Volvo Ocean Race: Dongfeng dominates, AkzoNobel holds on and Mapfre presses on

Exciting scenario on the fourth day of the fourth leg: Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team continues to lead the fleet on the course from Melbourne to Hong Kong, but cannot shake off Simeon Tienpont's Team AkzoNobel. After many setbacks, the Dutch are more hungry for success than ever and are clinging on to Dongfeng's tail, just 2.5 nautical miles behind. And behind them, Mapfre is coming up north-west of Brisbane. The overall leaders had not opened the race ideally on a course close to the coast, but quickly corrected their mistake. On Friday morning, Xabi Fernandez and his team were only 7 nautical miles behind Dongfeng instead of almost 40. Charles Caudrelier must be experiencing a double déjà vu, as Mapfre had already managed to catch the Dongfeng crew at the end of the last two legs. How will it turn out this time?

The leg is still young and - as the sailors themselves put it - full of opportunities and risks with the "forest of islands and reefs" to be passed on the Hong Kong course. Behind the leading trio, Vestas 11th Hour Racing and Turn the Tide on Plastic are struggling to catch up with the leading boats, just under 16 and around 24 nautical miles behind respectively. Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel (54 nautical miles behind) and David Witt's Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag (64 nautical miles behind), which is contesting a leg with two female sailors for the first time following the signing of British navigator Libby Greenhalgh and is thus exhausting the possibilities with a maximum of nine crew members, follow at a considerable distance.

Brunel skipper Bouwe Bekking explains why his team is currently lagging behind, criticises Brunel's weakness in mid-winds, but also offers encouragement for the coming days

Brunel skipper Bouwe Bekking in particular, who is taking part in his record eighth round-the-world race, is struggling with his team's current position and said on Thursday evening: "Ouch! Who would have thought that an extra 45-minute jibe towards the Australian coast would be so expensive. It's hit us hard. A huge loss on most of the boats. In hindsight, however, that's always easy to say. We had been sailing against a strong current for a long time... Of course our mood is gloomy, but the overall mood is combative. Our motto: Let's catch them again!"

Overall, race observers expect a slight compression of the fleet in the coming days in currently moderate winds of around 15 or 16 knots. AkzoNobel's Danish watch leader Nicolai Sehested explained his team's tactics: "We have two options: We can choose the route that we think is the fastest and will get us to Hong Kong first. Or we can stick with Dongfeng - even if we don't agree with their decisions. We stayed with Dongfeng to minimise the risk, but also to learn from one of the fastest boats in the fleet."

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