Volvo Ocean Race: Team Brunel's bittersweet victory in match race thriller off Itajaí

After one of the toughest and most dramatic legs in the 45-year history of the Volvo Ocean Race, victory on the royal stretch around Cape Horn was only decided in the final metres to the finish and after a thrilling match race duel between Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel and Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team. As if the storms in the Southern Ocean, John Fisher's fatal accident and the Vestas mast breakage had never happened, Itajaí greeted the two fastest boats on this leg with nerve-wracking light wind challenges. Focused and using classic defence tactics, front runner Brunel fought a thrilling battle for position off the Brazilian coast with the Dongfeng crew, who were closing the gap at the end. Both VO65 yachts almost parked in between. A few nautical miles before the finish line, Dongfeng was even able to close the gap to less than one nautical mile. However, it was no longer enough for the "Reds" to overtake in the notoriously light-winded bay of Itajaí. Caudrelier and his team eventually crossed the finish line 14 minutes and 48 seconds behind the "yellow bus", as Bekking sometimes calls his boat.

In the end, both skippers and their crews were more than satisfied with the result after 7770 (Brunel) and 7785 nautical miles (Dongfeng). After all, if the current positions of the pursuers, who are not expected in the harbour until the next few days, had remained the same, Team Brunel would have catapulted itself from fifth to third place in the intermediate classification with its first stage win in this edition. The Dongfeng Race Team could even become the leader before the start of the eighth stage in Newport, USA, if the previously leading Team Mapfre is unable to overtake Dee Caffari's Team Turn the Tide on Plastic during the current stage.

The two teams reached the finish proud and grateful, but also with many thoughts of the Briton John Fisher, who died in an accident in the Southern Ocean. "We are very happy about this victory, but our hearts are heavy," said record eight-time participant Bouwe Bekking after his first stage victory in this edition. His team announced: "We are extremely proud to have won this monumental stage. But it is a bittersweet victory due to the tragic loss of John Fisher. We can't forget him." Second-placed skipper Charles Caudrelier also said: "We compete in this race to push boundaries. It is high performance sport. But the loss of John Fisher is so, so sad."

In the meantime, Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag has reached the Chilean coast a week after the tragic loss of their team member John Fisher. In a press release issued by the Volvo Ocean Race on Tuesday, the team said it had fought a "relentless emotional and physical battle over the past seven days to bring the rest of the crew and the Volvo Ocean 65 safely ashore". The team plans to stay in Chile for the short term to hold a debriefing and then decide on future plans. According to the organisers, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Chile has now "deactivated" the search and rescue operation.