Racing in over 25 knots of wind, which built throughout the day, the seven boat Volvo Ocean Race fleet raced around a short 2.5 mile course off East Coast Park in Singapore. Over two hundred spectator boats crowded round the racecourse to watch these spectacular machines strut their stuff against the backdrop of the Singapore skyline.
Stepping onto the podium in second place, Ken Read commented: "Our first In Port race here today in Singapore was fast, smart, we had a good start, took a great shift; we were really pleased with our performance. Unfortunately in the second race, our keel system shut down just at the worst possible moment. Four boats just sailed around us as it took us three minutes to get it sorted, and we then had to play catch up for the rest of the race, which is not so fun, but got ourselves back into fourth. One little problem like that can easily turn into a major and playing from the front is much more fun than playing from the back."
"We had perfect breeze here in Singapore for In Port racing in Volvo 70's today, though the racecourse here was shifty, and hard work. In 25 knots of breeze, these boats end up closing on each other fast, so racing doesn't get much closer than that."
Second place today brings the team a little further up the overall leaderboard, with now just two points separating PUMA from Telefonica Blue in second place. The PUMA Ocean Racing team will spend the next week making preparations for the start of Leg Four, from Singapore to Qingdao, China, and ensuring the keel issue experienced today is resolved. Leg Four begins at 1300 local/0500 GMT/0000 EST on Sunday 18th January.
