Yachts & Yachting – April 2018

AINHOA SANCHEZ/VOLVO OCEAN RACE

to take calculated risks during the

last Volvo Ocean Race as navigator

onboard the all-female Team SCA.

HEARTBREAKING FINAL DAY

With just 24 hours to go until the

finish it looked as though it was going

to be an almost total role-reversal of

finishing positions from previous legs,

with AkzoNobel in first, Scallywag

in second and, only a couple of miles

behind these two, Dee Caffari’s Turn

the Tide on Plastic. But the three lead

teams got stuck in a wind hole just

off the northern tip of New Zealand

allowing series leaders, Mapfre and

Dongfeng back into contention – after

the two red boats had been out of

the running for much of the leg.

It was close in the final hours but,

ultimately, Caffari and her crew

watched as Mapfre and Dongfeng

sailed round them nearing the finish

and stole third and fourth respectively

with under 20 miles to go.

Fifth on the leg into Auckland still

represents the best result to date for

Turn the Tide on Plastic, but they will

be left wondering what might have

been. “We’re sorry for Turn the Tide on

Plastic,” said Dongfeng skipper Charles

Caudrelier. “They did a fantastic race

andIthinktheydeservedathirdplace

finish, but that’s sailing, they’ve been

unlucky today and we managed to

come back... It was a good surprise.”

CHANGES OVERALL

With their third and fourth positions

into Auckland, Mapfre and Dongfeng

remain in first and second overall

respectively, while Scallywag and

AkzoNobel move into third and fourth.

These two now overtake Vestas 11th

Hour Racing on the scoreboard as

the team missed the latest leg due to

damages sustained in a fatal collision

with a fishing boat just 30 miles from

the finish in Hong Kong. A new bow

section for Vestas has been shipped to

New Zealand and the team are expected

to give an update in the coming days as

to whether they will be able to compete

in the next leg of the race from Auckland

to Itajaí, Brazil, starting on 18 March.

Despite missing this latest leg

Vestas still remain above both Turn

the Tide on Plastic (in last overall)

and Brunel in second to last. Brunel,

the second Dutch-flagged team had

another disappointing leg arriving into

New Zealand last, some 90 minutes

behind Turn the Tide on Plastic.

I’ve never sailed a race like this in my life.

We’ve always been in each other’s sights

April 2018 Yachts & Yachting 11