Kerala - Kochi

The fight is behind the leader Ocean Race watch

KOCHI: The serial blasts in Mumbai forced the Volvo Ocean Race boats to throw a few anxious glances at Kochi, their next stopover port.

But there was no change in the pack order on Thursday with the seasoned Torben Grael’s Ericsson4 way ahead and gaining in strength with every nautical mile. Ericsson4 is 62 miles away from its second-placed sister ship, Ericsson3.

There seems to be some crowded action behind the leader with Ericsson3, Green Dragon and Telefonica Blue just about a mile away from each other with Delta Lloyd not too far behind.

Puma is in the sixth spot but way behind are Telefonica Black (142 miles away from the leader) with Team Russia being pushed to the last spot in the eight-boat marathon which is now in its second leg and about 700 miles from Kochi.

Meanwhile, the Volvo Race organisers have sought advice from various security consultants after the Mumbai attacks.

But since Kochi appears to be trouble-free, currently no changes to the race programme schedule are expected during the stopover.

However, the boats which were scheduled to arrive on December 3, are likely to reach Kochi much earlier, with the first boat expected on Sunday.

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