Volvo Ocean Race: "It's not over yet!"

A strong comeback for Bouwe Bekking and his team Brunel in the Volvo Ocean Race: the "Flying Dutchmen" dominated and won the seventh leg of the twelfth edition of the ocean marathon. "We sailed a great race and were able to win in the end," said the 51-year-old skipper, visibly happy at the finish harbour in Lisbon. With their outstanding performance, the Dutch team created new tension in the battle for overall victory and the podium places.

After nine days, eleven hours, nine minutes and 49 seconds, the second leg victory for the Dutch on this 2800 nautical mile stretch from Newport in America across the Atlantic to Portugal was perfect. Just under 22 minutes later, the Spanish team Mapfre crossed the finish line with skipper and Olympic champion Iker Martinez.

The duel for third place on Wednesday morning, which was characterised by several lead changes, doldrums and Dongfeng's collision with a shark, was won by the US team Alvimedica after a furious match race to the finish with a lead of just 55 seconds. For the recently so successful Dongfeng skipper Charles Caudrelier, fourth place was tantamount to a bitter defeat. "That is bad. I'm very disappointed and sad." Dongfeng's initiator and project manager Mark Turner had watched the thrilling battle for third place on the water and said: "Our strengths certainly lie more in the wide open ocean than in close coastal combat. This leg has shown how quickly everything can change. It's not over yet."

Because Ian Walker's previously dominant team Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing failed to finish in fifth place, "Azzam"'s lead in the overall standings, totalling 16 points, shrank to five points ahead of Dongfeng and six points ahead of Team Brunel, which had moved closer again. Bouwe Bekking and his team celebrated their second stage win in Bekking's seventh Volvo Ocean Race appearance like a resurrection. Regatta Director Knut Frostad said: "It is not very likely that Abu Dhabi can still be beaten, but it now seems possible again."

According to initial assessments, the unsuccessful leg for Walker's men on "Azzam" was not only due to several unfortunate positioning issues. During the seventh leg, the team had to contend with illnesses among some crew members and was unable to sail at 100 per cent performance level in some cases.

The teams' points accounts and therefore the overall standings could be subject to slight shifts in the coming days, as the race organisers have announced the hearing of four protests by the race committee against the SCA, Dongfeng and Mapfre teams. The International Jury will hear the cases during the stopover in Lisbon. Team SCA, which was once again the last team to enter a stage harbour, is accused of two infringements. In all cases, the teams are alleged to have travelled against the direction of traffic in a traffic separation scheme for commercial shipping. SCA is also alleged to have been travelling in a restricted area in Rhode Island Sound. If Dongfeng is penalised with a points deduction, Bekking's Brunel team could draw level with the Chinese team before the final two legs to Lorient in France and finally to the finish port of Gothenburg.