Telefonica Blue sweeps Volvo Ocean Race

Spanish syndicate Telefonica Blue won both races Saturday to open the Volvo Ocean Race.

Telefonica Blue prevailed in tricky conditions to beat sister ship Telefonica Black by 1 minute, 46 seconds in the day's opening regatta.

The Spanish team won the second race by 1:03 ahead of Puma. Telefonica Black was third after Delta Lloyd and Team Russia collided at the start, with the Russians also hitting a committee boat.

Telefonica Blue leads with four points, with Telefonica Black next with 3.5. Puma has three points in third place.

Ericsson 4 is fourth with 2.5 points, followed by Green Dragon with two, Delta Lloyd with one and Ericsson 3 and Team Russia with 0.5 each. Ericsson 3 was deducted one point for breaking a keel measurement rule.

Saturday's in-port regatta kicked off the nine-month around-the-world race, which continues next Saturday with a 12,038-kilometer (7,480-mile) leg to Cape Town, South Africa.

The third edition of the Volvo Ocean Race, which features eight boats racing 68,524 kilometers (42,579 miles), concludes in St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 24, 2009, following stops in Singapore; Qingdao, China; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Boston.