[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] Green Dragon skipper Ian Walker/GBR led his hungry crew over the finish line outside the Marina da Gloria, in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday afternoon to claim fourth place in Leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Crossing the finish line at 18:59 GMT (15:59 local time) the Irish/Chinese team finished the longest leg in the history of the race with an elapsed time of 42 days 13 hours and 59 minutes.

It’s been a long leg for the Green Dragon crew, made all the more difficult by the team running low on both food and fuel during the final week. In fact, the team had to re-fuel before it could bring the boat into the marina.

“It’s been a hard 10 days – these last 10 days,” Walker said once his boat was safely dockside. “We just had to stick at it. It feels like quite an achievement to sail 12,500 miles! Getting around Cape Horn was always something I wanted to do, but getting here and having a steak sandwich is the highlight right now.”

Green Dragon, skippered by Ian Walker (GBR) finish fourth into Rio de Janeiro on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race. Rio de Janeiro 28 March 2009. Photo copyright Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race

Navigator Wouter Verbraak, who started the Volvo Ocean Race with Team Russia, is scheduled to join Delta Lloyd for Leg 6. But for the longest stage of the race, he has been with Green Dragon, replacing Ian Moore for the leg.

“It’s been a real leg of extremes. I thought I’d seen highs and lows on the other legs, but this is such a marathon,” he said. “You go from one dip to the next mountain. For us as a team it’s been really good to keep coming back until the very end.”

The fourth place finish means the team collects 5 points towards its total on the overall leaderboard. Green Dragon sits in fifth place, four points behind Leg 5 winner Ericsson 3.

Telefonica Blue is the only boat in the fleet still at sea. At the time of Green Dragon’s finish, Bouwe Bekking’s squad had 39 miles left to run, with a predicted ETA near midnight tonight.

Leg Five Finishing Order Rio
1. Ericsson 3: 8 points
2. Ericsson 4: 7 points
3. PUMA: 6 points
4. Green Dragon: 5 points

[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] Green Dragon skipper Ian Walker/GBR led his hungry crew over the finish line outside the Marina da Gloria, in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday afternoon to claim fourth place in Leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Crossing the finish line at 18:59 GMT (15:59 local time) the Irish/Chinese team finished the longest leg in the history of the race with an elapsed time of 42 days 13 hours and 59 minutes.

It’s been a long leg for the Green Dragon crew, made all the more difficult by the team running low on both food and fuel during the final week. In fact, the team had to re-fuel before it could bring the boat into the marina.

“It’s been a hard 10 days – these last 10 days,” Walker said once his boat was safely dockside. “We just had to stick at it. It feels like quite an achievement to sail 12,500 miles! Getting around Cape Horn was always something I wanted to do, but getting here and having a steak sandwich is the highlight right now.”

Green Dragon, skippered by Ian Walker (GBR) finish fourth into Rio de Janeiro on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race. Rio de Janeiro 28 March 2009. Photo copyright Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race

Navigator Wouter Verbraak, who started the Volvo Ocean Race with Team Russia, is scheduled to join Delta Lloyd for Leg 6. But for the longest stage of the race, he has been with Green Dragon, replacing Ian Moore for the leg.

“It’s been a real leg of extremes. I thought I’d seen highs and lows on the other legs, but this is such a marathon,” he said. “You go from one dip to the next mountain. For us as a team it’s been really good to keep coming back until the very end.”

The fourth place finish means the team collects 5 points towards its total on the overall leaderboard. Green Dragon sits in fifth place, four points behind Leg 5 winner Ericsson 3.

Telefonica Blue is the only boat in the fleet still at sea. At the time of Green Dragon’s finish, Bouwe Bekking’s squad had 39 miles left to run, with a predicted ETA near midnight tonight.

Leg Five Finishing Order Rio
1. Ericsson 3: 8 points
2. Ericsson 4: 7 points
3. PUMA: 6 points
4. Green Dragon: 5 points

[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] Green Dragon has stalled – no wind – about five miles from the finishing line. It’s very hot and humid here in Rio, with big dark clouds building. Maybe a squall will provide the wind to get them in…

Skipper Ian Walker looks for the finish line. Rio de Janeiro, 28 March 2009. Photo copyright Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race

[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] Green Dragon has stalled – no wind – about five miles from the finishing line. It’s very hot and humid here in Rio, with big dark clouds building. Maybe a squall will provide the wind to get them in…

Skipper Ian Walker looks for the finish line. Rio de Janeiro, 28 March 2009. Photo copyright Dave Kneale / Volvo Ocean Race

[Source: Green Dragon Team] Today is Day 39 and there is less than 900 nm to go for the Dragon to arrive in Rio de Janeiro to see their families, get a good shower, drink a cold beer and have a proper meal.

Weather conditions have remained the same for the last 24 hours. “At 10:00 ZULU this morning wind speeds and boat speeds were still trying to struggle out of single digits, the wind direction mostly southerly. Each boat was wriggling north towards Rio de Janeiro, their tracks like a snail’s trail down a garden path. It was a very different picture for Green Dragon and Telefónica Blue. They are spread almost 400 miles apart, east-to-west across the course to Rio. There’s less than 1,000 miles to go, and with Green Dragon’s advantage to the finish down to less than a 100 miles, this looks more of a race.” – Volvo’s race expert Mark Chisnell informed.

Update from Green Dragon Skipper Ian Walker:

“It is 6:30 in the evening on the 39th day. We were supposed to have finished three days ago. We’ve managed an entire one hundred miles today in 24 hours at an average of just over 4 knots. The forecast doesn’t look much better for the next two days so we’re facing another week at sea. It’s five days since we rounded Cape Horn and we hoped to get there (Rio) in seven so we are going to be five days later than we thought and we’ve got two days food left. So, we’ve split up all the food, we’ve issued all the food to each crew member or to each watch so they are in charge for their own food so there can’t be arguments about it.

Everyone is on pretty good form but obviously a bit disappointed. Now our other problem is Telefónica Blue who are able to come up behind while we’re sitting here in no wind and try and pass us to the east. Difficult times at sunset on the Dragon. In times like this I just come up on the foredeck and take a moment because life is not that bad. This is a very pleasant evening.”

After 39 days at sea, all food is being strictly rationed and must not exceed the black line on the pot. South Atlantic Ocean, 23 March 2009. Photo copyright Guo Chuan/Green Dragon Racing/Volvo Ocean Race

[Source: Green Dragon Team] Today is Day 39 and there is less than 900 nm to go for the Dragon to arrive in Rio de Janeiro to see their families, get a good shower, drink a cold beer and have a proper meal.

Weather conditions have remained the same for the last 24 hours. “At 10:00 ZULU this morning wind speeds and boat speeds were still trying to struggle out of single digits, the wind direction mostly southerly. Each boat was wriggling north towards Rio de Janeiro, their tracks like a snail’s trail down a garden path. It was a very different picture for Green Dragon and Telefónica Blue. They are spread almost 400 miles apart, east-to-west across the course to Rio. There’s less than 1,000 miles to go, and with Green Dragon’s advantage to the finish down to less than a 100 miles, this looks more of a race.” – Volvo’s race expert Mark Chisnell informed.

Update from Green Dragon Skipper Ian Walker:

“It is 6:30 in the evening on the 39th day. We were supposed to have finished three days ago. We’ve managed an entire one hundred miles today in 24 hours at an average of just over 4 knots. The forecast doesn’t look much better for the next two days so we’re facing another week at sea. It’s five days since we rounded Cape Horn and we hoped to get there (Rio) in seven so we are going to be five days later than we thought and we’ve got two days food left. So, we’ve split up all the food, we’ve issued all the food to each crew member or to each watch so they are in charge for their own food so there can’t be arguments about it.

Everyone is on pretty good form but obviously a bit disappointed. Now our other problem is Telefónica Blue who are able to come up behind while we’re sitting here in no wind and try and pass us to the east. Difficult times at sunset on the Dragon. In times like this I just come up on the foredeck and take a moment because life is not that bad. This is a very pleasant evening.”

After 39 days at sea, all food is being strictly rationed and must not exceed the black line on the pot. South Atlantic Ocean, 23 March 2009. Photo copyright Guo Chuan/Green Dragon Racing/Volvo Ocean Race

[Source: Volvo Ocean Race] Trouble struck for a third time on an eventful fourth leg for Green Dragon when the Chinese-Irish boat this afternoon reported a recurrence of bow section damage.

Ian Walker and his men were the first to sustain damage on this 2,500-upwind slog from Singapore to Qingdao when they broke their forestay three days ago.

Yesterday, they were among the casualties as a fierce storm struck the fleet in the Luzon Strait near the coast of the Philipines on day seven. They were forced to seek shelter along with PUMA, Delta Lloyd and Telefonica Black, with damage to the bow section.

Tom Braidwood leads the crew in repairing damage sustained in 50 knot winds. Philippines, 25 January 2009. Photo copyright Guo Chuan/Green Dragon Racing/Volvo Ocean Race

Having suspended racing, taken the requisite 12-hour penalty and spent most of their time making repairs at anchor in Salomague Bay, they resumed racing at 08:45 GMT this morning.

Six hours into their restart, the crew reported that the repairs they had made to the forward ring frame – a structural component – were not holding as expected and they have been forced to throttle back. They will proceed with caution in crossing the Luzon Strait while weighing up their options.

An update from the boat at 17:00 GMT suggested that they may have to wait for up to 20 hours for conditions to ease. The crew will assess the situation and make a decision on whether they need to pull in again to affect further repairs.

Earlier Walker had chronicled their repair plans and their desire to press on to Qingdao. His words prior to their resumption proved prophetic. “We are expecting a torturous trip where we will have to balance preserving the boat with our makeshift repairs against getting to Qingdao as quickly as possible,” he said.

[Source: Green Dragon] With conditions in excess of 50 knots and over 10 meters seas reported, the fleet have received a battering as they sail through the Straits of Luzon. This morning Green Dragon reported some structural damage to the bow of the boat. The boat has suffered damage to the forward ring frame, which the crew will have to try to reinforce and then re-bond to the hull. Skipper Ian Walker has taken the decision to head inshore, to assess the damage and affect repairs. Current forecasts suggest that conditions will start to ease over the next 36 hours allowing a more favorable weather window from which Green Dragon hopes to be able to hook into and carry onto Qingdao.

Green Dragon is approximately 1000 miles from Qingdao and they have anchored in a harbor just north of Vigan. They are not alone in their decision to seek shelter as the majority of the fleet head inshore to ride out the storm force conditions. Other boats have also reported damage onboard including PUMA who have suffered a broken boom, and Delta Lloyd who have suspended racing with a damaged steering wheel, ripped mainsail and a damaged mast track and are also seeking shelter in the same bay as Green Dragon.

“The conditions have been horrendous as we have tried to cross the Straits of Luzon, we have seen conditions in excess of 45 knots and a very aggressive sea state. With the existing damage to the forestay and the structural damage to the bow we have made the decision to turn in towards the Philippine coast to seek shelter. Our intention is to make some repairs and get underway. We have some materials and some know-how and we will use a bit of ingenuity,” Ian Walker, Skipper Green Dragon.