Volvo Ocean Race: Reunion in Itajaí: The fleet is almost complete

The start of the eighth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race will be an emotional one. Next Sunday, it will be 27 days since John Fisher went overboard in the Southern Ocean and was lost. The fatal accident triggered worldwide mourning for the likeable Brit. The passionate sailor and family man will not be forgotten and will be in the thoughts of many active sailors when the starting signal for the last third of the round-the-world race is given at the weekend. The teams will sail over 5700 nautical miles from Itajaí to the picture-book harbour of Newport, also known as the heartbeat chamber of American sailing. The America's Cup was already being sailed here in the 1930s. In the 1960s, President John F. Kennedy visited Newport several times and also sailed here.

But before they leave South America for North America, the Volvo Ocean Race fleet will bid a sporting farewell to their Brazilian hosts on Friday with what is expected to be a light wind harbour race off Itajai before finally saying "Adios" on Sunday. Five boats are already back in the water after extensive maintenance work and have already completed several training races. The blue boat of the Vestas 11th Hour Racing team, which arrived in Itajaí the day before yesterday under emergency rigging, is currently being prepared under high pressure. The new mast is already in place. Everyone involved is optimistic that Vestas will even be ready for the harbour race on Friday at 2 pm local time (7 pm German time).

Five teams already have their boats back in the water. The two straggler teams are rotating ashore to be ready in time for the start of the eighth stage

Only the straggler Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag is still missing. The crew of the fatally injured John Fisher has already gathered in Iatají. The boat should arrive in Itajaí on Thursday afternoon German time. The "Scallywags" will therefore have less than three days to prepare themselves and the boat for the eighth leg in memory of John Fisher. There will probably not be enough time for the "Scallywags" to take part in the harbour race.

During one such involuntary manoeuvre, John Fisher was knocked overboard in the Southern Ocean by the violently swinging boom system. Here, the Mapfre crew have their hands full getting their boat back under control

And an important note on the final phase of the race: in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017/2018, there is a third interesting classification in addition to the overall classification of all legs and a separate classification for the harbour races (which is decisive in the event of a tie in the overall classification): at the end of the ocean marathon, a bonus point is awarded to the team that has the lowest sailing time when all legs are added together. In this special classification, Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team leads ahead of Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel and Xabí Fernandez' Team Mapfre - a red-yellow-red sandwich. However, the Spaniards' 13-hour repair stop before Cape Horn on the seventh stage not only cost them the lead, but also left them with a deficit on the top duo that is very difficult to make up. The bonus point could have more significance in the end than was foreseeable today.

Placings according to time sailed on 8 of 11 legs so far:

1. Dongfeng Race Team: 94 days, 10 hours, 11 minutes, 49 seconds
2. Team Brunel: 95 days, 8 hours, 5 minutes, 47 seconds
3. Mapfre: 99 days, 1 hour, 15 minutes, 21 seconds
4. Team AkzoNobel: 100 days, 9 hours, 43 minutes, 27 seconds
5. Turn the Tide on Plastic: 100 days, 23 hours, 3 minutes, 3 seconds
6. Team Sun Hung Kai Scallywag: 102 days, 10 hours, 49 minutes, 7 seconds
7. Vestas 11th Hour Racing: 102 days, 13 hours, 31 minutes, 17 seconds