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Offshore Yachting, June-July, 2009

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The start of 2,550-mile trans-Atlantic Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean race from Boston, USA, to Galway, Ireland, saw the fleet battling thick fog which made for difficult and dangerous conditions and a couple of very close calls.

The fleet sailed a perilous course out of Boston, dodging container ships, lobster pots and powerboats and aided almost entirely by navigation equipment and radar.

"What a crazy start today!" commented Ericsson 3 skipper Sakel Magdahl in an email report. "Suddenly at the first mark, there was a huge ship coming out of the fog only boat lengths away, with plenty of police boats and tugs. I did not really react to the sirens at first as there were so many spectator boats. We just snuck in ahead of it while Delta Lloydhad to sail around it. Very unfortunate for them, but they came back and passed us shortly after.

"The fog is THICK. We had Magnus in the bow looking for crossing boats sailing out of the channel. At one stage we were in the wind shadow of another boat without beeing able to see it. So we keep a constant radar watch." Telefonica Blue skipper Bouwe Bekking recalled his own close call which could easily have been a catastrophic collision after the fog rolled in. "Nearly crashed into a power boat, who came in 90 degrees on our course, we think there wasn't more than a couple of centimetres in between us, it could have been very ugly. After that we we have seen nothing than just fog," he said.

"We know from the position reports that we have been going alright, and holding a small lead. We passed already the most northern point of the whale exclusion zone and we are heading out to the Atlantic. It is a bit nippy on deck, so the first gloves have appeared and everybody is wearing their woollen hat."

At one point Telefonica Blue also reported having just one metre of water under the keel--a frightening situation given the lack of visibility. At the time Offshore went to print, Ericsson 3, PUMA and Telefonica Blue were locked in a tight tussle powered on by a 20-knot south-southeaster. Prior to Leg 7, Ericsson 4 was the overall points leader for the series with 81 points, well clear of Telefonica Blue and PUMA with 68.5 and 65.5 points respectively.

For further information visit www.volvooceanrace.com