Brunel wins leg, share of overall lead

(June 14, 2018; Day 5) – Bouwe Bekking’s Team Brunel shot past the fleet over the past 24 hours, eventually eking ahead of MAPFRE this morning and carrying that edge across the finish to win Leg 10 of the Volvo Ocean Race.

In a clear sign of intent, Bekking and his team showed they have their eyes on the overall race win as they pushed the pace overnight on their Spanish rivals, powering past in the breeze-on tight reaching conditions.

The veteran Dutch skipper has seven previous editions of the Volvo Ocean Race under his belt dating back to 1985-86 – yet despite plenty of leg wins Bekking has never lifted the overall trophy.

However, he is getting his best shot at remedying that.

Brunel and MAPFRE are tied at the top of the table on 65 points while Dongfeng Race Team, the overall leader at the start of Leg 10, now slips to third overall on 64 points.

Having had a slow start to the race, Brunel has finished on the podium in the last three stages, winning Legs 7 and 9 and collecting a phenomenal 37 of 39 points available.

“Like we’ve seen in absolutely every leg, it’s not over until you cross the finish line,” Brunel’s Kyle Langford said. “We’ve been on the bad end of that – we were leading into Newport on Leg 8 and lost it with 30 seconds to go.

“So, we know that anything is possible until the finish so you’ve got to keep an optimistic attitude, even if you’re behind. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing.”

Having led the race overall for the early stages before being caught up, the MAPFRE crew are all too aware of the enormity of the situation.

“We’re all pushing as much as we can,” said MAPFRE’s Antonio ‘Neti’ Cuervas Mons. “We are maybe faster than them downwind, but Brunel found a new mode which has seen them sail faster than us (in the reaching conditions).”

Meanwhile, Dongfeng were kicking themselves for allowing their rivals to slip past as the fleet skirted the southern coast of Norway in southerly winds of more than 30 knots.

“It was not the best night we’ve had on Dongfeng – we’ve been quite slow and we don’t know why,” said Dongfeng’s Kevin Escoffier.

With the top three teams within one point, this means they will start the final leg on June 21, the 700 nm sprint to The Hague, effectively in a dead heat with the overall title on the line.

For crew lists… click here.

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Leg 10 – Final Results
1. Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED), Finished June 14 at 20:42:01 UTC
2. MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP), Finished June 14 at 20:43:56 UTC
3. Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED), Finished June 14 at 21:02:53 UTC
4. Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA), Finished June 14 at 21:15:52 UTC
5. Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR), Finished June 14 at 21:32:00 UTC
6. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA), Finished June 14 at 21:56:40 UTC
7. Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS), Finished June 14 at 23:55:03 UTC

Overall Results (after 10 of 11 legs)
1. Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED), 65 points
1. MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP), 65
3. Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA), 64*
4. Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED), 53
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA), 38
6. Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS), 30
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR), 29

* 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.
NOTE: 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.

Starting June 10, Leg 10 was 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.

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