Tatjana Pokorny
· 06.05.2018
The tension is still high in the final sprint of leg 8, with Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel still defending the lead they fought for on 1 May on the Newport course. In the morning, the front has passed, which has once again put all the teams under extreme physical strain with winds of up to almost 40 knots in places. David Witt's team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag is the winner of the last 48 hours. The last team in the fleet has reduced its deficit by more than 100 nautical miles, but is still trailing the leading group by almost 100 nautical miles and is unlikely to have any chance of challenging for a place on the podium.
Team Brunel, Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team and the Spanish team Mapfre, which has fought its way back from penultimate place to third position and is now very close to the overall leader Donfeng Race Team, are all vying for the stage win. It is even possible that the teams positioned to the east, Turn the Tide on Plastic, Vestas 11th Hour Racing and AkzoNobel, could still get into the fight for the podium places. However, AkzoNobel had accumulated a gap of almost 60 nautical miles to their compatriots from Team Brunel by Monday afternoon. There were more nautical miles separating AkzoNobel from Vestas in 5th place than from David Witt's strong emerging team Sun Hung Kai Scallywag. The decisions will probably only be made in the final nautical miles. The organisers expect the first finishes to take place early Tuesday morning between 5.30 and 20.30 German time.
"We're under maximum stress on board," explained Dongfeng skipper Charles Caudrelier in the final sprint. At the same time, the man who is fighting for his first overall victory in his third start explained that his team feels quite comfortable in the role of the hunter. The outcome of the showdown will be revealed in less than 20 hours.