Volvo Ocean Race: Doing the weave

(February 21, 2018; Day 15) – After taking the lead yesterday, Dee Caffari’s young team on Turn the Tide on Plastic continues to benefit from their eastern track through the doldrums. Riding shotgun is Team Brunel, and these two teams have stepped past previous leaders Scallyway and AkzoNobel which are paired up 50 nm to the west

But, with around six days still to sail before reaching the Auckland finish line, TTTP navigator Nico Lunven was keen to urge caution. “On the ranking we’re first but it’s calculated on the distance to Auckland, and we won’t be going there on a straight line.”

The team’s descent into the Southern Hemisphere has them now passing to the west of the island chain of Vanuatu, and while the new wind should come from the east, the forecast also suggests a routing to the west of New Caledonia, some 300 miles to the south, will be quickest.

It could yet be the western route of Scallywag and Akzonobel has them leapfrogging their rivals into the top spot once more. As for overall leaders Dongfeng Race Team and MAPFRE, they can only watch and learn as they continue their match race at the back of the fleet.

Beginning on February 7, Leg 6 is listed as a 6,100 nautical mile course from Hong Kong to Auckland, New Zealand.

For crew lists… click here.

Damage: Only six of the seven teams are competing in Leg 6 as Vestas 11th Hour Racing is repairing their boat following the collision with a fishing boat as they neared the finish line of Leg 4 in Hong Kong. The team shipped 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

Leg 6 – Position Report (19:00 UTC)
1. Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR), 1408.2 nm DTF
2. Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED), 20.2 nm DTL
3. Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS), 28.8 nm DTL
4. Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED), 37.3 nm DTL
5. MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP), 71.9 nm DTL
6. Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA), 77.9 nm DTL
DNS. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA)
DTF – Distance to Finish; DTL – Distance to Lead; DNS – Did Not Start

Overall Results (after 5 of 11 legs)
1. MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP), 34 points
2. Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA), 30
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA), 23
4. Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS), 20
5. Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED), 18
6. Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED), 15
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR), 9

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