It was a photo finish, as announced. In the end, we were a whole 12 minutes ahead. After 7,000 killer miles through the Southern Ocean and around Cape Horn, that's ridiculously little. But on Good Friday, after 19 days, 18 hours, 9 minutes and 50 seconds, the Puma squad crossed the finish line, overjoyed, dog-tired, hungry as wolves, but also released from the curse that seemed to have weighed on the team since the mast broke on the first stage. However, this royal leg from New Zealand to Brazil was actually more about survival than about sailing fast. Puma was the only ship in the fleet to be spared defects in the most extreme conditions, which is a good testimony to the boat and crew.
"It was the most difficult offshore leg of my life," beamed skipper Ken Read on the jetty. "We ran out of food a day and a half ago, it was pretty hairy." Read said that they had discussed the strategy and priorities for the leg together and had consistently followed through. It's easy to rave about your own sailing performance, but that's by no means everything. "We were also lucky. If we had caught a wave two seconds later and it had thrown us into the air, who knows..."
And Puma's bowman Michael Müller from Kiel agreed: "That was an incredibly tough leg, split in two with extreme conditions up to Cape Horn and changeable but tactically exciting afterwards," said Müller after crossing the finish line. "The crew can still manage and cope with these stresses quite well, but the boat will break apart sooner or later if we don't take our foot off the accelerator." Puma receives 30 points for the victory and now stands on 113 points, which currently means second place behind Telefonica.
Hats off to the Spaniards, who, like Puma, kept their speed up but still had to repair laminate damage in the bow area during a 17-hour stopover at Cape Horn. They put in an incredible race to catch up, favoured by better winds further east, and almost managed to catch Puma. "We are very happy, this result is important for the overall standings," said Telefonica's skipper Iker Martinez. "But just to be here is fantastic, because it didn't look like it for a long time. But it shows that in this race you not only need the best sailors, but also the best ground crew. We dreamed of a chance, and we got it. But Puma sailed well in the end, congratulations on the win."
Meanwhile, Groupama also returned to the race with an extended emergency rig in Punta del Este to complete the remaining 670 miles and secure 3rd place, which would knock Puma off 2nd place in the overall standings.
Stage:
1. puma 30
2 Telefonica 25
Tension before the finish
Total:
1st Telefonica 147
2. puma 113
3. groupama 107*
4. camper 104
5. Abu Dhabi 55**
6. sanya 25**
* still in the race
** Stage abandoned
