WebreaderShopNewsletterTop harbours

Volvo Ocean RaceSuccessful use of the stealth cap: Brunel in second place

Tatjana Pokorny

 · 23.02.2018

Volvo Ocean Race: Successful use of the stealth cap: Brunel in second placePhoto: Yann Riou/VOR
Stage 6, Day 18, Brunel
The deceptive manoeuvre worked well: Team Brunel is visible again after 24 hours in "stealth" mode and is only just behind the leaders

Team Brunel successfully utilised the camouflage cap they put on on Friday. Skipper Bouwe Bekking's crew actually used their "invisibility" as YACHT online had already surmised yesterday. The "yellows" continued their southerly course much closer to New Caledonia and benefited from this. Barely visible again in the position reports, Bekking, his "Golden Boy" Peter Burling (on course for home!) and the crew are in second place only just behind the leaders of David Witt's team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag.

Eagerly awaiting the position report: navigator Andrew Cape (left) and skipper Bouwe Bekking (centre) with their crewPhoto: Yann Riou/VOR Eagerly awaiting the position report: navigator Andrew Cape (left) and skipper Bouwe Bekking (centre) with their crew In high spirits as the current frontrunner: David Witt, skipper of Sun Hung Kai / ScallywagPhoto: VOR In high spirits as the current frontrunner: David Witt, skipper of Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag In this animation, you can see the course that Brunel had chosen under a stealth cap clearly marked in yellow: closer to New Caledonia than all the other boats. The "stealth" mode worked well for Bouwe Bekking and his team. The Dutchmen are in second place, just behind David Witt's team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag and ahead of Dee Caffari's team Turn the Tide on PlasticPhoto: Screenshot/VOR In this animation, you can see the course that Brunel had chosen under a stealth cap clearly marked in yellow: closer to New Caledonia than all the other boats. The "stealth" mode worked well for Bouwe Bekking and his team. The Dutchmen are in second place, just behind David Witt's team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag and ahead of Dee Caffari's team Turn the Tide on Plastic

The leading quartet was only ten nautical miles apart on the morning of the 18th day at sea. With a larger gap of 42 and 50 nautical miles to the leaders, the boats from Mapfre and Dongfeng, which are leading the overall standings of the Volvo Ocean Race, continued to bring up the rear. Once again, however, they were able to reduce the gap slightly.

What's still possible for the tail-enders? Xabi Fernandez's Mapfre team and Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team will be doing everything they can to catch up with the leading group over the next three to three daysPhoto: Ugo Fonolla/VOR What's still possible for the tail-enders? Xabi Fernandez's Mapfre team and Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team will be doing everything they can to catch up with the leading group over the next three to three days

In the meantime, the teams have finally left the agonising calm zone behind them and are currently sailing in 12 to 15 knots of wind. The displacement race to Auckland has begun! Simeon Tienpont's fourth-placed team AkzoNobel is positioned furthest west, while Team Brunel is furthest east and therefore on a more direct course to the destination harbour of Auckland. The crews expect to arrive at the beginning of the week and still have a good 900 nautical miles to go to New Zealand's "City of Sails". This means that this leg will go into extra time after the lazy days. The crews will not have to ration their food dramatically, but they will not be able to draw from the full supply either.

The lazy days are over: on board the boats, it's back to business as usual. Like here in Team BrunelPhoto: Yann Riou/VOR The lazy days are over: on board the boats, it's back to business as usual. Like here in Team Brunel

Bouwe Bekking wrote on Saturday night: "The food department has been a bit spartan recently. There are hardly any treats left. After the first hour of the day, the bags already look empty again. I won't name names, but the person who packed them is probably the one who also gets the best snacks... The good news for Yann and I is that we still have plenty of coffee. The two of us could probably survive on that alone."

Click here for the tracker and the interim results

At the wheel for the Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag team: Annemieke BesPhoto: Jeremia Lecauday/VOR At the wheel for the Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag team: Annemieke Bes An extremely interested onlooker on board the Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag teamPhoto: Jeremie Lecauday/VOR An extremely interested onlooker on board the Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag team
Share article:
Tatjana Pokorny

Tatjana Pokorny

Sports reporter

Tatjana “tati” Pokorny is the author of nine books. As a reporter for Europe's leading sailing magazine YACHT, she also works as a correspondent for the German Press Agency (DPA), the Hamburger Abendblatt and other national and international media. In summer 2024, Tatjana will be reporting from Marseille on her ninth consecutive Olympic Games. Other core topics have been the America's Cup since 1992, the Ocean Race since 1993, the Vendée Globe and other national and international regattas and their protagonists. Favorite discipline: Portraits of and interviews with sailing personalities. When she started out in sports journalism, she was still intensively involved with basketball and other sports, but sailing quickly became her main focus. The reason? The declared optimist says: “There is no other sport like it, no other sport with such interesting and intelligent personalities, no other sport so diverse, no other sport so full of energy, strength and ideas. Sailing is like a constantly refreshing declaration of love for life."

Home

Most read in category Regatta