Monday 9 July 2012

Groupama secures victory in Galway

Groupama skipper Franck Cammas celebrates in Galway.
Picture: IAN ROMAN/Volvo Ocean Race
Upwards of 100,000 people are believed to have turned out at Galway Harbour to welcome the Volvo Ocean Race fleet in.

A little rain, a cool wind and the wrong side of 2am did nothing to deter the crowd lining the dockside. The slightly unpleasant conditions gave the crowd a feeling of solidarity with the sailors who had borne so much adversity over the last three months.

It was Chris Nicolson’s team, Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand, who took the leg 9 win. This was their first leg victory and would put them in a good position against Puma going into the in-port race.

Overall trophy
Groupama finished shortly after Camper to take second place. That result was all they needed to clinch the overall trophy.

A disappointed and frustrated Kenny Read finished third on Puma Ocean Racing. They had been ahead of Camper at the Fastnet Rock. Losing to Camper had dropped them out of a chance of finishing second overall.

As we have seen throughout this race, the media coming off the boats brought the race to life. Leg 9 was no exception.

Live interviews
The 485-nautical mile leg 9 sprint from Lorient to Galway was covered extensively by live interviews with both skippers and navigators.

You could see the tension on board the boats as the close racing came down to the line. All of this has been made possible by Inmarsat’s FleetBroadband 500 enabling the excellent data streaming.

I will cover the future in my next blog, but as one race finishes and the next has been announced in 2014, the thirst from the race fans for interaction will not go away. The next race will be the most connected ever and it will be Inmarsat at the heart of the race again.

The Overall Final standings: 1. Groupama sailing team 253 points; 2. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand 231; 3. Puma Ocean Racing powered by Berg 226; 4. Team Telefónica 213; 5. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing 131; 6. Team Sanya 51

In-Port Series Final standings: 1. Puma Ocean Racing powered by Berg 45 points; 2. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand 44; 3. Groupama sailing team 41; 4. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing 37; 5. Team Telefónica 27; 6. Team Sanya 16

Mark Covell

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