Volvo Ocean Race: 24 Hour Record falls

(May 24, 2018; Day 5) – The Volvo Ocean Race teams enjoyed record-breaking conditions for the Volvo Ocean 65 class today after hooking onto a classic North Atlantic depression.

After a short respite from the wet and wild opening 48 hours of Leg 9, boat speeds were up to 30 knots as the east-moving low pressure system provided perfect conditions for blisteringly quick sailing.

Brunel was first to blow past the previous VO65 class 24 hour record of 550.8 nautical miles set in the last race by Abu Dhabi Racing, but team AkzoNobel bettered their pace at 17:06 UTC with a distance of 566.02 nautical miles, while Team Brunel topped out at 563.06 nm.

The two Dutch boats lead the charge east today as the three boats that opted for the southerly route – Brunel, AkzoNobel and Vestas 11th Hour Racing – enjoyed a jump on their rivals at the halfway stage of the leg.

With all seven teams together again, there will be little opportunity to make up missing miles as the fleet focuses purely on out-and-out speed as they skirt the northern ice exclusion zone.

The teams will have to make the most of the high speed sailing while it lasts, as lying 1,000 miles ahead of them is a huge high pressure ridge that will bring them to a standstill.

It is likely to result in a compression of the fleet – and a restart just 500 miles from the finish line in Cardiff, Wales.

For crew lists… click here.

COURSE: Starting on May 20, Leg 9 takes the fleet from Newport, USA to Cardiff, Wales. Race organizers choose to estimate the tactical distance for each leg rather than list the actual distance, an unusual decision that’s revealed once the race starts and the tracker lists the actual distance to finish. The organizers say Leg 9 is 3300nm whereas the actual distance from the tracker is 2878.4nm. The fleet is currently expected to arrive in Cardiff on May 29.

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

Leg 9 – Position Report (19:00 UTC)
1. Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED), 1438.0 nm DTF
2. Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED), 1.1 nm DTL
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA), 22.6 nm DTL
4. Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA), 42.9 nm DTL
5. Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR), 74.8 nm DTL
6. MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP), 87.7 nm DTL
7. Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS), 97.2 nm DTL
DTF – Distance to Finish; DTL – Distance to Lead

Overall Results (after 8 of 11 legs)
1. MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP), 53 points
2. Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA), 50
3. Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED), 42
4. Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED), 36
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA), 28
6. Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS), 27
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR), 22

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