Boston In-Port Race

Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race

It all happened on the start line of the second race - a fantastic play by Telefonica Blue that won them the day. It started at about 30 seconds to go, with Ericsson 4 half-way down the start line on starboard tack, lined up for a head-on collision with Telefonica Blue on port tack, both boats several lengths to leeward of the start line.

Telefonica Blue clearly wanted to win the pin, or in other words, start at the buoy that marks the port or left-hand end of the line, looking upwind. To do so, Blue's tactician, Bouwe Bekking, needed to tack to starboard with enough time left to accelerate back towards the pin - and not arrive early. And if they could also start in a position close to leeward of Ericsson 4, then so much the better.

Aboard Ericsson 4, tactician Stu Bannatyne was anxious to avoid that outcome, and so as soon as Bouwe Bekking started Telefonica Blue's tack, he got Torben Grael to point Ericsson 4 into the wind, slowing down and keeping the separation from the Spanish boat as in the main photo above.

Telefonica Blue responded by not completing her tack. Instead, Bekking also held his boat head to wind. And they both drifted towards the line as the clock clicked down. The essential thing here was that they had enough distance between them and the line to slow for a good 10 or 15 seconds. It looked just like a match racing dial-up - with Telefonica Blue controlling the decision when they would turn down onto starboard tack and accelerate towards the buoy.

But another player was about to enter the scene, PUMA. Ken Read was reaching down the line on starboard, and fast closing the distance to Ericsson 4. This was potentially risky stuff from PUMA - if they timed it just right they might roll right over the top of Ericsson 4 as she struggled to accelerate. But if they got it wrong, Grael and Bannatyne would be able to force them over the start line early.

I'm not sure if PUMA could have slowed their approach to Ericsson 4 in the same way that Ericsson 4 had maintained their separation from Telefonica Blue. Unlike the other two, they were approaching from much closer to the line, and I think any kind of luff to burn time would have taken them over. Or maybe Read just felt that there wasn't enough time left to both slow down, and reaccelerate before the start gun. Either way, by the time Bannatyne picked his moment to turn down and go, he had some pretty hot cat's breath on his neck.

But the man holding all the aces at this point was Bouwe Bekking. They had got the timing and the positioning absolutely bang on. Bekking held Telefonica Blue head to wind for another five or so seconds after Ericsson 4 started to accelerate, then led the group of three towards the pin. We were into the final approach with Ericsson 4 and PUMA overlapped and the bowmen all calling the helmsmen into the start line.

And here came the random factor that can so easily ruin your day in a sailboat race. Some distance to windward, Ericsson 3 was about to make an unforced error. They were under no real pressure, but sailed the boat across the line early anyway. That blocked the view of the committee boat for the bowmen on both Ericsson 4 and PUMA. Unsighted and with Ericsson 3 barrelling across the line to windward they pulled the trigger and all three boats went early.

This is a scenario most sailboat racers will have seen a thousand times. One boat decides to start, and every one else has to go with them to avoid getting left behind. Someone had a very cool head on Telefonica Blue. They had done everything right, with plenty of room between them and the pin to fully accelerate before the start gun went. But not getting dragged over the line early with the others was the real play of the day. Perhaps that had a good transit lined up so they knew exactly where they were relative to the start line by looking at the pin - which only they had a clear view of at the time.

Whatever, it was a great start, with the fantastic and unexpected bonus that both their closest competitors on the overall leaderboard went over early and had to restart. All on their own on the left-hand side of the race course, Telefonica Blue won the crucial first cross with their sistership, did just two tacks up the first beat and never looked like getting caught from the windward mark onwards.

There was a brilliant recovery from both the Ericsson boats, but PUMA were the last to turn back, the last to restart and hopelessly buried from then on. A fifth place finish left them sixth for the day on the tie-break with Telefonica Black and Ericsson 3 - and put them a full 2.5 points further behind Telefonica Blue overall.

It's the home town jinx. A pretty grim day for Ericsson 4 in Rio (as least by their high standards), is followed by a horrible day for PUMA in Boston. If I was Ian Walker, I wouldn't be looking forward to Galway...

THE COURSE

The 2008-09 event has taken some of the lessons from in-port racing in 2005-06 and will attempt to bring the action to the spectators without compromising the racing itself. The courses for 2008-09 will be windward-leeward, with a mid-course gate and triangular viewing area.

This will provide flexibility of starting and/or finishing in the middle of the course. The bottom mark will also be a gate giving the yachts a choice of either mark to round for the next lap.

Each leg will be two nautical miles making the racing tighter. There will be two races per day, conditions permitting, with two laps per race and a target time of 50 minutes and a total race time of two hours.

For more information on the Boston stopover site, visit

USEFUL LINKS

Download the Boston in-port race course Information (164 KB)

Download the crew list (53 KB)

IN-PORT RACE REPLAY

Watch the full race replay and edited highlights of the Boston In-Port Race

Race 1 full replay

Race 2 full replay