March 25, 2009 – The PUMA Ocean Racing team continues to make painfully slow progress towards Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on their 40th day at sea in leg five of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. The longest ever leg of the Volvo Ocean Race is becoming longer and longer as all of the teams in the fleet have encountered light winds off the coast of southern Brazil, agonizingly drawing out the leg’s finale. Still with 379 miles to go, PUMA is now expected to cross the finish line off Marina da Gloria in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, tomorrow afternoon (local), Thursday 26th March.
Forecasts for the next 24 hours look to offer some reprieve for the PUMA team, with increasing south easterly winds expected later today. The PUMA shore team and the team’s families are ready and waiting in Rio, with the sailors longing to see their loved ones, fill their stomachs with real food, take a shower and sleep in a real bed for the first time in 40 days. Whilst these dreams are in the back of their minds, the team are still racing at 150 percent, pushing their boat il mostro for every ounce of speed in the battle to overtake one of the two Ericsson teams placed just ahead.
Skipper Ken Read (USA) commented: “We can feel sorry for ourselves and bitch about the weather and the wind and everything else that is preventing us from “all we can eat in Rio†or we can suck it up and deal with our situation the best we can. Continue to race and continue to do our jobs. This crew has clearly done the latter and I am very proud of all involved. Not a single “feeling sorry for ourselves†comment. We continue to race as hard as ever.â€
“A couple hours ago we were simply becalmed and I think our estimated time to finish was about Christmas of this year – time for the wind to fill in! I have a feeling that there are more frustrated people on shore than on the boats. The shore teams want to start putting the boats back together. I guess that the Rio stopover isn’t much of one without the boats and the crews! We are trying folks, believe me we are trying. We may have one more chance at catching the Ericsson boats so we’re keeping our fingers crossed, we shall see. We’re coaxing every inch from the old girl with hopes of someday seeing Rio, and “all we can eatâ€â€¦hopefully before Christmas.â€
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.