27.03.2009
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PUMA takes second place overall in Volvo Ocean Race
March 27, 2009 – After an incredibly hard-fought 41 days at sea, the PUMA
Ocean Racing team crossed the finish line of leg five of the Volvo Ocean
Race 2008-09 in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro at 01:47 local/04:27
GMT/23:27 EST [March 26] today. The longest ever leg in the history of the
Volvo Ocean Race took the team over 13,000 nautical miles from Qingdao,
China to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rounding Cape Horn in third place and
indextaining their podium position to the end of this leg, the PUMA team,
led by Skipper Ken Read (USA), moves up to take second place overall on
the Volvo Ocean Race leaderboard.
At the beginning of this epic leg almost a month and a half ago, the team
had said their final goodbyes to loved ones in freezing cold China on
Valentine’s Day. They today emerged looking relieved at the other end of a
marathon leg. Having scaled the Pacific Ocean from north to south, skirted
icebergs in the Southern Ocean, rounded Cape Horn in rough seas and made
agonisingly slow progress northwards to Brazil over the past week, this
leg will truly go down in sailing history. For the PUMA team, the journey
has been long and arduous, with extreme highs and extreme lows, together
with yet more close racing amongst the fleet. PUMA led the fleet for a
large part of the first half of the leg, before rounding Cape Horn in
third place on Tuesday 17th March. Ten days later, the PUMA team were
being teased by the bright lights of Rio, beckoning the team in as they
battled with patchy light winds to make it to the finish.
The PUMA Ocean Racing team were welcomed on the dock by family and the
PUMA shore team along with local samba dancers. After celebrating onstage
the eleven dishevelled crew were ushered to a banquet fit for kings in the
PUMA Lounge before much-needed showers and sleep.
On the dock in Rio Skipper Ken Read (USA) commented: “I don’t think any of
us, before we began this leg, knew quite what it would be like. It was not
only a boat race but a real adventure. It was non-stop excitement from
beginning to end, right out from China. You don't realise how daunting the
Southern Ocean is until you're there. Rounding Cape Horn is something I'll
never forget as long as I live. If you were going to write the script for
it, it was this squally, eerie, hazy day. The sun would break through and
then there was pouring rain, blowing 30 knots.”
“It’s an emotional day to be here safely in Brazil and see our families
again. We’ve finished the leg on the podium, solidified second place
overall, rounded Cape Horn, and I’ve done it all with my friends. The guys
on Ericsson 3 sailed a heck of a leg. They made the break at New Zealand
and made it hold up all the way to the finish – it’s a great effort by
their squad and hard earned. The leg itself was like a 41-day day race,
every day you were pushing just as hard as you would in a one day regatta.
I wondered if we would begin to have to pace ourselves but the fact is,
there’s no such thing – if you try to pace yourself you just lose. So you
can’t.”
“We will have this experience to look back on forever – although I don't
think the magnitude of this leg will really sink in until after the
completion of the race. It says a lot when you can't get the route that we
just sailed on one computer screen because it covers half the planet. With
half the points in this race still available it is still anyone’s game,
not only for the podium but for victory. Anything can happen. We will stay
on our toes and keep pushing as hard as we can until someone grabs our
lines in St Petersburg.”
The Volvo Ocean Race is made up of ten legs, finishing in June 2009 in St.
Petersburg, Russia. By joining the race, PUMA has entered a new premium
category and is the only Sportlifestyle company to participate in the
Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. For more information about the race, team and
the PUMA Sailing collections, please visit www.pumaoceanracing.com
Alongside PUMA’s entry in the Volvo Ocean Race, PUMA has launched a full
range of marine clothing and apparel, from offshore sailing gear to
onshore lifestyle fashion. The PUMA Sailing Performance collection was
developed and tested by the PUMA Ocean Racing team itself, and is worn by
the team throughout the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. The PUMA Sailing
Lifestyle collection takes inspiration from the sport.
For more information on Puma Ocean Racing, please contact:
Bridgid Murphy or Kate Fairclough - PUMA Ocean Racing
Tel: +1 978 996 5155 or +44 7827 277 517
Tel: +55 21 8273 7840 or +55 21 8197 4509 in Rio
bridgid.murphy@puma.com or kate.fairclough@puma.com
PUMA
PUMA is one of the world’s leading sportlifestyle companies that designs
and develops footwear, apparel and accessories. It is committed to
working in ways that contribute to the world by supporting Creativity,
SAFE Sustainability and Peace, and by staying true to the values of being
Fair, Honest, Positive and Creative in decisions made and actions taken.
PUMA starts in Sport and ends in Fashion. Its Sport Performance and
Lifestyle labels include categories such as Football, Running,
Motorsports, Golf and Sailing. The Black label features collaborations
with renowned designers such as Alexander McQueen, Yasuhiro Mihara and
Sergio Rossi. The PUMA Group owns the brands PUMA, Tretorn and Hussein
Chalayan. The company, which was founded in 1948, distributes its
products in more than 120 countries, employs more than 9,000 people
worldwide and has headquarters in Herzogenaurach/Germany, Boston, London
and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit www.puma.com
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