After one of the closest finishes in the history of the Volvo Ocean Race, Dongfeng Race Team crossed the finish line at the end of Leg 6 in Auckland in fourth place. With less than 100 nautical miles to go, the top five boats were separated by just 6.6nm, and with boats speeds in excess of 20 knots, it was a sprint finish into the city of sails with all crews chasing hard and the leg win still up for grabs.
The Chinese-sponsored crew on board Dongfeng fought a nail-biting duel with Spanish rivals, MAPFRE, right up until the final few miles with nothing more than a boat length separating the two teams at various stages of the 6,100 nm leg.
In the end, it was a bitter-sweet ending for Dongfeng, who managed to take a position from Turn the Tide on Plastic in the final throws, but couldn’t quite catch MAPFRE, crossing the finish line just 2 minutes and 58 seconds behind their Spanish rivals, and 25 minutes behind leg winners, team AkzoNobel.
Their efforts throughout the leg were also rewarded with the 24-hour speed record which they picked up on day 5 of the 21 day leg, covering an impressive 499.71 nautical miles.
Dongfeng Race Team sent out a strong and positive message on reaching Auckland at the end of what has turned out to be a very tough Leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18.
Despite obvious disappointment at loosing out to MAPFRE, Skipper Charles Caudrelier was thrilled with his team’s performance throughout the entire leg, especially in the last few miles when a small mistake could have cost them vital points.
“Since the beginning we have always finished just behind MAPFRE and whilst it is frustrating, you can choose to see the positive side or the negative side. We always look at the positive and we know we are in a good position. This race is far from over.”
“Turn the Tide on Plastic also had a fantastic race and I think they deserved a third place finish, but that’s sailing. They’ve been unlucky today and we managed to come back…it was a good surprise,” he added.
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