MAPFRE extended their lead over rivals Dongfeng Race Team on Thursday
as Leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race entered its closing stages. While the finish line isn't quite in sight, the most physical element of the battle is in the rear-view mirror for the leaders. Determined to notch up another victory after winning Leg 2 from
Lisbon to Cape Town, MAPFRE skipper Xabi Fernández has been pushing his
crew to the absolute limit as they close in on Melbourne.
In an effort to stay in front of Dongfeng after snatching the Leg 3
lead from them on Wednesday, MAPFRE gybed 16 times in less than 12 hours
overnight as they skirted the Antarctic Ice Exclusion Zone (AIEZ).
It was twice as many as Dongfeng opted for, with each gybe requiring
an incredible physical effort from each crewmember, not to mention the
slowing of the boat through the gybing process.
Yet the hard work paid off – and at 1300 UTC MAPFRE had more than
doubled their lead of yesterday to 30 nautical miles, with less than
1,300 miles of the leg remaining.
The AIEZ, implemented by race control to keep the fleet away from the
danger of icebergs, has started to drop away to the south for the
leading duo, allowing them to dive into better breeze.
Once they feel they have the right angle on the westerly winds, both
will point their bows towards Melbourne and begin their final dash to
the finish line.
“The last day has been quite crazy here on MAPFRE,” Fernández said.
“We've done so many manoeuvres. We have to go south now to get to the
low pressure, and that's why we've had to do so many gybes. It's pretty
hard but it's paid off. Now we are free to sail south all day and night,
and tomorrow morning we will gybe and start heading north towards
Melbourne.”
Team Brunel remained within 35 miles of third-placed Vestas 11th Hour
Racing at the most recent position report, keeping alive skipper Bouwe
Bekking's hopes of a first podium finish in this edition.
On sixth-placed Turn the Tide on Plastic, 400 miles behind MAPFRE,
skipper Dee Caffari said a dark mood had lifted thanks to an improvement
in the weather forecasts that could see them avoid getting swallowed up
by a large high pressure system and therefore get to Melbourne quicker
than first thought.
“It is not looking as bleak as it was before and this is giving us
hope,” Caffari said. “We had three position reports in a row that were
really bad and morale took a beating. I am a glass half full person and
even I struggled with this one. However, finally we have had some wind
that the others around us have not had and are making progress in the
right direction for a change and it feels great.”
Meanwhile pods of Antarctic minke whales provided both Team Sun Hung
Kai/Scallywag in fifth and seventh-placed team AkzoNobel with some light
relief as they charged past at speeds much faster than the Volvo Ocean
65s.
“It's not every day you get to sail through the Southern Ocean with
eight of your mates and an OBR and see that sort of thing,” Scallywag's
Tom Clout said. “It was a pretty cool little moment – one we're going to
remember for the rest of our lives.”
The current ETAs see MAPFRE and Dongfeng arriving on December 24
(UTC); Vestas, Brunel, Scallywag and Turn the Tide on Christmas Day; and
AkzoNobel on December 27.
Leg 3 – Position Report – Thursday 21 December (Day 12) – 13:00 UTC
1. MAPFRE -- distance to finish – 1,285.2 nautical miles
2. Donfeng Race Team +30.2 nautical miles
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing +122.8
4. Team Brunel +158.7
5. Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag +335.8
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic +401.1
7. team AkzoNobel +575.8
2. Donfeng Race Team +30.2 nautical miles
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing +122.8
4. Team Brunel +158.7
5. Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag +335.8
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic +401.1
7. team AkzoNobel +575.8
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