Ericsson 4 cruises to world race win

Riding high at the top of the points table, Sweden's Ericsson 4 swept to a second consecutive leg win at the end of the 4,450-mile dash to the new destination of Kochi, south-west India, in the Volvo round the world race.

Torben Grael’s crew took 14d 11hr 32min 30 sec and had been totally in control for the final 48 hours. But his team-mate Andres Lewander in Ericsson 3 was denied a one-two by Bouwe Bekking at the helm of Spain’s Telefonica Blue, taking second place nearly 14 hours later.

The big battle was for fourth, where Ireland’s Green Dragon, skippered by Ian Walker, was neck and neck with the Americana boat Puma, skippered by Kenny Read.

In the south Atlantic, Sebastien Josse in Ellen MacArthur’s BT, was back in the lead of the Vendee Globe solo round the world race, chased by his long-time rival Loick Peyron in Gitana Eighty.

The chasing group is led, but not all the time, by the 2004 winner Vincent Riou in PRB. Still best of the six remaining Britons is Mike Golding’s Ecover in ninth, nearly 100 miles behind Josse.

Brian Thompson has slipped to 13th in Bahrain Team Pindar, with Sam Davies’ Roxy one place behind and Dee Caffari’s Aviva in 15th. Steve White is 17th in Spirit of Weymouth and Jonny Malbon 18th in Artemis.