Sunday 12 July 2009 Dun Laoghaire’s west pier will be on standby to welcome home Ireland’s entry in the Volvo Ocean Race, Green Dragon which completed 37,000 nm around the world over the last 9 months. Green Dragon one of four boats in the race to complete all legs in the ‘Everest of sailing’ visited ports including Alicante, Capetown, Kochi, Singapore, Qingdao, Rio de Janeiro, Boston, Galway, Maarstrand, Stockholm and finishing in St Petersburg at the end of June. 

Green Dragon announces Sjoo Sandstrom as official time keepers to the Green Dragon Racing Team.  The independent watch maker based in Stockholm Sweden, presented the Royal Chronograph watch to Green Dragon skipper Ian Walker after his arrival into Stockholm. Green Dragon completed Leg 9 of the Volvo Ocean Race race on Monday 15th June, after racing the 525 nm from Marstrand.  The fleet will be based in Stockholm for the next 9 days, until the start of the final leg to Russia on the 25th June.

Leg 9 has been a 24/7 battle for the all the crews as they fight for the final points on offer on the penultimate leg of the race. After a close fought battle over the final 12 miles between Telefonica Black and Green Dragon, Ian Walker and his crew had to settle for fifth place in Sweden tonight

It was a strong start for Green Dragon as Leg 9 of the Volvo Ocean Race kicked off in Marstrand this afternoon. This leg at 525 nm is the second shortest of the race. The fleet will sail south from Marstrand down the west coast of Sweden, and then north up the east coast to the finish at the capital Stockholm. It will be another full on sprint for the fleet and a list of tactical and navigational challenges as they take on the sea breezes and shipping, as well as the bands of high and low pressure that are common along the shoreline and islands during this leg.

It was celebrations onboard Green Dragon this morning as they held onto a podium spot taking third place on Leg 8 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Galway to Marstrand. This marks two successive podium finishes for the Dragon and saw the seven boat fleet complete the 1,200 mile leg with 1 hour and 19 minutes splitting the fleet from front to back. Ericsson 4 managed to hold off a determined PUMA and Green Dragon to win Leg 8, taking them ever closer to winning the race overall. They now hold a 15-point lead with just three scoring opportunities left (for a maximum 20 points) before the finish in St. Petersburg.