19 February 2006 - The fourth offshore leg of the Volvo Ocean Race kicked off today from Wellington (NZL); a 6,700 nautical mile trip to Rio de Janeiro (BRA). The Ericsson Racing Team left Wellington with an intense desire to do well. The world’s fastest offshore monohulls are due to arrive in Brazil after a minimum of 19-20 days of extreme Southern Ocean sailing.

It was an emotional departure this morning as anxious wives and children bid goodbye to their husbands and fathers on the dockside, before sending them off for three weeks of thrilling Southern Ocean racing. Wellington has really turned it on during this action packed pit stop, with fantastic weather and an electric atmosphere throughout.

“You always feel apprehensive ahead of this leg,” commented kiwi crewmember Richard Mason on the dockside. “It’s a brutal leg but it’s what this race is all about. Our shore crew has fine tuned the boat and our confidence in her is increasing all the time. We will give it our best and hope for some fantastic sailing.”

Conditions were light and gusty, with 8-10 knots of northerly breeze, as the start gun fired at 14.30 local time (01.30 GMT). There were just five boats lined up, due to movistar’s decision to take the two hour penalty in Wellington in order to carry out repairs. Ericsson was in the middle of the pack but was slightly off the pace. ABN Two was the furthest to windward, then Pirates of the Caribbean who had the best start with full genoa up. Ericsson, sailing with a smaller jib, was covered by Pirates and Brasil 1 and lost ground on the leaders.

The fleet performed an inshore course in the bay, before heading out of the Heads and into the Cook Strait. By the time the yachts left the Heads, the wind had built to 20 knots. The boats are now looking to catch the next weather system, and could adopt very different routes on their way to the first ice gate, at 48 degrees south.

Shorts and t-shirts will soon be replaced by a full set of fowl weather gear as the temperature drops and the boats reach the strong westerly gales that will propel them towards the scoring gate at Cape Horn. After that it will be tropical weather as they approach Brazil.

Ericsson is currently in sixth place on the leaderboard, 3.5 points behind Brasil 1 and 5 points behind Pirates of the Caribbean. With 10.5 points available on this leg, they have an opportunity - and a huge desire - to make a comeback in this race. The fleet is expected to arrive into Rio de Janeiro in approximately three weeks time.
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Notes to Editors
Ericsson Racing Team, headed by Ericsson, the world’s leading telecommunications supplier is supported by Sony, Sony Ericsson and by Semcon as design and development partner. For updates and pictures on the Ericsson Racing Team’s participation in the Volvo Ocean Race, please visit www.ericssonracingteam.com. You can register as media to download high resolution images for editorial use. High resolution video footage is available on request.

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