Volvo Ocean Race: Moving the circus

Guangzhou, China (February 5, 2018) – After traveling 70 miles up the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong to participate in the Dongfeng In-Port Race, the Volvo Ocean Race fleet left Guangzhou today to return to Hong Kong and prepare for the start of the 6100 nm Leg 6 on February 7 to Auckland, New Zealand.

The transit up and down the river, where the teams motored in convoy, has been the unorthodox Leg 5 where all teams gain one point for participating. And we thought youth soccer was the only sport to give everyone a prize.

Strong winds are forecast for the start of Leg 6 at 1300 local time (0500 UTC) which may push the start time earlier to get the fleet away ahead of the big breeze. Race Management will confirm the start time within the next 24 hours.

Only six of the seven teams will compete in Leg 6 as Vestas 11th Hour Racing is still repairing their boat following the collision with a fishing boat as they neared the finish line of Leg 4 in Hong Kong. The team is shipping their boat to Auckland to complete repairs in time for the March 18 start of Leg 7 to Itajaí, Brazil.

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

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, Scuttlebutt