Second victory for Telefonica Blue in Alicante's in-port regatta

Bouwe Bekking and his crew continued their winning streak in the second race of the day, following a tough and close battle with Puma that was won in the last downwind leg. Wind conditions were even trickier and the race committee was seen forced to raise the postponement flag just 30 seconds before firing the starting gun.

Puma decided to to fly their code Zero after a disappointing 6th place in race one. They had a clear start and went left, together with the two Telefonica boats. The order wouldn't have changes until the finish line it wasn't for what seemed to be an erroneous sail choice in the last leg. Telefonica Blue was clearly faster under these light conditions and finally overtook the red-shoe boat half-way through, crossing the gate ahead of them. It was impossible to stop Bekking and Telefonica had another good race with a first (Blue) and a third (Black).

Torben Grael committed another error in the start, this time being early over the line, and was unable catch up with the three leaders.

Puma's code Zero, right after the aborted start of the second race. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Start of the 2nd in-port race. Ericsson 4 are turning back to recross the start line. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Start of the 2nd in-port race. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Puma and Telefonica Blue lead the race from the beginning. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Delta Lloyd, Green Dragon and Ericsson 4 in the first beat. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Puma round the 1st weather mark at the top of the fleet. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Telefonica Black ready to round the 1st weather mark. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Telefonica Blue overtakes Puma halfway through the last leg. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

It has probably been a bad day for Ericsson but a great one for the Volvo Ocean Race. The course area was a few hundred meters from the beach and the race village. Alicante, 4 October 2008. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing