Champagne was sprayed, crew members were mobbed and all against the backdrop of a leaderboard that puts Ericsson 4 firmly in control of this race. But Torben Grael and his crew were in no mood for premature celebrations when they finished leg five in second place tonight.
“This race is a long way from over,” the Brazilian said. “It feels fantastic to be here, but the race is not over until it’s over.”
“Anything can happen,” added Brad Jackson, Grael’s watch captain. “If we don’t finish a leg the others will catch up pretty quick.”
“There are plenty of conditions where we’re not the fastest boat,” said navigator Jules Salter.
It is the kind of reality check that this team seems intent on repeating, the need to convince themselves and others that nothing should be taken for granted.
At this stage, it would appear they could afford to relax the stance. They are now 10.5 points clear of second place PUMA, while Telefonica Blue could be as much as 13 adrift, depending on their finishing position relative to Green Dragon. But complacency has never been evident in this team and they have no intention of starting now.
“The time we start to relax is when we’ll get caught,” said Stu Bannatyne. “We just need to keep on ticking off the points until we cross the line.”
“We might be two thirds of the way round in mileage, but there’s nearly half the points still available,” added Horacio Carabelli. To be precise, 27,700 miles from a track of 37,000 miles have been completed, but 64 points from a pre-race maximum of 136 are still available for a team that wins each remaining leg, in-port race and scoring gate.
“Too early to think we have won,” said Grael.
It is a conservative attitude partially reflected in their sailing at the moment.
They were winning leg five after nearly three weeks when, like sister ship Ericsson 3, they saw the option of boldly going north at the 36-degree south scoring gate. But instead of adopting the strategy that ultimately gave the Nordic crew a leg win, they crossed the gate in first place and then ploughed south with PUMA and Telefonica Blue, their two main rivals.
“We stayed in front of who we need to stay in front of,” Jackson said. “You have to be conservative and smart about it. We are winning overall and it didn’t feel like it was a necessary risk. It was an option (staying north) but probably a higher risk than the traditional route.”
It was also an omen of what might lie ahead, with several crew members hinting the team will place continued emphasis on marking their main rivals. “Quite possibly,” said Bannatyne.
In this case it was enough to stretch their overall lead, but at the expense of an Ericsson 3 win. “I think they deserve it,” Grael said. “They made a huge effort to finish the leg in China and then start this leg late. And then to do a 40-day leg and arrive here first, I think they did a very good move after the gate in New Zealand and they deserve the result.”
Though there were times when it got close. Grael and his crew closed to within six miles when Ericsson 3 got caught in light wind shortly after rounding Cape Horn, but could never get past.
“It was always a case of first in – first out,” Salter said. “But even once we got out (of the no wind area) we were kind of stuck in the middle with PUMA going well behind us and Ericsson 3 extending ahead.”
Thereafter it was a fruitless race up the coast to home for three of the crew members. The reception was overwhelming, culminating in Joao Signorini being held aloft by the crowd while Grael and Carabelli gave countless interviews.
“It’s great to be home,” Grael said. “We are getting closer (to winning this race), but there is a long way to go. We won’t be underestimating anyone.”