The screams on board came as they crossed the finish line. Relieved, skipper Charles Caudrelier and his fellow sailors gave free rein to their emotions, repeatedly raising their fists to the sky above The Hague, hugging each other and shouting again. The Dongfeng Race Team had won the eleventh leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, which was almost 1000 nautical miles long (it was the first leg win of the race for the "Reds") and thus realised the big dream: victory in the 13th Volvo Ocean Race!
A bold decision gave Dongfeng the triumph on this competitive leg, during which each of the three boats still in contention for overall victory led at least once. On Saturday evening, Charles Caudrelier and his navigator Pascal Bidégorry decided in favour of a course between the coast and some restricted areas and separated from the fleet to do so. Dongfeng initially fell behind because of this - so much so that the question "Suicide or genius move?" quickly circulated on social networks. On Sunday morning, however, the first projections showed that the top boats would all cross the finish line within a few minutes. Nevertheless, the competition experienced Dongfeng's reappearance as almost unreal. AkzoNobel's watch leader Nicolai Sehested said: "They came out of nowhere and made the race." At 5.22pm, the Dongfeng masterstroke was perfect.
Nice Dongfeng clip, which was made in March and presents the team and its dreams well
Xabí Fernandez's Spanish team Mapfre secured second place with third place on the stage behind the Dutch team AkzoNobel, giving hundreds of thousands of fans on the water and in the harbour of The Hague moments of happiness. Xabí Fernandez said: "We were close and had a good race. Congratulations to Dongfeng Race Team for the win."
Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel was the big loser in this once again spectacularly exciting final stage with position changes at the front until almost the finish. Instead of the hoped-for victory party in their home country and the longed-for overall victory, Bekking's team had an ice-cold triple shower at lunchtime on the final day after taking the lead at one point. The "yellows" had to make do with fourth place in the stage and third place in the final classification. It is Bekking's third third place in 33 years. He has finished second three times. He was denied victory again this time, even though he had one hand on the trophy on the day of the decision. That is bitter for Bekking, even though he was a strong beaten man at the finish and fairly congratulated the Dongfeng Race Team on their "deserved victory".
However, to the delight of the hosts, one of the winners on the historic final day was a "flying" Dutch woman who was celebrated frenetically in The Hague: Helmswoman and trimmer Carolijn Brouwer is one of three women, alongside Marie Riou and Justine Mettraux, who sailed around the world with the Dongfeng Race Team and contributed to the victory. A new rule had encouraged the teams to include women in their crews for this edition. On her third lap around the world, 44-year-old Brouwer was one of the few female sailors in the race to complete all legs; she was the only one on board Dongfeng. The three-time circumnavigator, Olympic participant and mother of a son had already set her sights on overall victory before the race and said after her triumph: "The race was an emotional rollercoaster. The fact that I was the first woman to win it is incredible and makes me very proud."
Incidentally, there was no winner in the battle for the "triple crown": neither Peter Burling nor Blair Tuke - joint Olympic champion in the 49er and America's Cup winner with Emirates Team New Zealand - were able to complete the triple success with their teams Brunel and Mapfre. These and many other challenges remain for the sailors in the 14th edition of the race, which will soon be given a new name by its owners.
