The Dutch team Brunel and the Chinese Dongfeng Race Team have decided the victory on the second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi between themselves. Right at the rounding of the Musadam Peninsula, the third-placed team Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing came within four nautical miles, but then had to admit defeat. "We all jibed for 20 minutes," said skipper Ian Walker in a live broadcast on board on Saturday morning.
The other two teams were able to pull away. Dongfeng even took the lead until shortly before the finish, but then Team Brunel caught a breeze just before the last gybe towards Abu Dhabi and pulled away by a nautical mile.
At the finish, the two teams were separated by just 16 minutes, an incredibly narrow margin after around 5,200 nautical miles or 23 days and 16 hours at sea. This meant that the most experienced skipper/navigator duo had the lead on the second leg. Bouwe Bekking and navigator Andrew Cape have eleven previous races between them.
Bouwe Bekking: "As I've always said: It's better to be happy than good, but we were also good on this stage and it's so nice to have won. It was a leg where it would have been easy to finish last. We sailed the boat much better than on the first leg. That's the best feeling of all."
Commenting on sailing in the new Volvo Ocean 65 class, he said: "It's hard work. In the past, you could perhaps relax a little sometimes because you had a fast boat, but now you have to be fully involved all the time. If you make a mistake, the other person immediately benefits from it."
The Dongfeng Race Team, whose crew was made up of experienced sailors as well as Chinese newcomers, was particularly impressive with another second place. However, skipper Charles Caudrelier was anything but satisfied: "Brunel was much faster than us in the last few days and we don't know why. We are a bit disappointed because we were able to pass them, but then they overtook us again. You have to do everything right, but you also have to be fast. If you're not fast, it's difficult to win a race."
With Team Brunel, Dongfeng Race Team and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, three teams are now tied for the lead with four points.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
