December 13, 2008 – Bollywood star Dino Morea today joined the PUMA team for the start of the third leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. In over 30 degrees heat, thousands upon thousands of spectators flocked to the Volvo Ocean Race village in Cochin, India, to bid PUMA with Dino Morea onboard, and the race fleet goodbye. PUMA made a great start to the 1,950 nautical mile leg to Singapore, Malaysia, at 1530 local (1000 GMT), leading the eight boat fleet as they headed south, towards the tip of India.
This is the first time that a Bollywood star has ever joined a sailing team. 33 year old Dino, a keen sportsman, has starred in over 20 Bollywood films as well as having a successful modeling career working with some of India’s top designers. PUMA and the Volvo Ocean Race fleet conducted a parade of sail for spectators along the Mattancheri Channel in front of the race village, before heading out into open water for the official start of leg three.
The leg to Singapore is expected to be generally very light and flukey, presenting difficult sailing conditions for the fleet, as well as tough living conditions onboard in extremely hot and humid temperatures. Once more, the fleet are heading into the unknown, as the race course takes them across the Indian Ocean to Malaysia for the first time.
PUMA Ocean Racing skipper Ken Read commented on the dock this morning: “Thanks to our amazing shore team, designers and engineers, our boat il mostro is back at 100% and we are ready to go. This leg will be tough. It’s going to be hot, hot, hot, and then the heat will get cranked right up. As well as the heat making it physically intense, it is going to be tough mentally. We’re expecting it to end up being three different races; the race to Sri Lanka, a race across the Bay of Bengal, and then a race down the Straits of Malacca. There could be re-starts, there could be crap-shoots, I think it will be interesting for you guys back here to watch. It’s certainly not going to be ‘normal’.”
Speaking at the pre-start press conference yesterday, Read commented on the fact that this is the first time the race has ever visited India: “It's clear that India has taken in this race with open arms and the race has taken India in with open arms. It's been a wonderful experience here. I think we were all looking forward to it on the one hand, but felt slight trepidation on the other hand because we're venturing into the unknown. So far, I think it's been proved to all involved that this could have been one of the best decisions ever made in boat racing, to bring the race to this part of the world.”
Speaking after his experience aboard PUMA today, Bollywood star Dino Morea commented: “Sailing aboard PUMA today was fantastic. A once in a lifetime experience. It is an amazing sport, and high endurance. I was out on the water for about three hours and I’m exhausted. These guys do it for up to three or four weeks at a stretch, living in a small cabin, with no ventilation or showers, water thrown in their face, extreme heat, extreme cold…they go through so much – it’s not like a hundred metre sprint, where you run and you are over, there’s more to it – you live it, and it’s tough.”
“It’s not just a boat race, once you are out at sea, sailing with the wind behind you, and you get going at quite a speed, it’s quite amazing. There’s so much that goes into the endurance they have, it’s incredible. I saw the crew grinding, man it’s tough…there’s a lot going on, all the time, it takes some getting used to. I have been following the race since it began back in Alicante in October, and it was great to find out what goes on behind the scenes. Interacting with the skipper and the crew on the PUMA boat…it’s just something else. I think it’s fantastic to have the Volvo Ocean Race stop here in India, it just goes to show how people consider India, how important India is right now on the map. It’s great that they have stopped here in Cochin, and make India part of the race.”
The race fleet is expected to arrive in Singapore on 23rd December where the PUMA team plans to spend Christmas. The Volvo Ocean Race is made up of ten legs, finishing in June 2009 in St. Petersburg, Russia.
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