Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race
Thursday 13 November 2008 20:00
Less than two days before the start of leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race, the great and the good assembled just outside Cape Town to celebrate the achievements of the first month of the race at the leg one prize-giving ceremony.
The big winner on the evening was the leg one champion and current overall race leader Ericsson 4. First, the entire Ericsson 4 crew was presented with recognition of their outstanding 24-hour record run of 602 miles. Simon Fisher, the navigator on ABN AMRO TWO, the previous holder, presented the trophy to Torben Grael, his navigator Jules Salter, and the rest of the crew.
Then, the Inmarsat Media Prize was awarded to Guy Salter of Ericsson 4. His body of work over the course of the leg, including video, stills, audio and text was judged to be the best. The work of the Media Crew Members, who are sailing in a new role in this race, exceeded all expectations. Rick Deppe from PUMA and Sander Pluijm on Delta Lloyd were the other nominees for this award.
The Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Seamanship Award was presented to Martin ‘Krusty’ Watts from Delta Lloyd, who made a critical repair to the mast after one of the jumper spreaders was broken. The jury for the prize found this to be an extraordinary repair that would be very difficult to effect at the top of the mast in offshore conditions. With the lack of materials available onboard and the conditions they experienced, this was a very impressive repair job.
Then, the Ericsson 4 team was back on stage to collect their Waterford Crystal trophy for the leg win. Torben Grael and crew dominated the final week of the first leg after duelling with PUMA for the first two-thirds of the opening stage.
"It was really a team effort, from the very beginning, starting with an excellent boat,” Grael said. “I really have to thank the crew for pushing so hard, especially in the absence of Tony (Mutter).”
Ken Read and his PUMA Ocean Racing teammates were awarded second place for the leg and sit just one point behind Ericsson 4 on the overall leaderboard. Green Dragon, the first boat to the scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha were awarded third place in the leg after Ericsson 3 lost two points due to an earlier penalty assessed by the International Jury for a measurement non-compliance.
The evening concluded with the sailors from all the teams thoroughly enjoying their penultimate evening in Cape Town, before turning their attention to the impending start of leg two, now less than 48 hours away.
Leg one prizes
Best 24 hour run – 602 miles, Ericsson 4
Inmarsat Media Prize – Guy Salter, Ericsson 4
Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Seamanship Award – Martin Watts, Delta Lloyd
Leg One, 3rd place – Green Dragon
Leg One, 2nd place – PUMA Ocean Racing
Leg One, 1st place – Ericsson 4