Volvo Ocean Race: Closure for Leg 4

Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag have won Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, leading the fleet into their home port of Hong Kong on January 19.

Beginning on January 2, the 5,600 nautical mile course took the fleet up the east coast of Australia from Melbourne, into the Coral Sea and up north to the finish.

It’s a historic win for skipper David Witt and his team who had to overcome significant setbacks on the leg before grabbing the lead nearly a week ago with a bold tactical call out of the Doldrums.

“We had a bit of a plan and we stuck to it,” said Witt. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t and this time it worked for us.”

It was an extended Doldrums crossing, and Scallywag had moments where they appeared to be in a strong position.

But late in the crossing, after falling behind the fleet again, Witt and navigator Libby Greenhalgh made the decision to cut the corner, and turn to the west earlier than the opposition who kept pressing north in search of stronger winds.

It was expected for the teams to the north to overhaul Scallywag as the tradewinds filled in from the northeast, but it never happened. Full report.

Tragedy: Positioned to take second in the leg, Vestas 11th Hour Racing was involved in a collision with a commercial fishing vessel 30 nm from the finish. While the sailors were not harmed, ten people from the fishing vessel were thrown into the water leading to one fatality. Full report.

Chinese welcome: With Dongfeng Race Team passing Vestas for second place, it became a memorable 1-2 for Asian sponsored teams. Dongfeng went into Leg 4 without navigator Pascal Bidegorry, who stepped off due to injury and was replaced by Volvo Ocean Race winning skipper Franck Cammas at the navigation desk. Full story.

Podium complete: Team AkzoNobel scooped third position, the best finish yet for Simeon Tienpont’s crew, and comes after an extremely tight turnaround in Australia in which boat damage sustained in the Southern Ocean meant that the crew managed just a couple of days rest following a brutal Leg 3. Approaching the finish, AkzoNobel was diverted to support Vestas following their collision, but was later released to cross the finish line 17 days 21 hours and 6 seconds after departing Melbourne. Full report.

To see Leg 4 crew lists… click here.

The teams will leave Hong Kong on February 1 for a 100 nm Leg 5 to Guangzhou in China which will include a race on February 3 in the In-Port Series. The teams will gain one point by completing Leg 5 when they leave on February 5 to travel back to Hong Kong for the start of the 6100 nm Leg 6 on February 7 to Auckland, New Zealand.

Race details – Tracker – Scoreboard – Race route – Facebook – YouTube

Leg 4 – Final Results
1. Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS), Finished on Jan 19 at 17:45:42 UTC
2. Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA), Finished on Jan 19 at 20:33:22 UTC
3. Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED), Finished on Jan 20 at 00:21:16 UTC
4. MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP), Finished on Jan 20 at 01:51:10 UTC
5. Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED), Finished on Jan 20 at 04:00:56 UTC
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR), Finished on Jan 20 at 04:54:00 UTC
7. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Mark Towill (USA), Retired
DTF – Distance to Finish; DTL – Distance to Lead

Overall Results (after 4 of 11 legs)
1. MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP), 33 points
2. Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA), 29
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA), 23
4. Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS), 19
5. Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED), 17
6. Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED), 14
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR), 8

2017-18 Edition: Entered Teams – Skippers
• Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED)
• Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA)
• MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP)
• Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA)
• Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS)
• Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR)
• Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED)

Background: Racing the one design Volvo Ocean 65, the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race begins in Alicante, Spain on October 22 2017 with the final finish in The Hague, Netherlands on June 30 2018. In total, the 11-leg race will visit 12 cities in six continents: Alicante, Lisbon, Cape Town, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Auckland, Itajaí, Newport, Cardiff, Gothenburg, and The Hague. A maximum of eight teams will compete.

Source: Volvo Ocean Race