Leg 4  Singapore - Qingdao
Telefonica Blue took first place in leg 4, the race to Qingdao, in one of the toughest race legs yet.  Only four boats managed to finish the race.  The USA Team Puma took second, Swedish Ericsson 4 took third, and the Chinese-Irish Green Dragon team finished fourth.  "The other three suffered damage and their skippers made the right - and only - decision they could; to get to shore and ensure the safety of their crew and their boats.  As a result they'll be able to re-join the race," said Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad.

PUMA had to race half of the leg between Singapore and Qingdao with a broken boom, remarkably to finish second.  While the Green Dragon who finished fourth suffered a forestay break early on in the race, before damage to the hull nearly halted their progress all together.  The full crew of the Green Dragon was presented with the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Seamanship Award for their efforts in getting the boat to one of its home ports safely.


Qingdao In-Port Racing
In-Port racing scheduled for February 7th was postponed several times due to unfavorable weather conditions which included lack of wind and poor visibility.

Two IP races finally took place in patchy wind conditions on February 9th with Ericsson taking an early lead in race one.  Green Dragon, PUMA, and Telefonica Blue, battled early for remaining positions. 

After an exciting blend of lead changes and close match racing, Ericsson 4 ended up taking first place from Green Dragon in very close race one finish followed by PUMA and finally Telfonica Blue.

Although Telefonica Blue took first place in the second IP race, Ericsson 4 ended the day in first place followed by Telefonica Blue, PUMA, and Green Dragon. 


Overall Qingdao IP Racing Results
1. Ericsson 4 - 4 points
2. Telefonica Blue - 3.5 points
3. PUMA - 3.0 points
4. Green Dragon - 2.5
Ericsson 3 DNS
Telefónica Black DNS
Delta Lloyd DNS
Team Russia DNS




Leg 5  Qingdao - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The teams are now preparing for Leg 5, the longest leg in the history of VOR racing at 12,300 nautical miles which will take them over a month at sea to complete.  The leg is scheduled to begin Saturday, February 14th, 2009 and is scheduled to arrive in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on March 20th, 2009.

Sources:
www.volvooceanrace.org
Photo ©  Dave Kneale (VOR 2008/2009)