2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race ends: Telefonica Black wins

The final leg of the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race ended in St. Petersburg, Russia. Telefonica Black took the final trophy of the series, while overall race winner Ericsson 4 could only manage fifth place.

The Puma, right, and Telefonica Black boats compete in the  2008-2009 Volvo Ocean Race, in Finnish Gulf near St. Petersburg, Russia, early Saturday, June 27, 2009.(AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

As night turned to dawn in St Petersburg, Telefonica Black edged out PUMA to win the tenth and final leg. The thrilling climax marked Telefonica Black's only leg victory. It was a hard-fought battle as rival PUMA led the fleet for most of the 400-mile sprint from Stockholm.

PUMA took second place overall with a total of 105.5 points. Telefonica Black was sixth in the overall standings with 58. Dutchman skipper Bouwe Bekking's Telefonica Blue took third place on leg ten and overall. Telefonica Blue ended the series with 98 points. Torben Grael and his crew of Ericsson 4 finished fifth, but ran away with the overall title with a final tally of 114.5 points, nine ahead of PUMA.

After almost nine months of competition, the yachts covered 37,000 nautical miles, crossed five oceans and spanned four continents on their epic journey.