Volvo Ocean Race: Snakes and ladders

(June 11, 2018; Day 2) – The Volvo Ocean Race’s overall leader Dongfeng was at the head of the fleet today as the teams passed the iconic Fastnet Rock off Ireland’s southern tip. But nothing lasts forever, a theme the seven teams have become accustomed to after a day on the course from Cardiff, Wales to Gothenberg, Sweden.

Fickle winds and currents along the 1300nm coastal course have caused several park ups, with Dongfeng getting passed by AkzoNobel and Vestas while making the turn at Bull Rock. The hard luck story of Leg 10 thus far is Scallywag which inexplicably saw the fleet go around them yesterday, getting caught in the tide and being forced to anchor last night.

With the fleet now past Bull Rock, they will begin the turn right to start climbing up the west coast of Ireland in headwinds. But with over 1000nm to go, there remains plenty of opportunities and plenty of hazards.

“This leg is complicated,” explained Turn the Tide on Plastic skipper Dee Caffari. “Lots of land on both sides, lots of headlands, lots of tidal gates and then some oil rigs and wind farms. It’s going to be a really busy job for the navigator, especially as we’re not going to be out of sight of the rest of the fleet the entire time. It’s pretty full on.”

For crew lists… click here.

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

Leg 10 – Position Report (19:00 UTC)
1. Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED), 1033.0nm DTF
2. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA), 0.4nm DTL
3. Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA), 0.4nm DTL
4. Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR), 0.5nm DTL
5. Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED), 0.8nm DTL
6. MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP), 1.2nm DTL
7. Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS), 31.0nm DTL
DTF – Distance to Finish; DTL – Distance to Lead

Starting June 10, Leg 10 is a 1,300-nautical mile sprint from Cardiff, Wales that takes the teams around the west coast of Ireland up to the northern tip of Scotland before heading east-southeast to Gothenburg, the home of Volvo. The fleet is expected to finish by June 14 or 15.

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