Dongfeng Race Team converted a strong start into an early lead as the
Volvo Ocean Race fleet embarked on Leg 2, a 7,000 nautical mile race
from Lisbon to Cape Town. Conditions were perfect for the leg start, with bright blue skies,
and a 15-20 knot Northerly breeze that allowed the fleet to reach up and
down the Tagus River past the city front of Lisbon.
After exiting the river and heading offshore past the protection of
Cascais, the wind is forecast to build to over 30-knots, with a heavy
ocean swell near 4-metres. It will be a fast and challenging first night
at sea as the teams charge to the southwest.
“It’s going to be fast,” said Dongfeng skipper Charles Caudrelier.
“We have been preparing for this, training in strong winds for six
months, so I hope we are ready. We have some good drivers in these
conditions so I hope we will be fast.”
And indeed, within 15-minutes of clearing the mouth of the river, the
fleet was already seeing over 30-knots of wind and Dongfeng Race Team
recorded a boatspeed of nearly 33-knots.
Charlie Enright, the skipper of race leader Vestas 11th Hour Racing
was in a strong position early, but appeared to be caught out with too
much sail up for the final stretch down the river, and fell back to
fifth place.
“We’re confident, but not cocky,” Enright said before the start. “We
want to take what we’ve learned and apply it to leg 2. It’s going to be a
much different leg. It will be a lot more boatspeed oriented and we’re
looking forward to that.”
“The real race starts now,” said Xabi Fernández, the skipper of
MAPFRE. “Today we will sail in a couple of days in heavy winds. Everyone
will be competitive so we’ll need to go as fast as we can.”
Leg 2 – Position Report – Sunday 5 November (Day 1) – 15:00 UTC
1. Dongfeng Race Team -- distance to finish – 5,094.2 nautical miles
2. Team Brunel +0.2nm
3. MAPFRE + 0.6
4. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag +0.9
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing +1.6
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic +1.8
7. team AkzoNobel +1.8
2. Team Brunel +0.2nm
3. MAPFRE + 0.6
4. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag +0.9
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing +1.6
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic +1.8
7. team AkzoNobel +1.8
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