Team Brunel has completed one of the great comebacks in sailing,
setting up an epic final leg to The Hague next week in what will be the
closest Volvo Ocean Race in history. Three teams – MAPFRE, Team Brunel and Dongfeng Race Team – will start
the final leg in a dead heat at the top of the table, with the overall
title on the line. It’s an unprecedented scenario in the 45-year history
of the race.
On a rainy, blustery Thursday evening in Gothenburg, skipper Bouwe
Bekking led his Team Brunel to a come-from-behind win in Leg 10 over
Xabi Fernández's MAPFRE squad, who claimed second place, less than
two-minutes behind after nearly 1,500 nautical miles of bow to bow
racing.
“We did a fantastic job as a team and of course the result was better
than we could have dreamed,” Bekking said. “We wanted to beat the two
red boats but a win to get the bonus point is really nice…
“The pressure was on but we knew we just needed to sail the boat the
best we could and not do any crazy things. Very happy how it all ended
up.”
Bekking has led his team on an incredible comeback pace, following a
dismal opening half to the race. At the conclusion of Leg 6 into
Auckland, the team was mired in sixth place, on just 20 points. In
comparison, MAPFRE, the race leader at the time, had already won 39
points.
But since then, Team Brunel has been on fire, posting a 1-2-1-1
scoreline over the past four legs, to bully its way to equal first at
the top of the leaderboard, after collecting 45 out of a possible 47
points, an incredible scoring ratio.
The Leg 10 results mean MAPFRE and Team Brunel sit equal at the top
of the leaderboard with 65 points. MAPFRE will be ranked in first place
by virtue of leading the In-Port Race Series, which is the tie-break
mechanism for the Volvo Ocean Race.
Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team, who was the leader at the
beginning of Leg 10, had a fourth place finish into Gothenburg, putting
Dongfeng on 64 points (although the team is in pole position to earn an
additional bonus point for best elapsed time which will be added after
the Leg 11 finish).
This means the top three boats in the Volvo Ocean Race will start the
final sprint into The Hague on June 21 in a dead heat, with the overall
title on the line.
“For the fans it’s going to be an exciting last leg,” said Caudrelier
after the finish. “And for us as well. We will give all we have and try
for our first leg victory. But really we just have to be ahead of the
other two. We can do it!”
“It was a very good leg for us and a good result as well, but a
little bit painful the way it happened,” Fernández said. “We felt we did
the hardest part of the leg, up the coast of Scotland, and managed to
be in the lead there, but we just couldn’t hold Brunel on the tight
reaching… They’ve been improving a lot on the last legs, but it was a
surprise to see such a speed difference.”
Team AkzoNobel was third into Gothenburg, another strong podium finish for Simeon Tienpont’s team.
“I don’t think you can get any better racing than this in the sport
of sailing,” he said. “It was intense racing in the most competitive
fleet you can find in the world. Pretty stoked to have a podium. We
pushed to be first but MAPFRE and Brunel did an unbelievable job and we
had to let them go.”
Turn the Tide on Plastic had a strong leg, battling with the leading
group from start to finish. In the end, Dee Caffari’s squad would take a
fifth place finish, moving them to within one point of over-hauling
Scallywag.
“We’ve been racing in sight of five boats for the entire leg,”
Caffari said at the pontoon after finishing. “To have the racing that
close right up until the finish is immense…
“We were ahead of AkzoNobel and Dongfeng at times but they put the
afterburners on at the end and we couldn’t quite hold them. But we were
really competitive and I’m very proud of my team.”
It was an uneventful, if disappointing leg for Charlie Enright’s Vestas 11th Hour Racing squad, who posted a sixth place finish.
“It was a tough leg and not our best performance by any means, but we
have one more leg to end it on a high note,” Enright said. “We were
pushing right until the end. It was our worst result with a sixth place,
but the deltas were really close. We were battling with Brunel who
ended up winning the leg and we were pushing hard until it was a
foregone conclusion.”
David Witt’s Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag finished in seventh place, after
falling behind the fleet on the first evening and never fully recovering
into a competitive position.
“We made it pretty hard for ourselves being anchored in Cardiff while
we watched the rest of the fleet sail away from us for 100 miles,” Witt
said.
“But I’m really proud of the team and I know the boss is too. I’ve
been involved in team sports all my life and I’ve never seen a group of
people who keep rising and work harder when it starts to get hard. We’ve
had our ups and downs but we’re going to do our best in the last leg.”
But all eyes will be on the top three boats for the start of the
final leg as they battle for their positions on the podium for this
edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. The results have never been closer and
the pressure has never been higher.
“We need intensity, focus and to sail the best we can… that’s all we
can do,” said Team Brunel navigator Andrew Cape when asked to describe
how he will approach the final leg.
Leg 11 from Gothenburg to The Hague features a fly-by dogleg past
Aarhus, Denmark, and starts at 1400 local time in Gothenburg (1200 UTC)
on 21 June, 2018.
Volvo Ocean Race Leg 10 -- Results
1. Team Brunel – Finished – 4 days, 5 hours, 12 minutes, 1 second
2. MAPFRE – Finished – 4 days, 5 hours, 13 minutes, 56 seconds
3. team AkzoNobel – 4 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes, 53 seconds
4. Dongfeng Race Team – 4 days, 5 hours, 45 minutes, 52 seconds
5. Turn the Tide on Plastic – 4 days, 6 hours, 02 minutes, 00 seconds
6. Vestas 11th Hour Racing – 4 days, 6 hours, 26 minutes, 40 seconds
7. SHK / Scallywag – Racing – 4 days, 8 hours, 25 minutes, 03 seconds
1. Team Brunel – Finished – 4 days, 5 hours, 12 minutes, 1 second
2. MAPFRE – Finished – 4 days, 5 hours, 13 minutes, 56 seconds
3. team AkzoNobel – 4 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes, 53 seconds
4. Dongfeng Race Team – 4 days, 5 hours, 45 minutes, 52 seconds
5. Turn the Tide on Plastic – 4 days, 6 hours, 02 minutes, 00 seconds
6. Vestas 11th Hour Racing – 4 days, 6 hours, 26 minutes, 40 seconds
7. SHK / Scallywag – Racing – 4 days, 8 hours, 25 minutes, 03 seconds
Volvo Ocean Race Points Table after Leg 10
1. MAPFRE – 65 points
2. Team Brunel – 65 points
3. Dongfeng Race Team – 64 points *
4. team AkzoNobel – 53 points
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing – 38 points
6. SHK / Scallywag – 30 points
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic – 29 points
1. MAPFRE – 65 points
2. Team Brunel – 65 points
3. Dongfeng Race Team – 64 points *
4. team AkzoNobel – 53 points
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing – 38 points
6. SHK / Scallywag – 30 points
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic – 29 points
* One additional point will be awarded to the team with the best
elapsed time at the conclusion of the race in The Hague. Currently,
Dongfeng would win this point.
** Should there be a tie on the overall race leaderboard at the end of the offshore legs, the In-Port Race Series standings will be used to break the tie.
** Should there be a tie on the overall race leaderboard at the end of the offshore legs, the In-Port Race Series standings will be used to break the tie.
Current Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Race Series Points Table
1. MAPFRE – 56 points
2. Dongfeng Race Team – 49 points
4. Team Brunel – 41 points
3. team AkzoNobel – 39 points
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing – 26 points
6. Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag – 21 points
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic – 17 points
1. MAPFRE – 56 points
2. Dongfeng Race Team – 49 points
4. Team Brunel – 41 points
3. team AkzoNobel – 39 points
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing – 26 points
6. Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag – 21 points
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic – 17 points
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