Just minutes after the skippers stepped ashore at Sharjah following the tough fought Leg 3 Stage 1 battle, Ken Read took some time out to talk about the race from Abu Dhabi to Sharjah. (Puma took the second place).
PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG skipper Ken Read:
"For sure we were going faster in the reaching conditions, the tweaks that we’ve done appear to have helped in those conditions, so we’re very pleased about that. We weren’t real stellar in that triangle out of the bay, but on the reach we were pretty quick. Tactically on the long run coming into here, we picked the correct side of the course so it was a nice comeback for the good guys.
"Sails, boat, it’s a little bit of everything, it’s a lot of different things (that have been tweaked). That’s the key to these races, you have to keep getting faster at each stopover, and this really is the first time we’ve had a chance to work on boat speed. Obviously in Cape Town we just frantically had to get ourselves back in the water and get racing again. We’re pleased it seems like we’re a little bit better.
"(Is the aggression on the racecourse out of frustration or a conscious mindset) I would say maybe a bit of both, probably a little more of the frustration side, especially today. We picked the wrong sail on the first leg, which put us behind, not a perfect start. We passed Groupama on that beat, not a perfect set, they rolled us and I wanted to prevent them from rolling us. That’s what happens on the racecourse everybody knows it’s nothing personal, we’re just trying to save places.
"We’re pleased with a few little changes we’ve made, but there is a long way to go and clearly we still have some improvements to make in the short course stuff, but you know what, we’ve had enough bad fortune, we’ll take a little good fortune as it was today and build on it.
"Most guys, a lot of guys are going home, people are scattering around the place (while the boats are being shipped to the safe haven). We’ll all still stay in touch, that’s for sure, but it’s a little more rest and hopefully the boats make it to our little undisclosed location OK."
More images of Leg3, Part1 here
From : Volvo Ocean Race
Credit : A. Ross/Puma/VOR
PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG skipper Ken Read:
"For sure we were going faster in the reaching conditions, the tweaks that we’ve done appear to have helped in those conditions, so we’re very pleased about that. We weren’t real stellar in that triangle out of the bay, but on the reach we were pretty quick. Tactically on the long run coming into here, we picked the correct side of the course so it was a nice comeback for the good guys.
"Sails, boat, it’s a little bit of everything, it’s a lot of different things (that have been tweaked). That’s the key to these races, you have to keep getting faster at each stopover, and this really is the first time we’ve had a chance to work on boat speed. Obviously in Cape Town we just frantically had to get ourselves back in the water and get racing again. We’re pleased it seems like we’re a little bit better.
"(Is the aggression on the racecourse out of frustration or a conscious mindset) I would say maybe a bit of both, probably a little more of the frustration side, especially today. We picked the wrong sail on the first leg, which put us behind, not a perfect start. We passed Groupama on that beat, not a perfect set, they rolled us and I wanted to prevent them from rolling us. That’s what happens on the racecourse everybody knows it’s nothing personal, we’re just trying to save places.
"We’re pleased with a few little changes we’ve made, but there is a long way to go and clearly we still have some improvements to make in the short course stuff, but you know what, we’ve had enough bad fortune, we’ll take a little good fortune as it was today and build on it.
"Most guys, a lot of guys are going home, people are scattering around the place (while the boats are being shipped to the safe haven). We’ll all still stay in touch, that’s for sure, but it’s a little more rest and hopefully the boats make it to our little undisclosed location OK."
More images of Leg3, Part1 here
From : Volvo Ocean Race
