il mostro back in water and set for Leg Three

9th December 2008

PUMA Ocean Racing, led by Skipper Ken Read (USA) is ready for battle in leg three of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. Having undergone essential structural repairs in Cochin, India over the past week, PUMA’s il mostro was today lifted back into the water. All The team will now begin their final preparations and testing prior to the start of the third leg, which begins at 1400 local (0830 GMT) this Saturday, 13th December.

Sailing the second Asian section of the 37,000 nautical mile round the world race from Cochin, India, to Singapore, Malaysia, the Volvo Ocean Race fleet will once again take to uncharted waters in this 1,950 nautical mile leg. PUMA Ocean Racing, who are currently in third place overall, are due to arrive in Singapore just days before Christmas.

Cochin, India, has welcomed the team with open arms, and the local community has been flocking to the race village in their thousands. The Indian stopover has been unlike any other for the team, not least due to damage sustained to PUMA’s il mostro during the last leg. Neil Cox, PUMA Shore Manager and his team have been working day and night to repair the damage sections of the boat’s hull.

PUMA Skipper Ken Read commented: “Our great team of boat builders, working alongside our consultant engineers and boat designers has made a great job of this monster task of fixing the issues we had during this past leg. Stepping onboard, not only can you not actually tell that there was ever previously a problem in that area, but the engineers tell me that we should be back at 100%, which is what we are aiming for. There’s no doubt about the extremely high level of competition in this race. These boats have never been pushed harder. It is likely that each of the teams will encounter some sort of problems along the way – we broke some structural components aboard PUMA, both Telefonica boats broke their daggerboards, Green Dragon snapped their boom – that’s half the fleet. We’re all pushing the limits. However, it’s those teams who are able to solve those issues they experience, and continue to push even harder, who will shine through.”

The PUMA Ocean Racing team plan to head out for a test sail just off the coast of Cochin, in the Indian Ocean, later this week. As part of the team’s planned crew rotation strategy, Rob Greenhalgh (UK), who sailed aboard the winning boat, ABN AMRO ONE during the 2004-05 Volvo Ocean Race will join the team this leg, whilst Robbie Naismith (NZL) flies home due to other commitments.

Leg three to Singapore which begins at 1400 local (0830 GMT) on Saturday 13th December.

Published in News From the Afloat.ie Archive

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