11 May 2006, New York (USA) - The Ericsson Racing Team and the seven-strong Volvo Ocean Race fleet embarked on leg seven today; a 3,200 nautical mile mythical leg across the Atlantic to Portsmouth, UK. This leg will take the fleet on the record breaking transatlantic route from Ambrose Light, outside New York, to Lizard off the coast of Britain. But with three days of strong headwinds forecast the record could be tough to beat. Ericsson had a good start and was leading the fleet on the last position report.

After a conservative start from most of the fleet, Ericsson got away in third place behind Brunel and Pirates of the Caribbean. Conditions were light as the fleet sailed upwind passed the Statue of Liberty, but as navigator Mark Rudiger (USA) explains, this won’t last: “We have a very uncomfortable upwind battle ahead, with strong headwind and rain and lots of seaway.”

The wind is expected to pick up to 15-20 knots by the time the fleet rounds Ambrose Light, increasing to 30-35 knots on the nose by tomorrow afternoon. The big change will take place on Sunday as the breeze turns to the west, allowing the crews to hoist their spinnakers and have a wild ride. “This is when we’ll start to see the boats clock up big miles,” says Ericsson Racing Team meteorologist Chris Tibbs.

It is shaping up to be a tough tactical leg and according to skipper Neal McDonald (GBR), it could be as cold as the Southern Ocean. “We are going quite far north so we may see some ice,” says McDonald, who reports seeing icebergs on previous record attempts. The shortest route for the boats is to go north, but a few days out of New York we may see some of them dive south to get some extra help from the Gulf Stream.

As the competitors near the end of the leg, they will pass a scoring gate at Lizard off the south west corner of Britain. “From then on up to Portsmouth there is a lot of headland and tide, and there can be a great mixture of weather at this time of year, so the battle won’t be over until we cross the finish line,” comments McDonald.

“The end goal is to win this leg, but it has an added bonus in that there is a potential record to break and also it’s taking me back to England. These Volvo Open 70s have great record breaking potential but having looked at the weather I don’t think it’s a good time to try and get a record.”

“Crossing the pond is a big thing,” says American Ken Read. “You’ve got a record out there from Ambrose Light to Lizard, so we are racing against time.” The transatlantic record was broken 11 months ago by Robert Miller’s Mari Cha IV. His 144 foot schooner crossed the Atlantic in just over six days. “This is still a record that is within grasp of these fast boats,” concludes Read.

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