. It's also true that we thought that it would be impossible to catch up with the boats ahead, but 50 miles from the finish, the wind dropped and we were all bunched back together again.

What were the final miles to the finish like for you?

Once we were all back together we had to gybe and it was time to focus on the finish. It was an in-shore then really. In the end “Puma”, “Camper” and ourselves were fighting against each other which allowed “Groupama” to continue to push forward. We entered the bay and with 30 miles to go with everyone very close together and in a straight line, we had “Camper” just over a mile away and “Groupama” and “Puma” just over half a mile away. We were all very close together and unfortunately after that it was quite simply a straight line race.

What did it feel like to reach Galway?

Finishing at Galway was fantastic, with loads of people there to greet us. I think that everyone thought that reaching Galway not having won the race would be really tough for us, but the toughest moment was back in Lorient. So for us finishing here was as hard as any leg when you don't do so well, but not as hard as a two year project that doesn't turn out well. If you stay at home you can never lose anything, and if you take the risk of competing then you can win or lose. What has happened here is that things haven't gone as well as we had hoped.

On Saturday after the in-port race in Galway (Ireland), Pedro Campos, CEO of the Spanish team and skipper Iker Martínez will be making a global review of Team Telefónica's Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.

IKER MARTÍNEZ: “CONGRATULATIONS 'GROUPAMA', THEY ARE WORTHY WINNERS OF THE REGATTA”

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 00:00:00

Xabi Fernández: “It's a feeling a bit like being ahead for most of the match and then losing in stoppage time”

Almost two in the morning in Galway and and the dash to the Irish port which took 1 day, 13 hours, 57 minutes and 33 seconds for “Telefónica” means that the offshore sailing for the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 has drawn to a close. In a tight bunch, as predicted, the fleet have finally reached Galway (Ireland) in a steep margin of just 17 minutes between the top four entries to cross the finishing line. “Telefónica” with Iker Martínez finished fourth in the leg and in the overall ranking for the regatta which won't see any changes now.

“We had opportunities throughout the leg to do well”, said Alicante's Pepe Ribes, boat captain on “Telefónica”. “'Puma' got past us this morning just before Fastnet Rock. After that when we climbed the Irish coast at one point 'Camper' got past us but we still had the chance to come back on the final downwind stretch but that's where the Kiwis and the French took the initiative to gybe first. This is a league and we've played lots of matches and here the league has been reflected in the boats finishing in first, second and third. They're the winners, and that's all there is”, he added.

With the port at the Irish port brimming with spectators Australian skipper Chris Nicholson and his crew on “Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand” took their first and only leg victory as they finished at Galway, followed by “Groupama” and “Puma”.

The overall rankings decided

With this end of the leg the overall final rankings, regardless of the result in the in-port race on Saturday in Galway has been decided. French team “Groupama” is the overall winner of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012, and finishing off the podium are the New Zealanders on “Camper” and American entry “Puma”. For the first time, the boat which took the least time to complete the round the world regatta, “Telefónica” finished in fourth place, in a competition based on points and not on time taken to complete the course.

“It's a feeling like being ahead for most of the match and then losing it in stoppage time”, according to Basque Xabi Fernández. “'Groupama' did really well and took it step by step. They made a weaker start but then improved steadily and were worthy winners and we've been saying that they were going to be the toughest competition for a long time”.

The Spanish team's skipper Iker Martínez also had a few words for the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 winners: “I want to congratulate 'Groupama', they deserve it and we the worthy winners of the regatta”.

Offshore triple

A total of nine legs and almost 40,000 miles of sailing and “Telefónica” won the most legs with three offshore victories in this round the world regatta. The first was Alicante to Cape Town (South Africa), the second from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi and the third from Abu Dhabi to Sanya (China). A total of 16,530 nautical miles. On reaching China Iker Martínez and his crew made history in this edition of the regatta; not since 1989-1990, 22 years ago, when the regatta was known as the Whitbread Round the World Race had a boat managed three consecutive leg wins.

“Groupama” and “Puma” both took two leg wind in this edition of the regatta. The French crossed the finishing line in first place on the fourth and eighth leg which finished at the ports of Auckland (New Zealand) and Lorient (France), respectively. That means that they were winners of 7,160 miles.

“Puma” took the fifth leg, which finished in Brazil and the sixth leg which finished in the American port of Miami. Both legs add up to 11,505 miles.

Tied on one leg a piece are “Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand” and “Abu Dhabi”. The Kiwis finished first in Galway on a 550 mile leg whilst Ian Walker's crew gained a long-awaited victory at Lisbon after 3,590 miles of sailing across the Atlantic Ocean.

Four days in Galway

After reaching the Irish city the fleet will now have four days until the final in-port race is raced on Saturday the 7^th of July and after that the final prize giving ceremony the competition, which kicked off back on the 29^th of October in Alicante will draw to a close.

Before that there is still time for an official training race, on Thursday 5^th July and the Pro-Am race on Friday 6^th July; neither of which are scored.

MORE QUOTES

Iker Martínez, skipper

We knew that the final positions in this leg would decide the final positions overall: fourth in the leg, fourth overall in the round the world race. Of course, this isn't the position we wanted to finish in, but it's what we deserve. We knew that this leg would be important, we fought to win it but we didn't sail as well as we needed to. We even started in the lead and lead a lot of the time. It was a fast leg where sail changes were key but we weren't brilliant and with just a few miles to go the top four entries were bunched to within a miles and a half of each other.

From this circumnavigation of the globe I'll be taking with me the fact that we went round the world and that we all got here safe and sound and that's worth celebrating. All of us who set off together finished here together.

Xabi Fernández, trimmer

I'll take a lot of things with me from this round the world race. A great job over a long period of time, a great team and boat is what we achieved. I think we did an absolutely impeccable job up to Brazil and then after that things seemed to twist in a way that makes it hard to believe that we managed not to let it all slip away.

Pepe Ribes, boat captain

Finishing at Galway is always really special because it's three in the morning but the square was full of people. There were boats waiting for us even 60 miles from the finish. The number of fans in amazing.

I'll take with me the legs we won and the moments we lead this round the world race. And the fact that we've completed another round the world race.

FINAL RANKINGS LEG 9

LORIENT (FRANCE) – GALWAY (IRELAND): 550 miles

3^rd July 2012

1. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson). 1d 13h 40m 13s. 30 points.

2. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas). 1d 13h 47m 11s. 25 points.

3. Puma Ocean Racing by Berg (Ken Read). 1d 13h 53m 1s. 20 points.

4. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez). 1d 13h 57m 33s. 15 points.

5. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson). 1d 16h 12m 27s. 10 points.

6. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker). 1d 16h 21m 29s. 5 points.

PROVISIONAL OVERALL STANDINGS. Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.

1. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), 250 points

2. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), 226 points

3. Puma powered by Berg (Ken Read), 220 points

4. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 209 points

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), 129 points

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), 50 points

"TELEFÓNICA" ARM WRESTLES IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 00:00:00

Estimates put the Spanish team across the finishing line during the early hours of the morning

The 24 hours of racing mark on this final leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 has been hit and Spain's "Telefónica" is sticking with the fleet frontrunners in a veritable greyhound dash whose podium formation will only be decided at the finishing line in Galway (Ireland). At 14:00 UTC the crew headed up by Iker Martínez was just 0.7 miles from provisional leader American entry "Puma".

The Spanish team has been making their objective and their potential clear since the starting horn sounded yesterday at 11:02 UTC. "It's the last leg and we want to give all we've got and show what we're made of", explained Diego Fructuoso from on board.

During the first few miles of racing, with the fleet passing the isle of Belle-Île en Mer and an exclusion zone set out by the organisers, "Telefónica" moved into the top spot in the fleet. There also wasn't a bigger gap than four nautical miles between the top four entries. That meant that the position chart danced around during an exhausting night where sleep wasn't an option. "Night came and the wind picked up and the sun went down. Conditions were a lot tougher although during the course of today the breeze is likely to drop. All of the yachts are very close together and I hope it goes well for us" said the team's MCM from Cartagena, Spain.

At 14:00 UTC "Telefónica" got into an arm wrestle with "Puma" who moved into the provisional lead with just 150 miles to go to the finishing line. Not even a nautical mile lies between the Americans and the Spaniards with Iker Martínez and his guys getting a good performance out of their boat, sailing at 12 knot speeds. Third place is currently in the hands of "Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand" who are 1.3 miles from Ken Read and his guys. The ninth leg is proving to be a ferocious North Atlantic battle.

Prepared for the finish

"Telefónica" were set to pass Fastnet Rock this morning, a key point on the course where strong winds and big swell test the fleet. The podium for the leg may even depend on how each of the crews deal with this.

If calculations are correct and with under 150 miles to Galway (Ireland), everything points at "Telefónica" crossing the finishing line of the ninth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race in the early hours of the morning of Tuesday 3rd July.

With the finish at Galway imminent, on board the boat the Spanish team know that "we have to sail and do what we know how to do as best we can. We have a good boat, a great crew and let's see if we get some luck and everything goes well and we can win the leg. The sense on board right now is of concentration. We know it's a very short leg and there's not much time for anything, just to sail as well as possible. We're concentrated, sailing as fast as we can and doing all we can to get to Galway in the best possible position. All we need to do is give every last drop for the time left until we reach Galway. From now until Monday night or the early hours of Tuesday morning at full speed", concluded Diego Fructuoso.

PROVISIONAL RANKINGS LEG 9

LORIENT (FRANCE) - GALWAY (IRELAND): 550 miles

Day 2 – 14:00 UTC - 2nd July 2012

1. Puma Ocean Racing by Berg (Ken Read), 113.3 miles to finish

2. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), +0.7 miles

3. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), +1.3 miles

4. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), +1.5 miles

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), +11.3 miles

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), +11.6 miles

“TELEFÓNICA” LEADS ON THE WAY TO GALWAY

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 00:00:00

Spanish skipper Iker Martínez and his crew have started the final leg of the Volvo Ocean Race today: 550 miles of sailing to Ireland which are likely to shape the podium formation for this edition of the round the world race

Seven months after the start at Alicante, Spain, the ninth and final leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 kicked off today in Lorient, in Brittany, France, with Spanish boat “Telefónica” starting off on a very good footing indeed. Iker Martínez and his crew have been leading the fleet since the start after sailing an impeccable course between buoys some 31 minutes in length with a 30 second lead over second placed American boat “Puma” and a lead of one minute 47 seconds on “Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand” in third. Following in their wake were “Abu Dhabi”, “Sanya” and local entry “Groupama”. All of the boats are now on an open course to Ireland.

Just before 13:00 local time and the fleet were positioned at the starting line with 13 knots of westerly breeze blowing. “Telefónica” looked for a position on the pin side and found it. At 13:02 sharp the starting gun fired and Martínez and his guys made a strong start on the first few moves of a leg covering some 550 miles which began with a course marked out with buoys of 6.5 nautical miles across six legs. The Spanish boat rounded every single buoy in the lead.

The second boat in the overall standings, American entry “Puma”, kept a firm grip on “Telefónica”, although the team weren't able to hold the Spanish boat back from stretching her lead at every mark. “Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand” also made a good comeback after a penalty at the start and managed to take the final mark in third place.

A tough night...

Forecasts all point towards a tough first night, with a front likely to bring some strong winds with it and which the fleet will have to handle with care, with little room for sleeping. In the Team Telefónica team meeting this morning that was one of the matters in hand: how exactly to organise the crew on board for a leg set to take the boat some 40 hours to complete. “We talked about when we'd be able to get some rest, more or less and when we'd all have to be on deck. There are going to be very few areas on the course were we'll be able to rest,” said Pepe Ribes before docking out from Lorient. “We won't get much sleep, but we'll be able to sleep once we're in Galway,” added trimmer Xabi Fernández.

Strong winds, swell, and lots of low pressure as well as an exclusion zone to be avoided to the northwest of Brest due to the dense maritime traffic are all ingredients being added to the cocktail shaker for tonight's entertainment.

Pushing hard for the 30 points

After yesterday's in-port race it was very clear that the final overall standings for the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 will be decided at the final port of call. French boat “Groupama” has a comfortable lead but the other positions left on the podium are more hotly contested with the overall rankings very tight indeed: three boats, -“Telefónica”, “Puma” and “Camper”- are within just six points of one another.

“Apart from 'Groupama' who are in a good position, we're all stuck very close together,” said Xabi Fernández before starting the leg. “This is a very important leg in terms of podium positions. There's a good forecast and it's going to be a fast and very wet leg. These are going to be two days of intense racing for all of us, especially for ourselves, 'Camper' and 'Puma'”.

For “Telefónica” the leg is the last opportunity to add a fourth leg victory to their scoreboard, out of a possible nine and the crew have faith in the boat. Brazilian Joca Signorini, one of the team's watch leader, was clear about that: “We've prepared, we have faith in the boat and the fact that we're sailing the final leg with the same crew that left Alicante and we're the only boat to have done that, makes us very happy.”

At 15:00 UTC, “Telefónica” was leading the fleet followed by “Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand” and “Puma”, 0.2 and 0.3 miles away. “Groupama” is in fourth place, whilst “Abu Dhabi” and “Sanya” are in fifth and sixth place respectively.

MORE QUOTES

Iker Martínez, skipper.

The leg looks like it's going to be tough because we first have to sail a course here in Lorient and then we make our way round the Belle-Ille island and after that we cross the English Channel and make our way up to Galway with some wind forecasts which look very tough, so I'm sure we'll all be sailing all very close together. With the breeze getting stronger at a tricky point on the course, we'll have to be very careful and I think that it's going to be a really tough leg, especially tonight.

Pepe Ribes, boat captain.

We're really focussed. It's going to be a very important leg, short and intense with lots of wind shifts. It's going to be fairly quick because it looks like we'll be hitting Galway in 40 hours. We hope that we can climb back onto the podium. It's going to be a sprint to Galway with lots of points to play for and lots of rivals also looking to finish on the podium so it'll be a spectacular battle.

Xabi Fernández, trimmer.

The most recent legs were short and in terms of spares and material for repairs etc. we've lightened the load considerably. The boat is a lot lighter now. The crew are well and we've got the same line-up we started with in Alicante and we hope to finish in Galway with no injuries as we have up to now, and I think that'll be a real achievement.

Joca Signorini, watch leader

We're starting the final leg today and so it's an important day for us as we've worked very hard on this project. Despite the fact that this is a very short and fast leg the forecasts look set to make it a tough one this first tonight. Of course we all want to finish this race in a good position. We're pushing forward with the same philosophy as always, looking to make the best finish we can. We want to finish this regatta on the podium and we just have to see what will happen in the end. We're positive about this final leg.

PROVISIONAL RANKINGS LEG 9

LORIENT (FRANCE) – GALWAY (IRELAND): 550 miles

Day 1 – 15:00 UTC – 1^st July 2012

1. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 475.2 miles to finish

2. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), +0.2 miles

3. Puma Ocean Racing by Berg (Ken Read), +0.3 miles

4. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), +1 mile

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), +1.7 miles

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), +2 miles

PROVISIONAL OVERALL STANDINGS. Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.

1. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), 225 points

2. Puma powered by Berg (Ken Read), 200 points

3. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), 196 points

4. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 194 points

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), 124 points

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), 40 points

GALWAY TO DEFINE PODIUM

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 00:00:00

“Groupama” wins in-port race in Lorient and strengthens lead. “Telefónica” finishes fourth with the overall rankings for the round the world race to be decided at the final port

Tomorrow, Sunday, sees the final leg of the Volvo Ocean Race kick off in the French port of Lorient, taking the fleet to the Irish city of Galway after today's penultimate in-port race in this edition of the regatta. In the end it was French boat “Groupama” which scooped a win, strengthening its position at the top as the regatta hits the home strait, whilst “Telefónica” have a fight on their hands for the podium in Galway with American boat “Puma” and New Zealand entry “Camper”. The very slim points margin with these two boats: six with Ken Read's boat and just two with Nicholson and his “Camper” crew means that the final leg of this Volvo Ocean Race will be particularly important in defining the podium. The Spanish entry will be looking to boost their current fourth position in the overall standings by making a good finish to this round the world regatta.

“Now we've got to focus on the leg ahead. Fortunately, the differences between the boats were small and there was just a point between ourselves and “Puma” and two between us and “Camper”, so it's still a small enough distance for the leg which begins tomorrow to make a difference”, said skipper Iker Martínez as he made his way back to the port.

Trimmer Xabi Fernández agreed with his skipper and back on shore he said firmly that “the podium will be decided in Galway”. The Basque sailor also said “'Groupama' is obviously in a good position right now. Their performance in the in-port races has been incredible. We've now got a fight with 'Puma', six points away and we've got 'Camper' two points away. With a leg and an in-port to go that's not much and we have to fight for second place”.

Home win in Lorient
“Telefónica” with Iker Martínez set off from the dockside just after 10:30 this morning along with the rest of the fleet. They were heading out to race the penultimate in-port race in this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race playing for a possible six new points to add to the score board. At 13:02 local time the action kicked off on time at the Lorient racecourse in France. Conditions for racing saw 12-knot winds from the West (270º) for 4.5 miles of racing, split into eight legs.

“Telefónica” fought hard in this in-port race, which Iker Martínez described as: “beautiful and just” and was won by local bought “Groupama”, which pushed past Chris Nicholson and crew on the final leg. The Basque skipper of the Spanish boat explained what the race was like from on board the boat: “The starting line was very small and it was a very tight start for us all. We were slightly slow off the mark and the entire starboard tack we were watching out for what the boats to windward were going to do, which were 'Puma' and 'Camper'. After that we were able to tack and they of course pushed for their corner and we rounded the top windward mark in fifth place, very close to all of the boats but behind them. After that we passed 'Sanya' but 'Abu Dhabi' got past us, although we managed to get past them by the end of the race to finish fourth. We were near the podium, and it was a shame because making the podium is always good, but it wasn't to be”.

Tomorrow: Start of the final leg
After two weeks in French waters “Telefónica” will be setting off tomorrow for the Irish city of Galway, the final port in this eleventh edition of round the world race.

The leg will be kicking off at 13:02 in one of the cradles of international offshore sailing, Lorient in France with large crowds expected to wave off the fleet of VO70s. After setting off and putting the island of Groix astern, the boats will make their way out to Fastnet Rock before pointing their bows towards Galway. These 485 miles may define the Volvo Ocean Race podium, depending on what happens in the final in-port race of the competition due to take place next Saturday, 7th July in the Irish city of Galway.

MORE QUOTES

Xabi Fernández, trimmer
We started just slightly late and it shaped the race somewhat for us because in short races like these the start is very important. We trailed behind a bit and we fought with “Abu Dhabi” and “Sanya” and managed to get past them. We lost a point on “Puma” and are two down against “Camper” which isn't serious and we're now focussed on tomorrow's race.

FINAL RACE RESULTS In-Port Race Lorient (France)
1. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas). 56 min 12 s. 6 points.
2. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson). +0:13. 5 points.
3. Puma powered by Berg (Ken Read). +0:24. 4 points.
4. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez). +1:34. 3 points.
5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker). +1:48. 2 points.
6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson). +4:44. 1 points.

PROVISIONAL OVERALL STANDINGS. Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.
1. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), 225 points
2. Puma powered by Berg (Ken Read), 200 points
3. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), 196 points
4. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 194 points
5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), 124 points
6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), 40 points

IKER MARTÍNEZ: “WE'RE REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS”

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 00:00:00

Tomorrow (Saturday), six new points will be in play which will define the podium formation ahead of the departure for Galway

Two weeks after finishing one of the tightest and toughest legs of the round the world regatta, the six Volvo Open 70s are now preparing to take on the penultimate in-port race. There's absolutely no doubt that Iker Martínez's “Telefónica” will be fighting tooth and nail to scoop the six points on offer. “We're really looking forward to this. We need to show everyone that the level of our team is much better than the current result reflects, so we're looking forward to getting out there and racing”, said the Basque skipper.

The overall standings are tighter than ever and tomorrow (Saturday) at 13:02 local time (11:02 UTC) the port town of Lorient in France will witness a veritable clash of the titans, and with only five points standing between the second and fourth placed entries the leader board may change in the matter of just an hour, which is the expected length of tomorrow's race.

An eye on the breeze in Lorient

As with the majority of the previous in-port races sailed so far in the competition, the course will be defined just moments before the race starts and it's looking very much like the wind is going to play a starring role in the action, as skipper Iker Martínez explains: “As always, we don't know if we'll be making an upwind or a downwind start, which of course will make a big difference when we're racing. It all depends on the direction of the wind, so as always it's expected to be complicated. I'm sure the start will be really tight and we'll have to fight to do better than the rest and to win and that's all we really know”.

For tomorrow's race it looks like there will be 15 knots of breeze blowing on this racecourse, which is slightly different to the others experienced so far: “This racecourse is a bit different because just in front of Lorient is the island of Groix, which means that we'll be sailing some flat seas even though there may be quite a lot of wind out there”, explained the “Telefónica” boat captain Pepe Ribes.

If the weather forecasts come good this in-port race is likely to offer the type of conditions that the Spanish boat likes. “I hope that we get some breeze, because it'll be so much easier for us as it's always tougher for us in lighter airs”, admitted the Basque skipper.

Preparing thoroughly for the in-port race

As they have been doing for some time now, the “Telefónica” crew have made the most of these days running up to the in-port race to get to know the racecourse and to practice their starts and manoeuvres, which are all factors that make an impact on the final result in this type of race.

“We normally train the same course a couple of days beforehand to practice starts and manoeuvres”, explains Pepe Ribes. “The fact that they make the in-port races so short to make them more attractive for television means that they are very difficult for the crews and boats because it is really hard to handle such big boats like that with so few people”.

“Telefónica” will be giving everything they've got to take on this ninth and penultimate in-port race of the round the world regatta. With the end of the Volvo Ocean Race so near, the Spanish team knows that every single point of the 42 on offer will be crucial when it comes to making it onto the podium for the finish. “We hope that we can get a good result tomorrow to make up for the bad experiences we've had in some of the other in-ports, and because we need as many points as we can to finish on the podium”, concluded Ribes.

MORE QUOTES

XABI FERNÁNDEZ, trimmer.

This will be the second-last in-port in this Volvo Ocean Race and I hope that we get some good conditions and that we can sail a good race. In terms of preparation, we've been sailing for a couple of days and after the week and a half off we need to get back into the swing of handling the boat as well as getting to know the racecourse as much as we can, although there's not much time for it. The last four in-ports haven't gone very well for us, that's true, but I think that we have to try to prepare everything as best we can and I hope that this time we can get a good result.

JORDI CALAFAT, helsman and in-port racing tactician.

The in-ports have been a real Achilles' heel for us in this round the world regatta. Now we're going to have a lot less pressure so we'll be calmer and we're hoping to do the best we can.

We're in a place right now where there is more breeze than there has been for the other recent in-ports. In the end it's all the same though: in these races everything can be thrown out of the window with even the slightest of errors, especially in terms of manoeuvres. Basically it's also about calm sailing.

ANDREW CAPE, navigator.

According to the forecasts we're likely to get some good sailing conditions. In terms of results, we'll have to wait and see. I don't really like to think about the in-ports too much but worry more about the legs.

(Comparing the in-ports in this edition with previous editions of the regatta)

Yes, they're shorter. I think they're more about things outside of sailing, such as the TV. Also the planning this time is different because we do the in-port and we set off on the leg the next day. I hate it because there are so many things to do and I think it's too much, it's horrible. I'd like to be able to first prepare for the in-port and then the other more important part. The in-ports are not my favourite, although I do think that it's good that they exist, but as solid racing and not done for television, also with a couple of days in between.

RACING SCHEDULE LORIENT (FRANCE)

Friday, 29^th June

Pro-Am Race 12:00 local time (10:00 UTC)

Skippers Press Conference 16:00 local time (14:00 UTC)

Saturday, 30^th June

In-Port Race 13:02 local time (11:02 UTC)

Prize giving In-Port Race 16:30 local time (14:30 UTC)

Sunday, 1^st July

Leg 9 Start: Lorient – Galway 13:02 horas (11:02 UTC)

PROVISIONAL OVERALL STANDINGS. Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.

1. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), 219 points

2. Puma powered by Berg (Ken Read), 196 points

3. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), 191 points

4. Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 191 points

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), 122 points

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), 39 points

IKER MARTÍNEZ: “EVERYONE CAN BE ASSURED THAT WE'LL BE GIVING THIS 200%”

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 00:00:00

The Spanish team will be hearing the sound of the starting horn for the final leg of the round the world regatta this Sunday, the 1st of July

This coming Sunday, July 1^st, the Volvo Ocean Race fleet will be hearing the sound of the starting horn for the start of the ninth and final leg in the race, connecting the ports of Lorient (France) and Galway (Ireland). This is the defining leg of this Volvo Ocean Race and “Telefónica” will be taking it on with their batteries fully-charged, as Xabi Fernández explains: “I think that it's very important to sail a good leg and to try to make the best finish possible, to end on a high and to try to finish, of course. We'll be fighting for the podium, for that second spot which is still totally within our reach and right now whoever takes the leg of the three in the running will move into second and we'll be fighting with all we've got.” “Telefónica” skipper Iker Martínez backed that up by firmly stating: “This will be a final leg in which everyone can be assured that we'll be giving 200%.”

No sleep allowed

Predictions indicate that this is set to be a very close final leg of the round the world competition indeed. Exactly 485 miles over which the fleet will be giving every last drop they've got and that's why on “Telefónica” everyone is well-aware that getting to the podium in Galway requires maximum working effort, and that may mean doing away with the watch schedule all together.

Xabi Fernández explains: “On Sunday we begin the leg to Galway, the final leg of this Volvo which will be a dash. It's set to be a very short leg and with the met info we've got right now we're looking at under two days to finish the leg, some 40 hours of racing,” with the double Olympic medallist adding: “This will be a final dash on which I'm sure no-one will be resting or sleeping. Winning this last leg is really important and that's what finishing this very tough Volvo on a high or not may depend on, after we had been leading for almost the entire regatta before running into the complications we had recently.”

Jordi Calafat said: “We'll be doing a lot of downwind sailing, according to the weather forecast. It's a short leg, a final sprint that we can do in under two days. They will be two very tough and demanding days with no sleep because it will be a high speed dash to Galway. Perhaps we'll be approaching this leg differently because it probably isn't even necessary to have a watch schedule. This is a bit like the old short legs they used to do where there weren't any watch schedules and you just had to work full-on, the whole time because they were so short that you wouldn't even have time to get used to a watch pattern. We need to think about how to organise the crew. This leg gives one the opportunity to do things a bit differently to the two week legs.”

Speed: the key

Facing such a short leg, Iker was clear about one thing: “The final leg is a leg lasting just a couple of days, so it will be very important to get into a good position right from the start.”

According to the “Telefónica” skipper, speed will be the key because: “once we all start sailing, we'll all be very close to one another, so the fastest boat is going to have an enormous advantage although I imagine that it's unlikely that we'll see huge differences between the boats, so we'll have to try to push the boat to full speed the whole time, to maintain our concentration, to push hard. I think that the key lies in being faster than the rest. It doesn't make a difference why that happens, whether it's because your boat is better in these conditions, or because you are more focussed and manage to get more from your boat and your crew.” Because, as the double Olympic medallist concludes: “In the end whoever manages to go that bit faster on such a short leg is going to enjoy a big advantage.”

A question of... points

Before this edition of the round the world regatta draws to a close, the fleet will have to take on two more In-Port Races; one on Saturday 30^th June in Lorient (France) and the other on the 7^th July in Galway (Ireland) and one more offshore leg, which adds up to a total of 42 points to play for. It must also be said that there are a mere 28 points lying between the top four entries.

Whilst French boat “Groupama” leads the overall standings, between America's “Puma”, “Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand” and Spain's “Telefónica” there are just five points, which means that the leader board could take a 360º turn.

The starting gun will be fired from the French waters of Lorient, the cradle of offshore sailing, at 13:02 local time. From there, the boats will head for the open seas until they make the legendary passage past the famous Fastnet rock, an area well-known for its strong currents and big seas and which may even decide the Galway (Ireland) podium. On “Telefónica” the crew know that until the leg finishes anything can happen, and as Jordi Calafat points out: “We'll be fighting right to the end for this, as we have been up to now. We just need a bit of luck, because lately we haven't had much of that.”

With the aim crystal clear, Iker Martínez said in an interview that: “the boat is fine now, ready for racing again. We've also been able to rest because the stopover was fairly long, so now everything is in good shape,” so according to the “Telefónica” skipper. “One hand we're not exactly where we'd like to be, but on the other, I think we're all really looking forward to finishing this round the world regatta and that means that we are also really looking forward to sailing a great final leg and finishing this on a high note.”

PROVISIONAL OVERALL STANDINGS. Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.

1. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), 219 points

2. Puma powered by Berg (Ken Read), 196 points

3. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), 191 points

4. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 191 points

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), 122 points

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), 39 points

RACING SCHEDULE LORIENT (FRANCE)

Thursday, 28^th June

Training Race 13:02 local time (11:02 UTC)

Prize giving Ceremony for Leg 8 17:00 local time (15:00 UTC)

Friday, 29^th June

Pro-Am Race 12:00 local time (10:00 UTC)

Skippers Press Conference 16:00 local time (14:00 UTC)

Saturday, 30^th June

In-Port Race 13:02 local time (11:02 UTC)

Prize giving In-Port Race 16:30 local time (14:30 UTC)

Sunday, 1^st July

Leg 9 Start: Lorient – Galway 13:02 local time (11:02 UTC)

IKER MARTÍNEZ: “WE COMPETED AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL”

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 00:00:00

Spanish boat “Telefónica” finishes leg at Lorient (France) having maintained a compelling lead until it slipped from their grip following rudder damage

5 days, 8 hours, 40 minutes and 26 seconds after setting off from Lisbon, “Telefónica” crossed the finishing line of the eighth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race in Lorient (France) at 22:40 local time (20:40 UTC). “We had a very big problem and we're all here safely so I'm much happier now. I think we did a great leg until the damage, no doubt, our best leg; we competed at a very, very high level,” said Iker Martínez upon arrival at Lorient.

The boat had been sailing with just one rudder, the port rudder since the early hours of Thursday 14^th June after a fateful descent from a wave that meant that the starboard rudder was put completely out of action. With only a damaged port rudder, the possibilities of sailing at one hundred per cent slipped away, as did the possibilities of racing against the other boats in the leg.

It was an emotional arrival at Lorient, deepened by the loud and sincere applause coming from the French public who showed their affection for the Spanish team and for the crew who are esteemed for their fighting spirit.

“One of the things about this team is that we don't give up,” said watch leader Neal McDonald. “We've been working for almost three years on this project and we're going to give it all we've got until the end. I'm sure that Iker will be making sure that we get the very best out of what's left of this. We've still got two inshores and a leg to do and we're going to give it our all right until the end.”

Almost right up until the finishing line the tension was palpable, with “Sanya” pushing “Telefónica” hard right to the finish. Although the Spaniards were 'wounded' they managed to finish in fifth place, finishing 19 minutes ahead of Mike Sanderson's guys, the skipper who won the 2005-2006 edition of this regatta.

“We have to look ahead and over the past few hours we've fought to get ahead of “Sanya” with just one rudder and we did it. I think we'll really remember today's five points at Galway. Now we need to fight with different objectives within our sights. It's tough, but that's just the way it is,” said Basque trimmer Xabi Fernández in Lorient.

42 points until the end of the regatta

The arrival of the local entry, “Groupama” was at 13:31 local time, adding 30 new points to the team's scoreboard and widening the gap with “Telefónica” to 28 points, and the gap with second-placed “Puma” to 23 points.

“The main thing was to get the boat to finish in one piece and that no one was hurt,” said boat captain Pepe Ribes. “What we feel is a bit of frustration; although we haven't mathematically lost this regatta yet because 28 points behind with two inshores and a leg to go isn't losing this, but “Groupama” has a lead which, unless a catastrophe occurs, is easy to defend. I'd snap up a 23 points lead on the second-placed entry with a leg and two inshores to go in a second... “that's football”, as they say,” added the sailor from Alicante, who is taking part in his fourth Volvo Ocean Race.

With the end to the penultimate leg now sealed, “Telefónica” is drawing on points in the overall standings with “Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand”, both with 191 points a piece. However, the Notice of Race (Point 24.1) states that in the case of a draw, the balance tips in favour of the boat making the best leg finish. As such, the Spanish boat moves into fourth place, whilst Chris Nicholson and crew lie in third.

There are a total of 42 points up for grabs until the outcome of this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race is revealed in Galway (Ireland). 30 points will be taken by the first boat to the Irish city, the end point of the ninth and final leg, which will begin on the first of July. The other 12 points will be on offer in the inshore races: one in Lorient of June 30^th and the other one in Galway on July 7^th.

NOTE: To read an explanation of what happened to the rudders by Iker Martínez click here.

MORE QUOTES

Iker Martínez, skipper.

The breaking of the second rudder was a bit strange, because it was a new rudder and we were sailing on the opposite tack. As it broke we lost control of the boat and it gybed. The boat was at 90º for a while until we got control of the situation. The worst thing was that the other rudder was damaged, so that's why we abandoned racing mode and went into safe mode in order to finish. We achieved what we wanted to achieve, which was to all get to shore safely, although that isn't what we have been aiming for the past two years, but that's the way it is.

From here, considering where we've come from, the regatta's not looking too good for us because we wanted to get here and to be in a position to fight for final victory and right now, that's not really possible. We need to fight bit by bit, first trying to understand what happened and why we've had a problem like this; we've never broken a rudder over three round the world regattas and in a matter of six hours we broke three, so we need to see exactly where the problem is. We need to learn from this and to aim for a great final leg and fight to do as well as we can. We will keep fighting until this is over, not for what we had wanted, but we need to keep focussing ahead and to keep racing.

I'd also like to congratulate “Groupama” who deserved this leg win and maybe even the regatta win, if nothing out of the blue happens. Knowing what sort of team they are, I'm sure they'll make sure that there won't be any problems there.

PEPE RIBES, boat captain.

From when we tacked at the Azores we knew that the conditions were going to be very tough and we'd be entering low pressure until gybing to get here. The truth is that I didn't expect such big seas and I think we had seven or eight metre waves and in these conditions, knowing that there are only 30 hours or so of the leg left everyone was really going for it and we had to go very fast.

RESULTS LEG 8

LISBON (PORTUGAL) – LORIENT (FRANCE): 1,940 miles

1. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas). 4d 23h 31m 2s. 30 points.

2. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson). 5d 30m 9s. 25 points.

3. Puma Ocean Racing by Berg (Ken Read). 5d 43m 4s. 20 points.

4. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker). 5d 2h 17m 25s. 15 points.

5. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez). 5d 8h 40m 26s. 10 points.

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson). 5d 8h 59m 41s. 5 points.

PROVISIONAL OVERALL STANDINGS. Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.

1. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), 219 points

2. Puma powered by Berg (Ken Read), 196 points

3. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), 191 points

4. Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 191 points

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), 122 points

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), 39 points

SKIPPER'S WORD

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:00:00

Skipper Iker Martínez explains how is the situation on board "Telefónica" and tells us what has happened in the last 24 hours.

Skipper Iker Martínez explains how is the situation on board "Telefónica" and tells us what has happened in the last 24 hours

(On the first broken rudder on Thursday 14th June at approximately 12:00 UTC)

It's been a tricky day and night for “Telefónica”. We've suffered a broken rudder. First the starboard rudder broke. Normally, when rudders break it's down to a collision, or at least that is the most common reason. The section with the blade in the water usually breaks and you have to replace it.

Changing this piece has its own problems because once the piece comes out there's a hole in the hull and one has to be incredibly careful that the boat doesn't start taking on water, because then it could become a very difficult situation indeed.

When the rudder broke, we of course lost control and we luffed. We brought down the sails and switched to another tack to bring up the rudder. With some blows downwards we managed to free the piece that was left in, the broken part, which was fairly small, and then we got down to fitting the spare rudder that we carry on board, which was no straightforward operation. The rudder went in from the outside, so a crew member with a harness was on the outside too and we managed to pull the new rudder up and into place.

Once the new rudder was in we were able to sail normally and we climbed back up the spots we'd lost. We'd gone from being in first to dropping down to fourth and then we were able to get up ahead again and to get past the boats and into the lead.

At the end of the leg, when there was an important decision to be taken, which was 'when to gybe', we managed to gybe.

(On what happened during the night)

Now on a direct course for Lorient, with just 350 miles to go we broke the same rudder. As the rudder broke we lost control and as this time it was the windward rudder the boat went off course and we had a tricky situation to deal with again. We had to lower the sails and when we had managed to get the situation under control again we set course for France, for Lorient.

(On the current situation on board)

Right now we're sailing with the rudder on the other side. Fortunately the hull has been sealed so we're not taking on any water and we are lucky enough to still have a rudder so that we can sail to startboard but with the added complication that it is also damaged and so we can't reach one hundred per cent speeds. So, in terms of the competition, well it's just impossible for us to go as fast as they are.

Conclusion: Two broken rudders and a damaged one in six hours. The worst thing is that we were playing for the regatta and our chances of winning this are almost nil now, so anyway... A tough day, a difficult day. Of course, we're not happy, far from it and now all that's left is to try to finish without losing the rudder, so that we have some control and so that the boat can reach the port in good shape and so that all of the crew can reach shore in one piece too.

We're all ok, everything's ok but it's not a nice place to suffer these problems and we hope to get to Brittany as soon as we can. We're at 120 miles now, which isn't much. Let's hope we can get a good routing, arrive and that we all get there safe and sound, which is the top priority, above winning the regatta, especially now that we can't actually win it. We have to be careful and we have to all get home safely.

Of course, if you stay at home you never make any errors out in the world and things can't go wrong for you. Here we are and unfortunately, things aren't quite going as we'd have liked them to, but we send out our warmest regards and I hope we'll soon be back on shore and relaxed to perhaps analyse what happened a bit better.

“TELEFÓNICA” REDUCES SPEED ON WAY TO LORIENT

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:00:00

Iker Martínez: “The situation on board is normal but we have to be very careful as we only have one rudder and it's damaged”

At 20:00 UTC yesterday, 14^th June, having solved the issue of a broken starboard rudder, “Telefónica” was back in the lead of the eighth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. However, the most difficult decision was still to come: the final gybe to France: “The boats gybing earlier will have the shift coming at them further ahead and will pay dearly for having to gybe later. Those who gybe later may have to sail with very strong winds and sail lots of extra miles,” wrote skipper Iker Martínez in the early hours of the morning.

Almost an hour later “Telefónica” was the first of the boats to gybe, followed by “Groupama”. Leading the fleet and at less than 300 miles from Lorient the Spanish boat suffered damage to the port rudder as well as damage to the spare rudder being used to starboard and so were forced to reduce their boat speed as they head for the French port.

“We are sailing without a problem to Lorient at 12 knots. The situation on board is normal but we have to be very careful as we only have one rudder and it's damaged. Fortunately the one we can use is the port one, the one we really need for sailing tacked to starboard towards Lorient,” were Iker Martínez's first words following the incident.

The damage to the port rudder and the damage to the starboard rudder both happened as the boat came down off a wave, “the strange thing is that we felt we were sailing with a very safe rig at that point,” said Martínez. “There were 30 or 40 knot winds and we had decided to spend the night with a small storm jib at the bow and the mainsail up, not going too fast but safely, given the tough conditions. Bringing down the mainsail without a rudder was quite an adventure and some of the battens have broken in the process... to add to the problems.”

Aim: to reach land without any risks

Just past 1am the Spanish crew had gained control over the situation. Later the boat's skipper reported that everyone aboard was in perfect physical shape, although he did admit that “the mood is as good as it can be in these circumstances. We've just seen any chances of us winning this round the world regatta slip away. More than two years work have disappeared into thin air in a matter of minutes. I'll be happy now if we finish without any more complications.”

Iker Martínez also chose to address the Director of Team Telefónica and the sponsors: “I would like to say sorry from the bottom of my heart to our sponsors and more specifically to Pedro Campos who have risked so much to provide us with the necessary resources and time to be able to race in this regatta. I think that the only thing right now that that makes me feel any better is knowing that I've given one hundred per cent of myself to this for the past two years.”

Iker Martínez also said that: “this is the first time that something like this has happened to me and I think it's going to be difficult to let it sink in, but I'll have to worry about that when we are all safely back on sure with no further risk. I can't say much more right now. A sad day for “Telefónica” and it's my birthday tomorrow. All I can ask for is that we all get to shore safely.”

In the 1 am UTC position report, “Telefónica” was in fifth place at speeds of 11.3 knots, 257 miles from Lorient. At 6 am UTC she remains in fifth place sailing at 14 knots of speed.

“TELEFÓNICA” BREAKS RUDDER MID-STORM AND PUSHES ON TO LORIENT

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 00:00:00

The team has managed to contain the damage by stabilising speeds with the hope of not dropping back too far from their rivals

Information at 14.00 UTC. Despite beating the speed record for this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race for the fourth time this afternoon, notching up a 24 hour run of 564 nautical miles, "Telefónica" was forced to slow down considerably during approximately an hour due to a broken rudder.

Working mid-storm with wind speeds topping 25 knots, the Spanish boat's crew worked to fix the situation by using the spare rudder.

Although the boat's power took a 90% dive, from aboard "Telefónica" there have been assurances that they will be aiming for the maximum possible speeds as they head for Lorient, aiming not to drop back on the way to the finish.

The 13:00 UTC report sees "Telefónica" in third place, almost at the same distance to the finish as America's "Puma", just 0.1 miles away in second and the team are just 3.8 miles from the current leader, "Groupama".

“TELEFÓNICA” SMASHES SPEED RECORD FOR THIS EDITION OF THE 'VOLVO' AND MAINTAINS GRIP ON THE LEAD

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 00:00:00

560 miles (1,037.12 km) covered in 24 hours with just a day to go for the fleet to reach Lorient (France), the finishing port for the penultimate leg of the race

What a final stretch! As expected, the storm which swallowed up the fleet has also provided the necessary ingredients for a speed record for this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. “Telefónica” has been sailing at speeds above 22 knots since midday yesterday. The news came in this morning that Iker Martínez's boat had beaten the speed record, and if that wasn't enough this is the third time. The record for this edition now stands at 560 nautical miles.

The record, which up until now was in the hands of “Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand”, was taken by “Telefónica” this morning. The boat from New Zealand had covered a total of 553 nautical miles between Alicante and Cape Town on the first leg of the race. Early this morning the marker for “Telefónica” was 554 miles, which was soon topped by 557 miles and then pushed even further to the current record of 560 nautical miles in 24 hours: the new record.

Important: no breakages

500 miles from the finish and the entire fleet is concerned with finding he balance between pushing hard and not breaking the boat. The level of competition is very even and none of them want to be the first boat to give in.

Right now speeds among the entries are still sky-high, although the boats will soon be putting on the breaks as keeping the boat in one piece will be crucial. “We're going to have a very busy afternoon and night with hurricane winds of 30 to 40 knot speeds. We're pushing it to the limit and there's a lot of water coming over the bow”, said Andre Cape this morning in a telephone call with the Spanish boat.

The navigator said that he hasn't given much thought to the record that the team has just smashed as the most important thing now is to make it through the leg without any serious damage. He was clear on that: “It doesn't mean much until we reach the shore. Everyone will be happy if we make it through the day with no damage or without anything serious happening and that's not going to be easy. These type of speeds take their toll on the equipment and are very demanding of the rudder, the halyards and the rig. It's painful when the boat hits a wave”.

Crucial gybe

However, the most crucial point of these coming 4 hours is still yet to come and it involves deciding where to gybe for Lorient: “There's a gybe somewhere up ahead and I think that it'll be key, not passing the layline, not gybing to early nor too late. I hope we get it right”, said the Basque trimmer Xabi Fernández.

In Cape's opinion “it'll decide the winner”. When will this moment arrive? It's likely to be: “somewhere towards the end of the afternoon, when it's getting dark. Of course we'll see some different bets. In the moment we won't know who will have had the best idea, but we'll find out at the end, when the breeze shifts a bit and we're at the finish”.

Whilst the pace on board is full throttle, the crew continue to adapt to the on board conditions as best they can: “There's a lot of water on deck and the hard breaks as we hit the waves are incredible. You shoot out of the bunk and if you're below deck doing something you can hurt yourself”, writes Diego Fructuoso.

Speaking to Nauta360 during a live link up with the Spanish boat yesterday afternoon, Iker Martínez spoke about morale on board the boat: “The French are pushing hard but they are really going to have to suffer to beat us, and we're putting everything we've got into this and we hope we'll be rewarded at the end. Whatever happens, we want everyone not to worry and for them to know that we're really going for it”.

The outcome will be revealed in 24 hours...

MORE QUOTES

XABI FERNÁNDEZ, trimmer.

There's roughly a day of racing left and I'm sure that everyone will be pushing really hard. There's going to be more breeze tonight and there'll be even more tomorrow morning... We have to push hard because we are really fighting for the regatta here, with “Puma” and “Groupama” and although we can't really regulate much here we have to be careful not to break anything.

DIEGO FRUCTUOSO, media crew member

There are just over 24 hours left, but they are going to be incredibly tough. You can't rest even in the bunk and it's very intense out on deck. We're bailing out water the whole time. Xabi and Pablo have just come in off watch and they say that the waves are huge. It's very difficult to maintain constant speeds, with the boat accelerating and breaking a lot.

PROVISIONAL RANKINGS LEG 8

LISBON (PORTUGAL) – LORIENT (FRANCE): 1,940 miles

Day 4 – 10:00 UTC – 14^th June 2012

1. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 510.6 miles to finish

2. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), +8.8 miles

3. Puma Ocean Racing by Berg (Ken Read), +11.2 miles

4. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), +15.5 miles

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), +39 miles

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), +71.4 miles

“TELEFÓNICA” LEADS THROUGH THE AZORES

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 00:00:00

Sights are on the squall that the fleet will move across in the next 24 hours that will give them a push towards Brittany, with winds possibly reaching 40 knots

The islands of the Azores have now been put astern by "Telefónica" after a night of very hard work in which the Spanish boat took back the lead. As day broke the crew headed up by Iker Martínez was the first in the fleet to put the only obligatory waypoint on the leg to starboard, the island of San Miguel, doing so with a three minute lead on French entry "Groupama". The latest position report shows the gap between them is 1.6 miles. There's a squall to cross ahead and a leg to be won.

The struggle between the Spanish and French entries has reached new heights over the past 24 hours. Franck Cammas overtook Iker Martínez during yesterday afternoon whilst immersed in the calms at the Azores: "It was a fairly difficult day due to the light airs. Right from daybreak we were dealing with lulls, although not as big as some of the light patches experienced in previous legs. During one of the drops in breeze 'Groupama' decided to go to leeward and got past us. After such mammoth efforts they got past us without much difficulty," said Diego Fructuoso in his daily report from the boat.

However, during the early hours of the morning, at 01:20 UTC, "Telefónica" gave a push which saw the boat move into a two mile lead of "Groupama". A few hours later at 04:56 UTC the Spanish boat's lead was confirmed with the yacht passing the island of San Miguel as the leg frontrunner. It was, therefore, a long and productive night on "Telefónica", which Fructuoso commented on from aboard the boat: "The tricky thing about the passage through the Azores was to know when to tack, so as not to come up short or to have to tack further twice or more and end up notching up more mileage. Wae tacked before ‘Groupama’ which went really well for us and meant we got past them. Right now they are very nearby, but slightly astern. We can also see ‘Puma's light."

For now, in the words of the Spanish MCM: "Things are still the same for us, and we're trying to go as fast as we can. We are moving everything from the bow to the stern without much rest at all". At 13:00 UTC “Telefónica” was sailing at 21.9 knot boat speeds with westerly winds.

North! With strong winds

After days of pointing west, which is something that hasn’t happened in the Atlantic since the first leg, when the fleet we heading for Cape Town (South Africa), "Telefónica" has pointed her bow northeasterly and it's a question of minutes before the crew breaks through the 'one thousand miles to finish' mark with so much still undecided on this eighth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race.

With the passage past the island of San Miguel out of the way, sights are now on a squall which has formed to the northwest of Galicia and which is slowly moving towards the Iberian peninsular. Once the fleet 'catches' the low pressure they'll ride it towards Brittany with winds of up to 40 knots.

The strong winds will put the boats to the test once more and on board "Telefónica", according to Fructuoso they are already preparing for the extreme conditions: "The wind will pick up soon and it looks like it's going to be very strong. We've got just over one thousand miles to go, but anything can happen."

A passage through the Azores with inclusive entertainment

There's no doubt that the passage past San Miguel was a big boost in the morale stakes for the crew, with Portuguese fans coming out in the middle of the night on their boats to cheer on "Telefónica".

Diego Fructuoso felt that this was one of the most special moments in the round the world race so far and didn't hesitate in thanking everyone for their efforts and in thanking all of the fans of Team Telefónica: "Even though it was the middle of the night lots of boats came out to greet us as we headed through the Azores... Thank you!" he said.

SAN MIGUEL WAYPOINT

1. Team Telefónica. 4:56 UTC

2. Groupama sailing team. 4:59 UTC

3. Puma Ocean Racing. 5:08 UTC

4. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand. 5:28 UTC

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. 5:53 UTC

6. Team Sanya. 6:40 UTC

GENERAL RANKINGS LEG 8

LISBON (PORTUGAL) – LORIENT (FRANCE): 1,940 miles

Day 3 – 13:00 UTC – 13^th June 2012

1. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 1,004.1 miles to finish

2. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), +1.6 millas

3. Puma Ocean Racing by Berg (Ken Read), +2.9 miles

4. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), +9.6 miles

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), +20.3 miles

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), +38.8 miles

“TELEFÓNICA” PREPARED FOR THE TRAP AHEAD AT THE AZORES

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 00:00:00

Merciless battle ensues between the French and the Spanish as the high pressure begins to compress the fleet

“Telefónica” has been embroiled in a no holds barred battle for the Azores, the obligatory waypoint on this eighth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race over the past 24 hours. Having taken the lead in Atlantic waters, the Spanish boat saw the French entry move ahead as the boats make their way to the Azores. From on board the yacht Iker Martínez said: “We're fighting against all of the odds. We've got 'Groupama' here beside us and 'Puma' too, so it's all ok. We're ahead, so it couldn't be better although 'Groupama' is very fast (in these conditions they usually sail very fast), but we are defending very well and shortly the we'll be entering the lull”.

During the past few hours the fleet has been notching up some excellent average speeds, as “Telefónica”'s own averages reveal for the past 24 hour run: at 14.5 knots of average boat speed the yacht notched up another 349 nautical miles. However, the situation is beginning to change as the leaders are entering the anticyclone at the Azores, which will without doubt see the speeds of the VO70s dwindle and may constitute a new starting grid for the boats as they head for Lorient (France). “Telefónica” has begun to sail in an area under the influence of the high pressure and at 13:00 UTC the boat was doing 8 knots with winds of between seven and eleven knots from the north.

However, the second day of racing hasn't been straightforward for the Spanish team who have pointed their bow west. “Today has been quite tough and we've been able to see 'Groupama' and 'Puma' the whole time and we've had to fight to defend the lead tooth and nail. There was quite a lot of breeze and we were reaching in conditions that 'Groupama' generally sail very fast in. Thankfully we did well and the two boats are close together”, confirmed Diego Fructuoso in his daily report, although the Spaniard was cautious, adding “the breeze has dropped now, we've got eight knots and it will continue to drop for the rest of the day. We need to really push as hard as we can to get past the Azores in the lead, and that way we could push away from the fleet. We've got just over 24 hours ahead of very hard work and we'll have to be pretty extreme when it comes to transferring the weight to the bow or astern to make the boat go as fast as it can”.

For now, as Andrew Cape says: “We're fairly confident in these conditions and we've got the right boat for them, but so have the others, so we've really got to push hard, there's no doubt about that. All of us here, on this boat and on the rest are competitors, but we're clearly watching out for the French. We'll have to see what happens”.

A trap called the Azores

There's no doubt that sights are on the islands of the Azores and more specifically on the island of San Miguel which “Telefónica” and the rest of the fleet will have to put to starboard. The key will be how to get past the famous high pressure at the Azores, an anticyclone that will slow down the fleet and which in the words of Andrew cape will be “very big. We need to get to it to get more breeze and then aim for the best routing to Lorient. It's a question of how hard we push. It's going to be awful but it's what we've got to do”. Fortunately, according to the navigator, the situation they're facing “will be interesting, we've prepared the boat very well, the shore crew have, so I think that we'll be able to cross this well and get a good result”.

Aboard the Spanish entry the crew are well aware that the system will set out a new starting grid for the boats and the strong winds awaiting the yachts when they exit the anticyclone will test the boats, with Cape also reflecting on the possible steps that will be taken by “Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand” and the Americans on “Puma”: “They have the opportunity to take more risks, but if you look at the probability and the numbers, risks might not always be worth it, so they'll do what they've got to do and so will we. Something's going to happen... what and to whom no one can say yet. He chance of breaking something is the same for us all and nobody is going to be the first to ease off the gas, so we're all going to be going very fast. This is going to be some very close racing because nobody wants to go slower and once again it'll be a really interesting aspect of this leg, how many risks and to what degree they'll be taken”.

As they wait for conditions to change, the “Telefónica” navigator is optimistic about what the crew has achieved over the first two days of competition on this leg: “The mood on board is good, as is team spirit and we have to do well. We're in the right place right now and there aren't too many aspects of this ahead which are just pure luck, so we'll have to wait”.

Less than 1,500 miles away from Lorient

“Telefónica” is facing one of the shortest legs of this round the world regatta and there are now 1,500 nautical miles to go until they reach their destination and the crew are still standing by one clear objective, which Andrew Cape summed up in a phone call from the boat: “On each leg we set off with the aim of winning. The mentality doesn't change and we go out to to win. We have a great boat so we have to make that happen”.

With such a short leg, the crew has had to adapt even more quickly to the extreme sailing conditions and it looks like the adaptation process has gone very smoothly, as Fructuoso confirmed: “Everything's going well here and we're getting over our headaches and having a bit of an upset tummy over the first few days, which thankfully I didn't suffer this time. Only a few people had breakfast with cereals yesterday and they were finished by this morning, which is a always a good sign”.

PROVISIONAL RANKINGS LEG 8

LISBON (PORTUGAL) – LORIENT (FRANCE): 1,940 miles

Day 2 – 13:00 UTC – 12^th June 2012

1. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), 1,260.9 miles from finish

2. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), +2.1 miles

3. Puma Ocean Racing (Ken Read), +4.7 miles

4. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), +8 miles

4. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), +8.1 miles

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), +16.6 miles

“TELEFÓNICA” MOVES INTO THE LEAD ON GREYHOUND DASH TO THE AZORES

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 00:00:00

The fleet notches up high speeds over the first 24 hours as they await the calm ahead due to the high at the Azores

The first 24 hours of the eighth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race have gone well for “Telefónica” with the boat moving into the lead of the leg with an advantage of almost two miles on second-placed "Groupama". The boats are on a southeasterly course in search of the Azores and are bunched together at present with more than 12 miles separating the top five entries, although it certainly looks like "Telefónica" is handling the pressure better than others, as one of the fastest boat at the 13:00 UTC position report.

Lisbon (Portugal) bid farewell to the fleet yesterday and after making her way through the river Tagus, "Telefónica" was back sailing out on the open seas. "We are back sailing in the sea. This time it's the Atlantic Ocean direction Lorient, slthough we've got an obligatory waypoint at the Azores. The start at Lisbon was really nice with lots of boats and lots of people cheering us on. we all want to dedicate a victory in this leg to them, especially to the 'blue tide' who didn't stop cheering for a minute", recalled Diego Fructuoso from on board the yacht.

Steadily the Spanish team began to notch up miles at an incredible rate and at 22:00 UTC the boat headed up by Iker Martínez moved into the lead of the fleet after a tough battle with “Puma” and “Abu Dhabi”. From that moment on there were many changes in positions behind the Spanish boat as their rivals led by Ken Read, Ian Walker and Franck Cammas became wrapped up in a battle which allowed "Telefónica" to stretch out their lead to 1.1 miles on "Groupama" in second place at 13:00 UTC and to eight on "Abu Dhabi" now in fourth. The team has also logged average speeds topping 17 knots over the past 24 hours.

Xabi Fernández explained how the ne situation is being experienced on board "Telefónica" in a videoconference this morning: "Everything is going well here. We've got some very good conditions and we're going fast, so everything is going well. We've moved into the lead, which has made us feel good. It was a good night, we were very close to "Puma" and we managed to get past them and now we've put two and a half miles behind us. We are all very close to each other so we need to keep on pushing and we'll see what happens at the end of the day".

Sights on the Azores

For now the entire fleet is maintaining good boat speeds with "Telefónica" as one of the fastest among the boats at 18.6 knots with 17 to 20 knot north winds. However, aboard the boat the crew are well aware that it is onlt a question of time before the situation changes radically because "we're still sailing with breeze but it will gradually drop until we make it past the Azores. It looks like the first boat out of there will be at an advantage because after that there will be strong downwind conditions until the finish" said Fructuoso in his daily report. Antonio “Ñeti” Cuervas-Mons also highlighted how tightly bunched together the fleet was right now and that a change in positions for the leg could happen from one minute to the next and as the Spaniard points out: "All of the boats are very close together... yes, we're at the front, but I think the key to this will be the Azores, getting through the calm at the Azores well and then that's maybe where this leg will be decided".

"It looks like we'll get some good conditions today but he breeze might drop towards the end of the day, but for now it looks like the morning and the afternoon will be good, so we will push forward and see how things play out. We are all within close proximity of one another and almost certainly there will be a compression tonight. For now we have to push on, see how it goes and if we can gain a few more miles to add to our lead, even better" said Xabi from on board "Telefónica" to then cautiously add: "We are trying to sail the fastest angle for our boat. I think we're going to have a tricky 24 hours either tomorrow or the next day. it's obvious that whoever gets out of the no breeze zone first is going to be in the best position to then gain more distance so we are really going to have to fight hard in these light conditions. 'Abu Dhabi' came first in the last leg, making it out of the light patches very well and then taking a victory. We need to try to do the same".

Light airs, light clothes, light on food

It is expected that, at most, the eighth leg will last seven days, so on "Telefónica" the crew chose to take as little as possible on board to lighten the load as far as possible. That decision was taken thinking in particular of the light patch up ahead which may be a deciding factor for the final leg results. Diego Fructuoso explained: "We're all very light on clothes and food to carry as little as possible with us, so I hope that nobody has a togh time. For now it's going well, the boat is sailing very fast and we haven't had any problems".

Minds on the leg... and the overall standings

From on board the boat Xabi Fernández was relaxed with the good start made by "Telefónica" and as the Basque trimmer points out: "It's all in our hands and that's all we have to think about. We have to keep giving our all and try to sail a good leg and be as close to the lead as possible. We haven't only got "Groupama" to watch out for, "Puma" is very close too and the only way we have to think is to push har, push forward, try to win the leg and do some great offshore sailing".

As the double Olympic medallist pointed out: "I think that the other day someone said there were only ten or fifteen days of sailing left., but it feels like there's still a lot of fight left".

PROVISIONAL RANKINGS LEG 8

LISBON (PORTUGAL) – LORIENT (FRANCE): 1940 miles

Day 1- 13:00 UTC 11th June 2012

1. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 1,583.1 miles to finish

2. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), +1.1 miles

3. Puma Ocean Racing (Ken Read), +3.1 miles

4. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), +8.6 miles

5. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), +12.5 miles

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), +26.4 miles

THE BATTLE FOR THE FINAL TITLE BEGINS

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 00:00:00

The penultimate leg of the Volvo Ocean Race gets underway for “Telefónica”. Iker Martínez: “There is no point dwelling on the lost points. The leg is starting and we have to fight for the points ahead”

The eighth and penultimate leg of the Volvo Ocean Race is underway, kicking off today in Lisbon, Portugal at 12:00 UTC with 11 knots of northwesterly breeze. There are 1,940 nautical miles ahead for the crews, taking them to Brittany in France and the town of Lorient, with an obligatory waypoint positioned at the Azores, specifically at the island of San Miguel, the biggest and most important island in the archipelago.

A very Spanish 'Adiós'

There was a lot of atmosphere at the Race Village in Lisbon and over 200,000 people have visited the zone over the past few days to bid farewell to the fleet with many Spaniards among them: “We have a lot of fans cheering us on here at Lisbon, and it shows that we're close to Spain. We really appreciate the support we've had from everybody who has come here”, said Alicante's Pepe Ribes.

Right at the front were a tide of Telefans: a movement founded by friends and family of “Telefónica” bowman Antonio “Ñeti” Cuervas-Mons, who have come from all over Spain. “They are fantastic!” said Iker Martínez from the quayside. “They shout and sing the most and can be heard twice as much as any of the others. It's amazing that they are here to support us and cheer us on. It's always great”.

Starting from the Tagus

The start of the eighth leg was given at the mouth of the Tagus, with the initial stretch of the almost 2,000 miles of the course marked out opposite the Pedrouso marina, passing in front of the Belém tower and under the 25^th of April bridge almost as far as Lisbon. A marker indicated the point at which the boats should return to the starting point to set course for a mark at Cascais.

That's where the six Volvo Open 70s set course out to sea with the Azores on all of their minds.

Almost four hours after the start and the top four entries: “Puma”, “Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand”, “Abu Dhabi” and “Telefónica” are in a radius of under a mile, all sailing at 15 knot boat speeds.

Lisbon to Lorient via the Azores

These 1,940 nautical miles to Lorient feature an obligatory waypoint for the boats at the island of San Miguel at the Azores and will also feature the Azores anticyclone, which is likely to becalm the fleet of VO70s.

“The breeze will drop gradually as we get closer to the Azores, almost at the same angle, until at 100 miles from San Miguel it'll be total calm and that's where there will be a compression”, said Xabi Fernández at the Team Telefónica base in Lisbon.

The fleet will have to put the island to starboard to then continue to head for Lorient. The course may throw up all sorts of conditions for the entries, which may also open up windows of opportunity. “We may get strong downwind conditions, but it really depends on how the low which is slowly approaching Europe behaves... It's very interesting”, said double Olympic medallist Iker Martínez.

30 points for the leg, 72 until the end of the regatta

The importance of this leg is considerable and all of the crews know it. The Basque skipper also admitted as much moments before docking out from Lisbon, saying “this is a very important leg when you look at the points difference between the entries and it may even decide the regatta”.

With the lead eight points away from “Telefónica” and the rival in closest pursuit six points behind Martínez knows that “we must make this a good leg to stay in the running and to achieve our aim of reaching the final leg with options of winning this regatta”.

The latest estimates indicate that the fleet may reach the finishing port for this leg on or around Friday, 15^th June. Who'll be holding the winning ticket? The answer will be delivered at Lorient...

MORE QUOTES

IKER MARTÍNEZ, skipper.

We've prepared for this leg in the same way we prepared for the others, with the utmost care, aiming to be spot on with the sails, by putting a lot of work into the meteorology where we're sure to hit some tricky spots...

We all know each other very well on board and we all want the same thing. Lately things haven't been going too well, and in particular what happened yesterday was very unfair and we are all pretty angry with the Jury and the Organisers for how the whole thing was handled, but having said that, I suppose it's the same for everybody and there's nothing more to it. The best boat has to win and that's why it's important to sail better than the rest, to put yesterday behind us and to focus on the leg, heading out there at one hundred per cent. There's no point in lamenting the loss of points. Now the leg is starting and we have to fight for the points ahead.

PEPE RIBES, boat captain.

It is going to be a tricky leg because there will be all types of conditions and there is a chance we'll get a lot of breeze towards the end, so we'll really have to push hard near the finish. The Azores may be something of a lottery. If the high sits where it is right now we may get a couple of days with no breeze and when that happens it turns into a lottery, but we have high hopes for this leg and we are really looking forward to reaching Lorient in a very good position.

XABI FERNÁNDEZ, trimmer.

Just after we put the Azores behind us we'll be setting course north to catch the low pressure and the first boat to catch it will spend a day or a day and a half pushing away, pushing away with more breeze than the rest. The leg is likely to speed up towards the coast of Lorient, which will also throw up its own issues, but we trust Capey [Andrew Cape, navigator] to negotiate that successfully.

ANTONIO “ÑETI” CUERVAS-MONS, bowman

We've all wiped the slate clean for today and we must start this again, as if this were the first day of this regatta, giving it all we've got. We're going to sail how we know best. We've demonstrated that we know how to be ahead and I think that the only thing we can hope to do is to give it our all and to do the best we can.

PROVISIONAL RANKINGS LEG 8

LISBON (PORTUGAL) – LORIENT (FRANCE): 1,940 miles

Day 1 – 15:00 UTC – 10^th June 2012

1. Puma Ocean Racing (Ken Read), 1,903 miles to finish

2. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), +0.2 miles

3. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), +0.2 miles

4. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), +0.8 miles

5. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), +2.7 miles

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), +3 miles

PROVISIONAL OVERALL STANDINGS. Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.

1. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), 189 points

2. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 181 points

3. Puma powered by Berg (Ken Read), 176 points

4. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), 166 points

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), 107 points

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), 34 points

IKER MARTÍNEZ: “I AM ONE HUNDRED PER CENT SURE THAT THE JURY'S DECISION TODAY WAS TOTALLY INCORRECT”

Sat, 09 Jun 2012 00:00:00

Luis Sáenz, legal adviser for the team: “My conclusion is that the umpires have made a serious error here and confused a leeward tack by 'Puma' to hoist the spinnaker with a luff by 'Telefónica'”

19 knots of breeze were blowing in the River Tajo today as the tide began to come in, at the predicted time of 12:00 UTC. That's when the eighth inshore race so far of the Volvo Ocean Race kicked off. It took place in Lisbon with a course marked out originally along 18.6 miles, split into four legs, but after 40 minutes of racing, the regatta was cut down to 11.6 nautical miles.

The race began with the spinnakers hoisted, a downwind course and that was good for “Telefónica”. However, an early penalty which skipper Iker Martínez has qualified as “totally incorrect”, forced the Spanish boat to make a turn of 360º that wiped out any possibilities they may have had in the race, despite some good sailing. “A penalty with these winds, a few seconds after the start totally blows you out of the water”, said Martínez.

“We had to make a penalty turn at the start which obviously pushed us right to the back of the race”, explains the Basque skipper, back on shore. “The level at which we're sailing the inshores now is much higher than it was previously and for that we were fairly happy, but today what threw out our chances in the race was quite simply a decision by the International Jury”.

The person in charge of rules and regulations on Team Telefónica is Luis Sáenz Mariscal. He explained what happened in the following terms: “What the umpire is saying is that we infringed Rule 17 which says that if an overlap occurs from clear astern you mustn't sail above your proper course. My conclusion is that the umpires have made a serious error here and confused a leeward tack by “Puma” to hoist the spinnaker with a luff by 'Telefónica'”.

In the Spaniard's opinion: “They said what they saw on the water and they say that out on the water they saw a luff by “Telefónica” which meant that they weren't able to keep clear of “Puma”, but the reality is that in cases like these, the rules are structured in a very simple fashion. There is a basic rule, which is the Windward-Leeward rule. Leeward has the right of way over windward. We were leeward and “Puma” was windward. “Puma” had to keep clear and they did absolutely nothing to keep clear. Then there are a series of limitations which state that we can't luff too forcefully, that we can't sail above our proper course... but these are exceptions applied in case of doubt and in this case “Puma” did nothing to keep clear and there was a moment where they did not halt the hoisting of the spinnaker and it touched our shrouds”.

In any case, as the lawyer points out: “The umpire's decision is final and the matter is closed out on the water. There is nothing to be done and there is no channel for a redress or an appeal”.

“Groupama” won the race, about which Iker Martínez said that they sailed a great race. “I congratulate them, and they've also boosted their lead by five points, which is an important advantage for them”. American team “Puma” finished second and is now six points from Martínez and co in the overall rankings. The podium was finished off by “Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand”.

The penultimate leg kicks off tomorrow

The eighth and penultimate leg in this edition of the round the world race starts tomorrow at 12:00 UTC and 13:00 local time in Lisbon.

It will take the boats across 1, 940 miles from Lisbon to Lorient, home of “Groupama”, and the crew on “Telefónica” are now completely focussed on it.

“We'll start a new leg tomorrow and we have to give it all we've got, as always. Out on the water there are things that come up and different possibilities which open up, but here on shore, until we take the start we have to prepare as best we can, rest up and make good sail choices etc. to then go on to compete at one hundred per cent on the leg. That is what we are going to do, as angry and disappointed as we might feel today. We feel that this is completely unjust but all we can do now is focus on tomorrow and prepare as best we can”, said Martínez.

MORE QUOTES

IKER MARTÍNEZ, skipper

I think that it's very unfair that this happens, because the inshore races can decide the round the world regatta, although it's the same for us all. The juries need to take the correct decisions and I'm one hundred per cent sure that today's was a totally incorrect decision. I hope there'll be no complaining later that the regatta rested on these points, which is something that could happen.

XABI FERNÁNDEZ, trimmer.

It was a difficult start, and downwind starts are always tricky and you don't have as much control over the situation. It was a very tight start, especially with “Puma”, and everyone was lined up. Before the start “Puma” had won the position over us, so they made a better start. Just after the start there was an incident in which they came up very close to us as they were hoisting their spinnaker and as we were leeward we protested, thinking that they would be penalised for it. Of course we didn't agree with this at all, but we had to take the penalty and that's when we trailed behind in the race and it was very difficult.

Tomorrow the eighth and penultimate leg begins with a lot to play for. It's a fairly short leg where we are likely to get a mix of conditions. We'll set off with breeze and then we head for the Azores where there won't be any and then as we exit it's likely to pick up again. It's an incredibly important leg and today we dropped some important points on “Groupama”, but I hope we'll have a good leg. Everything slipped away today because of a decision by an International Jury and I don't think we sailed badly, so we're positive about tomorrow.

FINAL RESULTS Lisbon Inshore Race (Portugal)

1. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas). 61min 22s. 6 points

2. Puma powered by Berg (Ken Read). 61min 44. 5 points.

3. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson). 62min 30s. 4 points.

4. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker). 63min 8s. 3 points.

5. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), 64min 50s. 2 points.

6. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez). 65min 39s. 1 point.

PROVISIONAL OVERALL STANDINGS. Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.

1. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), 189 points

2. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 181 points

3. Puma powered by Berg (Ken Read), 176 points

4. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), 166 points

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), 107 points

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), 34 points

SKIPPER'S WORD

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 00:00:00

Iker Martínez: “The only pressure we've got is the pressure we put on ourselves”

For the first time here in Lisbon we've seen the six Volvo Ocean Race skippers sit down at a table together. This took place in the press conference held today after the Pro-Am race, with Spanish skipper Iker Martínez also taking questions from the press.

“Telefónica” is now in second place, just three points from the leaders and many are questioning whether that means that the pressure has eased for the Spanish team, as they no longer feel the weight of being at the top of the rankings in a regatta such as this. Others might feel that losing the lead may give rise to some frustration within the crew, but Iker Martínez replies with a relaxed smile: “I'm happy... I'm sorry, but I'm happy. I think you feel under pressure when you are in a place you don't want to be in and you feel the pressure when things aren't going well. We are still in the running to win this regatta in Galway, which is what we're all focussed on and we're all bearing in mind. So that said, the only pressure we have is the pressure we put on ourselves because we want to give our best and because we want to get some good results in this regatta, and of course, we knew that wasn't going to be easy. All of the teams are very good, with great boats, great shore crews and great crews”.

The double Olympic medallist went on to add that “it was never going to be easy and now 'Groupama' is slightly ahead and have a small lead, but there are still lots of points to play for and we are going to try to do the best we can, just like all of the others will be trying to give it their best too”.

Tomorrow it'll be time for the in-port race in Lisbon and with six new points in play at this point in the regatta and with such a tight scoreboard, 'every point counts': “We always say that the points on offer in the in-port races are very important. Of course, the offshore legs even more so, because there are more points in play, but every point counts, so we'll all be trying to get as many points as we can. As Ian [Walker] said, the in-ports are fairly complex with not many people on board, you have to think about grinding, then think about moving quickly, that you have to take the mark... Yes, the points are important and we have to go out to get them with all we've got”, replied Iker.

Speaking about the coming leg, among other things, the topic of sails came up, to which Iker Martínez replied: “I'm very happy with the sails we have”.

Iker's final comments were to weigh up the tough nature of a Volvo ocean Race and the Olympic Games. “I think that the Volvo Ocean Race is very tough, but so are the Olympic Games, although they are different. Three of the skippers here have been involved in Olympic campaigns and Volvos. They are very different and at the same time very similar. The Olympic Games involve four years of preparation or even more, sometimes even eight. When we went to Athens Xabi and I had been training for seven years and it was only for a week. When that moment comes around you have to be prepared, do well and there is no room for excuses. That's very tough, as is the Volvo, but in a different way: you do more sailing, during the night, the day and physically you're often much more tired and then you have to spend a lot of time dealing with the press and that can be very tiring... It's tough to say which is more difficult, because quite simply they are very different. The boat changes and there are less people involved but the basic concept is fairly similar”.

LISBON IN-PORT, ANOTHER TRIAL BY FIRE FOR “TELEFÓNICA”

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 00:00:00

From 12:00 UTC tomorrow, six new points will be up for grabs in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012. Olympic medallist Theresa Zabell will be on board the Spanish entry.

“Telefónica” is currently preparing for tomorrow's in-port regatta in Lisbon (Portugal), a race which may throw up some changes in the overall Volvo Ocean Race standings and where the Spanish boat will be looking to reach the top spots.

From 12:00 UTC (13:00 local time) tomorrow (Saturday), the Volvo Open 70 fleet will hear the starting gun for one single race in which the winner will notch up six very valuable points on the scoreboard, which may be crucial in this round the world challenge which is incredibly tight right now with just three points standing between “Telefónica” and the current lead held by Franck Cammas, after being held for Iker Martínez for the past seven months.

The organisers have planned two possible routes along the Tajo river, both heading for Lisbon, although, as Martínez, skipper on “Telefónica” says: “The Racing Committee will inform us of which start we'll be taking shortly before the race, because we still don't know. There is a slightly longer course that we sailed yesterday. We went downwind and then upwind, twice along the river with some good breeze and it was fairly good. The other course is a lot shorter, more similar to the kind we've been sailing in these races up to now. They are very difficult races where even hoisting or bringing down the spinnaker is relatively complicated”.

It looks very much like this in-port race in Lisbon, which will be raced in the mouth of the River Tajo will feature some strong currents, something which the crew on Team Telefónica agree on unanimously. Sailing in this zone usually implies grappling with big currents, whilst the tide also has a big influence on sailing, because depending on whether it's coming in or going out it pushes the boats one way or the other.

“We've even had three knots of current before, which is a lot, so that's the biggest problem”, says the double Olympic medallist.

There will also be many other factors to consider when it comes to completing in this in-port race, such as the shallow waters in certain parts of the racing area, which Iker Martínez is keeping in mind: “When you're sailing upwind, for example, as we did yesterday, sometimes it's better to hug the coast and when it's shallow that is difficult to do and you don't know exactly how close in you can get. It's very important not to overstep the line”.

“When it's better to be closer to the coast you have to be so careful not to hit the floor, which would be disastrous on an in-port racing day, especially with the offshore leg kicking off the next day”, he adds.

Theresa Zabell, on board “Telefónica”

There will be a very special guest on board “Telefónica” tomorrow: Spanish double Olympic medallist Theresa Zabell (gold in the 470 class in Barcelona 1992 and in Atlanta in 1996) and Vice President of the Spanish Olympic Committee since 2007 as well as President of the Women's Sport Commission for the COE. She is also currently the delegate for International Relations for Madrid's 2020 bid.

TV coverage

For those wishing to follow the in-port race at Lisbon live, it will be broadcast in Spain on the following channels: Teledeporte, Canal+ Sportmanía, Canal 9 Dos and TV3 Esport 3. It can also be followed on the official regatta webpage: www.volvooceanrace.com

MORE QUOTES

XABI FERNÁNDEZ, trimmer.

The in-port will actually be on the river so it will be different the ones we've raced so far, I think. It'll be more similar to the in-port in New Zealand, which was a narrow area, although here there's a lot of current because it is a river, and I emphasise that this will make a big impact on the race. The last few in-ports haven't gone well for us, but I'm sure we can do well in this one.

ANTONIO “ÑETI” CUERVAS-MONS, bowman.

This will be a downwind-upwind race (north-south) in the estuary and then we'll be reaching to the bridge, to just before or after, depending on the wind direction.

It's going to be a fairly tricky in-port because there's a lot of current and some difficult patches with light airs and the area really is very, very, very small for these boats, so it'll be great to watch but for us it'll mean a lot of hard work and it won't be simple.

PEPE RIBES, boat captain.

The in-port at Lisbon will be fairly complicated because it's in the Tajo River, at the mouth. There are two possible courses: one is windward-leeward along the river, which is very short. It's not even 1.7 miles and the manoeuvres will be the most important thing.

The other course, which we sailed in the official training regatta is a course up to the bridge, but only if the winds are westerly. To sum up, manoeuvres will be really important, as will the current. There's a lot of current when the tide is coming in and going out, which changes the way you sail and approach the marks.

REGATTA SCHEDULE

Saturday, 9^th June

In-port race (12:00 UTC – 13:00 local time)

Sunday, 10^th June

Start of Leg 8: Lisbon – Lorient (12:00 UTC – 13:00 local time)

PROVISIONAL OVERALL STANDINGS. Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.

1. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), 183 points

2. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 180 points

3. Puma powered by Berg (Ken Read), 171 points

4. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), 162 points

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), 104 points

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), 32 points

"TELEFÓNICA” SETS SIGHTS ON LORIENT

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 00:00:00

The horn will sound for the start of the eighth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race next Sunday, 10th June at 13:00 local time in Lisbon, Portugal. Lying ahead are just under 2,000 miles between the Portuguese city and the French port of Lorient. The aim of the Spanish team is clear: “We want to do well enough on this leg to have a good chance on the final leg”, said skipper Iker Martínez speaking in Lisbon.

One thing is for sure, and that is that the overall standings in this regatta could make another complete turnaround even before next Sunday and that is because there is still the Lisbon in-port race ahead. It's shaping up to be a head to head battle between Iker Martínez and Franck Cammas with just three points separating the two entries in the overall standings.

Speaking today Xabi Fernández said: “Let's see if we are back in the lead or not at the start of this leg, as we've got the in-port in between. Whatever happens, the approach to this leg must be to fight as hard as we can to win it as everything's so tight now that there's not even enough time to be reserved, measured or to mark your opponent. There are only two legs left now and three in-ports and this is the final sprint, so that's all there is”.

The shortest leg... so far

Regardless of what may happen on Saturday 9th June, the “Telefónica” crew is well aware that the next leg is going to be a tough one. This time the key to the race won't just be about handling the conditions the leg might throw up, but it will also lie in negotiating what will be all out battle for the boats lining up to take on the 1,940 mile course.

“Of course the fight between 'Groupama' and 'Puma' has heated up, as they are the boats closest to us at the top and we're the entries with the greatest chances of winning this regatta”, commented Iker. “'Camper' has trailed behind somewhat after this leg but they could also push forward again so we have to take this on thinking that we have to stay ahead and try to win it if we can”.

They have a total distance of 3, 592.88 km with which to do that in, or in other money: 67 lengths of the Champs Elysées and 645 circuits of the Grand Canal at Versailles. However, despite these figures this will be the shortest leg so far and the organisers estimate that the boats will take approximately one week to complete the leg, which is also forecasted to be one of the most intense in the competition.

“Telefónica” will be fighting tooth and nail to reach Lorient in the lead as the winner of this leg will notch up 30 points on the scoreboard. “We always give all we've got, we're going full out and we haven't stopped thinking for a second about how to make the boat go faster and preparing it as best we can so that nothing fails... We've managed to do that well throughout the regatta, so in that sense this is another leg and an important one for getting back into the lead”, pointed out one of “Telefónica”'s helmsmen, Spaniard Pablo Arrarte.

A brand new Atlantic leg

As on previous occasions, this new leg will be raced entirely in Atlantic waters, but whilst the Miami (USA) leg to Lisbon (Portugal) was from east to west, the boats are now going on a route from the south to north and exiting the river Tajo promises war. “Telefónica”, and the rest of the fleet, have already suffered some of the complications the Tajo has to offer when due to the light airs and some strong counter current more than one of the boats were forced to anchor to avoid being dragged backwards.

Whilst the crews wait to hear if the course will include or not a passage through the Azores, in which case they would be put to starboard, it looks like the start is likely to be given with northerly winds, which are predominant at this time of year. “If they confirm that the route will take us to the Azores and then back to Lorient, the high at the Azores is where the differences are likely to emerge and they should be big enough that the final results will reflect these”, says Iker. “If there's a calm then it's likely to shape this leg, because the first boat to exit will have a big advantage”.

From Sunday, the penultimate offshore leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 begins.

MORE QUOTES

IKER MARTÍNEZ.

(On how they will approach the leg if they set off in second place in the overall standings)

The approach to this needs to be the same setting off in first, second or even third place: to go out and do the best you can and to get the best possible result. If it's not possible, a second place is never bad and third is always there. Below that we're not talking about a good result any more.

With just two legs to go, whoever wants to win this has to win legs or at least come second. That has to be our aim: to be up at the front. Our objective is to do well enough in this leg to have a good chance at the last leg. If things play out as predicted and there may be calms, it will be a bit tricky and anything could happen and if anything does happen we'll have to try to make the most of it.

XABI FERNÁNDEZ.

This has turned into a very interesting regatta again, with all sorts of conditions. It's possible we may start with fairly strong northerly winds from Lisbon, then as we head for the Azores it will die down and then after exiting the Azores anything might happen and it just depends on the weather. We should get some more or less strong winds and then as we take on the final sprint to Lorient we'll get a mixed bag and we'll have to fight. We've seen how all of the legs have been very tight. We crossed the Atlantic in eleven days and we all finished within two hours, I don't want to even think what'll happen from here to Lorient.

The approach to the leg doesn't change much because in the end the aim is always the same: stay in front, try to win the race and try to win the leg.

PABLO ARRARTE.

It's going to be a tricky and very important leg. We set off from Lisbon, we pass the Azores and then we climb up to Lorient. We might come across a mix of conditions, but it looks very much like we might get headwinds, upwind conditions which are in our favour, and not much wind. If for whatever reason the conditions confirm that we'll get light airs, maybe the organisers will take the Azores out of the equation and place the waypoint a bit higher so that the leg isn't too long.

RACING SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK

Friday, 8th June

Pro-Am (11:00 UTC – 12:00 local time)

Saturday, 9th June

In-port race (12:00 UTC – 13:00 local time)

Sunday, 10th June

Start of Leg 8: Lisbon – Lorient (12:00 UTC – 13:00 local time)

PROVISIONAL OVERALL STANDINGS. Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.

1. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), 183 points

2. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 180 points

3. Puma powered by Berg (Ken Read), 171 points

4. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), 162 points

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), 104 points

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), 32 points

TRAINING IN THE GYM AND ON THE WATER: “TELEFÓNICA” WARMS UP IN LISBON

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 00:00:00

The Spanish boat is back in Atlantic waters for its first training session in Lisbon. The crew continue their physical training, even on their days off.

Yesterday was the seventh month mark since “Telefónica” set off from Alicante, back on the 5^th of November. Almost in celebratory fashion, the Spanish boat was put back on the water ready to prepare for the final five days in the Portuguese capital. Today is the first training session on the water, the start of an intense week of work which will reach its climax on Sunday with the start of the eighth and penultimate leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.

Back on Atlantic waters

The shore crew had five days to work on “Telefónica” with one clear objective: to get the boat into perfect racing condition for the upcoming in-port race on Saturday and for the leg which will see the boats set off from Portugal to the French city of Lorient.

“The boat has had a complete check-over”, confirms skipper Iker Martínez. “As always, the boat needs checking, and there are always small things that need tweaking, a few broken lines that need changing, some cleats and a few stoppers that don't work... then of course the entire structure of the boat, the hull, the mast, the spreaders, the sails all need checking. Sometimes there are small breakages that can lead to bigger issues and many of these are highlighted when you take the boat out of the water. All of the shore crew guys go on the hunt, looking for any small imperfection which might avoid us hitting a bigger problem further ahead. When the boat is up out of the water, that's when we have to do an exhaustive check to look for any problems”.

Last time on shore?

If nothing unpredictable happens, this may be the last time that “Telefónica” comes off the water until the end of the regatta. The regatta rules indicate that the boats are not allowed to be hauled out of the water at Lorient, the next stopover destination for this round the world regatta without a very valid reason and then the port after that will be the final port in this edition of the round the world race: Galway (Ireland). We'll have to see if between the finish at the Irish port and the in-port race on the 7^th of July the boat needs to come off the water.

Iker Martínez, who boasts two Olympic medals, hopes that this will be the last time that “Telefónica” is up on its cradle on shore, because “that would mean there are no problems. The boat has been prepared so that it won't need to come off the water again until the regatta is over, but you can never be sure. If for any reason we had a crash or any hull problems, we could ask for authorisation to bring her off the water, so if we don't see her up there again, it's a good sign. I hope it continues”.

No time off physical training

Although the crew have enjoyed a few days off, the health department, with trainer Iñigo Losada, doctor Pablo Díaz Munío and physio José Ramón Sánchez has not granted any days off with the crew members' preparation and physical training continuing in Lisbon under their supervision.

“We're at the final stages of the competition, although we've still got the same objective that we had of getting the crew back into top shape for the coming leg. Really, they were in quite good shape when they finished this leg and there wasn't too much fatigue or any injuries in particular, but we have followed up on the crew members who've brought with them any complaints from previous legs. These aren't very long sessions because we also need to let them rest and to bear in mind that during the day they'll continue with their boat duties”, explains Iñigo Losada, the physical trainer for Team Telefónica and the health department coordinator.

On the final stretch of the competition, with almost a month to go until the finish, the approach to the training sessions remains the same, “getting all of the crew to one hundred per cent of their potential”, as Yiyo points out, although in his opinion the context within which the crew move now has changed: “Of course both physically and mentally the crew aren't in the same shape they were at the start, so we also have to deal with that side of things. We can't be as demanding of them, physically they are more tired and you can see that they are notching up the sailing miles and mentally it also shows that the competition is coming to an end as well as the results situation”.

During their days off and over the final phase of this competition, the training sessions on a physical level have taken a more personalised slant. Yiyo explains: “Now we really have to tend to everyone's individual needs and see how everyone is doing. Equally when we do our 'regenerative' exercises, our cardio work, there are those who prefer to go out on a bike, a road or a mountain bike and those who prefer to hit the pool as well as those who like to run... That's why we try to personalise the plans as much as we can”.

“The evaluation today, here in Lisbon with two legs to go is that we're satisfied”, said the trainer. He also pointed out a slight difference in Team Telefónica to the rest of the teams and that is the fact that so far the team is the only team to have had no changes in line-up since the start of the regatta. “All of the crew so far have been able to do all of the legs. Our aim is for the eleven crew who set off at Alicante to finish at Galway”.

First training session and the start of four intensive days

Following a team meeting at the Team Telefónica base in Lisbon, Iker Martínez headed out on the water to take on the first training session with the boat in Portuguese waters, which will continue until 16:00 UTC, 17:00 local time.

Tomorrow (Thursday) at 12:00 UTC the official training race will be held, whilst the prize-giving ceremony for the seventh leg will take place in the afternoon. The next day the Team Telefónica crew will head out onto the water to sail the Pro-Am regatta, three races with guests on board. On Saturday the first scored race at Lisbon will be held, with six points in play in the in-port race. On Sunday at 12:00 UTC the fleet will say goodbye to Portugal ans set course for Lorient.

REGATTA SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK

Thursday 7^th June

Official training regatta (12:00 UTC – 13:00 local time)

Friday 8^th June

Pro-Am Race (12:00 UTC – 12:00 local time)

Saturday 9th June

In-port race (12:00 UTC – 13:00 local time)

Sunday 10th June

Start of Leg 8: Lisbon – Lorient (12:00 UTC – 13:00 local time)

PROVISIONAL OVERALL STANDINGS. Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012.

1. Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas), 183 points

2. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 180 points

3. Puma powered by Berg (Ken Read), 171 points

4. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), 162 points

5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), 104 points

6. Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), 32 points

IKER: “WE NEED TO GIVE EVERYTHING WE'VE GOT TO BE AHEAD WHEN WE REACH GALWAY”

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:00:00

Seven months and 45,000 miles later and the Volvo Ocean Race has made its return to Europe and has done so with a new leader. “Telefónica” has given away the lead, which the team had been holding onto since November, although the top spot is only three points away. We take an in-depth look at the seventh leg and look ahead to the two legs and three in-shores coming up with Iker Martínez-

“I think we are all at a very similar level and I think we've all got a chance”. Those were the skipper's words just before setting off from Miami, and Lisbon proved that he was right. How did he and his crew take on this seventh leg?

Before we began racing on this leg we were well aware that things could just as easily go well as they could badly. We set off in an exceptionally good fashion and that was followed by a period of time when things didn't go as well as we'd have liked them to...

As we set off from Miami we were where we thought we'd be: at the top, or near enough that we'd still have a chance of getting to the last leg and still being in the running, and that was our aim and that was our objective from day one.

You had an unexpected visitor on this leg: a certain 'hurricane Alberto'... What were conditions like on board?

It wasn't the sort of hurricane you see on TV or the kind that people usually think of. We had some very strong winds, but nothing too strong. The situation was that we wanted to make the most of the low pressure to get the most out of a change in wind direction and to sail a faster route, but then the low pressure shifted to the east very quickly and instead of getting anything out of it we were trapped by it. It was like hitting a wall, which we all came up against and we we forced to sail some slow courses for these boats. We ended up in a weather situation wasn't ideal and which no one likes very much.

What was the real situation once you were out of there?

We came out of it well: the boat hadn't suffered much and everyone was in good shape. We began a more downwind course and we maintained a pretty serious battle with “Groupama” to try to get back in the lead of the leg. In fact it went pretty well for us because by day four we were back leading the leg with “Puma” fairly nearby, “Abu Dhabi” about 20 miles away and the rest of the fleet a bit further back. The leg was reaching almost the halfway point and everything looked good...

Then, halfway through the leg, something happened that you guys weren't very happy about... A sudden shift in the direction of the breeze put you in a delicate position. How did this affect you?

The route that we'd all chosen and which had looked like the ideal route proved not to be. There was soon only very light air and the weather was changing rapidly, with the boats behind us able to choose a different routing when we couldn't, because we didn't have their breeze. When we were finally able to change route they had already pushed past us.

Is this a common occurrence in a regatta like this?

This is a one in a hundred or a one in a thousand occurrence. Cyclists always ride on the coat-tails of each other because it's better to stay behind. In a regatta it is almost always better to be up at the front and that's why we fight so hard right from the first minute. However, on this occasion the boats behind had an advantage and they made the most of it and managed to make their way around us with more breeze, more speed and to get ahead. But there was still a lot of leg to go and we still knew that we could try to get ahead.

As you approached the final 200 miles to Lisbon you had to make your way across a light patch. From on board the yacht Xabi Fernández said that this would be a crucial moment in terms of the final leg result...

The final part of the leg was key. We'd passed the Azores and we had to get across the light patch and position ourselves in a good place. All of the boats at that point had an option at taking the leg and it was a question of seeing who would be able to negotiate the light patch best. We were the boat furthest south. We had to sail some slower and more luffed courses beforehand, which can sometimes take it out of you, but we though that it was important to be in that zone and we made our way across where we wanted to. After the case, we saw that we'd made a slower exit. We pushed back up to speed and we thought that we'd be able to make a fight for the leg and then we found ourselves hitting another light patch, becalmed for two hours. That really held us up against the boats to the north who didn't get a second calm after they exited the first and were able to get more and more breeze and to push a distance away.

We have heard that until almost the finish you had no idea who was leading...

On all of these legs when we're at 100 miles from the finish we usually get reports in every hour. We didn't get those this time and just had the three-hourly data. As we were arriving at the finish we didn't know what position we were in, or if “Camper” was behind or in front of us, or even “Puma”. Just before Lisbon we took a slightly longer route, but thinking that we'd avoid a light patch near the city and it worked quite well for us. When we were almost at the mouth of the river Tajo we saw a boat ahead that had very little breeze but we couldn't make out which boat it was. We began changing sails and manoeuvring and we were soon parallel. That was when we realised it was “Camper” and we presumed that “Puma” would be ahead.

Is that where the fight for fourth place began?

Yes, it was during the final three or four hours that our fight to gain another place began. Then we saw that “Puma” was two miles or so ahead, so it was even feasible for us to try to cut down the gap and catch up with them, although they had more breeze and managed to enter the river without a hitch whilst the light patch and the counter-currents caught up with us. That's when we realised that all we could do was to fight off “Camper” to try to make fourth and to minimise any loss of points with “Groupama”.

What was it like to cross the finishing line?

We were happy because we'd made fourth and that translated into five very important points. Personally I was happy because everybody had put everything they had into the fight to try to make it a good leg and in the end we had managed to push up an extra position at the last minute when anything could have happened. However, there was also not such a good feeling aboard the boat as we'd come in fourth, which meant that “Groupama” would move into the lead by three points. Of course, losing the lead isn't a good thing, but what we all really want is to be ahead at the end of this regatta. This can still turn around and we can get back up there. We need to give all we've got to get ahead when we reach Galway.

How is “Telefónica” taking on the final two legs with the new overall standings looking like they do, with a margin of just 12 points between the top three entries?

I think that any of the top four entries right now could become the regatta winner. It's going to be a much closer battle now and the legs will be shorter, so boat on boat battles will be inevitable. We need to keep pushing as hard as we can and the end of a regatta is always important. We've always been good at finishing off competitions. We have to make the most of everything we get and push forward. Nobody can say what will happen and we have to fight to get there.