What a thrill! Almost bow to bow, the leaders are racing down the South Atlantic on the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race! After 19 days at sea, the leading team Abu Dhabi Ocean Race and the Dutch team Brunel were separated by just two nautical miles on Thursday lunchtime! The fleet is expected to arrive in the first port of call, Cape Town, next week. Everything points to a thrilling finale.
While the SCA women's gap had now grown to 334 nautical miles and Mapfre had not yet caught up with the main field again at 218 nautical miles, the other five boats were no more than 64 nautical miles apart at the start of the last week of the leg. The first three boats, including Vestas Wind, were separated by no more than six nautical miles. Almost exactly two thirds of the 6,487 nautical miles of the second longest leg of the race around the world have been completed. The last third is underway!
Brian Carlin, onboard reporter for Team Vestas Wind, described in detail in the morning how close the front runners have become again: "The leading boats and ourselves are waiting patiently, or not so patiently, for the left-hand shift. This lift will enable us to jibe to the south. This will allow us to rendezvous with an official front that will push us eastwards towards our next harbour. We have many options. Chris and Wouter are once again discussing and debating every possibility in detail. I find it exhausting to wait for the outcome of their discussions ... But it's also exciting. We have the potential to even emerge as leaders, or at least close the gap to Abu Dhabi and Brunel. It's funny: I usually start writing my blogs in the morning and finish them in the evening so that I don't miss any of the day's events. Now something really funny has just happened: At 6.42pm local time, a boat we haven't seen since the Canary Islands turned up about three nautical miles ahead of us: It's Abu Dhabi! Wow, that's good news and bad news. The good news is that we're in the right place on the race course. The bad news is that the other leading boats are here too. We assume that Brunel is not far away. That's proof of the quality of the new one-design class. Only three nautical miles difference after 19 days at sea! Now the coming days will certainly be very exciting ..."
Abu Dhabi's onboard reporter Matt Knighton described the scenario not much differently: "As the sun slowly sets over the South Atlantic, we can see a bright white sail from the helm of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing that is getting bigger by the minute. After more than five days without any visual contact with other boats, Team Vestas Wind has crossed our stern water today, about three nautical miles behind. You'd think we'd be surprised to see another boat after 19 days at sea and thousands of nautical miles from land. To be honest: We're not. We have already come to terms to some extent with the shock of how tight the new single class is. After the battle along the African coast, it no longer surprises us that one or even two sails can keep up with you for a very, very long time."
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
