Volvo Ocean Race: "How could this happen?"

The stage could - and should - have been their masterpiece. After the almost ingenious tactical move at the start of the fourth leg, the Dutch team Brunel had already established a commanding lead. Navigator Andrew Cape was praised for his good judgement, because his team had escaped the fleet with courage and confidence in their abilities. And now? With another solo attempt - this time heading south instead of north - as well as a few hitches in the complicated weather conditions of the Doldrums, the Dutch have robbed themselves of success over the past week: they are lagging behind the leaders by a painful 80 nautical miles just a few days before the finish. Only the women's team SCA is worse. Whilst the boats at the front of the pack are heading towards the finish harbour of Auckland at consistently better boat speeds, the Brunel sailors are struggling with their fate. They have not yet given up hope, but the way back to the top is getting longer and longer - and increasingly unlikely on the remaining 800 nautical miles to the finish.

"We were in the lead after all. We had the race in our hands. How could this happen?" wonders more than just Rokas Milevicius in Team Brunel. "I don't want to talk about it now, otherwise I'll start crying." His team-mate Gerd-Jan Poortman is already facing the brutal reality: "We have to be honest: it will be very difficult to get back to where we were." But Laurent Pages is far from giving up and is encouraging his team-mates with his vision: "Let's push ourselves to the limit and overtake the others just before Auckland."

According to current wind forecasts, this could remain a beautiful dream. The leading teams are sailing in better wind angles and have already prepared themselves for a duel for the stage win. The Dongfeng Race Team described the situation on Wednesday morning as "The hunter against the hunted". Although Abu Dhabi's skipper Ian Walker warned of the danger of a late race decision in the Hauraki Gulf, the experienced Briton said: "The way it looks now, Dongfeng and we will probably be stuck together all the way to Auckland." The battle for supremacy between the Chinese, who are also ahead of Abu Dhabi in the overall standings, and their rivals is in full swing at the halfway point of the round-the-world race. If Team Brunel, currently in third place overall, wants to get back into the fight for the crown, the Dutch team will have to avoid rollercoaster rides such as this leg in future.