Puma Ocean Racing third in stage 1 of leg 2 Abu Dhabi

The PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG team jumped back on the saddle and sailed to third place in the first stage of Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12. PUMA’s Mar Mostro crossed the finish line at 23:33:10 UTC late Monday night, Dec. 26, 2011, behind Team Telefónica and CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand. Leg 2 is split into two stages as the teams sailed from Cape Town, South Africa, to an undisclosed location to protect the fleet from pirate activity. The second part of the leg will be a sprint to the finish line in Abu Dhabi, UAE. 

“I’m very proud of the huge amount of resolve exhibited by the entire team,” said skipper Ken Read. “First of all to get the boat back into the race under such an adverse situation in Leg 1, and then to compete to the point where we finished strong. It’s good, and something to build on. 

“We do expect better from ourselves, though. It’s all well and good to finish this stage third, but we had a couple chances to get ahead in this leg and we need to just simply be better,” Read said. 

The Leg 2 route was redrawn because of the threat of piracy in the Indian Ocean. Now with the teams arriving in the safe haven port, the boats will transported by heavy lift ship to a position off the Sharjah coastline in the northern Emirates. From there they will sprint in to Abu Dhabi for the finish, expected in early January. The 5,430 nautical mile first part of the two-stage leg from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi counts for 80 percent of the available points, while the remaining 20 percent of the leg points will be awarded after the day-long sprint. 

The six boats departed Cape Town on December 11, and the leg featured numerous lead changes with each of the teams holding the first position during at least one stretch of the stage. Late on Christmas Day, the PUMA crew sailed past Groupama in the darkness to move into third place – the position they would hold through the finish. 

The team remains fourth in the overall standings with 25 total points. Telefónica is on top with 61 points, followed by CAMPER with 54. 

The Volvo Ocean Race started on November 5 in Alicante, and the six-team fleet is traveling 39,000 nautical miles through 10 ports, finishing in Galway, Ireland, in July 2012. 

The PUMA Ocean Racing team is once again under the leadership of Read (Newport, Rhode Island, United States). Collectively, the crew has won the Around the World Race six times. The core includes: Tom Addis, Navigator (Sydney, Australia); Ryan Godfrey, Pitman (Adelaide, Australia); Kelvin Harrap, Helmsman, Inshore Tactician (Napier, New Zealand); Brad Jackson, Design Coordinator & Watch Captain (Auckland, New Zealand); Rome Kirby, Trimmer & Driver (Newport, Rhode Island, USA); Michael “Michi” Müller, Bowman (Kiel, Germany); Tony Mutter, Aerodynamics Coordinator & Watch Captain (Auckland, New Zealand); Casey Smith, Systems Manager & Bowman (Brisbane, Australia); Jonathan “Jono” Swain, Helmsman & Trimmer (Durban, South Africa); Amory Ross, Media Crew Member (Newport, Rhode Island, USA); Kimo Worthington, General Manager (Portsmouth, Rhode Island, United States); and Tim Hacket, Shore Team Manager (Sydney, Australia).