Photos: L ©2008 Oskar Kihlborg/Ericsson Racing Team R ©2008 Oskar Kihlborg / Ericsson Racing Team

Printable version  News feed

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:30:00 UTC

From Anders Lewander, skipper Nordic team

Sent – Thursday, 24th July

Nautical mile by nautical mile, watch by watch we are, in generally light conditions, sailing VMC mode, which means 'Velocity Made Good on Course'- the fastest but not necessarily the straightest way to the mark.

We are now heading towards Southern tip of Portugal with a Masthead Code 0 and great performance numbers.

We have just left the low pressure of Finisterre, crossed a high pressure ridge and finally entering the Azores high pressure or the trade winds in the Northern Atlantic Ocean.

We are as east as possible to be able to lever the stronger northeast trade wind influencing us all the way up here outside Lisbon.

I promised to come back on our squeeze below the low circulation and the small trough outside Finisterre.

Well, our navigator Aksel Magdahl managed to anticipate the highest wind field straight through the moving low. We are fortunate to have such a young talented number cruncher onboard.

Heading South,
Anders Lewander

Ericsson 3 update

1524h Thursday 24 July 2008

Today we have been sailing along the Portuguese coastline in light winds of between 8 - 13 knots.

We are now only about 600 nautical miles away from Lanzarote, which means we will arrive on Friday. The temperature is increasing and the crew on deck are wearing shorts and t-shirts.

It has been a really fast trip and earlier today we were reflecting about how fast we are moving, and figured out, that every day we have passed a new country. Denmark - Saturday, England - Sunday, France - Monday, Spain - Tuesday, Portugal - Today, Morocco - Thursday, and finally Lanzarote on Friday.

Ericsson 4 are currently a few miles ahead of us - and this after sailing almost 2000 miles, in all kind of weather conditions!

For more blogs and news updates from Ericsson Racing Team, visit their website www.ericssonracingteam.com.

You can watch hours of race video at www.VolvoOceanRace.tv, the official Race TV channel for free!

 Back to news      News Archive