Arrive, just arrive, was the motto for Team SCA at the end of the fifth leg. "We made it to the harbour," said skipper Sam Davies. "We made mistakes, some things went wrong, but we mastered everything and made it here in one piece. That's why we're happy."
After Team Dongfeng's cancellation due to a broken mast, Team SCA secured fifth place on this difficult leg. A better position was prevented primarily by material problems.
Six days after the start, a patent jibe occurred. In a 50-knot gust, the Code Zero fractional algae naker flew out of the luff from the furling system to the masthead and landed in the water. Having become a drift anchor, it slowed the boat down and forced it into a patent jibe. Additional battens in the mainsail broke in the process. But while these could be repaired, the Code Zero had to be abandoned.
At first, the loss was not noticeable due to favourable weather conditions; on the contrary, the team even caught up over the next four days. But then the weather changed, the sail was sorely missed and the connection to the leading quartet was lost. "We really needed this sail for this stage," said Davies.
Another time, the entire electronics failed and the team had to sail blind for a night in the Southern Ocean.
In the South Atlantic, the boat then collided three times with objects in the water near the Brazilian coast, the first of these collisions causing damage to the rudder.
In the end, the gap to the stage winner Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing of around 640 nautical miles, just under two days, didn't matter at all. All that mattered was the arrival and the five points in the classification - instead of the eight points in the event of a cancellation.
