The winners of the 10th stage have earned themselves a great opportunity after a great battle. Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel defeated the Spanish Team Mapfre in a dramatically exciting duel for the stage win on the course to Gothenburg with a lead of just under two minutes. As a result, the Dutch team has sensationally moved up to first place in the overall standings ahead of the final stage from Gothenburg to The Hague - level on points with Mapfre! Hardly anyone would have thought this possible after the first stages and the inconsistent performance of Team Brunel, who started late in the 13th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race.
The assembled stars on board Team Brunel needed more time to adapt to their new offshore tasks than their skipper had hoped. Bouwe Bekking told YACHT online in an interview. "I thought we could do it faster," says Bekking, "but we did it. And I learnt an incredible amount from them at the same time." This compliment refers to America's Cup stars Peter Burling, Kyle Langford and compatriot Carlo Huisman. Bekking met them in Bermuda when he was in action there last year during the America's Cup with the J-Class "Lionheart" and spontaneously recruited parts of his team for his own eighth participation in the race around the world.
Together with the entire Brunel crew, the prominent Cup sailors had made a shaky start to the Volvo Ocean Race before the performance curve suddenly rose almost unbelievably steeply with the legendary victory on the Southern Ocean leg from Auckland to Itajaí in the last four legs. "Now we have arrived, and I also believe that our newer sails play a role compared to other teams," said Bekking. Volvo Ocean Race commentator Conrad Colman summarised the Brunel phenomenon as follows: "It's like a phoenix rising from the ashes."
In the winner's interview before Gothenburg, the 55-year-old record-breaking eight-time participant said late on Thursday evening: "We did a great job as a team. We achieved a result that we couldn't have dreamed of better. Of course we wanted to beat the red boats. But the fact that we also won the stage is simply fantastic. The pressure is not getting any less now, but if you look at the calibre of the people on board, it's not as if we don't know any pressure." That was Bekking's message for the final test of strength.
Three wins and a second place, which would have been first if it hadn't been for the doldrums off Newport, now speak in favour of the yellow boat and its crew ahead of the all-important final leg. "The Volvo Ocean Race has never ended in such an exciting way," said commentator and circumnavigator Conrad Colman late in the evening. Before the final sprint from Gothenburg to The Hague on 21 June, where hundreds of thousands of fans will be cheering on their fellow countrymen on Brunel and AkzoNobel, Team Brunel and Mapfre are tied on 65 points at the head of the field. Lurking behind them, however, is Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team with 64 points. And that is theoretically also worth 65 points, because everyone agrees that Dongfeng will be the team to collect the bonus point for the fastest time around the world at the end of the race. So this extra point will already be credited to Dongfeng's account in the calculation games before the final showdown. This means that Dongfeng will also have 65 points before the final and all-important act.The scenario is as exciting as it is simple to understand: The Volvo Ocean Race 2017/2018 will be won by whichever of these three teams - Brunel, Mapfre or Dongfeng - reaches the finish harbour of The Hague first - regardless of whether they are at the front or further back in the field.
Voluntarily or involuntarily: Simeon Tienpont's AkzoNobel team gave Team Brunel and Mapfre a great gift with third place on stage 10. Because the Dutch riders were able to keep Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team at bay, the team leading the overall standings only crossed the finish line in fourth place. If Tienpont could wish for something back, he would have an idea: "Victory on the last stage home to The Hague, that would be it!" Although AkzoNobel would no longer be able to achieve a podium place in the overall standings, it would certainly be a source of satisfaction for the skipper and crew.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
